Unless the LORD builds the house, 

They labor in vain who build it;

Unless the LORD guards the city,

The watchman keeps awake in vain.

It is vain for you to rise up early,

To retire late,

To eat the bread of painful labors;

For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.

Behold children are a gift of the LORD,

The fruit of the womb is a reward.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,

So are the children of one’s youth.

How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;

They will not be ashamed

When they speak with their enemies in the gate.

—Psalm 127

Last week we looked at the character of God revealed in Psalm 126 and today we’re going to continue with the very next psalm. So often people think of God the Father as being harsh and angry, but even in the Old Testament, that’s not the picture we get! 

To give us a little context, this is one of the Songs of Ascents, which are a group of psalms that were meant to be sung as people ascended to Jerusalem—which is about 2,700 feet in elevation—for one of the feasts. These psalms were a way to prepare people’s hearts and help them focus on the time of celebration to come, and this psalm in particular focuses on three aspects of God’s character that, for me at least, inspire love and praise.

The first characteristic is God’s sovereignty. If you couldn’t tell from the mentions of vanity, this psalm was written by Solomon, who often focused on God’s sovereignty in his writing. 

In stanza one, God is sovereign over building and stability, protection, and providing for the physical needs of His people. In stanza two, God is sovereign over the family and delivers the blessing of children. 

The sharp divide between the two stanzas has always thrown me for a bit of a loop, but as I looked closely, I noticed something—in stanza one, God is sovereign over the typical role of a husband and father, and in stanza two, God is sovereign over the typical role of a wife and mother. He doesn’t leave anyone out, but makes it clear that He is actively working behind the scenes on behalf of everyone.

The next characteristic we see comes in verse two. Solomon has just finished going on another rant about how everything is vain when he wraps it up by saying hard labor is in vain because “He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.”

Pay attention to the “his”es. My translation offers a little help by capitalizing God’s pronouns, so this phrase says, “God gives to God’s beloved even in the beloved’s sleep.” 

What a beautiful picture! We may work hard all day long trying to accomplish, succeed, and provide, but God’s always there, even in our sleep, generously giving us all we need.

The last thing I see in this psalm that inspires my own heart to love and praise Him is the tenderness and joy wrapped up in God’s love for us.

In the last stanza, as Solomon celebrates the gift God provides in children, I see another layer of truth underneath the literal. Scripture regularly refers to those who have a relationship with God as His children. If we keep that in mind, verse four and the first part of five take on a new meaning— “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.”

I’m sure many people will disagree with me because this wasn’t Solomon’s intended meaning when he wrote this psalm, but given the fact that this psalm, like the rest of Scripture, was inspired by God, I can’t help thinking that we’re getting a quick glimpse into how God feels about us.

What if God really is blessed by His relationship with us? I don’t mean that in a high-and-mighty sense like we possess the power to bless God, but in a humble sense. I have nothing to offer God except my heart, and given all my failures, that shouldn’t be nearly enough, but He chooses to take joy in it. He decided that my love and devotion, even though small and weak, are a blessing and a gift to Him.

That speaks to such deep and undeserved love that it overwhelms me. 

This isn’t a god who waits around watching for someone to fail so he can exact his just vengeance. This is a God who is so in love with His creation, not because we deserve it, but because He is love and He is gracious and generous enough to offer that love to us.