Psalm 127
1 Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
so he gives to his beloved sleep.3 Lo, sons are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the sons of one’s youth.
5 Happy is the man who has
his quiver full of them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
All human “houses”—families, royal families, religious communities, cities, nations—are ultimately dependent on the unseen providential presence and activity of God.
Many of us tend to get anxious about the responsibilities we may have in any one of these areas. We diligently work to “build the house” and watch protectively over it. But even in church life we can go about our tasks as if it all depends on us. In my experience workaholism is endemic to church life, and verse 2 is its sad definition: rising up early and going late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil. We often behave individually and in committees and meetings as if God is simply an absent landlord and not the ever-present master builder and all-seeing watchman. The Tower of Babel is an instructive warning here (Genesis 11:4-9).
And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name…
And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men were building. And the Lord said, “Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to building the city.
God does require our creative, energetic and zealous labor, but the final results of our best work—whether success or failure—are a gift that reflect His providential assessment of what’s needed at the time. Indeed, there is nothing that we may deem as “failure” that God can’t use as raw material for our good and the good of all our “houses.” As St Paul wrote, “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28).
Incidentally, the reference to the “gate” in the last verse is not about military forces attacking a city but to legal opponents, since business and legal matters were handled openly near the main city gate. Having “a quiver full” of grown sons could be very helpful in disputes, and not just as a sign of God’s blessing and reward.
Update
After catching up on office matters Tuesday and Wednesday (the officers met with His Beatitude to go over a number of issues related to OCA finances and planning for the All American Council for example), later today I’ll be going to St Tikhon’s Seminary in South Canaan, PA for a regular meeting of the STS Board.