Blessed are our Labors in the LORD
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Song of ascents, Likely sang annually on feast days and so this among other psalms should have been given as annual reminders
Song of ascents, Likely sang annually on feast days and so this among other psalms should have been given as annual reminders
This is a Psalm of Solomon, writer of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes
Vanity of Man’s Labors aside from the LORD
Vanity of Man’s Labors aside from the LORD
English Standard Version Psalm 127
1 Unless the LORD builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Solomon introduces us to an either or type statement
If B happens without G the result is V
If B happens with G the Result is L (not vanity, something lasting)
Both possibilities involve B
This is NOT an either or situation
It is not — God builds the house OR the builder builds
IT IS
The builder is building the house
or
The builder is building the house the LORD is building
The work is much the same
Planning, Gathering materials , establishing a foundation, cutting the materials, assembling the house , Putting a roof on top
Gathering materials
Planning
establishing a foundation
cutting the materials
assembling the house
Putting a roof on top
But it can be done in submission to the LORD or not
The result is very different
The result of mans work and toil is Vanity
Its pointless, to no account, no lasting value
The LORDS work, however, is not in vain but will last
So the man who builds what the LORD is building is doing something worth while, something of value.
Even though the actual “work” is not fundamentally different
Solomon the proverbially bad example
Solomon the proverbially bad example
Solomon is one of those sad characters in the bible that puzzle us
he seemed to be doing so well and then he started multiplying wives and went downhill
1 kings 11 starts the downhill spiral of his reign
In typical sin fashion, there were other issues prior that exposed a gradual decline
We really see his failures starting in Chapter 4
English Standard Version Chapter 4
26 Solomon also had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen.
16 However, he must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire many horses, for the Lord has told you, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’
And there are problems we see in the manner in which he built The Temple
Christian Standard Bible Chapter 40
16 Moses did everything just as the LORD had commanded him. 17 The tabernacle was set up in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month.,j 18 Moses set up the tabernacle: He laid its bases, positioned its supports, inserted its crossbars, and set up its pillars. 19 Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent on top of it, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Throughout the the narrative recording the building of the Tabernacle
38 In his eleventh year in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the temple was completed in every detail and according to every specification. So he built it in seven years. 1 Solomon completed his entire palace complex after thirteen years of construction.
1 kings 6:38-
English Standard Version Chapter 5
13 King Solomon drafted forced labor out of all Israel, and the draft numbered 30,000 men. 14
Throughout the building of the temple recorded in 1 kings and Chronicles there is not one mention that anything was performed “As the LORD commanded”
And so, the building of Solomon was vanity
It was not
He did it himself, it was not built by God which we see in God’s ultimate destruction of the Temple
The labor was In Vain
English Standard Version Psalm 127
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
Same kind of statement as the first
Same basic point
A man watch over a city
looking for enemies
to protect it from attack
But unless the Lord is watching over the city what good is it?
Will it not be destroyed regardless?
But this also does not mean that a watchman should not stay awake
He is still to watch guard over the city
And so it is with us
We are to do
But if the LORD is not with us in what we do it is worthless vanities
And Solomon teaches this truth in these two hypothetical situations
But then it gets personal
But then it gets personal
He changes from speaking hypothetically in the third person To directly addressing his reader in the 2nd person.
English Standard Version Psalm 127
2 It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
Solomon assumes that his readers are Laboring in Vain
He says “Your working long and hard hours because work is hard and painful , and stressful. And by the way your hard work is pointless”
You are working in VAIN
Do you think this is an accurate assessment?
Is it For God or With God?
Solomon built a Temple for God
Moses built the Tabern
2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.
English Standard Version Psalm 127
for he gives to his beloved sleep.
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Psalm 127
For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.
Christian Standard Bible Psalm 127
yes, he gives sleep to the one he loves.,q
The Lexham English Bible Chapter 127
when thus he provides for his beloved in his sleep.
I think the best way to understand this is: Why do you work so hard IN VAIN when God has given Rest to those he loves.
Are you tired, are you exhausted and worn out? IS the burden heavy?
You do not have to be. God provides rest.
Is Solomon recommending laziness? Just do less and sleep in?
Is Solomon recommending laziness?
As we discussed in verse 1, what is the difference between working in vain and not working in vain? Is it hard work vs slacking off?
Is Solomon recommending laziness?
He says here that those that are tired and exhausted are working in Vain.
It is because we are not doing the work that God is doing.
Any thoughts?
Our labors must be rooted in the Fear of the Lord and obedience
1 How happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! 2 You will surely eat what your hands have worked for. You will be happy, and it will go well for you.
1 How happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways!
So if we are still to work and be diligent how are we to experience the Blessing of God’s Rest?
How can one experience the blessing of God’s rest by working in submission to God’s will rather than working in vanity?
The Psalm here takes an interesting twist. Solomon now tells us one of the blessings that God provides
3 Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, offspring, a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons born in one’s youth. 5 Happy is the man who has filled his quiver with them. They will never be put to shame when they speak with their enemies at the city gate.
The Blessings From the LORD
The Key to understanding is back in Verse 1.
There is
Vs 1 - Examples of vain work
Vs 2a- The personal exhortation of Vain labors
YOU work in vain
Vs 2b - encouragement, God does offer His rest which rescues from the vanity of it all
There is rest from the curse of labor
The Blessings From the LORD
He draws are attention to a way to redeem our labors and
A Reward - for the toil, something to make it worth while
The Blessing of children is ONLY a blessing to those that have headed the wisdom of the preceeding part.
Are we able to build a house like this?
Not all children, after all, are like the children described here.
25 A foolish son is grief to his father and bitterness to the one who bore him.
Are we building the house or our we building the House the LORD is building
Do we Train & discipline For us?
To conform them to our image
for our convenience
based on our priorities Are we to Train & discipline for God?
Are we to Train & discipline for God?
Because i’m supposed to
He needs me to
NO
Our training and discipline is to be in conformity with God’s nature and character
God’s desire for us is that we Fear and Obey Him and Love Him with all our heart
If our desire for our Children is the same as God’s then our work in their life will be in line with God’s desire for their life.
How can we know if we are doing this?
We must be constantly renewing our own minds.
We must know be constantly seeking Him
But here is what will happen.
Children are a blessing! Not a burden.
Children are a blessing! Not a burden.
They are a REWARD!!!
But what if they feel more like a burden?
If our Children are a burden, then our toil is IN VAIN!
28 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
If we are heavily burdened, it is not to Christ we have submitted.
What Is a Yoke?
It allows an animal to pull a plow.
When you take Christ’s Yoke, you are doing His work with him.
If we are burdened, What IS the burden if it is not obedience to Christ?
In Jesus time the people were burdened by Scripture-esque commands
Things that started as biblical principles that were warped and became mans standards rather than God’s
If we are not submitting to Christ we are submitting to something else
Either ourselves, in Pride and the desire to satisfy ourselves
Or by the standards of others.
We should seek, rather, the Rest that comes from following Christ in humble submission
and those things which were difficult and burdensome will be light and easy.
Even if you doing more,
Questions?