Unless the Lord builds this house....
“Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.
In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.
Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.”(Psalm, 127, NIV)
Is the Lord building my home, my camp, my ministry…..my reputation? Are my efforts fueled with a mentality that “sometimes you’ve got do these things yourself”, or am I meekly resigned to the proper determination to be led by Him? “He leads and I follow….He is the Shepherd and I am the sheep”…
These verses are intended, I think, to give us perspective about life. Are we trusting ourselves or the Almighty? Is our confidence placed in our own ambitions, education, financial assets, connections and accumulation of wealth, our government, our military, our technology….or in God?
We scamper about trying to protect our children, our community or our nation, and then after all the fuss about providing helmets or seatbelts, or immigration walls or nuclear deterrence, a microscopic virus enters our lives and we find that we are totally unprotected and unable to combat it! Praise God—-He is able to redeem us and restore us still, but maybe we should read Psalm 127 more earnestly.
And the second part of the Psalm directs us to what should be investing our time and talents in terms of our legacy—our children. They are a blessing! Has God blessed you with children—with your own or those you have been privileged to adopt? Consider them a blessing from God—-you will treat them far better if you do and they will grow up and not put you to shame. That’s the promise/reward from God if we get our priorities straight and we look to Him as our provider and protector. Our children will see this, learn from this and be blessed.
As this virus, the incredible forest fires, floods and a record number of hurricanes are hitting us (even as I write this), can we not recognize the frailty of our lives and our utter need for shelter from all the storms of our short existence on this earth? It might be true that China created and exposed the virus for global supremacy, and it might be true that the violent storms and fires are all the result of 200 years of human mismanagement of the environment, but in the end we have to open our eyes to just how unjust, unpredictable and precarious life is and always has been.
Rest knowing that “He grants sleep to those he loves”….and He does love you.