Psalm 127

I live in the same town as my mother. What a blessing that is—especially since my daughters can grow up with their “memaw” right down the road. My mom and I are good friends, and we talk every day. And it seems that, recently, I have heard her say quite a few times (she’ll forgive me for paraphrasing), “The older I get, the more I ask God to just help me stay out of His way!”

Of course, today’s psalm made me think of that immediately: “If God doesn’t build the house, the builders only build shacks. If God doesn’t guard the city, the night watchman might as well nap. It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late, and work your worried fingers to the bone. Don’t you know he enjoys giving rest to those he loves?” (vs 1-2)

The psalmist addresses the two biggest, most important things in life with these words—our homes and our communities. If God is not at the center of these two entities, it doesn’t matter what we do. If God isn’t engineering the whole thing, we labor in vain.

This is, unfortunately, all too easy to see in today’s society—especially when it comes to the family. The further God is removed from the center of family life, the more the family has fallen apart. Today, rates of divorce, out-of-wedlock pregnancy, domestic violence, abuse, and neglect are all on the rise. No wonder children are exhibiting more and more behavioral and emotional problems—the stable family environment is becoming an endangered animal. In general, kids these days are surviving, not thriving.

The same is true for our communities. We look out at the world-at-large and see brokenness, poverty, hunger, homelessness… so many problems that need to be addressed. The recent rioting and looting has only exposed the heart of our utter brokenness, and driven communities further into fracture. We desperately look for solutions, yet the psalmist is clear: If God is not at the center of our solutions, if He is not watching over the city, we might as well give up. I think Eugene Peterson summed it up well: “Psalm 127 insists on a perspective in which our effort is at the periphery and God’s work is at the center.”

This is also true of the other example given in this psalm—the next generation: “Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift? the fruit of the womb his generous legacy?” (vs 3) Of this, Eugene Peterson wrote, “The entire miracle of procreation and reproduction requires our participation, but hardly in the form of what we call our work. We did not make these marvelous creatures that walk and talk and grow among us. We participated in an act of love which was provided for us in the structure of God’s creation.”

So much of the Bible is (and, hence, our daily attention should also be) about the work God is doing in our family, our community, our world. This is not about us and our journey. This is about Him and His work. Unless He is the center, we’re going nowhere.

Lord, for today, help me get out of Your way!