Psalm 127. Let's begin reading
in verse 1. Except the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the
city, the watchman waketh but in vain. 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. Lo, children are an heritage
of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of
a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Happy is the man
that hath his quiver full of them, They shall not be ashamed,
but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." This psalm is a familiar psalm. You hear sometimes verses 1 and
2 quoted together, and then you hear verses 3 and 5 quoted together,
3 to 5. But often they're quoted separately
and quoted as if they mean two different things. But all these
verses go together and they give us a wonderful word of comfort
to our hearts. Verse one speaks of a builder,
a builder. But it says here, except the
Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Now verse
3 tells us that this building is not of sticks and stones,
but of children which are born of the Lord. Look at verse 3.
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of
the womb is His reward. Now back at verse 1, it speaks
also of a watchman keeping a city. A watchman is somebody that stands
in a tower, overlooking the city or at the gate of the city, guarding
the city from enemies. Verse 1 says, except the Lord
keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. Now look at verses
4 and 5, and it compares these children. as instruments in the
hands of a mighty man. Look at verse 4. As arrows are
in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his
quiver full of them. And here's why. Here's the result
of the Lord's work. Verse 5. They shall not be ashamed. but they shall speak with the
enemies in the gate, that is, in the gate of this city. Now
God declares to us here, to his children, that though we are
given responsibilities in this world as laborers together, as
watchmen, It's the Lord who builds the house and it's the Lord who
keeps the city. The Lord will receive all the
glory because His children are His portion and the reward of
His own hand. If you have a heading there,
you'll see before verse 1, this is a song of degrees for Solomon. It was most likely a song of
David for his son Solomon, or if it was penned by Solomon,
it was Solomon learning what his father David had taught him,
as we find in other scriptures, and what the Lord taught him.
David wanted to build a house for the Lord. He wanted to build
a temple for the Lord. But the Lord told him no. And
instead, the Lord said, I'm going to give you a son, and he's going
to build my house. Look at 2 Samuel chapter 7 verse
12. 2 Samuel chapter 7 verse 12. He says, 2nd Samuel 7.12, And when thy
days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will
set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels,
and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my
name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
Now in this Solomon is a type of Christ. Solomon is the son
of David. the child of David. Christ is
the Son of God in human flesh, God's Son. God chose Solomon,
David's son, to build him the house of the Lord. God the Father
chose His Son. He chose Christ Jesus to build
His house. And He came from David's lineage.
So if you just skip Solomon and all the other kids that were
born and you jump right from King David to Christ, you find
the one that the Lord is spiritually, truly speaking of. And David
knew this in Acts 2, verse 30. Look there with me. Acts 2, verse
30. This is what Peter said. Peter said this, Acts 2, verse
30. Therefore, being a prophet, he's
speaking about David. I'll give you some time to get
there. Acts 2, verse 30. Therefore being a prophet, and
knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit
of his loins, the fruit, our passage says the fruit of the
womb is God's heritage. He said of the fruit of his loins,
according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his
throne. Do you remember from Thursday
night, Zechariah 6.12, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold
the man whose name is the branch. He shall grow up out of his place,
and he shall build the temple of the Lord. Even he shall build
the temple of the Lord. And he shall bear the glory,
and he shall sit and rule upon his throne, and he shall be a
priest upon his throne. Do you remember whenever In Luke
1, in verse 31, when the Lord in Spirit appeared and told Mary
that she was going to conceive and bear a child, having never
known a man, He said, Behold, thou shalt conceive. You're going
to have a child. Our text is talking about children
of the Lord. This is the child. He said, you
are going to have a child in thy womb and bring forth a son
and shall call his name Jesus and he shall be great and shall
be called the son of the highest. And the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David and he shall reign over
the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be
no end. First of all, just like every
other text of Scripture we look into, especially these Psalms,
if we're going to hear and get some fruit in our own hearts
and see and behold what God is saying to us, we need to first
hear God the Father speaking to God the Son. We need to hear
God the Father and God the Son speaking with each other. Before
the world was made, God chose who he would save by his sovereign
grace, not based on anything good or evil in them. But when
he chose whom he would, God knew the end from the beginning. When
He created this earth and sin entered in the garden through
Adam, and all the human race fell in Adam, He didn't take
God by surprise. It was all according to the purpose
of God, which He purposed in Himself before the world began,
to glorify His Son. So, let's go now to the Council
of Peace, before the world was ever made. Behold God the Father
saying to God the Son, right here in Psalm 127.1, except the
Lord build the house, except God Himself in the person of
His Son build the house, they, the children chosen of God who
make up His house, those who will be born again of His Spirit,
those who He's going to use to set forth His gospel through
whom He's going to build His house and keep His city. They
labor in vain that build it, except the Lord builds it. He
says, except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but
in vain. Look with me over 1 Chronicles
chapter 22. 1 Chronicles chapter 22. David was prohibited from putting
his hand to the work of building this temple because God said
he was a man of war. He had shed blood. Now that's
a good picture. That's a good type of all men
born in Adam. That's a good type of all of
God's elect children of mercy. We died by Adam's one transgression
and were conceived in sin and were born of war, men of war,
murderers in our heart. Enmity against God. All our labor
is vanity. All our waking is vanity. It's vain for you to rise up
early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, our text
says. But now behold the Son of God.
