Let us turn to God's word in
the book of Psalms and directing you to words that we find in
Psalm 127 and the first verse Psalm 127 verse 1 Except the
Lord build a house they labour in vain that build it except
the Lord keep the city the watchman waketh but in vain." And really
the opening clause of this verse, those words, except the Lord
build a house, they labour in vain that build it. And I want to divide what I say
into some three parts. First of all, to say something
with regards to Solomon's temple and the building of that temple.
It is a song of degrees for Solomon. And then, secondly, to consider
the return from the Babylonian captivity and the rebuilding
of the temple of the Lord by Zerubbabel. And then thirdly,
the true significance of the text as we consider the spiritual
fulfillment as the Lord Jesus Christ is that one who builds
his church, builds his temple as it were. Those are the three
things that I want us to consider from the words of this particular
text. First of all, the building of
Solomon's temple. And as I've already said, we
have a clear reference to King Solomon in the title of this
psalm. It's a song of degrees for Solomon,
or as the margin says, of Solomon. It has some relationship to Solomon. We know that it was David who
would have built the temple, even later here in the 132nd
Psalm. We read, Lord remember David
and all his afflictions. And we swear unto the Lord and
vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob, surely I will not come
into the tabernacle of my house nor go up into my bed. I will
not give sleep to mine eyes or slumber to mine eyelids until
I find out a place for the Lord's and habitation for the mighty
God of Jacob. It was a great desire with David
that he might have that privilege of the building of the temple. He was the one, of course, who
had established the worship of God there in Jerusalem when he
removed the tabernacle from Shiloh after he had defeated the Jebusites
and Jerusalem had become his own capital city, and he removes
the tabernacle and sets it up there upon Mount Zion, but he
wanted to build the temple of the Lord, and we read of his
desire in that seventh chapter of 2 Samuel. Now, initially the
prophet Nathan indicated he should go forward and do this great
work, but then the Lord speaks, It's not David who is going to
build the temple. As we saw there in verse 12, as the prophet comes with that
word from the Lord, 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,
and he shall build a house for mine eye, and I will establish
the throne of his kingdom forever." And so it was not David, it was
to be his son, Solomon, who was a man of peace. David had been
a man of blood really, a great warrior, king. Here of course
in the seventh chapter of 2 Samuel, it was when the Lord had given
him rest from all his enemies. no longer a man of blood as it
were but there was peace but it was not to be David it was
to be Solomon who would be the builder of the temple of the
Lord and David exhorts him and encourages him there in 1st Chronicles
28 verse 10 take heed now for the Lord has chosen thee he says
to Solomon The Lord has chosen thee to build a house for the
sanctuary. Be strong and do it. And we see how the King Solomon
was diligent in obeying that word from his father. In 2nd
Chronicles 3 then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord
at Jerusalem in Mount Moriah where the Lord appeared unto
David his father in the place that David had prepared in the
threshing floor of Ornan, the Jebusite, that he began to build
in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of
his reign." His obedience and the work is soon completed. We're told later on that Solomon
was seven years, seven years in the building of the temple
and then As I'm sure you will remember, we have two records
of the prayer, the remarkable prayer that he prayed at the
dedication of the temple, recorded in 1 Kings 8 and also in 2 Chronicles
6. And so, surely here, as this
is the Song of Degrees for Solomon, there must be some some reference
to that great privilege that befell the king when he built
God's house, God's temple. Except the Lord built the house,
they lay in vain that build it. It was not in vain. God was pleased
to come and to make his dwelling place there as he had made it
previously in the tabernacle of the Shekinah glory. filled
the oracle just as it had filled the holy of holies. But then also here is there not
some reference to the return from the Babylonian captivity
and the rebuilding of the temple after God had visited judgment
upon his people because of their sins, because of their idolatry.
Jerusalem had been destroyed really by the Babylonians under
Nebuchadnezzar. The temple raised to the ground,
as it were, and the people removed into captivity for some 70 years. Now, of course, what we have
here is one of the songs of degrees, from the 120th to the 134th Psalm.
They're all songs of degrees or songs of
ascents. And in the previous psalm, Psalm
126, there's surely some reference to the Babylonian captivity and the deliverance from it. It says, when the Lord turned
again, the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with
singing. Then they said among the heathen,
the Lord hath done great things for them. The Lord hath done
great things for us, whereof we are glad. Turn again, our
captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the north. O God, did grant
deliverance, and there was the rebuilding of the Temple of the
Lord. During the 70 years of captivity,
there had been no worship in Jerusalem. There was no place
for the people to worship in. The godly remnant were those
who had been taken into exile. Now we know how important the
tabernacle and the temple were in the worship of God back in
Deuteronomy 16 and verse 16 we're told of the three great Jewish
festivals that they were to observe year after year the the feast
of Passover and of weeks or Pentecost and of tabernacles and how all
the men were to ascend up to Jerusalem to celebrate each of
those great feasts. Whilst they were away from their
homes, God would see that none of their enemies would trouble
the families. God would watch over his people.
The men were to be diligent in observing those three great festivals
and These Songs of Degrees that we have from Psalm 120 through
to the 134th Psalm are associated with them going up to Jerusalem. These are the Psalms that they
would sing as they made that journey from every part of Israel
to go to worship the Lord God. And that's why they're called
Songs of Degrees or Songs of Ascents. Not only were they making
the journey to Jerusalem, but then they would ascend up to
the Temple of the Lord. And even as they were in Jerusalem,
ascending those steps, they would sing these various songs of degrees. And now, of course, they had
that blessed prospect that they would be singing those songs
again, there in that 126th Psalm. a mouth filled with laughter,
a tongue with singing. They say among the heathen, the
Lord hath done great things for them, the Lord hath done great
things for us, whereof we are glad. There's the rebuilding
of the temple. Under Ezra we know that was the
case when The Babylonian Empire fell and was overrun by the Persians
and Cyrus the Great gave that decree and they were permitted
to return those Jews who were in exile to return to Jerusalem
and begin the great task of rebuilding. And we have the detail in the
historic book of Ezra and what do we read there in the third
chapter? Ezra 3, verse 8, it was in the second year of their
coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month,
that Zerubbabel began. Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtia,
and Jeshua, the son of Josedach, and the remnant of their brethren,
the priests, and the Levites, and all that will come out of
the captivity unto Jerusalem, And they appointed the Levites
from twenty years old and upward to set forward the work of the
house of the Lord. Here they are in their beginning
now, this great rebuilding project, as they come again to Jerusalem. And we're told at verse 11 of
that chapter, how they sang together by course, in praising and giving
thanks unto the Lord, because He is good, and His mercy endureth
forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with
a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation
of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests
and Levites, and chief of the fathers who were ancient men,
that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house
was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice. And many shouted
aloud for joy. so that the people could not
discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the
weeping of the people. For the people shouted with a
loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off. All their joy
was mixed with sorrow. They were rejoicing because they
were beginning that task of the rebuilding. But there were those
present who could remember something of the glory of the temple that
Solomon had built and how insignificant this new temple was in comparison. And we see there it was Zerubbabel
who was the man to lead that work of the rebuilding and of
course at that time Zechariah was the prophet and in that short
portion that we read in the fourth chapter of Zechariah We read
of the word of the Lord, which came unto the prophet, saying,
The hands of the rubbable have laid the foundation of this house.
His hand shall also finish it. But there were those who despised
the day, or they despised the day of small things, it says
there, in that portion that we were reading, Zechariah 4.10. But the Lord was in it. The Lord
was in it, the temple was rebuilt. And so this word of the psalm,
the word of our text, except the Lord built the house, they
labor in vain that built it. They did not labor in vain. That temple was added to by King
Herod, became more extensive, and of course, it had a greater
glory than Solomon's temple. because the Lord Jesus Christ
himself ministered there in the temple and about the temple.
That was the glory of that second temple. And so, in the third
place, I want us to come to the real significance of the word
that we have for our text tonight. And that is the spiritual fulfillment
of the psalm. and it's fulfilled in the Lord
Jesus Christ because a greater than Solomon is here surely Solomon
very much a type of the Lord Jesus as Solomon is David's son
so Christ is David's greater son and those words that we read
in that seventh chapter of the second book of Samuel really
apply to the Lord Jesus and particularly what we read there at verse 12
through to 14 When thy days be fulfilled and thou shalt sleep
with thy fathers I will set up thy seed after them and the true
seed is Christ 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 for ever.
