Psalm 127

Psalm 127 (NRSV)

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

¹ Unless the Lord builds the house,

those who build it labor in vain.

Unless the Lord guards the city,

the guard keeps watch in vain.

² It is in vain that you rise up early

and go late to rest,

eating the bread of anxious toil;

for he gives sleep to his beloved. 

³ Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord,

the fruit of the womb a reward.

⁴ Like arrows in the hand of a warrior

are the sons of one’s youth.

⁵ Happy is the man who has

his quiver full of them.

He shall not be put to shame

when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

Psalm 127 is a wisdom psalm, although some might classify it as a royal psalm.[1] The theme is that without the blessing of the Lord, all human effort is futile. The superscription describes it as A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. However, this psalm is a remarkably practical little psalm. It has two themes: work and family. People today have a lot of trouble balancing the demands of both — not to speak of achieving competency in either one of these important spheres of human social life. The problem with work is that it often grabs us like an octopus and draws us away from the other, perhaps more important, sphere: our family. It sucks our time; it sucks our resources. We discover, sometimes too late, that our priorities have been misplaced. Verses 1-2 show the significance of Divine Providence in human life.  It has a similar thought as we find in Proverbs 10:22, where the blessing of the Lord makes one rich and the Lord adds no sorrow with it. It illustrates the general truth through particular examples.  ¹ Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. The thought that the Lord is decisively present in daily labor consumes the poet. Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain. ² It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved. Without the presence of the Lord, daily labor becomes a life of futility and anxiety.  Without the Lord, work becomes futile. Verses 3-5 offer praise of the blessing of the Lord as evidenced by many children.  ³ Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. ⁴ Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons of one’s youth. ⁵ Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. Children, but especially sons, of course, are a divine blessing that brings much joy. No one shall put him to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

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[1] Weiser sees the two segments as originally independent psalms combined because both are wisdom. Dahood rejects that the psalm is not a unit.