This is another song of ascents sung by the pilgrims on their way up to Jerusalem — as well as dur­ing their stay in the city. It’s the 8^th psalm of ascents — and thus sits at the centre and heart of this mini psalter. I wonder if that’s significant. Perhaps, both by position and theme it’s stressing the point that if our lives are to be worthwhile and meaningful, the Lord must be at the centre and heart of all our activities. Without the Lord everything is pointless.

The psalmist (Solomon) singles out three or four activities that consumes so much of our time.

He talks about building a house: ‘Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain’ (1a). There’s a lot of work and hassle involved in building a house. There are architects plans, planning applications, builders and tradesmen to organise, materials to be ordered, delay in materials, not to speak of the financial transactions.

He talks about security: ‘Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain’ (1b). A house must be protected. It needs a fence and a security system. A city too must be protected; it needs a police force and security cameras. A country must to be protected; it needs an army, a navy and an air force.

He talks about work: ‘It is vain that you rise up early and go late to rest’ (2a). For most of us work fills much of our waking hours.

He talks about raising a family: ‘Behold children are a heritage from the Lord’ (3-5). Any mother can testify that it’s a full time and most demanding job.

This psalm then is about the bread and butter of living. It talks about ordinary things. Even in these basic things there is a right and wrong approach, as we will see.

1. The Barrenness of Life When the Lord is Left Out (1-3)⤒🔗

‘Unless the Lord builds the house’, unless He is at the centre of our lives and activities everything is restless, pointless and fruitless. It is ‘vain.’ (Heb. ‘shaw’ occurs three times).

Alec Motyer comments, ‘It means nothing/nothingness. In this case (in verse 1a) the house gets built but it achieves nothing — it has no intrinsic worth. It doesn’t have any lasting significance. All the hassle; the work; the expendi­ture resulted in a house; but not an achievement of worth. It turned out to be a nothing’. As is often our experience in life — the expectation is often better than the reality. When we get our new house (we think) we will have achieved the great Australian dream; we will be satisfied. But are we? No. There is often a sense of disappoint­ment. There is no perfect house. Besides we will always see oth­ers with bigger and better houses than ours. The lesson we never quite learn is that possessions: things: stuff never ultimately sat­isfy.

Unless the LORD builds the house those who build it labour in vain. We can build houses without the Lord — of course we can. We can live our lives without the Lord — of course we can. But it is pointless, vain, meaningless, futile, a waste. Life is barren when the Lord is left out. He needs to be at the centre of our lives. Everything we do must be done in the strength of the Lord and for Him if we are to have a worthwhile life.

The same is true on the security front. If the Lord is left out it is vain. ‘Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain’ (1b). Of course the watchman needs to be alert and vigilant. Of course we should expect our security forces to be professionally trained; we should have the latest military hardware fitted with state of the art technology; but if the Lord is not on our side it is vain; if the Lord is not with us even though we have a dozen shiny new submarines; it will end in tears. The psalmist (David) knew the lesson well. He said, ‘Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God’ (Psalm 20:7-8).

The same is true in the work world. ‘It is vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil’ (2). It is vain to burn the can­dle at both ends; to work 24/7; to be successful and prosperous if the Lord is not the raison d’être. The result of such a life is that we eat ‘the bread of anxious toil’. (The Hebrew word is ‘tsabbim’ which means ‘pains’ — hence toil and sorrow — cf. Gen. 3:16-17). The rich fool is such an example. He built his highly successful life without God. He planned as he had lived. He left the Lord out of his life. That was the cause of his condemnation (Luke 12:18-20). Life apart from the Lord is pointless. Life without the Lord lacks meaning and purpose and direc­tion. What does a lifetime of work achieve? Perhaps a gold watch; a clock; or a recliner?

Tony Hancock was a very fine comedian in the 1950s and 60s. In his last BBC TV monologue, he performed a piece which proved ironic. ‘What have you achieved? What have you achieved? You lost your chance, me old son. You contributed absolutely nothing to this life. A waste of time you being here at all. No place for you in Westminster Abbey. The best you can expect is a few daffodils in a jam jar and a black stone bearing the legend, “He came, and he went”. And in between? Nothing. Nobody will even notice you’re not here. After about a year somebody might say down at the pub, “Where’s old Hancock? I haven’t seen him around lately?” “Oh, he’s dead you know”. “Is he?” A right raison d’être that is’. Tragically a couple of years after that final TV show Tony Hancock committed suicide. A man, sadly, for whom life was vain, pointless and hopeless. Life is barren when the Lord is left out.