Behold Him who is wisdom from eternity. And behold Him looking
into time and looking upon the children of men and saying, I've
seen all the works that are done under the sun. And behold all
is vanity and vexation of spirit, except I the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain that build it. Psalm 127.2 says, For so he giveth
his beloved sleep. You know what sleep means? It
means rest. It means quietness. Look here
at 1 Chronicles 22. Solomon's name means peace. It means quietness. 1 Chronicles
22. Look at Verse 7, David said to
Solomon, As my son, as for me, it was in my mind to build a
house unto the name of the Lord my God. But the word of the Lord
came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast
made great wars. Thou shalt not build a house
unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth
in my sight. Behold, a son shall be born to
thee, who shall be a man of rest. And I'll give him rest from all
his enemies round about." God the Father gave Christ, His beloved
Son, His beloved. He gave Him rest when He came
forth into this world. Peace of heart, sleep in the
midst of all His enemies. And Christ wrought peace between
His elect and God. And He gives in giving Christ
to build this house and to work this work and accomplish this
work God gave His beloved sheep peace and rest. Look at verse
9 there. His name shall be Solomon. Now
here's what it means. I will give peace and quietness
unto Israel in His days. He shall build a house for My
name. He shall be My Son and I'll be His Father and I will
establish the throne of His kingdom over Israel forever. You know
what Christ came forth and did? exactly what God said He would
do. He came forth and He finished
the work God gave Him to do. He came forth and by His one
offering, He accomplished the will of the Father. He is the
peace of full justification from all our sins. He's the peace
of perfect righteousness. He's the peace that fills the
heart by the Spirit of God in everyone he saves. Now look back
at our text, 127 verse 2. So he giveth his beloved sleep. Sleep. Verse 3. Lo, children are a heritage of
the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward. Now let's
look at a few words here a minute. Heritage means possession, it
means portion. Children are the portion, the
possession of the Lord. Look here, fruit means, fruit
of the womb means first fruits. This word reward means payment. This is peace of heart for the
believer. Peace of heart for the believer because first Christ
himself is the child who is God's heritage, God's portion. He's the first fruit of the womb. He is God's reward given by God
to himself. This is what he said, this is
my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. God gave him. He was given to declare the glory
of the Lord. God gave him. He was given to
declare God just and the justifier. God gave him. Like Abraham who
offered up Isaac and didn't hold him back. His only son. The parable says, having yet
therefore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him last unto them. In
Romans 5.10 it says, if then when we were enemies, when we
were the enemies, when every one of God's elect were the enemies,
if then when we were enemies by God's gift, by His giving
His own Son, if He came forth and He by His own righteousness,
by His laying down of His own life, if He reconciled all His
sheep unto God, then much more, that He's raised from the dead,
we shall be saved by His life. The Scripture says in Romans
8, if God spared not His only begotten Son, if He didn't spare
His only begotten Son, but He gave Him, He gave Him for His
people, and He came forth, and He freely accomplished all these
spiritual blessings which were given us from the beginning in
Him, how shall God not with Him freely give us all these things
He's promised to us? Because He gave His Son, His
Son. And secondly, the children given
to Christ by God in the beginning, in eternity, they're God's possession,
they're Christ's possession. There He is. They're His portion.
They're the first fruits of His labor. They're His reward, His
payment for what He's done. By election, there He is. By
purchase, there He is. By adoption, there He is. The
Scripture says in Isaiah 53, 11, He shall see of the travail
of His soul and shall be satisfied. For by His knowledge shall my
righteous servant justify many, for He shall bear their iniquity.
