We'll be looking at Psalm 127 this morning, if you'd turn there with me. I never cease to be amazed when I hear people talking about self-made men and women. No one's self-made. Nobody. Every person starts with advantages that they didn't create. Whether it's health, whether it's intelligence, whether it's opportunity, upbringing, It's not man's doing, it's all God's doing.

I'm not saying that hard work doesn't matter, but hard work's not sovereign, and it takes a sovereign to save a sinner. And two people can work equally hard, I've seen this. And only one ends up with abundance who made the difference. God's very clear in the scriptures about who makes the difference. He makes the difference. He sure doesn't have anything to do with effort, and He sure doesn't have anything to do with talent. And when it comes to spiritual abundance, that's what we're interested in.

Hard work's not the cause, but the result of Christ's salvation, salvation in Christ. It's God's sovereign ordering of all things. It's God's providence of events and mercies is claiming to be self-made. You know what it is? Ultimately, it's just pride. Look what I've done. Look what I've made of myself. It's a refusal to acknowledge dependence upon God. It's human boasting. It's masquerading as some kind of empowerment within. And this world promotes it. You can do anything you put your mind to, they say.

But look what verse one says. Psalm 127, except the Lord build the house. They labor in vain that build it. and except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. Now the first three words of this text, except the Lord, that says it all, doesn't it? Except the Lord. That's the difference. That's who makes the difference. If God doesn't do it, it won't be done. If God isn't in it, it won't stand. Human effort is useless without God. And human effort alone is insufficient except the Lord build the house. They labor in vain to build it. Except the Lord keep the city. The watchman waketh but in vain.

Our dependence is on God. If God doesn't build the house, our labor's in vain and our strength is in Christ alone. We know that if anything prospers, it's only because God's blessing upon it. It's 100% because of what God does. And this is talking about building the church, the house. The church is called the house of the living God. And the pillar and the ground of the truth. And that goes also for this house in which we live, which Scripture refers to as a tabernacle in which we dwell. The Lord's got to build them both. Or they will be of no value. And our labor to build them is vain.

Psalm 127, verse 1, except the Lord build. Except the Lord protect. Except the Lord guard. Except the Lord cause it to grow. The city that the watchman works, his works will be in vain. Now the watchman is, in ancient times, was the guard that they put upon the wall. You remember Jericho, the walls that surrounded the city, they had guards up there, they called them watchmen. And they were posted on the walls of the city to keep an eye out for danger. And whether it was invading armies or thieves trying to break in or fire breaking out, anything that would threaten the people inside, the watchman was on guard to keep the city safe. The watchman here is a very good representation, well, not a good representation, not a good one, but it's a representation of human effort. All human effort and work is actually, is absolutely futile if it's dependent, if it's not dependent on God's sustaining grace. Yes, a watchman is looking out for enemies who attempt to attack the city, but it's the Lord who keeps the city. Do you see that? If the Lord doesn't keep the city, that watchman, he's a waste of time. And the watchman's work is but vain, it says. The watchman will produce no results. He's useless apart. from God being involved. He has no meaning. He provides no result.

Building the church is of the Lord. You know, I see all kinds of efforts by men today. That's what they teach in seminaries nowadays. They don't teach the Word of God. They teach how to build churches. I've talked to men and women in seminaries. That's what they teach. How to build a church. How to grow a church. You can't. Only God can. If Christ is not the builder of the church and the rock that the church is built upon, it'll be in vain and it'll fail and it'll fall. Isn't that what the Lord said? He said, upon this rock. He's speaking of himself. He wasn't talking about Peter. Peter was a man just like you and me, subject to failure. He said, upon this rock will I build my church. Christ builds his church upon himself. And if Christ is not the object of my faith, and if God doesn't see that he's my rock and sure foundation, and he doesn't enable me to see that, then my house ain't gonna stand either. That's what the parable about the house built upon the rock is all about. When the storms of life and the winds of life blow against it vehemently, it stands because why? Built upon the rock.

But the Lord's not saying that we have nothing to do in this building. Because we're the means that he uses to build. It's through what the world calls the foolishness of preaching that God uses as the means to save them that believe.

My father used to put out a big garden. I told you that. So it was actually a beautiful thing. He kept it. So he worked hard. Too hard, I believe, for what he got out of it. Well, they've given most of it away. I guess that was a good thing. But how ridiculous it would have been for my father to have said, well, if it be God's will for my garden to prosper and grow, then it'll just come up and I won't have to plant and I won't have to water it and I won't have to pull weeds out of it. And you'd say, well, you ain't gonna get much of a garden.

