Psalm 127 Unless the Lord… Dennis Mock

November 29, 2009

Occasionally in one of the short psalms a universal truth is taught. Psalm 127 is one of
those. It was cited after the birth of a child. It is also a Psalm of Solomon and a Psalm of
ascents. It has especially caught the attention of families because of its statement that
children are a gift of the Lord. We will also read Psalm 128 because they are a pair,
which go together.

We will talk about how this Psalm illustrates its key truth in four key areas of life. The
principle is: It is utterly futile to engage in any human enterprise without the
Lord’s enablement. God cannot achieve his best for us unless He enables and blesses
what we do.
– We will struggle with this concept if our view of humanity or ourselves is too high.

Read Psalm 127-128

– Notice v. 1,2 and 4 of 128 – God’s enablement and blessing comes to those who:
○ Fear Him – living in reverential fear and awe of Him.
○ Walk in His ways – Living in obedience to His Word.
○ God is not free to bless without these.
– 127: 2 – It is folly to rely on ourselves and our own industry.
○ What God has enabled He will bless.
– The focus in this context is that children are a blessing.
○ You can have a family unit without children and you can be blessed by the
Lord without children or being married for that matter.

Four Illustrations:
1. The Family environment (1a)
a. House can be translated as: House, dynasty, temple, household, etc.
b. The idea is depending on God for the establishment and blessing of a family.
c. Errors:
i. Establishing a family without regard to God and His guidelines.
d. How do you know you are building a household according to God’s
guidelines?
i.Ephesians 5:21-25, 33; 6:1-4
1. Submit to one another
2. Wives submit to husbands.
3. (28) Husbands love wives. Wives respect husbands.
4. (6:1-4) Children obey, Fathers do not exasperate.
5. If these things are true and you are relying on the Lord for these
things then the Lord is building your house.
6. Christ must be the head and the center.
e. God will bless if we depend on Him and operate according to His principles.
f. If we don’t then there will be strife and disfunctionality.
2. The Business Environment – (1b)
a. There must be an absolute reliance on the Lord for wisdom, insight, and
discernment.
b. The watchmen not enabled by the Lord will not be effective.
c. We rely on experience, education and expertise but without the Lord’s
enablement they will not lead to success.
 d. The danger is to operate in the secular realm without taking into account the
Lord’s sovereignty and principles.
e. God wants us to focus on His principles and precepts.
f. A balance sheet in the black means nothing from God’s perspective.
i. ILL: The collapse of Dubai World recently is a prime example. It was
raised as an example of what man could accomplish yet it has failed
because of faulty principles, hubris and lack of God blessing it.
g. James 4:13-17 – James focuses on the sovereignty of God. We do not know
what is coming tomorrow. Long range planning should include the term “If
the Lord wills”.
i. If we think we are in control of our circumstances then we are foolish
and vain.
ii.We must watch out for selfish motives where we boast and brag about
what we have achieved.
h. The ultimate danger is that our business becomes simply activity with no
long-term impact or value. If we are just working for our physical needs to be
met then that is not enough from God’s perspective.
3. The Personal Environment (2)
a. In vain you rise early and stay up late for God provides sleep to those He
loves.
b. 110% given, pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps, without calling on
the Lord is what is being talked about here.
c. The danger is trying to accomplish life’s agenda by human effort alone.
i. Our effort is required but only in God’s enablement.
ii.Self-effort, self-dependence, own wisdom, own insight. All these are in
vain.
d. In the context of Matt. 6 it is not in vain. If we seek first His Kingdom and His
righteousness.
e. ILL: We give each other awards for human achievement but ultimately they
mean nothing.
f. … for He grants sleep to those He loves.
i. It takes absolutely no effort or toil on God’s part to give us rest in
sleep. God provides for and ministers to us in our sleep.
ii.God never grows wear or tired. Nor does He sleep or slumber. Our
need to sleep shows our weakness and reliance on Him.
g. Colossians 1:29 – To this end I labor, struggling with His energy,
which so powerfully works in me.
i. Paul is talking in context about the purpose of the Church.
ii.The term used here is that of a common laborer.
iii.Paul knows that as he labors God is working through him.
h. God gives spiritual energy and vitality to what we do. WE can work as hard
as we want but it is in vain if the Lord is not in it.
i. Jesus said: Apart from me you can do nothing.
j. Without Him we will simply burn out.
k. Look at Psalm 3:5 and 4:8
4. The Social/Relational Environment – (3-5)
a. Children were a sign of God’s blessing because they helped in work and were
protectors of their father.
b. The danger is in relating to others pridefully and with our own interests in
mind rather than theirs.
i. Without God’s perspective we will treat others with contempt.
 c. Philippians 2:2-3
i. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit.
d. Romans 12:14-21 – We should not operate with regards to others, even our
enemies, in order to gain advantage or to seek revenge. We should meet
their needs.
i. Jesus related mostly to the social outcasts of His day.
e. Some relationships are certainly challenging. We can approach them one of
two ways; In our own strength and agenda or with God’s.

Unless the Lord . . . enables us . . . it is all in vain!

– Even if we do the very best it is possible to do humanly speaking we are still a
failure if we left God out.
– Remember it is the person who fears the Lord and walks in His ways that prospers.
Take the phrase, “Unless the Lord . . .” and fill in the blanks with as many things from
your life and circumstances as you can.