2. The Blessing of Life When the Lord is at the Centre (2c-5)←⤒🔗

This is a picture of life with God at the centre. Life has now a different perspective. It’s a happy and peaceful scene of a family and society at peace with God.

‘The Lord blesses his beloved with sleep’ (2c). He draws a contrast with the overworked and overstressed godless de­scribed in verse 2a – with the rest and peace that the Lord gives the godly. It’s not only that He gives us sleep. But He continues to provide for us even while we are asleep. NASB translates, ‘For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep’. We can sleep well, when we know that the One who is in complete charge of history also loves us.

‘Behold (i.e. look at it this way) children are a heritage from the Lord’. That’s how we should see children. They are not little hindrances or nuisances. They are a precious gift from God. They are a heritage from the Lord — unearned. We didn’t create them. The Lord did. The psalmist David says, ‘My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret intricately woven in the depths of the earth’ (Psalm 139:15). It is the Lord who gives conception. It’s not automatic. The Lord opened Leah’s womb (Gen. 29:31) whereas Rachel could not conceive. Hagar conceived but Sarah could not. Conception should never be taken for granted or presumed. I have often heard single’s say ‘when I get married we will have six children’! How presumptuous. Children are a gift from the Lord. Not every couple is able to have children. That doesn’t mean that they are somehow being punished. No. The Lord’s sovereignty must be recognised.

Not only are children an inheritance from the Lord; they are also like arrows that need to be trained and sharpened (4). It is emphatically not a Christian duty to let a child ‘make up its own mind’ without first praying, informing, guiding and encouraging him. Chris­tian parents have promised to pray that their children may be renewed and brought to a saving knowledge of the Gospel; and that they may come to know the Scriptures, and the importance of dedicating himself or herself to God. Dedicating our children to God is the only way to keep them and shape them. Such children will be like arrows. They will protect and promote the reputation of His people against the enemy. Like arrows children are expected to provide protec­tion in time of trouble and old age. Someone has said, ‘children are the Lord’s healthcare and eldercare plan.’ There is no expiry date on the fifth commandment.

What about those children who are not (yet) like arrows? I find the comments of Derek Kidner immensely helpful and encouraging, ‘It’s not untypical of God’s gifts that first they are liabilities, or at least responsibili­ties, before they become obvi­ous assets ... these sons will be a handful before they are a quiverful’.

Maclaren’s final comment on the Psalm is helpful:

‘There are two ways of going to work in reference to earthly good. One is that of struggling and toiling, pushing and snatching, fighting and envying, and that way comes to no successful issue; for if it gets what it has wriggled and wrestled for, it generally gets in some way or other an incapacity to enjoy the good won, which makes it far less than the good pursued. The other way is the way of looking to God and doing the appointed tasks with quiet dependence on Him, and that way always suc­ceeds; for, with its modest or large outward results, there is given likewise a quiet heart set on God, and therefore capable of finding water in the desert and extracting honey from the rock’.

3. The Building that the Lord is Blessing←⤒🔗

This is a song of Solomon (together with Psalm 72). He was the most successful man of his generation. Yet he failed in the things that he here emphasised. Part of his building plan was over the top (1 Kings 9:10, 15-19). His 700 wives and 300 concubines turned his heart away after other gods (1 Kings 11:1-6). His king­dom ended in division (1 Kings 11:4-13). His reign ended in failure. Should we then scrap this psalm as mere hypocrisy or idealism? No. It’s prophecy. Remember Solomon had a ‘greater Son’ (See Psalm 89:20-29). The Lord permitted Solomon to build a house (temple) for God. But the Lord was going to build a household, a dynasty, which unlike the temple, will last forever (2 Sam. 7:12-16). Jesus is the foundation of that house. Because neither sin nor death could destroy Him, His kingdom shall be made sure forever. Because He lives it makes everything we do worthwhile, whether its building a house, protecting a city or raising a family. ‘Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain’ (1 Cor. 15:58).

Prayer:←⤒🔗

Eternal and Almighty God, your providence conducts and governs all creatures in this world. Grant that we will not embark on any activity but what is agreeable and pleasing to your will. May we wholly depend on your blessing, and that our only concern may be that you will be glorified in us and in our descendants, through Jesus Christ, your Son. Amen.