I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit
iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with
the stripes of the children of men. Now that fourteenth verse,
it is the most significant verse because It's quoted in the New
Testament. Remember that remarkable opening
chapter in the epistle to the Hebrews, in which the apostle
clearly establishes the deity of the Lord Jesus. He goes on
in chapter 2 to speak of his human nature, how he didn't take
upon him the nature of angels. But he takes upon him the seed
of Abraham, and because the children were partakers of flesh and blood,
he partakes of the same. We read all of that in the second
chapter of Hebrews. But in the first chapter, If
you read through the first chapter, you'll see there are many references
to Old Testament texts in which Paul is there establishing the
truth of Christ's deity, that he is God, that he is the eternal
Son of God. And in Hebrews 1, verse 5, we
have a direct quotation of these words at the beginning of this
14th verse. I will be his father, and he
shall be my son. So, on the authority of the New
Testament, we say that these words that were spoken by the
prophet Nathan to David concern his greatest son, the Lord Jesus. God says, through his servant
the prophet, concerning this man that is going to build a
house for God's name, I will be his father. and he shall be
my son and then you might say well what of what follows if
he committed iniquity? I will chasten him with the rod
of men and with the stripes of the children of men but doesn't
that remind us that he who is God became a very real man and
he was made in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin he came
to stand in the sinner's place, their iniquity became his iniquity. And with his stripes they are
healed. The chastisement of our peace
was visited upon him, says another prophet, Isaiah, there in chapter
53. And so, that's the remarkable truth that we see here back in
this 7th chapter of 2 Samuel. We see the Lord Jesus as that
one who is the eternal son of the Father, but we see him also
as that one who comes as the Savior to die in the sinner's
room and in his stead. And so Solomon is a type of the Lord Jesus.
We remember the messianic nature of the Psalms. Think of a Psalm
like the 72nd Psalm. Again, Solomon's there in the title
of Psalm 72. It's a psalm for Solomon, or
a psalm of Solomon, just like this 127th psalm. And I like the way in which Isaac
Watts brings out the true nature of that psalm in his paraphrase,
Jesus shall reign where'er the sun, doth his successive journeys
run, his kingdom stretch from shore to shore, till moon shall
wax and wane no more." That's a paraphrase. That's Watts' paraphrase
of the words that we have there in Psalm 72, verses 7 and 8. And Watts is right. It's a Messianic
psalm. It speaks of the Lord Jesus. And Christ is that one who builds
his temple, he builds his church. He says there, doesn't he, in
Matthew 16, 18, upon this rock, I will build
my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
What is the rock upon which the church is being built? Well,
it's that great confession that Simon Peter had made. Thou art
the Christ, the Son of the Living God. O blessed art thou, Simon
Bar-Jonah, flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, says
Christ, but my Father which is in heaven. And thou, Simon, is
blessed when the Lord says upon this rock, upon that confession,
I will build my church. Other foundation can no man lay
than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. Lord, it's the
importance of Christ, the person, of Christ and the work of Christ. Isn't that the foundation of
the church? It is. He is the mediator. He is the
God-man. He stands between heaven and earth. And it's what he has done as
that one who is the high priest who has come to make the great
sin-atoning sacrifice. as he is the priest so he is
the lamb to take it away the sin of the world and then risen
ascended on high he enters heaven and there in heaven he continues
his great high priestly work as he ever lives to make intercession
he is the one then who builds the house he is the he's the
foundation stone the chief cornerstone And that's what we're told in
the New Testament time and again. The church built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone, we read in the Ephesian epistle. Oh, it's
the Lord Jesus. Except the Lord build the house,
they labour in vain that build it. The hands of Zerubbabel have
laid the foundation. His hand shall finish it. Now, as Solomon is a type, so
also is Zerubbabel. Remember how Zerubbabel is there
in the opening chapter of the New Testament in Matthew 1 where
we have the genealogy of the Lord and is there amongst the
ancestors of Christ. That man's a robber. In fact,
he is one of the principal antecedents. There in verse 17 of that chapter,
Matthew mentions the three particular phases of that genealogy. Four generations, he says, from
Abraham, to David, and then 14 generations from David to the
Babylonian captivity, the time of Zerubbabel, and then 14 generations
from Babylon to Christ. Zerubbabel is there in a significant
point of the genealogies. And what does the name Zerubbabel
mean? Well, it literally means a shoot of Babylon. the shoot
of Babylon. And God speaks of him by the
Prophet Zechariah, my servant the branch. And so Zerubbabel
is described by the Prophet Zechariah 3.8, my servant the branch. But who is the Lord's servant?
Not so much Zerubbabel, it's Christ. Behold my servant whom
I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth. Christ is the servant, Christ
is the branch, as we read there at the beginning of Isaiah 11.
