Psalm 127 - The Antidote to Inconsequentiality

Chad Werkhoven
Sep 26
4 min read

Nobody wants their work to be inconsequential. Find out how to make your life count.

Psalm 127

A song of ascents. Of Solomon.

¹Unless the Lord builds the house,

the builders labor in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city,

the guards stand watch in vain.

²In vain you rise early

and stay up late,

toiling for food to eat—

for he grants sleep to those he loves.

³Children are a heritage from the Lord,

offspring a reward from him.

⁴Like arrows in the hands of a warrior

are children born in one’s youth.

⁵Blessed is the man

whose quiver is full of them.

They will not be put to shame

when they contend with their opponents in court.

Canons of Dordt

Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election

Point 2 - Limited Atonement

Point 3 - Total Depravity

Point 4 - Irresistible Grace

Article 17: God’s Use of Means in Regeneration

Just as the almighty work by which God brings forth and sustains our natural life
1. does not rule out
2. but requires the use
  1. of means,
  2. by which God, according to his infinite wisdom and goodness, has wished to exercise that divine power,
3. so also the aforementioned supernatural work by which God regenerates us
  1. in no way rules out or cancels the use of the gospel,
  2. which God in great wisdom has appointed to be
    1. the seed of regeneration
    2. and the food of the soul.
For this reason, the apostles and the teachers who followed them taught the people in a godly manner about this grace of God,
1. to give God the glory and to humble all pride,
2. and yet did not neglect meanwhile to keep the people,
  1. by means of the holy admonitions of the gospel,
  2. under the administration of the Word, the sacraments, and discipline.
3. So even today it is out of the question that the teachers or those taught in the church
  1. should presume to test God by separating what God in his good pleasure has wished to be closely joined together.
  2. For grace is bestowed through admonitions,
    1. and the more readily we perform our duty,
    2. the more lustrous the benefit of God working in us usually is,
    3. and the better that work advances.
To God alone,
1. both for the means and for their saving fruit and effectiveness,
2. all glory is owed forever. Amen.

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Summary

The primary theme of this week's psalm is a word that's doesn't appear in it: Shalom. Shalom is the peace that comes when everything is the way it's supposed to be, when you have both earthly prosperity and spiritual fellowship with your heavenly Father.

But even though our psalm today doesn't use the word shalom, we can be confident that it is the theme, because of the psalms that surround it: the psalms of assent. As we've already seen this year, these are the songs the Israelites would sing as they ascended up the hill to the temple in Jerusalem. These psalms are saturated with the expressed desire to experience the shalom that only comes from being in God's presence.

Psalm 127 accentuates shalom by unpacking its opposite: living in vain. Builders labor in vain if the house is not built in the LORD. Guards stand watch in vain unless the LORD watches over the city. Those who rise early and stay up late toiling for food do so in vain when they labor without God's blessing. Literally translated, this vanity means worthless, futile, inconsequential. Isn't sad to think that so many people are working so hard just to build an inconsequential life?

Mark Futato, whose commentary on the Psalms has been so helpful for us this year, describes the antidote to this futility:

The alternative is to be vigorously engaged in all of life’s activities out of faith in God and in keeping with his principles. Then our hard work will be accompanied not by anxiety but by a sleeplike tranquility. We can do our very best, leaving the outcome in God’s hands and experiencing sleep at night as one part of the shalom we experience throughout the day. God’s will is this: “Whatever you do, do well” (Eccl 9:10; see 1 Cor 10:31) and “My righteous ones will live by faith” (Heb 10:38).

Dig Deeper

The second stanza of our Psalm today goes on to extol the value of children. Certainly many of us have come to realize the blessings our children bring, and how they are so often a reward from the LORD. But Solomon's beautiful song isn't just referring to your physical offspring, but metaphorically refers to actions you take which give evidence of your salvation.

The Apostle Paul speaks of these 'children' when he instructs you to, "continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose" (Philippians 2:12-13). Your good works, done out of gratitude to God for the free grace He's given you, then becomes, as Solomon puts it, a heritage from the LORD.

Futato goes on to conclude,

The central teaching of this psalm, applicable to both body and spirit, is that when we turn away from self-sufficiency and replace it with a faith in God that lives out his principles, our activities are not useless but are fruitful—they produce the desired result of shalom. They are fruitful because God is at work in them and through them.

AAA Prayer (About)

ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who builds our house, watches over our city, and grants shalom to those He loves;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Ask your Father each day to grant you what you need both spiritually and physically for this day so that you'll experience His shalom;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: