Sermon Tone Analysis

psalm

Psalm, Didactic — (OT) A psalm designed to give guidance or instruction to an individual or group.

The Involvement of the Lord in Life (127:1–2)

the psalm explains the necessity of God’s involvement in human life by alluding to two spheres of it: the home and the city.

To live one’s life apart from the involvement of God would be to run the risk of engaging in activity that, in the end, proves unsuccessful and meaningless.

Verses 1a and 1b begin with ’im YHWH lo’ (“Unless the LORD …”), followed by an imperfect verb (“to build,” “to guard”) in the first half of the line.

Normally, an ’im lo’ (“if … not”) construction appears in oaths or oathlike statements with the intent of expressing an affirmative declaration.

For example, in Jeremiah 15:11 Yahweh exclaims, “Surely [’im lo’] I will deliver you for a good purpose.”

In Psalm 127, however, the use of ’im lo’ funtions differently.

Much

​ NLTUnless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted.

Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good.

It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat;

Unless the LORD builds the house.

The word “house” (bayit) occurs more than two thousand times in the Old Testament and, similarly to its use in English, the Hebrew term covers a wide range of meanings.

The term bayit, in its most basic sense, can refer to a home or a family dwelling (cf.

Gen 44:14), or more symbolically to the household in general (cf.

Gen 45:11), to a family line (Exod 6:14), or to a dynasty (cf. 2 Sam 7:16)

The psalmist, however, is not assessing a value on building a house or guarding a city; rather, the psalmist is claiming that the success of such work is contingent on whether God is involved in the activity.

If God is not involved, such activity remains deceptive, delusional, and ultimately unsuccessful.

The verse opens literally, “it is vanity to you,” followed by three participial phrases meant to describe the person the psalmist has in mind: those who “rise early,” those who “stay up late,” and those “toiling for food to eat.”

The first two participial phrases function as time markers that signal a long work day.

He grants sleep to those he loves.

The first three clauses of verse 2 recount the harried activity of humans attempting to secure their own lives.

He grants sleep to those he loves.

The first three clauses of verse 2 recount the harried activity of humans attempting to secure their own lives.

In verse 2 he confesses that the toilsome life depicted in the first three lines of the verse likewise is vain or useless; it does not secure one’s life.

The psalmist does not dismiss the value of hard work, only the assumption that hard work is all one needs to succeed

in verse 1 the psalmist reminds the reader that God’s involvement in human life is what leads to success and satisfaction.

The claim that God grants sleep to his beloved ones means that human beings “can afford to relax and sleep because Yhwh continues to be active.”

Human effort alone is not sufficient to create a meaningful life, but when divine involvement intersects with human effort, the fear of a vain and useless (shawe’) life is erased.

Children are a Heritage from the Lord (127:3–5)

in verse 1 the psalmist reminds the reader that God’s involvement in human life is what leads to success and satisfaction.

The claim that God grants sleep to his beloved ones means that human beings “can afford to relax and sleep because Yhwh continues to be active.”

Human effort alone is not sufficient to create a meaningful life, but when divine involvement intersects with human effort, the fear of a vain and useless (shawe’) life is erased.

Beginning in verse 3 the psalm shifts to a different subject matter.

This shift is evident in the use of the particle hinneh, a term meant to signal the start of a new stanza or pericope.

Not all English translations opt to translate the term, however.

The NIV and NRSV, for example, do not supply a corresponding term in English, while the NASB and ESV render the term as “Behold.”

The Hebrew word nahalah, often translated as “heritage” or “inheritance,” typically refers to the land given to Israel by Yahweh.

The term appears repeatedly in the book of Joshua (50×) with reference to the land apportioned among the tribes (e.g., Josh 14:9, 13; 15:20; 16:5).

Although the land belongs to God, he apportions it to his people, thereby securing their future.

The psalmist makes a similar move in declaring that children are the nahalah of Yahweh.