The root, or the rod out of the stem of Jesse and the branch
out of his root. That's how he's described. Jesse,
the father of David. And in that prophecy concerning
the Lord Jesus, he's referred to as a rod out of the stem of
Jesse. And a branch that grows out of
his roots. And then when we come to the
New Testament, in the book of the Revelation, Christ is referred
to right at the end, in the final chapter, as the root and the
offspring of David. Oh, he is the branch. A branch
out of Jesse, a branch out of David, he is that one of whom
the rubber bull is a type. What a remarkable statement is
that at the end of Scripture. He is the root of David. He's
before David. He's David's Lord. And yet, he's
also the offspring of David. Because he's David's son with
regards to his human nature. What is the Gospel? Well, we're
told there at the beginning of Romans he concerns our Lord Jesus
Christ made of the seed of David according to the flesh and declared
to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness
by the resurrection from the dead. He is the roots of David,
David's Lord, he's an offspring of David and again in that prophecy
of Zechariah where we read so much of Zerubbabel and the man
who is engaged there in the rebuilding of the temple of the Lord. Zechariah 6.12, the branch, it
says, shall grow up out of his place and he shall build the
temple of the Lord. He builds the temple of the Lord,
literally. the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel. We read those words in that short
portion in chapter 4. The plummet, the plumb line,
ensuring that all the building is properly erected. There's no fault in the building.
Reminds us of Christ, the work of Christ, the sovereignty of
the Lord Jesus Christ. But interestingly, There in that
book of Zechariah we also read of a measuring line or a man
with a measuring line. In the second chapter, I lifted
up mine eyes, the Prophet says, I lifted up mine eyes again and
looked and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand.
Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure
Jerusalem. to see what is the breadth thereof and what is the
length thereof. This measuring line. It's not
the only time in the Prophets that we read of a man with a
measuring line. We have it also in Ezekiel 14. And that concerns the building
of the temple in Jerusalem. And there in the third verse
of that chapter we have a man with a measuring reed. a measuring
line, a measuring reed. And what is he doing? Well, you
can read that 40th chapter through, he's there overseeing the building
of the temple of the Lord. And how these figures are taken
up when we come to the book of Revelation with which the Word
of God closes, of course, that remarkable book. And in chapter
11, John says, There was given me a reed like unto a rod. And the angel stood, saying,
Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them
that worship therein. All of this symbolic language,
all of this typical language, points to the way in which the
Lord goes about his work in the rebuilding or the building up
really in the very first place of his temple, the work that
he does in the souls of the people. God does come and he measures
his people as it were. He measures us by his words.
His ministry was such a discriminating ministry, we know that. There
was never a reaction to the ministry of Christ. There were divisions.
His ministry was a separating ministry, time and again. They
were offended at the things that he said. Or he applies the plummet,
as it were. And it's been observed that when
the Lord applies the plummet, it shows nothing but crooks.
When God comes and measures us by his word, what do we see? We see what we are as sinners.
And that's part of the ministry. of the Lord Jesus to show us
what we are, where we are. He comes not to call the righteous,
but the sinner. The self-righteous have no need
of a Savior. It's those who are sick who call
for the help, the aid of the physician. That's what the Lord
says. And He comes of His people then and measures them. and silences
them, and causes them to see what they are as sinners in his
sight. He convinces us of our sins. That's part and parcel
of the ministry of the Spirit of Christ, to reprove of sin, or to convince
of sin, of righteousness, of judgment. But that's only part
of his ministry, because as the Lord convicts, so he comes also
by the Spirit to comfort his people. He brings to them all
the consolations of the Gospel. And so the Lord goes about his
work in the hearts, in the souls of men and women, and forms and
fashions them into that temple, that house of the Lord. It's
the Lord who's building the house. Except the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain to build it. We cannot make the Christian. Only He that made the world can
make Christians. We know that. This is why we
emphasize the importance of the sovereignty of that grace of
God in the Gospel, and seek to direct men to Him who alone can
effect a true conversion in the soul of any man the Lord must
do it and the Lord is doing it and we are not to despise the
day or there were those who despised the day of small things as we
read there in Zechariah we sang the words of that hymn didn't
we? what call we small things? since whole cancelled some which
is greater than all things except those to come. It's the greatest
of all the works of God that He is doing in this fallen sinful
world, this work that He is doing in the souls of sinners like
you and like me. It's the greatest of all the
works of God, and we're not to displace it, or we're to rejoice
in the fact that God is yet able to save and does save to the
uttermost. Confident of this very thing,
that he which hath begun a good work in us will perform it until
the day of Jesus Christ. Oh, the Lord, help us then to
come with that confidence as we approach again in prayer and
plead for the coming of that Kingdom of our God and Saviour
Jesus Christ. It's one of those petitions that
the Lord lays before us in the pattern prayer. We're to pray,
Thy Kingdom come. or that the Lord might establish
in that kingdom that reign of grace and build His house. May the Lord bless His word to
us. Now let us, before we come to
prayer, sing our second praise, the hymn 141. The tune is Saint Saviour 228.
Behold the sure foundation stone which
God in Zion lays to build our heavenly hopes upon and His eternal
praise. The Hymn 141, Tune 228.