My father-in-law was a farmer, farmed almost 1,200, 1,300 acres. He worked hard. He tilled the ground. He planted the seed. He watered. He did all that farmers do to cause that crop to prosper. But God had to give the increase. You see, it was God that sent the rain. It was God that sent the sunshine. And it's when God sent it. It had to rain at the right time, and the sun had to shine at the right time. But that's what Paul meant when he wrote, I've planted, and Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. Same principle in salvation. Apollos watered. Paul planted. But neither is he that planteth anything, and neither is he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase." He gets all the glory. He gets all the credit.

Isn't it such a comfort to know that God's in absolute control, ruling and reigning over all things? Except the Lord build the house. It won't be built. Except the Lord keep the city. He won't be kept. God's gotta be the builder or the building is worthless. God's gotta be the keeper or defense is useless. Verse two, it's vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

Now listen, true rest. comes from God. Rest is not earned, it's a given. Not from us making great efforts to achieve or obtain. Christ said, come unto me and I'll give you rest. There's no rest apart from coming to Him. To eat the bread of sorrows is talking about the worry and anxiety of this life. Folks by nature often get up early to worry and stay up late to do the same. We've all been guilty of it. Why? Why? It's useless. It doesn't change anything.

Matthew 6, 27, the Lord asked this question, which of you, by taking thought, by worry, by anxiety, can add one cubit, one inch? until your stature. Worry accomplishes nothing no more than you can make yourself taller. No more than you can lengthen your lifespan by stressing about. It's appointed unto men once to die. God appointed it. You're not going to add one second to that appointed time.

Well, why exercise then? Well, you may not live as long. God may have determined you to live less if you don't. You know, you gotta use your common sense. Worry is a waste of time, and more importantly, it's nothing but unbelief. That's what worry is, it's just unbelief. And if God truly enables us to believe that he is in absolute control, and he is, And sometimes he's pleased to let us see that. I mean, really see it. We say it, and then we act indifferently. Because if we honestly believe that God was in absolute control, we wouldn't worry and fret like we do. But if God enables us to, we can relax. But when we lose sight of that blessed truth, we have much anxiety and have trouble resting and even sleeping.

In the Psalms, it talks a great deal about sleep. Here it says, he giveth his beloved sleep. Who gives it? God does. It's a gift. What beautiful rest is found in knowing that I have God's acceptance in Christ alone. Is that not the best news ever? I'm accepted in the beloved, not because I do this or don't do that or any of those things, but simply because God sent Christ to pay my sin debt, to do for me what I couldn't do and to fulfill the law and to satisfy Judah, all the things that God requires. Our salvation, no way dependent on us. We say that all the time. I hope it never becomes just meaningless to us. It's all dependent on God, all of it.

Growing up, I never worried about my next meal. I didn't, never gave it a second thought. I was never concerned about having clothes to wear. I was never anxious about having a roof over my head or a bed to lie down in. Not once. Never entered my mind. I knew that my Father would provide. Didn't need to give it a second thought. The Lord Jesus said, if a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will you give him a stone? Well, of course not. What kind of father would that be? Or if he asked a fish, will you give him a serpent? No. If he shall ask an egg, are you going to offer him a scorpion? Well, I don't have any eggs, I've got a scorpion. If ye, then being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

Heavenly Father, do you hear that? Heavenly, He's my Father. I love what Hebrews chapter 4 says. It says, there remaineth therefore a rest. To the world? No. It says to the people of God. That's who gets to rest. This is a rest for those who believe. Christ finished work is our rest. That's what we rest in. Listen, if my salvation depended on me doing something, I'd be constantly fretting that I didn't do what it was or enough of what it was. But I know that God is satisfied with Christ's work at Calvary and therefore I can rest.

There's a rest for those who believe. For he that has entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works as God did from him. True faith is ceasing from self-effort. It's not laziness, it's surrender. If one thinks their work secures their standing with God, then they haven't yet entered into rest. We enter into Christ's rest when we quit pretending that our works can save or sustain us in any way.

And the pattern we have is God's own rest. The scripture says we should rest as God did from His. And the example there is creation. God created the heavens and the earth, six days. He rested on the seventh. He ceased from His works. When can we rest? When the work's done. Once the work was finished, God rested. Once we see the work of redemption is finished, the believer begins to rest.

Are you resting? Unbelief can keep you from ever resting.

Verse three, lo, children are an heritage of the Lord. and the fruit of the womb is his reward. Now that means that the children of God are God's inheritance. You know, I thought about that and there's only one reason why that's so. That means... The children of God, though they're individual members of the church, the house that God builds, they're also individual citizens of the city that he watches over. And to be accepted in Christ, who is the beloved, makes them his inheritance and his reward.

