"The Lord's Heritage" Psalm 127

“1 Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. 2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. 3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. 4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. 5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.” (Ps 127:1-5 AV)

There are two major mistakes, horrible sins committed by godless men. They are so commonplace that we sometimes think that they are virtues and we become ensnared by them, not only by the influence of others but by the wickedness of our own hearts. The first one is to think that good things happen to us because of our diligence and labor; the other follows hard upon the first, we are not thankful to God for our blessings.

This Psalm cures both of these fatal diseases of the mind, if we believe and take the medicine of good and sound doctrine. Let us consider both of these things this morning.

I. The Lord’s blessing must be upon every one of our endeavors if they are to be successful: vs. 1-3.

A. The word “house” can be taken both concretely, but more common in Scripture, it is taken figuratively

1. Men build houses to live in, and their houses reflect their personality and their creativity. There is therefore great variety, size, color, etc. We do not live in holes or trees or in the brush like the animals but houses of all sizes and splendor have been erected as dwelling places for men.

2. In the figurative sense, it can be any physical, religious, social, economic or political structure—these are also erected in great variety. Families are called houses; the house of Rockefeller could mean the family, the banking enterprises, etc. Temples and churches are called houses for God.

3. In this passage the word house has the broadest meaning: any human endeavor, if it come to fruit, is the work of God. If not, it will be in vain, no matter how much effort and skill and device and plotting are put into it.

4. This is why everything that is not built upon truth and integrity will ultimately come to ruin, no matter how promising the start.

B. We could find no end of instruction in the Scriptures concerning this truth, but I will confine myself to two passages:

1. Isaiah 54: 11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. 12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. 13 And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children. 14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee. 15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. 16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. 17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

a) God’s people are build a great house unto the Lord and it is a most magnificent one.

b) The education of the children of God is of the Lord and no fear shall come near them.

c) In spite of conspiracies and slander against them, none of it shall stick.

d) God is the creator of all, even the tools that the ungodly think to use against the people of the Lord—but all of it will come to nothing.

2. Matthew 7: 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. 28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: 29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

a) The parable of the wise and foolish man must be taken in context of the “therefore” of verse 24, for it illustrates what went before. How different from Moses, who do this law and live; Jesus said, “Do my words and live.” Words of authority.

b) The works of man that are not also claimed by Christ are worth nothing and come to nothing. Nothing that man does can be approved of God unless it be done in faith, which is the true meaning of “in the name.”

c) Both unbelief and faith bring forth works, but the works of unbelief are not approved and come to nothing. Jesus is not faulting the manner of the work but the foundation upon which it is built.

d) It doesn’t matter how energetically you work to build your house, or your business, or your work, or your family—it will come to nothing if you do not build upon obedience to Jesus Christ.

3. I will repeat the first part of our Psalm to emphasize this. “Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. 2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.”

4. This is the true Sabbath, that every day of our life, we rest in Him for all our work, and work in this rest, sleep at night in trust and faith, gather with the people of God on the First Day of the week to be thankful and to learn the word of God, to offer our tithes and offerings of thanksgiving, to pray and praise the Name of the Lord, for in this we acknowledge His blessing to be the source of all good things.

C. This is the first horrible sin: works of unbelief and thinking to build without the blessing of God.

II. The Second horrible sin flows out of the first horrible sin. Thanklessness, illustrated by the most basic illustration.

A. Of all God’s blessings, the procreation of offspring is His most blessed gift. He says it plainly.

1. This most horrible sin is every manifest in our present world and ought to fill us with horror.

2. This horror is manifest by the abortion of children, as inconveniences and nuisances to our pleasures and lusts and worldly desires. Men and women would rather have fancy cars, fancy homes, expensive electronic toys and children get in the way of these things.

B. Hear again the word of God in this: the illustration of a thankless heart: the last half of our Psalm: 3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

C. Let us take these verses one at a time:

1. Lo, Children are a heritage of the Lord: and fruit of the womb is his reward.

a) LO –pay attention you selfish, selfcentered, pleasure-loving bags of vanity. A child is a gift from God; not a toy to be played with and abandoned; not a punching bag to relieve your aggressions; Some people spend more time tending their dogs and their cars and their clothes than they do their children. Look around you: your children are your treasures and the wonderful gift of God.

b) They are your house. The most important building that God has given you. The reward will be immense if you will take the effort.

2. How powerful are the arrows in the hands of a great man of war; what a great terror was the quiver filled with arrows that he carried on his back and one by one loosed on the enemies of his god and country.

a) So too are the children of the godly, who have been brought up on the ways of the Lord and in the knowledge of God.

b) If you teach, if you pray, if you chasten and correct, if you education, you labor will not be in vain; God will own your work as His own and you will be blessed indeed in your children./DL>

3. They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

a) Your family and your house will be your best defense against those who rise against you.

b) This is the reason why the major point of attack is against the family of the faithful minister and against all the godly. Of course there will be vulnerabilities, but God will bless you in spite of them and all the charges will be destroyed and showed to be vanity.

(1) Gate: this is where the court cases were heard. Complaints could be brought before the judges who held their courts there.

(2) Your children will vindicate you and reward your efforts.

c) If not in the short term, then in the long term.

(1) Jacob’s family seemed to be in disarray; and even as late as Malachi, Israel was saying it is in vain to serve the Lord.

(2) But Messiah did come and Israel did bless the world in Him for the promise of God is to a thousand generation of those that fear him. Who knows the blessing to the world that your faithful prayers with your children, your loving correction, your diligent education, and your thankfulness and treasuring of them will have in the centuries that stretch before you.

(3) The curse was upon the third or fourth generation, but the blessing is to a thousand generation. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

4. Be not weary in well doing, for in due season you shall reap, if you faint not. I would not deceive you, children can be wearying and the labor of love can be costly, but the reward is great when the harvest comes.

God bless you.
Amen and Amen