{"id":8517,"date":"2023-09-28T17:19:07","date_gmt":"2023-09-28T23:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=8517"},"modified":"2023-09-28T17:19:23","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T23:19:23","slug":"psalm-127","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=8517","title":{"rendered":"Psalm 127"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

1 <\/span>Unless the Lord<\/span> builds the house,<\/span><\/span><\/em>
\nThey labor in vain who build it;<\/span><\/em>
\nUnless the Lord<\/span> guards the city,<\/span><\/em>
\nThe watchman stays awake in vain.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

2 <\/sup>It is vain for you to rise up early,<\/span><\/em>
\nTo sit up late,<\/span><\/em>
\nTo eat the bread of sorrows;<\/span><\/em>
\nFor so He gives His beloved sleep.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n
\n

3\u00a0<\/sup>Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord<\/span>,<\/span><\/em>
\nThe fruit of the womb is a reward.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

4 <\/sup>Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,<\/span><\/em>
\nSo are the children of one\u2019s youth.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

5 <\/sup>Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;<\/span><\/em>
\nThey shall not be ashamed,<\/span><\/em>
\nBut shall speak with their enemies in the gate.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

Some people believe this psalm was originally written as two separate poems (vs.1-2 and vs.3-5) that were stuck together at a later date. I don’t have any reason to think that’s true, but it does read that way. The connection, as I see it, is that three endeavors\u2014building a house\/family, working for a living, and raising children\u2014will be unfruitful and unsatisfying if not done according to God’s will.<\/h3>\n

The notion of the utter vanity of living life apart from God is emphasized by the three-fold repetition of the key Hebrew term sh?v’ (“in vain,” “vanity”) in verses 1-2a, the notion of “three” signifying utmost degree or emphasis). \u2014 Wechsler, pages 303-305.<\/span><\/h3>\n

__________<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

While this opening section [v.1] clearly affirms, on the one hand, the general principle of “including” God in one’s decision of when, where and how to build one’s “house” (the structure and the family that fills it), it should also be taken as referring specifically to God’s involvement in the establishment and building of the Temple<\/em> and Jerusalem<\/em> considering (1) the attribution of this psalm to Solomon, who both built the Temple and<\/em> established Jerusalem (uniquely in his time) as the greatest capital city of any kingdom on earth (to which “all the earth” came to seek Solomon’s presence: 1 Kings 10:23), (2) the exilic and\/or pilgrimage venue of this psalm, which implies a natural focus on Jerusalem and the Temple, and (3) that in fact the only “house” and the only “city” of which Scripture emphasizes God’s direct involvement in their establishment and building is the Temple and Jerusalem. \u2014 Wechsler, page 304.<\/span><\/h3>\n

__________<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In this verse [v.2] Solomon affirms the same principle as in Proverbs 10:22\u2014that any labor undertaken to meet one’s needs, no matter how industrious, if undertaken in a manner and for a purpose inconsistent with God’s Word, will in the end be unsatisfying<\/em> (i.e., vanity), whereas any work undertaken with God continually in view (i.e., consistent with His Word and with a view to His glory), will be satisfying to the worker and pleasing to God. The specific application of this principle to Solomon himself is implied by the reference to “His beloved,” alluding to the name given to Solomon at birth by God (i.e., Jedediah; see 2 Samuel 12:25). \u2014 Wechsler, pages 304-305.<\/span><\/h3>\n

__________<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The point of this section [vs.3-5] is that, if God does give one children, they are to be viewed first and foremost as the inheritance (or “property”0 of the Lord, which inheritance He has in turn entrusted to human parents for proper care and nurture, both physical as well as spiritual. Quite apropos is the following comparison of children (generic, adopted, or even “parenting” immature Christians, see 1 Corinthians 7:7<\/span><\/a>), to arrows in the hand of a warrior\u2014for like arrows, depending on how they are shaped, drawn, and aimed, they may either miss the intending target (the Hebrew word for an arrow “missing” being the same as the common word for “sinning”) or hit it on the bullseye. \u2014 Wechsler, pages 305-306.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Williams’ take (which here seems like maybe a reach …):<\/h3>\n

The argument of verse 2 is that God gives to His loved-one, in sleep, treasures that men toil for early and late in vain. Thus He gave to Adam, when sleeping, a bride, to Abraham a covenant, to Jacob a promise, to Solomon wisdom, and to Daniel the substance and interpretation of the dream which the Chaldean magicians toiled in vain to discover. “His Beloved” is singular in the Hebrew text. Solomon’s name was Jedediah, i.e., Beloved of Jehovah. This song is “for Solomon” i.e., relating to Solomon, that is, the true Solomon, Messiah. He is God’s Beloved One; and to Him when sleeping in death He gave a “House” even sons, a seed that will satisfy Him (Isaiah 53:10 and Hebrews 3:6<\/span><\/a>). …<\/span><\/h3>\n

God is building a spiritual house of sons. These sons, loved and energized by Him. In Hebrew the words “house” and “sons” are related; for a son is regarded as the builder of a house, i.e., of a family. \u2014 Williams, page 402.<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. 1 Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain. 2 It is vain for you to rise … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-psalms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8517"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8519,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8517\/revisions\/8519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}