Knowing the Architect
Psalm 127
Verse 1 Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.
Today we start a new song of ascent, this one written by Solomon, the wisest man to ever live. Son of the most popular psalmist of all time, he had learned about God from the man God said was a man after His own heart.
This wise man would have grown up hearing the tales of his father’s exploits. He would have heard about the day his dad had killed the giant and his many feats of war. But one of the most important things that he would have been told is how God had chosen his father and his descendants to reign over God’s people. It is this knowledge that brought Solomon to his understanding for this traveling song of praise.
“If God builds the house” is a phrase that gets tossed around at weddings and such but there is so much more to it than the building of a family. God wasn’t just building a family legacy with David and his lineage, although God is the only one that can build great families, God’s greatest family building project had started generations earlier than that. God had started building His house with men named Adam, Noah, Abraham and Jacob to name a few. So God’s plan of building started long before David and Solomon arrived on scene.
God’s house has more to do with His eternal plan than it does with earthly kingdoms and dynasties. God isn’t as focused on temporal things that enrapture us, His desire for our attentions are things that have eternal value. That isn’t to say that things that happen in this life don’t matter, but their worth should be measured on the scales of eternity.
We can build all we want but unless we are building with God as our chief builder and architect our building efforts are useless. We can try making a way that makes sense to us but God will bless what is built as He has designed.
Making It Personal
Are you a faithful builder for God or for yourself? How can you know God’s building plans? How often do you study the instructions He has given?
Making It Personal Kids
How important is it to follow directions? Where do you get the directions for how Jesus wants you to live? How often do you study His directions?
Closing Prayer
Father, we repent of the times that we have tried to build using our own plans. Please give us an ever-growing hunger for Your Word so that we can learn to build for You. In Jesus’ name, amen.