Psalm 127

Psalm 127 : a Song of degrees : Luther comments :

1. Except the Lord build the house, they labour 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 a heritage from the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is His reward.

4. As arrows in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

5. Happy is the man that has his quiver full of them : they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

Luther's introduction...

"I selected this psalm because it so beautifully turns the heart away from covetousness and concern for temporal livelihood and possessions towards faith in God, and in a few words teaches us how Christians are to act with respect to the accumulation and ownership of the world's goods.....Solomon composed this psalm. Not only was he enlightened by the Holy Spirit, but as he daily exercised his administrative functions and mingled with the people, he learned from frequent experience how vainly unbelief burdens itself with worries about feeding the belly, when in fact everything depends on God's blessing and protection".

.....Martin Luther

1a. Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it :

First we must understand that "building the house" does not refer simply to the construction of walls and a roof, rooms and chambers, out of wood and stone.......Solomon's purpose is to describe a Christian marriage; he is instructing everyone how to conduct himself as a Christian husband and head of a household........Reason and the world think that married life and the making of a home ought to proceed as they intend; they try to determine things by their own decisions and actions, as if their work could take care of everything. To this Solomon says No! He points us instead to God and teaches us to seek and expect all such things from God........Again, some try to run the house and its servants smoothly, and it turns out they have nothing but 'misfortune'. And so it goes in the world; the strangest things happen...........

This passage alone should be enough to attract people to marriage, comfort all who are now married, and sap the strength of covetousness. Young people are scarred away from marriage when they see how strangely it turns out........As a result they fall into unchastity if they do not marry, and into covetousness and worry if they do.....But here is the needed consolation: let the Lord build the house and keep it, and do not encroach on His work; the concern for these matters is His, not yours......

We are not to understand from this that God forbids us to work. Man must and ought to work, ascribing the sustenance and fullness of his house, however, not to his own labour but solely to the goodness and blessing of God......For if you should till the soil faithfully for a hundred years and do all the work in the world, you couldn't bring forth from the earth a single stalk; but God without any of your labour, while you sleep, produces from that tiny kernel a stalk with as many kernels on it as He wills.

1b. except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain

In the first verse (line) he rebuked covetousness, worry, and unbelief in every household in particular. In this verse he does the same thing for the whole community. For a whole community is nothing other than many other households combined....

Now the blind world, because it does not know God and its work, concludes that it is owing to its own cleverness, reason, and strength that a community or dominion endures and thrives. Accordingly they gather together great treasures and stuff their coffers, construct mighty towers and walls, provide suits of armour and vast supplies of provisions, enact wise laws and conduct their affairs with courage and prudence. They just go ahead in their arrogance without even consulting God about any of it, like those who built the tower of Babel [Gen. 11 : 1-9].

Meanwhile God sits above and watches how cleverly and boldly the children of men proceed, and He causes the psalmist to sing in praise, "God brings the counsel of the nations to naught" [Ps. 33 : 10].....He allows such cities and dominions to arise and gain the ascendancy, for a little while. But before they can look around He strikes them down; and in general, the greater the kingdom, the sooner.....

If you will look at the history of the kingdoms of Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and all the rest, you will find there exactly what this verse says. All their splendor is nothing more than God's little puppet show......

Thus, by this verse Solomon would briefly instruct all kings, princes, councilmen, and everyone in authority how to conduct and maintain a good, peaceful, and blessed government which functions well. In the first place they should be watchful and diligent in their appointed duties......In the second place, he wants them in faith to entrust such watchful care to God and let Him worry about how the watching is to be done, so that they do not arrogantly presume that their own solicitude and diligence preserves the city, but are assured that God will preserve the city and protect the land and the people......

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.

This whole verse is directed against arrogance and anxiety, as if he were to say : it is futile for you to rise up early and go to bed late, and to think the more you labour the more you will have.... "Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a fatted ox and hatred with it" [Prov. 1 :17].

3. Lo, children are a heritage from the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is His reward.

All of this is spoken in typical Hebrew fashion. "Heritage from the Lord" and "reward" are one and the same thing, just as children and 'fruit of the womb" are one and the same thing. Thus it means to say: What good does it do you to be so deeply concerned and anxious about how to procure and protect your possessions? Why even children, and whatever is born of women, are not within your power; although they are apart of a household and city alike, for if there were no children and "fruit of the womb" neither household nor city would endure. So the very reward and heritage from the Lord which you are so terribly anxious, are actually gifts and the boon of God.....

4. As arrows in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

Here he compares children and people with the arrows in the hand of a mighty hero, who shoots his arrows whenever and withersoever he wills.....

5. Happy is the man that has his quiver full of them : they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

He desires that such youth, given by God, and recognised as such, may be many, for then the world would be well off. That is very true. If all manner of problems are to be dealt with successfully, then the young people who are to live and govern on this earth after us must be trained and guided accordingly. Just as the giant who has his quiver full of arrows is well prepared and equipped, so the householder and the city to whom God has granted an abundance of such youth are well supplied. For it is God Himself who keeps the house and watches the city.

Such a great blessing however, will not be without persecution. for where things go according to God's will, there must also be an onslaught of the devil. The unbelief and covetousness of this world cannot tolerate godly life and teaching. Therefore such households and cities will not be without enemies to revile and abuse them. But over against such attacks there stands this comfort, that they will ultimately emerge with honour and put their enemy to shame in the gate (that is publicly). He mentions no armour or helps but only the Word, saying that "they will speak with enemies in the gate" as if to say by their teaching they will stand, because it is true, no matter how strongly their opponents attack it.