So you behold God speaking to His Son in eternity before anything
was made. And He's saying, these children
are Mine. And He said, I'm giving them
to you to build up My house, My dwelling place. And you know
what Peter says about that house? They're not sticks and stones.
This house is not sticks and stones. This house is indeed
His house. It's His house. And we're built
up a spiritual house by Him. A holy priesthood by Him to offer
up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ Himself. This is the house we're talking
about. The house we're talking about.
Behold, now you see God the Father giving these children to His
Son. And you behold the Son delivering
up all the children whom the Father gave to him, and saying,
Behold, I and the children which thou hast given to me are for
signs and wonders in Israel, saith the Lord of hosts which
dwells in Mount Zion. Look at our text now, 127 verse
4. As arrows are in the hand of
a mighty man, so are the children of the youth. Happy is the man
that hath his quiver full of them. They shall not be ashamed,
but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. The true
mighty man is Christ Jesus. It's God our Savior, the God-man
mediator. His arrows are the children of
the youth. Those who were given Him from
the womb of the morning. Those who were born again of
His Spirit. Who have the Spirit of God abiding
in them. Happy is the man that has his
quiver full of them. Our God has His quiver full of
His children. There's not an empty place in
His quiver. And there shall not be an empty
place in His quiver. This is what, you know what a
quiver is? You shoot, you use, you shoot a bow and an arrow,
the thing you keep your arrows in. Whether it's on your bow,
attached to your bow, or whether you got it slung on your back,
or whether you're carrying it on your side, that's a quiver.
And you put all the arrows in that quiver. And he says here,
these children are like arrows in that quiver, and there won't
be one of them left. There won't be one missing. They're full. They're absolutely
full. Look at John 10, 27. whoever arrows in his hand. Look
at John 10, 27. He says, My sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal
life. And they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which
gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father's hand." And look at our text, it says,
and they shall not be ashamed. But they'll speak with the enemies
in the gate. Just as the Lord Jesus Christ
came forth. Just as He came forth. And let's
look at Isaiah 45, 17. Just as the Lord came forth and
spoke before all His enemies, spoke the words, He said, I speak
the words the Father gives me to speak, because the Father
has given me to speak of. And He says, I came forth to
do His will, not my own will. And therefore, He wasn't ashamed. He spoke the things of the Father. And just like Him, everyone He
calls by His grace and fills with His Spirit, they're not
going to be ashamed either. They're not going to be confused.
They're going to speak His Word. Look at Isaiah 45, 17. Look,
Israel. shall be saved in the Lord with
an everlasting salvation. Ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded,
world without end, age without end. Now, when you behold here,
first of all, God the Son and God the Father. in this council
of peace, engaging in this everlasting covenant of grace, and you behold
all that Christ accomplished, and you behold how that He's
not failed, the Father has not failed, the Son has not failed,
the Holy Spirit has not failed, it cannot be. So now, hear this
word as it's spoken to you who believe Him, who are born of
His Spirit, who is a child of His grace. Now hear this word
spoken to you. The Lord is going to use believers
to further his gospel. He's going to use believers in
this earth to build his house and to keep his city. All God's
children are laborers and watchmen in whatever capacity God has
placed us in. Some are pastors. Some are, you
may be a husband, you may be a father, you may be a son, you
may be a brother, you may be a wife, you may be a mother,
you may be a daughter, you may be a sister, or more than one
of those. But in that capacity that God's
put you in, in relation that he's put you into someone else,
as his child, he's given us the responsibility in these various
offices that he's placed us in to be laborers in his building,
his house. But let me ask you a question.
You think of a mighty man. Here he is, he's got his bow
and he's got his arrows in his hand. Which one is mighty? Which one has the power and the
strength? The mighty man or the arrows? The mighty man does. The arrows
merely go where he tells them to go. We sat over there and
worked on Friday spreading that concrete. And all you fellows
that were over there, you know everybody went to work and everybody
had a rake in their hand working. Who was the one in power? Who was the one in control of
things? Was it the Rake or was it you? I know if you watch some of us
you might think it was the Rake. But it was you who was in control
of the Rake, in control of that. So it is with God. The arrows
go where He aims. And all who are born of the Spirit
are children of the youth. They're children of His in the
hand of our mighty God. And they're compared with arrows
in the hands of a mighty man. Instruments in His hand. God's
going to make His children wise master builders. And He's going
to make His children faithful watchmen. He's going to do it
by teaching us through His Word. And He's going to do it by using
everything in providence. Everything's at his disposal
to use. He's going to use our own houses. He's going to use
our various projects that we try to build. We lose sight so
easily. We come here, we hear a word
preached, we go out, we go back home to our houses and to all
our various projects, and we forget that everything God is
using to teach His children exactly what He's teaching us in this
Gospel. That everything's of His hand.
