Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ,
After college, I spent two years at Polytech where I studied Architectural Draughting. And a big part of that course was NZS 3604. And I see a flicker of recognition on some faces out there or is it, perhaps, an inward groan? J NZS 3604 is the building code for timber-framed buildings in NZ. If you present your building plans for consent they must comply with NZS 3604 or you will not get consent.
Well, Psalm 127 is the believer’s NZS 3604. Psalm 127 tells us how to build, successfully. And what we are going to see today is that the building in view here has to do with families. And this is fitting because it has been our joy and privilege to witness the baptism of Solomon. And it surely will not have escaped your notice from the title of this Psalm that it is a Psalm of Solomon. And for those of you who do not know this, Solomon was the King of Israel around 1000 BC. And I read this Psalm with Elu and Ruth when I visited them to discuss Solomon’s baptism and it just seemed fitting that it be our sermon text on this very joyful occasion.
Today we have heard Elu and Ruth make solemn vows, including a promise to “do all in [their] power to instruct Solomon in the truth of the Christian faith and to lead him by [their] example to follow Jesus Christ.” And we, as a congregation, have promised to “pray for Solomon, help care for his instruction in the faith, and encourage and sustain him in the fellowship of believers.” And as we shall see, these sorts of things are what Psalm 127 is about.
With this Psalm then, OUR COVENANT GOD PROVIDES HIS PEOPLE WITH A BUILDING CODE. And we see this under four headings as we take note of the RESULT of Faithless Building, the REMEDY for Faithless Building, the REQUIREMENT to Build, and the REWARDS for Faithful Builders.
I. So we begin with the RESULT of faithless building. And we see this in the word repeated three times in vv1-2, which is “vain.”
A. Solomon, as we have noted, was a King of Israel and it was he who oversaw the building of God’s temple in Jerusalem. You can read about this in 1 Kings. So we can see why Solomon was well qualified to write about building and watching over a city. But what does the mention of Solomon’s name and his repeated use of the word vain remind you of? It reminds us of ECCLESIASTES. Ecclesiastes is another book of the Bible and it was written by Solomon. And the words “vain” or “vanity” are found 37 times in the Book. Perhaps you remember this line? “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” So the Book of
Ecclesiastes simply says in more detail what we read here in Psalm 127:1-2 – faithless anything is vain. You can build, you can keep watch, you can work hard to raise a family, but unless the Lord is at the centre of these things, they are in vain.
B. So, what does this word “vain” mean?
1. Well, in relation to actual building, the Bible gives us a perfect ILLUSTRATION. It is the building of the TOWER OF BABEL. Do you remember that story, boys and girls? God had commanded mankind to spread out across the earth but they disobeyed and decided to stay together and build a city, saying, “Let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves.” But the Lord confused the language of the people so that they could not understand each other and we read, “They left off building the [tower].” What was meant to show the glory of the people, ended up being an unfinished, half-built, crumbling ruin – the very picture of vanity.
2. Synonyms for vain are useless, empty, worthless, futile or meaningless. Vain basically means all your hard work counts for nothing.
C. So the main point being made here is that when God is left out of whatever we are doing or we refuse to do it His way, our work is faithless and the result will be empty or meaningless. And I trust you can see that this has massive implications for all that we do.
1. NZ society has embraced secularism. Our leaders boldly proclaim that we do not need God or the Bible. Well, the message of Psalm 127 is that this is vain and it will not be good for NZ society. And we see this all around us with drug addiction and family violence and homelessness and broken families and the mental health epidemic. We cannot expect God’s blessing if we ignore Him and refuse to live His way.
2. But this applies to each of us as individuals and families also. We cannot expect God’s blessing if we ignore Him and refuse to live His way.
II. But our emphasis on the word faithless points us immediately to our second point, which is the REMEDY for faithless ‘building.’
A. And the remedy is found in the name repeated twice in v1 – “the LORD.”
1. You will see in the Psalm title that this Psalm is one of the Songs of Ascent, which are Psalms 120-134. Jerusalem was a city high up on a hill. And it is believed that the Israelites sung these Psalms on their way up to Jerusalem for the national feasts. And I want you to listen to the opening verses of these Psalms and hear where the people’s attention was focused:
120 – “Deliver me, O LORD.”
121 – “My help comes from the LORD.”
122 – “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”
123 – “Our eyes look to the LORD.”
124 – “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side.”
125 – “Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion.”
