December 3rdPsalm 127
God bless our work
Nisi Dominus Frustra
(The motto of the city of Edinburgh based on Psalm 127.1).
BUILDING THE HOUSE
This psalm is attributed to Solomon, builder of the first Temple in Jerusalem. So the word “house” takes on special meaning here. The people are on their way to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple, the house of the Lord. Solomon, and later the returning exiles, took great care to build the Temple as a beautiful place of worship. It was a stunningly impressive piece of architecture based on the original plans given to Israel in the Wilderness. And Israel took great pride in it.
Of course, we know even impressive Temples/cathedrals can become empty shells if the worship that goes on there is hypocritical or self-serving. Jeremiah would later rail against the worship in the Temple: the people worship God in the temple but all the while they allow the immigrant, the orphan, and the widow to suffer in their midst. There’s no justice or righteousness in the land. Judah’s corporate and covenant life is morally bankrupt and deserving of God’s judgment. To expose their vulnerability, Jeremiah preaches in the very place they think is most safe. The Temple/church is not merely a lucky charm (Jeremiah 7).
This is an important caution regarding our own houses of worship. “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” That is not to say that nothing good can come from our church building efforts, or that God’s Spirit is absent from it. But it is a solemn reminder that building the church is ultimately God’s work. Unless it is built solidly on the foundation of Jesus Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit through the Word, it is in vain.
ANXIOUS TOIL
Along with our building projects, the psalmist counsels against work that consumes our life so that accumulation and careerism come to rule our days, often at the expense of family or other relationships.
An old German proverb says: ‘God bestows his gifts during the
night.’ For we humans, task and blessing are of one piece.
We must work and watch. We must get up and go to
work, guard the city, and feed the baby at night. And yet!
Without the providential care of God, all this is simply ‘in vain.’
‘In vain’ is used three times in vs. 1-2. The Hebrew word sounds very like the word ‘shalom/peace’ but it is its direct opposite. There is no peace in a life filled with anxious toil.
But work can also be a blessing. It is not only prayer that gives God glory, but honest work. Building a coffee table, driving a freight truck, painting a portrait, preparing a Sunday school lesson, and the ordinary work of vacuuming, baking, doing the laundry – everything gives God some glory if you do it with joy. ‘God is so great that all things give him glory if you mean they should.’ (Gerard Manley Hopkins)
The only opportunity you will ever have to live by faith is in the circumstances you are provided this very day: this house you live in, this family you find yourself in, this job you have been given, the weather conditions that prevail at the …moment. [1]
For reflection:
God, bless the work your people do throughout each working day,
the contributions that they make, the talents they display.
God, bless the work your people do with minds and hands and hearts,
to benefit the common good, the sciences and arts.
For all who have no respite, God, from labour without ease,
for those for whom their work is filled with danger or disease,
for all who labour without gain, or have no rest this day,
for all who labour without hope, O God, we humbly pray.
We pray for those who cannot work, or seek for work in vain;
great God, we pray your mercy shall encourage them again!
We pray for those whose work is hard, on body, spirit, soul,
the underpaid, underemployed, who fill a vital role.
As You achieved creation’s work, then rested from your task,
God bless the work your people do, and call it good we ask!
Grant unto each a day designed for worship, joy, and rest;
a Sabbath time of holiness, in which they may be blessed. [2]
[1] Eugene Peterson - Run with the Horses: The Quest for Life at Its Best, 150]
[2] John Dallas, ‘God, bless the work your people do’ [VT 528]