And He's using everything at His disposal. We get to acting
like we got the power and we got the wisdom, and we get to
thinking that. We get to worrying, we get to
trouble, and we start rising early, and we start staying up
late, and we get opposed, and back within or without, we start
to eat the bread of sorrows. Ain't no peace in here, in the
heart. We begin to lose it. Begin to lose it. But it's all
vanity. All us looking to our strength
and our wisdom and our power, it is all vanity. Every bit of
it. And this is such a great encouragement
and a blessing. You know, when the Lord told
David this, that he wasn't going to build the house, that there
was coming one from his loins that was going to build the house,
David said, Oh, who am I that you'll do this for me? He was
so thankful and so He was just, his heart was overflowing because
of it. That's what happens with a believer
when we find this out by God's grace. And so no matter how well,
no matter how gifted, no matter how talented, God's made us. If we have any gifts or any talents,
as a child of God, it's given of God. And no matter how gifted
or talented we are, no matter how experienced we may be in
something, God's going to make us to know that except the Lord
build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the
Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. And sometimes
he makes us fall flat on our face. He makes us fall flat on
our face so all we can do is look up to God and just cast
all our care in Him. But so He giveth His beloved
sleep. He gives us rest. And this is
truly how He gives us rest. And it's sweet, sweet rest when
He turns us from self and everything is in the hands of the mighty
man. Everything is sweet rest. And
then our labors become labors of love. When we're trying to
prove our wisdom, and we're trying to prove our strength, and we're
trying to have our hand in something and get it done, and we keep
eating the bread of sorrows, we will be miserable. Absolutely
miserable. Repentance is being turned from
that, from ourselves, to faith in Christ. And then we'll find
sweet peace and sweet rest and sweet comfort in Him. And this
correction might be bitter, but it's sweet sleep when he gets
done. When he does it, it's sweet sleep. And what a building. What a keeping
of his city. What children, what fruit it
is in the heart. of every individual child of
God, when He erects this building in our heart, when He creates
this fruit of righteousness in our heart. And so then, He makes us to truly
be standing in Christ the gate, in Him. And not ashamed to speak
with our enemies, who are enemies in their mind by wicked words,
but to speak truth and love that He's created in the heart. Now
look here. It's good indeed, a blessing
indeed, when God gives us our natural children. They are the
heritage of the Lord. The fruit of the womb is His
reward. It's a gift to have a child. Those who are born of His grace, those born by His Spirit, those
are the gifts of God. Those are the blessings of God. When He brought us to the end
of ourselves, He might use us to draw one to
Himself. Might be in our own house. When He's brought us to the end
of ourselves, He'll use us to speak a word. He may use us to
do something whereby He begins to draw His people by His grace. May be in our own house. They'd
be in our own house. But he's going to see to it that
he's going to get all the glory for doing it. Look at verse 3. Lo, children are a heritage of
the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is His reward. You remember what Paul said?
Paul said, I labored more abundantly than they all. Yet not I, but
the grace of God which was with me. I was reading some memoirs
of Robert McShane, and he had been used by the Lord. Many had been called, used as
an instrument in his hand, and many had been called out by his
grace. He was writing on the occasion
when many had been called through his preaching. And this is what
he wrote, Lord, I thank Thee that Thou hast shown me this
marvelous working, though I was but an adoring spectator rather
than an instrument. That's what he's going to make
sure we understand. He may use us and we may labor
more abundantly. He's going to make sure we understand.
We've just been a spectator watching this work done. So, because God
has reconciled His children unto Himself in Christ Jesus, because
God Himself shall make each one for whom Christ died no longer
ashamed and no longer confounded by our own sinful flesh and our
own and false understandings and false ways and haughty spirit. He's going to keep on bringing
forth His children, through His children. And He's going to keep
on making us rest by faith in Christ, in God who is the Builder
and the Keeper. And so He's going to continue
His work in us. that he might truly make us behold
he's our father and we his children. He's our shepherd and we his
sheep. He's the bishop of our souls and we the members of his
great congregation. He can make us to see that he's
the mighty man and we're instruments in his hand. And so he'll make
us good to be used in his house and his city. Wouldn't have it any other way,
would you? Wouldn't have it any other way. Amen.