"Unless the LORD builds a house the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the LORD protects a city guarding it with sentries will do no good." Psalm 127:1
Psalm 127 is another in the fourteen psalms referred to as Psalms of the Ascent. These fourteen songs are believed to be reflective in nature, reflective of what the LORD had done for His chosen children. They were sung on the journey to the Holy City as the Israelites gathered to celebrate the annual festivals. I love to picture God's children returning for the festivals, many generations removed from those who first received the promise, singing and remembering the provisions of such a Mighty God. Solomon refers to the Lord as LORD. (capital LORD- You may have noticed this in other areas of our reading.) LORD means covenant Lord. The song reminds His children that He is a covenant-keeping God.
In the ESV, wasted and will do no good are translated as vain. The Hebrew word is shav'. It means emptiness, vanity, falsehood, nothingness, and worthless. The message that Solomon wants God's children to remember is one well-worth remembering, for us as well. The LORD has made covenant with us to be our:
- Builder (v1)
- Protector (v1)
- Provider (v2)
- Rewarder (3)
- Defender (5)
We must keep our end of the covenant: obedience and no gods before Him. This will allow His Holy Spirit to do the work necessary within us to build, protect, provide, reward, and defend all our efforts so they will not be empty and worthless or a lie. The word lie stung me deeply. When I try to build, protect provide, reward, and defend myself in my own efforts and limitations it is a lie unto the Lord. The thought of lying to the Lord makes me cringe.
Lord, forgive me for my vanity and falsehood of trying to "build" things for myself. Today, I acknowledge that you are a far more superior Builder than me. It is the desire of my heart for you take over my efforts, doing all things necessary to draw me closer to you.
19 Comments:
"defend all our efforts"
Wendy, and friends, this morning my family desperately needs the Lord to defend all our efforts. Many of you, if not most, know the journey I have been on since March 3rd with my Dad. Yesterday my Dadddy was moved to another location, further away. A place where we were promised care, activities and rehabilitation. The reality is, we have been lied to, as my Daddy is now locked in a hospital, afraid, alone, begging and crying us to do something. We need divine intervention.
The verse that captured my worn and weary heart, exhausted from sleeplessness, was Psalm 127:2, "...God gives rest to his loved ones."
Rest. A coveted commodity. Rest has been replaced with recreation, and we fool ourselves into believing we are being recharged. Rest is defined as freedom from activity. Respite. Pause for relaxation. Inaction. To me it’s more than physically being still.
I have sat in a posture of ‘rest’ for the past 12 weeks at the side of my Daddy’s hospital bed, but I have not experienced ‘rest’. It’s more than a position. If just sitting still was enough, I should be the "Energizer Bunny". So, why today, am I worn, weary and wasted?
Phsycial rest without the accompanying emotional, spiritual and mental rest accomplishes nothing. We need heart, soul and mind rest as well. I have to confess, I'm not doing very well in those areas this morning.
Circumstances, situations, thoughts, location will never supply the rest we truly need. True rest is found in a Person. Matthew 11 tells us that He will bring rest to our souls. Father, today I need to rest my very worn and weary self in You.
My family and I are standing still in the need of prayer,
Joy
Your friends are praying Joy.
Wendy
Dear Joyful,
You and your family are in my heart and I lift you up to the Father in prayer. That He will be your defender and give you the rest you need to continue the battle. My thoughts and prayers are with you this day as I am sure it is the same with all the other prayer warriors in this group.
xoxo
Jodie
Dear Joy,
"He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul." Psalm 23:2,3
The God that created you, is within you always. I pray His Spirit will renew your mind so that you can think clearly. I pray that you can let go of thoughts that are disturbing. I pray that God's spirit can freely move through every part of your body, even while you sleep.
"I will never leave you or forsake you." When problems seem unsolvable; let go and let God show you there is a solution. God, guide Joy and her family today. Show them your best way. Do not let them become overwhelmed by the number of tasks before them. Turn the obstacles into opportunities.
"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."
Lord, I pray that your wisdom will rain upon Joy and her family as they make decisions regarding their father.
"I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever." Psalm 52:8
Joy, you are loved by God-everlasting & unconditional love today and always! You can be absolutely sure of this all of the time. Close your eyes dear sister, and allow yourself to feel God's love stirring within you. Rest in the presence of pure love and let it wash over you. "Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Phil. 4:6. Today we stand firm and place our wholehearted belief in God and God's blessings---not in the circumstances surrounding your father. We believe God. We do not doubt- for a second, that everyting will work out in a divine way and through His divine plan. God, we know that you love Joy's family. We know you will bless them in miraculous ways. You have the means to do this and we wait patiently on you. We seek your will and we seek your guidance. Amen.
Lori - AZ
Wendy your words struck me not only for myself, because I do go off on my own so frequently doing my own building; but also for all of the unbelievers in my midst. I want so bad for them to understand that WITH God they can be so much more. With Him doing the building their lives would soar. In the end the unbelievers are going to realize they wasted their time on earth. I yearn for my loved ones to know the ultimate Builder.
Joy, your gift for using words never ceases to amaze me. What you wrote about rest was so right on and true. I related to each word. May our Lord Jesus Christ take your weary heart in His hands and caress and comfort it this day. May you find the peace you so need to find in His loving arms.
Morgen
I do know it is easy to get caught up in our own agenda. I as a planner have to often stop and ask God how He wants it. Joy I pray peace and rest the true rest for you and your family. Release it to Him who knows best.
