Psalm 127. Let's read this passage of scripture. There's five verses. 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 in 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. Now, here
in this passage of Scripture, two things I think we should
consider before we look at this. One, and this is referenced in
these verses, man's responsibility. Man's responsibility. You know,
we have responsibilities. Children have a responsibility
to obey their parents. Husbands, we have a responsibility
to love our wives. We have a responsibility to believe
God's word as it's revealed in scripture. We have a responsibility
to raise our children under the sound of this gospel. As I stand
here before you this morning, I have a responsibility to preach
God's word, to faithfully declare the truth from God's word, the
truth about man. man's sinfulness, the truth about
God who's holy, righteous, and just in all that he does, and
tell the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ. We have a responsibility
to believe on him, to believe on the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, to believe him as our only God, our only Lord, and
only Savior. All that said, All that said,
God is absolutely and totally sovereign in all that he does. The scriptures declare this,
that he'll have mercy on whom he'll have mercy, that he's gracious
to whom he will be gracious, that he'll save whom he chooses,
whom he determines to save. We read this, it's not of him
that willeth, or of him that runneth, but of God that showeth
mercy. So with these two points in mind,
let's consider these few verses here this morning. Psalm 127
verse 1 says this, 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. Back in Ecclesiastes 9, 10, we
read this. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to
do, do it with all thy might. Put everything you've got, put
everything you got into it. Whether you're a builder or a
watchman or whatever it is the Lord has given us to do, he says,
you do it with all your might. You do it as unto the Lord. We shouldn't lose sight of this
though. Our Lord said this, he said, I'm the vine, you're the
branches. He that abideth in me and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, you
can do nothing, nothing. 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. Hebrews 3, 4, every house is
built by some man, but he that built all things is God. Who does the work? To whom are
we dependent upon? Who gets the glory? Who gets
the glory? The Lord Jehovah. The Lord shall
accept the Lord build." And that word build, it means just what
it says, to build. We know what it means to build
something, right? It's not to remodel. It's not
to make things better. We see this show on HGTV, that
fixer-upper, they go in and they take something old and they make
it better. That's not the work he does in
his people, except the Lord make. This is his work. He said this,
he said, old things are passed away, behold, I make all things
new, new. All things new, it's His work.
And anything apart from God doing the work, it's vain. It's vain, and that word means
evil. It means useless. Like those men and their efforts
back in, turn back to Genesis 11. Genesis chapter 11. Remember they were going to build
that tower. Those men were going to build that tower. Look at
verse 3. Here we read, they said one to another, go to let us
make brick and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone
and slime had they for mortar. And they said go to let us build
us a city and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven and let
us make us a name. lest we be scattered abroad upon
the face of the whole earth. That right there is the language
of false religion. Listen to that. Let us make. Isn't that what false religion
says? This is in our hands to do this.
Let us build. Let us, oh listen, let us make
us a name. My friends, if the Lord build
not the house, they labor in vain to build it. You know, false
religion, their efforts might be genuine, they might be sincere,
they may be for a good cause. But without Christ, nothing,
nothing. And you know, when a house is
built, again, it's something new. The old house is torn down
or you take a piece of land and you build, it's a new house. And this thing of salvation,
it's His building. It's His doing. And then in the
same manner, you take a sinner, salvation is of the Lord. Salvation, it's completely and
totally of Him. It's by His will. It's by the
will of God. It takes a work of His sovereign,
eternal, electing love and predestination to save a sinner. Ephesians 1,
turn to Ephesians 1 with me. Look in verse 3 of Ephesians
1. Blessed, blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy. and without blame before Him
in heaven, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will,
of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein
He hath made us accepted in the blood, accepted in the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's by His will. It's by His
blood. It's by the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The salvation of a sinner requires
a blood atonement. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission. Turn to Romans chapter 3. Beginning with verse 24 of Romans
3. Here we read, being justified
freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, a sin offering,
through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness. for the remission of sins that
are past of the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at this
time, His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier. Third, it's the work of God's
providence. His providence, God's providence,
His ordering and directing of all things. Those things that
we consider to be good things. those things we consider to be
bad things, those significant events that we can see, and even
those insignificant things that pass by and we don't even catch
a glimpse of them. It's of His providence. We know. We know that all things, all
things work together for good to them who love God, to them
who are called according His purpose. It's a work of His sovereign
and irresistible grace. The electing love of the Father,
the redeeming love of the Son, the invincible love of the Holy
Spirit. Paul writing to Timothy, he said,
Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord,
nor of me his prisoner, but be thou a partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel according to the power of God, who hath saved
us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to His purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. He saves us by His gospel, the
Word of God. The world by wisdom knew not
God. but it pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Paul, writing to the
Romans, he said, I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ for it's the power of God unto salvation. To everyone, everyone that believeth. It's a work of God's preservation. Salvation is a work of God's
preservation. Turn back to Psalm 127, back
to our text. God preserves and he keeps his
people. Look at that text again there.
Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain to build it.
Except the Lord keep the city. except he hedge it about, except
he protect it, except he save it, except the Lord keep the
city. The watchman, he waketh but in
vain. That watchman's efforts are useless. They're vain. A little over a
year ago, a little over a year ago, just around midnight at
our house. And we lived, my wife and Abby and her mom
and all of her brothers, we all lived together just in what they
called Simpson Valley. We just all lived together pretty
close together. I think we could throw a rock
and hit each other's houses. But around midnight, Abby got
a text from our sister-in-law, from Carrie, and Carrie said,
Abby, what's all those flashlights up around Urol's house? Don't
know. She said, looks like there's
a car parked in Urol's driveway. So, needless to say, got up to
see what was going on, and went outside out by our chicken coop,
and there was a blazer parked, a black blazer parked in our
driveway. And immediately, I was met by
a sheriff's deputy. And the first thing he said was,
get that flashlight out of my face. I had a flashlight. I looked
around, trying to see what's going on. What's happening here? He said, we're searching for
a suspected murderer. And he said, you check your cars. And he said, you make sure they're
locked. And he said, you make sure your house is locked. And
he said, if you've got a gun, he said, I suspect, he said,
I would strongly suggest you have it close by. He said, we've
got this fellow pinned down. And we looked up and you could
see all these, at that time, all these flashlights. So immediately
went back in the house, checked all the doors, had a pistol on
one side of the bed and had a double barrel shotgun on Abby's side
of the bed. stayed up that whole night. Didn't
sleep. Didn't sleep a wink. Next day,
still searching. Didn't sleep a wink. That next
night, tried to lay down and tossed and turned and could not,
couldn't sleep. Couldn't sleep a wink. And about
three in the morning, And keep in mind, probably by this time,
there were at least 100 law enforcement people from Kentucky and West
Virginia, Ohio, all looking for this fellow. About 3 a.m. in the morning, this passage
of Scripture, the Lord gave me this passage of Scripture, except
the Lord keep the city. Except the Lord keep the city.
The watchman waketh in vain. Now, I'll let you, I preached
this before, and Abby said, you've got to let people know they found
that fella before you go any further. They caught the fella,
okay? But I read that passage of Scripture. It was the next day they found
that fella. Read that passage of Scripture, and you know, I
just laid down my head on that pillow and went to sleep. Just
went to sleep. You know, He keeps our physical
bodies. He keeps us. But more importantly, He keeps
our souls. He protects and He keeps His
people. And listen, we're kept, what's
the scripture say? We're kept by the power of God,
by Almighty God. Over in Jude, we read unto Him
that is able to keep you from falling and to present you Faultless,
faultless before the presence of His glory. Before the presence
of a holy God with exceeding joy. To the only wise God our
Savior be glory, majesty, dominion, and power both now and ever. Amen. That old hymn writer, more
secure is no one ever. than the loved ones of the Savior. Proverbs 2.8 says this, he keepeth
the paths of judgment, and he preserveth the way of his saints. Just as he did Joseph. I wonder
how many nights Joseph must have woke up thinking, what in the
world is going on? From the time he was cast down
into that pit, being placed in prison, to be exalted on Pharaoh's
throne. To the time he met with his brothers
and he said, he looked at them and he said, you meant this for
evil, but God meant it for good. And I'm always amazed to think
there's no record he ever brought that up again. It was put away. God meant it for good, just as
he kept David. from running from Saul, when
he was running from Saul, or when he fled from Absalom, just
as he kept Rahab, that whole city is going to be destroyed.
But Rahab and her family, that scarlet cord, delivered safe and secure, just
as he keeps and delivers all of his sheep. All of them. All for whom Christ died. Look at Psalm 121. I thought I'd read a portion of
this, but there's not a good place to start or stop. I will
lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My
help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He'll
not suffer thy foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber
nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord
is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee
by day nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee
from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going
out and thy coming in from this time forth and even, even forevermore. It's vain. Oh, we do it, but
it's vain to rise up early. Look at verse two. It's vain
to rise up early, to sit up late, eat the bread
of sorrows, for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Let me ask
you, would you go about to establish your own righteousness? Would
you go about to do things your way? Will you seek salvation
by the works of the law? You know they build, and they
watch, and they rise up early, and they sit up late, and they
eat the bread of sorrows. Have I repented enough? Have
I given enough? Have I resisted enough? Oh, they eat the bread of sorrows.