126 – “When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion.”
128 – “Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD.”
129 – “The LORD is righteous.”
130 – “Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD.”
131 – “O LORD, my heart is not lifted up.”
132 – “Remember, O LORD, in David’s favour.”
133 – “There the LORD has commanded His blessing.”
The whole of Psalm 134 – “Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night in the house of the LORD! Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the LORD! May the LORD bless you from Zion, He who made heaven and earth!”
2. Can you almost hear the voices of the people singing as they climbed towards Jerusalem? And what is heard again and again and again? The LORD! The LORD! The LORD!
3. And the LORD in capital letters is the intimate, covenant name of God. It describes the God who chooses to live in a close relationship with His people; who is an intimate part of their everyday life.
4. So the key to faithful ‘building’ is the knowledge of, belief in, love for, and obedience to, the LORD.
5. So who is this Lord? Well, in PHILIPPIANS 2:8-9 we read this about Jesus: “God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name that is above every other name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and confess that Jesus Christ is (?) Lord.” So OT believers looked forward in faith to Jesus. But you and I know that Jesus came to earth as the Son of God to die on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. And then He rose from the dead and He has ascended to heaven where He reigns as the Lord!
6. So faithful ‘building’ is ‘building’ done out of belief in, love for, and obedience to the Lord Jesus. What I said before about NZ society will not be solved by better laws; it will be solved by conversion. It is as people come to know Jesus as Saviour and Lord that faithful ‘building’ begins.
7. And this means that our priority prayer should be for revival and reformation.
B. Now, I keep using air quotes when I mention the word ‘building’ because the building work in view in this Psalm is really about families. That is why the rest of the Psalm is about children. You see, the way that the HEBREW LANGUAGE works is that from one root word of two consonants, you get a whole family of verbs and nouns and adjectives, etc. So banah, which means to build, is related to ben, which means son, and baht, which means daughter, and beith, which means house. They are all part of the same ‘family’ of words. It is why the sons and daughters in a family are called the house of Jacob, for example, in the Bible. So when we read here of the Lord ‘building a house,’ what is actually in view is a family. And a city is a group of families.
C. And we will look more at families in our next point but what this means is that what families need most of all is to know Jesus as Saviour and Lord. For it is He in His word who helps us think rightly about families and to know how to do family life God’s way. So while we pray for revival and reformation, we must pray also for a godly view of families and that we would do family life God’s way. We should pray that for Elu and Ruth and we should pray that for all our households, whether they be single, married, or married with children.
III. So let’s see what this Psalm says about families and family life as we move on to our third point, which is the REQUIREMENT to build.
A. For notice that while we are to look to the Lord as we ‘build,’ we are, nevertheless, to be about the work of building. The people described in v1 are building a house. The people described in v2 are watching over the city to guard against invaders.
1. I think I have referred to OLIVER CROMWELL’S QUOTE, previously; to his soldiers, he said, “Trust in God and keep your gunpowder dry.” And Cromwell’s point was that the man who let his gunpowder get wet could not blame God when his gun did not fire.
B. And it is the same with building families/raising children. God is a God who has chosen to use very ordinary means to build up families.
1. And this begins with prayer, as we have already noted. You see, to pray is to recognize your dependence on the Lord. So Elu and Ruth, parents, pray for, pray in front of, and pray with your children. Prayer is one of the very ordinary means that the Lord delights to use to build families.
2. But the Bible is the Word of God. We are going to look at this truth this pm. It is in the Bible that God speaks to us. So Bible reading must be a prominent and regular part of family life. Children’s Bible. ‘Family Worship Study Guide.’
3. And just as this Psalm speaks about a house and a city, so the Lord delights to build families in the church – active, fully-participating church membership is a vital part of how God builds families. And that is why we made that vow as a congregation to assist Elu and Ruth in Solomon’s instruction. It is why we have Sunday school and catechism and cadets and gems and youth group and homegroups and public worship.
4. It is also why Christian education, whether it be at a day school or at home, is so important. The Lord Jesus must be Lord not only of Sunday school curriculum but also of the Monday-Friday curriculum.
So yes, it is the Lord who builds families. But Elu and Ruth, you have work to do as parents. And we have work to do as a congregation to support the families in our congregation. And this is because these are the very ordinary means that the Lord Jesus uses to build families.