Children are a free gift from God, even as the land was, and as similarly with the land, children secure the future of God’s people.

In Psalm 127:3b the psalmist explains that children are a reward from God—they are valuable.

Although the word tsakar can mean “wages,” the meaning should not be taken literally

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior.

The gate was the place of public assembly but also the location for business and commercial activity, as well as the location for settling legal disputes.

The psalmist explains that although the gate holds the potential for injustice and false accusations, the blessed man and his quiver full of children will thwart any forms of injustice or abuse attempted by his enemies.

The language and imagery of the psalm considers this theme in the light of events associated with everyday life: building, protecting, working, and even procreating.

In the first strophe of Psalm 127 humans are referred to as builders, guards, and laborers; yet, despite their dedicated efforts, vigilent attention, and exhausting toil, none of their actions ensure success.

Worse yet, all of them remain vain (shawe’) unless God is involved.

In verse 2d, however, the psalmist reminds us that, because God is involved, he gives sleep to his beloved.

Psalm 127 provides Christians in the twenty-first century with a powerful corrective concerning our own abilities to “make something of ourselves.”

Those of us who live in the United States are well acquainted with the rhetoric of the “American dream.”

James Truslow Adams in his 1931 book The Epic of America.

In that volume Adams contends that, because of this dream, “each man and woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are.”21

There is an inherent assumption in this claim that is thoroughly anthropocentric.

David Platt suggests, the American dream teaches us that “our greatest asset is our own ability.”

Out of this belief, we may fall prey to two lines of thought, neither of which is life giving.

Prior to the invention of electricity, most of our ancestors lived according to the rhythm of the day.

So long as there was sunlight, they would work.

As the day ebbed into evening and transitioned to night, their work slowed and finally came to a halt.

Some may have worked by candlelight or lantern for a time, but because these were precious commodities they too were held in reserve.

Because our computers travel with us and artificial light is always available, we now can work late into the evening and through the night—darkness never falls upon us.

Cell phones allow us to remain on call and accessible 24/7.

And worse yet, this capacity to work continuously has become a source of pride for us.

We assume that we “will attain to the fullest stature of that which we are innately capable,” to borrow from James Truslow Adams, if we not only work hard but work even harder than that.

Yet as Eugene Peterson admonishes, “Relentless, compulsive work habits (‘the bread of anxious toil’) which our society rewards and admires are seen as a sign of weak faith and assertive pride, as if God could not be trusted to accomplish his will, as if we could rearrange the universe by our own effort.”

Psalm 127 invites us to reconsider our lives and the work that has been placed in our hands.

We are invited to depend on God and not on ourselves.

Surely the God who “stretches out the heavens like a canopy” (Isa 40:22) is worthy of our trust.

So long as we depend on ourselves, we are resigned to eating the “bread of anxious toil.”

Second, Psalm 127 goes so far as to suggest that unless God is part of our work, or perhaps better stated, unless we are part of God’s work, our efforts are in vain.

In John 15:5 Jesus instructs his disciples, “I am the vine; you are the branches.

If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

In our own hubris and out of our own sense of self-reliance, we may become convinced that we, in fact, are the vines—that all life springs from us.

But such thinking is misguided and an affront to the work of God in the world.

As a reminder of God’s work in the world, the psalmist refers to children in the second half of Psalm 127.

If ever humans could look at something and declare, “We made that,” surely that would be the case with children.

We could assume that we, in fact, are the vines—and that all life, especially the life of our children, springs from us.

And yet … the psalmist confesses that children are “from the LORD” and “from him” (v.

3).

When one watches the birth of his or her own child, one becomes keenly aware that this work is much bigger than either the husband or the wife, and even the two together.

In some way that cannot be explained, God has invited human beings into his ongoing creative work in the world.

He has allowed the branches to experience something of what the Vine already knows.

And in those moments, our hubris and self-reliance should give way to utter humility.