I read that Martin Luther, Martin Luther used to beat himself with
a whip, at times to the point of being unconscious. Acts 8.49 says this, heaven is
my throne. and the earth is my footstool,
what will you build me?" What are we going to do for God? Oh,
but He, He giveth, He saves, He keeps, He gives His beloved
sleep, rest. Why would we rest anywhere else
but in Him? Turn to Acts 12. Acts 12. Look at beginning with verse
one of Acts 12. Now about that time Herod the
king stretched forth his hand to vex certain of the church. He was going after them. He killed
James, the brother of John, with a sword, and because he saw it
pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. Then
were the days of unleavened bread. And when he had apprehended him,
he caught him, he put him in prison, and he delivered him
to four quaternions of soldiers." And that was just extra men and
extra shifts to make sure that And he wasn't going anywhere.
Four criterions of soldiers to keep him, intending after Easter
to bring him forth to the people. Peter, therefore, was kept in
prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God
for him, and when Herod would have brought him forth. Herod. When he was going to bring him
forth, the same night, Peter was sleeping. Listen, not fretting,
not wringing his hands, not thinking, what am I going to do? He was
sleeping. And look where he was sleeping.
He was sleeping between two soldiers, those men that were given to
guard over him, bound with chains, and the keepers before the door
kept the prison. Who's keeping Peter? Huh? The Lord is. Almighty God is
keeping him. The believer, the believer can
rest right now. Right now, resting in God's love,
in his righteousness, the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
listen, we can rest in eternity, free from fear, free from doubt, free from sin. He's put it away. He's put it away. There remaineth
therefore a rest for the people of God. You know, David, when
he was fleeing from Absalom, he said this. He said, I cried
unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me. Consider that. He said, I cried unto the Lord,
and he heard me. Ain't that amazing that God hears
the cry of his people? And listen, he heard me out of
his holy hill, and I laid me down and slept. And then I waked for the Lord,
for the Lord sustained me. He kept me. Now back to our text. Let's finish up here. Psalm 127,
look at verse three. Lo, children, children are a
heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Happy, 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. What a blessing. What a blessing to know this,
that not only does the Lord build the house, he builds his house. And he keeps his house, but he'll
also fill his house, won't he? Children are an inheritance.
They're not a wage. They're a blessing. They're not
a burden. They're a gift, a gift of God's
grace. And he says, they're arrows in
the hand of a mighty man. Spurgeon said this. I thought
this was pretty good. He said, we must have our children
in hand when they're young, or they're not likely to be so when
they're grown. We must point them and straighten them and
make errors in them in their youth, continually pointing them
to the Lord Jesus Christ. And may we be faithful to do
that. May we be faithful to bring our children, encourage our children
to hear the word, to listen to the word. May it be said of our
children what Paul said of Timothy, from a child, from a child you've
known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto
salvation. You know, as fathers, we're instructed
to bring our children up in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord. He said, don't provoke them to
wrath. Remember they're children. As a dad, I'll say this. Isaac,
you've probably suffered the brunt of that a few times because
it's so hard sometimes to remember that children are just that.
They're children. They're just children. But that's
our responsibility, to bring them up under the nurture and
admonition of the Lord, and all that he might be pleased in his
time to be merciful to them, to save their souls, to put them
in his quiver, to put them in his quiver, where they're safe
and secure, as arrows in the hand of a mighty man, to point
them and direct them, He who is mighty to save. Aren't we thankful? Don't we
have every reason to be thankful for his mercies to us? Almighty
God, in his mercy and grace, he builds his house, he keeps
his house, and he fills his house with his children. Children of
all ages, but he'll fill his house. Turn with me to one more
passage of scripture. One more scripture here. Turn
over to Hebrews chapter three. Hebrews chapter three. Look at the first six verses
here of Hebrews chapter three. Beginning with verse one. Wherefore,
holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the
apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, who
was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful
in all his house. For this man was counted worthy
of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house
hath more honor than the house. For every house is built by some
man, but he that built all things is God. As Moses was verily faithful
in all his house as a servant for a testimony of those things
which were spoken after, but Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ,
as a son over his own house, whose house are we? Believers in Christ, called Living
Stones, a spiritual house in whom Christ dwelleth. Whose house
are we if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope firm
unto the end? All right. We'll stop right there.
Oh, he builds his house, keeps his house, he fills his house.
All right. Stop her. Stop again.