Blessings,
Lynn - OR
Joy, I know as well as I am sitting here typing that God will be glorified through you and your family. At the end of this hardship will be great blessing. I pray Lord Jesus our great healer and lover of our souls fill you up today and let his light shine through all of your broken places and give you the strength and peace that comes from walking with him...and letting him carry you. I pray also Lord Jesus will be with your Daddy and erase his fears and confusions, make him strong and clear. I pray boldly and with confidence on behalf of the love of a daughters heart today in the name of our precious savior. Hallelujah!
Today I too selected Psalm 127:1 for further meditation. It reminds me to pray at all times for God to lead the way, to prepare my path. It reminds me...yet again...to lean not on my own understanding.
Bless you all today,
Liz
Alaska
Joy -- our hearts are lifting up prayers to our perfect Heavenly Father on behalf of your daddy and all of you. "Divine Intervention"..what you are asking for...is His specialty! We love you!
Wendy -- this verse from Psalm 127 is the verse the Lord gave me when He called me to do a Gather & Grow. My prayer continually that He directs and leads anything I put my heart and hands to. to BEAR HIS NAME! :) Love you!
1 Kings 8:43
"...so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears Your Name."
Just been thinking about today's reading some more. Psalm 72:12-14I know Solomon was seeking God as he wrote this Psalm. As I read it tho, I thought of our heavenly Father and how He feels the same way about us today.
“he will help the oppressed, who have no one to defend them…for their lives are precious to him.”
Those that are weighed down, and weary. Those that are apart of an unpleasant condition, or situation, that saddens and discourages them; those that are depressed or hopeless have reason to be encouraged! God knows their hopeless situations. God knows their burdened environment. God knows the distress they are under. The helpless can be encouraged! How? Because The Word tells us that the oppressed are precious to Him!
As long as the sun shines, as long as the moon remains in the sky…Each individual is precious to Him. “Yes, forever!” I just checked and the sun is shining here in good old AZ! Thank you, LORD, that each individual is precious to You.
Praying for you all today.
Lori - AZ
PS Tomorrow we are moving my dear 93 year-old "MeMa." I'm so praying to God that her new home will be wonderful and pleasant...a home where they will all live together in harmony. A place where she will be saved, well-taken care of, and where peace and love abides.
Joy,
As I study today's reading about Solomon's officials, it was brought to mind the need to "delegate the load". I'm praying you will be surrounded by family and friends who do that for you while you give your attention to your parents’ needs. Meanwhile, your blog sisters will gladly delegate the prayer load... I believe we've got you covered in many time zones :)
“He tends his flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to his heart.” Is 40:11.
May you hear the heartbeat of God in the midst of the storm, and find rest in His loving arms.
Hugs!
Susan
The song Savior by New Life Worship reminds me of what you wrote today: Rebuilder, rewarder, refuge, defender, healer...yes, trusting and being dependant upon the LORD. Thanks for all that you share! I appreciate you! Our family makes the move this weekend from Iowa to Colorado. Please pray for all the transition taking place. Thank you everyone!
Joy, my prayers and thoughts are with you and your family. {{HUGS}} my sister.
Today's post was wonderful and so true. After years of building my own house on sinking sand it came crashing down. I am so thankful that my feet are now on the rock and my life is built by Him. Like Morgen, my heart aches for the lost. I so wish they knew what they were missing! My husband has a lot of fear in his life when it comes to our son. I pray that God will show him that he does not have to carry that burden and live in constant torment from his fears. All we do on this earth is in vain if we are not doing it for the Lord. It makes me so sad to think of what so many are missing and the joy and peace that can be theirs if they would just let God into their hearts.
Hope you all have had a good day. Fun day here playing with Will and just hanging out at home.
God Bless Sisters,
Brandee
Joy, do know that the LORD has not forsaken you and your family,and never will. He is still in control even when we sometimes feel that things are out of control. Rest in that you know. WE KNOW that God can and will make a way to escape.Continue to run to the Rock that is higher than us all. Be encouraged my sister, God is already working it out.
Thank you God in advance for the victory over this situation.
Highly Favored
Good evening to all,
Joy, I pray that this evening finds you in a bit more peaceful place. Know that you are being lifted up dear sister.
Diane
Joy, please know that we are praying you and your family through the night. I pray that in all this that the realization that God loves your daddy even way more than you do helps you to rest in His everlasting and comforting arms.
So honored to pray for you and all my Bible-reading blog sisters!
Joy have you ever seen the picture of God's hand with sand sifting through the fingers? There is NOTHING that happens to us that has not already been sifted through His hands. He knows what you are feeling...He knew you were going to feel it. He knows how your Daddy feels right now...and He is right there with all of you through this. I have a prayer that ends, "...change or alter my feelings so that they align with Yours." I know that is what you want, too. Thousands of prayers are going up for you and your dad tonight.
My phone line was down from Frid till this afternoon...I am lost w/o my computer...w/o my sisters in the Lord. It was good to get back on line and find all of you again. What are we going to do at the end of the year when we have finished reading the Bible???? Wendy, I hope you are planning something else for us. We will be lost w/o you.
Jan in soggy TN
Joy I just read this at the end of the daily devotion that David Jeremiah writes, and it had your name all over it.
If you are waiting on God at present (or someone whose schedule God oversees), know that your patience, like a buried seed, is preparing to bear fruit.
Did you see that last phrase? ...like a buried seed, is PREPARING TO BEAR FRUIT.
Don't give up, dear one.
Jan TN
Joy, you are embedded in my prayers today, tonight...as well as your dad and family. Please keep us updated and we cover your situation in prayer.
Much love,
nancy
Wendy- As usual, awesome words of wisdom, with a great practical application. Joy- You and yours are in my prayers! Blessings to all!
Rae, IL
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