Now you think about that. Do you feel like God's inheritance? Do you feel like that you're a reward to God? Well, then how can we be in Christ? In Christ. The Lord's portion is His people in Christ. The Lord's inheritance is His people in Christ. What's an inheritance? You know what an inheritance is. It's something you receive and hold as your own. If you inherit something from somebody, it's yours. If someone leaves you a house, that deed signed over to you, it's your house. God deliberately takes believers in Christ as His own special possession. Isn't that amazing? Not because they're impressive, but because He set His love on them. Because Christ died for them.

That's the only reason a reward is something prized, is it not? You talk about giving a reward to somebody, you'll perk their interest. It's something worth having. How can you and I be worth having to God? It's because our worth's in Christ alone. The kingdom and those in it was the king's responsibility. When God says His people are His inheritance, He's identifying Himself as their ruler, their protector, and their provider. He takes responsibility for them. That's why we don't worry and fret. If the Lord builds the city, we have nothing or watches over the city. If the Lord builds a house, what have we got to worry about? We talk about God's ways past finding out. That's what this book talks about. What proof is it when we consider that God doesn't just save His people, but listen, He treasures them. And He delights in having them. He considers them a reward. Only one way that can be so, in Christ.

Verse four, as arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. That's talking about believers, children, the children of God. Believers are arrows in God's hand. Guess which direction you're gonna go in as one of his arrow. The direction that he purposes for you to go. The direction in which he shoots that arrow. That's where you're gonna go. You shoot an arrow at a target, that arrow doesn't say, well, I'm going to go that way. I think I'm going to go over here, and turn itself, and then, no. And God is an archer that never misses. He is a perfect shot every time.

As a kid, I used to like to watch Robin Hood, and I always loved it when the other guy would shoot and hit a bullseye, and Robin Hood would shoot, and split the arrow that the other guy shot that was right in the middle of the target. God's a better shot than Robin Hood. What a blessing it is to have Him directing our paths, huh? That makes me happy. How about you? Does that make you happy?

Look at verse 5. 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. Now the Lord's quiver is full. It's full of arrows. Let's tell him about his church. You know, it's a remnant compared to the world that dies and perishes, but it's still a number that no man can number. And everybody that he died for, listen, must be saved. They're gonna be saved. They have to be saved because He didn't die for anybody in vain. Christ never shed His blood for anyone that's going to perish in hell.

His quiver is full. They shall not be ashamed. Who? The arrows in His quiver, His people. No believer is going to be ashamed. You know why? Because we don't and we won't have anything to be ashamed of. I still just can't get over that. I hope I never get over it. I hope you never get over it. We don't have anything to be ashamed of. Well, what about my sin? It's gone. What about my guilt? Went with it. Our sin's been put away with the guilt of it. We have nothing to be ashamed of. We'll stand before God without guilt and shame. because of what Christ did on our behalf. We'll stand before God as one who has never committed sin.

That's why Paul asked, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? And then he answered it, John, and he said, it's God that justifies. Who's gonna condemn you after God's justified you? And then he asked, who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. He answered it. Yea, that is risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who's gonna condemn somebody that Christ died for? Nobody, nobody can.

And then what about the last phrase in verse five? But they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. What does that mean? Well, being perfect in Christ because of the offering that He Himself made, not any offering we made. By that one offering which He hath perfected forever, them that are sanctified. That's what it's talking about. We will not be ashamed and we'll have boldness and we'll speak with the enemies in the gate because they don't have anything on us. And with strength, the strength that we have in Christ, we as God's children will be able to defend and preach the gospel as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. That's a biblical term. We'll be made to endure hardness and meet opposition without any fear or shame.

Well, you're a sinner. No, I'm perfect in the Lord Jesus Christ. He made me so. Well, you going to condemn me? You're going to bring a charge against me? You have no reason. You can't do it. God's built the house. That's why. Our boldness is in Christ and what He's done, not what we do for Him. The Spirit equips the church to speak. Our shame has been dealt with. Did you hear that? Christ has taken our guilt. No accusations can be made against us and can stick. The enemy is stripped of his strongest weapon, which is fear of exposure, fear of failure, and fear of man. This is not a fragile message. We carry the power of God for salvation.

How so? Because the Lord builds the house. The Lord guards the city. The Lord strengthens his people as this glorious psalm describes. Friends, life only has stability and fruitfulness and peace when Christ is at the center of it. You don't give Christ any thought at all, then you've got reason for trouble. But all our building, all our watching, all our labor, all our hopes collapse without Him as the center. Christ is all and in all. That's what that means. He's the center of everything.

And when the Lord Himself is the builder and the keeper, we'll find rest, peace, and comfort knowing that He alone has done for us everything that God requires of us. What does God require of us? He provides the perfection we can't provide. Salvation's of the Lord. He's the builder of it. He's the keeper of it. Amen.

You know, amen is a Hebrew word that means truly. Truly said. It means surely. Surely said. It means certainly. It's for certain what He said. It means let it be so, and these things are so because God has made them so. So again, amen.