IV. But fourthly and finally, note what is said here about the REWARDS for Faithful Builders. And there are two rewards mentioned – first, at the end of v2, we read that God “gives to His beloved sleep,” and second, from v3, that children are “a reward.”
A. So firstly, a few comments about SLEEP.
1. In 2 Samuel 12:25, we learn that David gave Solomon a second name, which was JEDIDIAH. And Jedidiah means ‘His beloved,’ meaning the Lord’s beloved. And the Hebrew of v2 literally is “He gives to Jedidiah sleep.”
2. And this is not to say that only Solomon is in view with these words about sleep. But it will help us to understand what is being said here if we first think about sleep in relation to Solomon. Think about the potential for anxiety that Solomon had – he was a king, he had 700 wives and 300 concubines, which probably meant 100s of children to raise! a temple to build, and invaders to keep out! Talk about a recipe for worry and insomnia. Now, I think we can assume that Solomon’s family life was a complete mess J but in terms of the temple, Solomon knew that the Lord had that under control and the Lord had also told Solomon that He would give him peace from his enemies. So there was no need for Solomon to be up early and in bed late, and full of anxiety about the temple and invaders. No, God gave Solomon sleep.
3. So with that in mind, in terms of raising your children, can you say, The Lord gives me sleep? And this applies to whatever ‘building projects’ you might be busy with – your employment situation, your housing situation, your relationship situation, your marriage, your work in the church. Can you say, The Lord gives me sleep? Or could it be that you are up early and in bed late and full of anxiety because there is too much you in the project and not enough God? Yes, we are
to be faithful workers, but the one who looks in faith to the Lord Jesus will welcome the gift of sleep because to sleep is to trust in God’s faithful promises and provisions.
B. Now, let me make a point here that is as relevant to the gift of sleep as it is to children being a reward, which we shall consider next. And that point is that we live in a BROKEN AND FALLEN WORLD. What has just been said about sleep is a general truth. But there can be reasons why even those who do trust in the Lord Jesus struggle to sleep. And it is the same with having children. Children are a reward of the Lord. This is a general truth. But there can be reasons why devoted servants of Jesus Christ are unable to conceive. Psalm 127 is not teaching that insomnia or infertility are punishments from God.
C. And so, with that in mind, we see that the second reward spoken of here is CHILDREN, who are described as a heritage and reward. And this includes the children of conception or adoption. Both are a heritage from the Lord and a reward.
1. But let’s be very clear here that they are an undeserved reward. We must never think of our conceived or adopted children as something we in any way deserve. We do not deserve anything from the Lord. Children are an undeserved, gracious gift of the Lord.
2. The major point here is that believers who receive children, whether that be by conception or adoption, receive a gift from the Lord. When God brought Eve to Adam in the Garden of Eden, He commanded them to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. And a little later we read that “Adam knew Eve … and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, saying, ‘I have brought forth a man with the help of the Lord.’” Eve knew that her child was not just the result of a biological process but a gift from the Lord.
3. And in keeping with the command to be fruitful and multiply and to fill the earth that God gave to Adam and Eve, Psalm 127 says that having many children is a wonderful thing.
a. vv4-5 are saying that just as a man in battle would be glad to have a quiver full or lots of arrows, so the man with many children is truly blessed.
b. And the reference at the end of v5 to a man not being put to shame when he speaks with his enemies at the gate is a legal reference. In OT times, legal matters were dealt with at the city gates where the elders would rule on disputes. And the picture here is of a man who has been wrongly accused having nothing to fear because he has many sons who able to stand with him and make sure he is treated justly at court.
D. And we could devote a whole sermon to this topic but today we will simply say that in contrast to the message of society, which is that this world is overpopulated and that children cramp your career and lifestyle choices, God says, children are a blessing and a heritage and a reward and the man with many children is greatly blessed.
1. I once read about a REV. MOSES BROWNE who had twelve children. And someone said to him, “Sir, you have as many children as Jacob!” And he replied, “Yes, and I have Jacob’s God to provide for them.”
Congregation, Psalm 127 is a building code given to us by our Covenant God. It is a warning not to ignore God and His word. It is a call to believe in Jesus as Saviour and Lord. It is a call to prayer and to family worship and to participation in the life of a congregation. And it is a reminder that every blessing from God is an underserved blessing. So praise God for this Psalm of Solomon. May the Lord bless Elu and Ruth as they raise Tanielu and Solomon and may He build up all our families so that we may be a blessing in our society as we look to honour the Lord t