Psalm 127
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Psalm 127:1:
“Except the Lord build the house. they labor in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchmen waketh but in vain” |
In no area of life–from humanism to politics–will “humanism” save us. Unless all the philosophies and ideals are brought into the captivity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and under biblical law–we are doomed. Constitutions, confessions, contracts, and the like have a necessary place in life…the problem, though, is one of trust. Augustine wrote: "The Lord, therefore, buildeth the house, the Lord Jesus Christ buildeth His own house. Many toil in building: but, except He build, “their labour is but lost that build it.” Who are they who toil in building it? All who preach the word of God in the Church, the ministers of God’s mysteries. We are all running, we are all toiling, we are all building now; and before us others have run, toiled, and built: but “except the Lord build, their labour is but lost.
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Psalm 127:2:
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 |
The persons to whom this language must be taken to be addressed are the builders and the watchmen of the foregoing verse. For them God provided the gift of sleep. And the harder the building in the daytime, and the keener the watching while the sentry goes his round, the more certain is the man to value the blessing of slumber when God, in love, gives it to him. No doubt, "the sleep of the laboring is sweet." But, if it be only genuine sleep, the boon is far richer when it comes after care than when it comes after muscular fatigue.
“It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late” (Psalm 127:2).
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AW Pink: THE BLESSEDNESS OF SLEEP
How often is it now lost sight of that the Lord cares for the bodies of His saints as well as for their souls. This is more or less recognized and owned by believers in the matter of food and clothing, health and strength, but it is widely ignored by many concerning the point we are here treating of. SLEEP is as imperative for our physical well-being as is food and drink, and the one is as much the GIFT of our heavenly Father as is the other. We cannot put ourselves to sleep by any effort of will, as those who suffer with insomnia quickly discover. Nor does exercise and manual labour of itself ensure sleep: have you ever lain down almost exhausted and then found you were “too tired to sleep”? Sleep is a DIVINE GIFT, but the nightly recurrence of it blinds us to the fact.
When it so pleases Him, God withholds sleep, and then we have to say with the Psalmist, “Thou holdest mine eyes waking” (77:4). But that is the exception rather than the rule, and deeply thankful should we be that it is so. Day by day the Lord feeds us, and night by night He “giveth His beloved sleep.” Thus in this little detail - of Elijah’s sleeping under the juniper tree - which we are likely to pass over lightly, we should perceive the gracious hand of God ministering in tenderness to the needs of one who is dear unto Him.
Yes, “the Lord pitieth them that fear Him,” and why? “for He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust” (Ps. 103:14). He is mindful of our frailty, and tempers His winds accordingly; He is aware when our energies are spent, and graciously renews our strength. It was not God’s design that His servant should die of exhaustion in the wilderness after his long, long flight from Jezreel, so he mercifully refreshes his body with sleep. And thus compassionately does He deal with us. Alas, how little are we affected by the Lord’s goodness and grace unto us. The unfailing recurrence of His mercies both temporally and spiritually inclines us to take them as a matter of course. So dull of understanding are we, so cold our hearts Godward, it is to be feared that most of the time we fail to realize WHOSE loving hand it is which is ministering to us. Is not this the very reason why we do not begin really to value our health until it is taken from us, and not until we spend night after night tossing upon a bed of pain do we perceive the worth of regular sleep with which we were formerly favored?
And such vile creatures are we that, when illness and insomnia come upon us, instead of improving the same by repenting of our former ingratitude, and humbly confessing the same to God, we murmur and complain at the hardness of our present lot and wonder what we have done to deserve such treatment. O let those of us who are still blessed with good health and regular sleep fail not daily to return thanks for such privileges and earnestly seek grace to use the strength from them to the glory of God. [Quoted from A.W. Pink’s ‘Life of Elijah’]
How often is it now lost sight of that the Lord cares for the bodies of His saints as well as for their souls. This is more or less recognized and owned by believers in the matter of food and clothing, health and strength, but it is widely ignored by many concerning the point we are here treating of. SLEEP is as imperative for our physical well-being as is food and drink, and the one is as much the GIFT of our heavenly Father as is the other. We cannot put ourselves to sleep by any effort of will, as those who suffer with insomnia quickly discover. Nor does exercise and manual labour of itself ensure sleep: have you ever lain down almost exhausted and then found you were “too tired to sleep”? Sleep is a DIVINE GIFT, but the nightly recurrence of it blinds us to the fact.
When it so pleases Him, God withholds sleep, and then we have to say with the Psalmist, “Thou holdest mine eyes waking” (77:4). But that is the exception rather than the rule, and deeply thankful should we be that it is so. Day by day the Lord feeds us, and night by night He “giveth His beloved sleep.” Thus in this little detail - of Elijah’s sleeping under the juniper tree - which we are likely to pass over lightly, we should perceive the gracious hand of God ministering in tenderness to the needs of one who is dear unto Him.
Yes, “the Lord pitieth them that fear Him,” and why? “for He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust” (Ps. 103:14). He is mindful of our frailty, and tempers His winds accordingly; He is aware when our energies are spent, and graciously renews our strength. It was not God’s design that His servant should die of exhaustion in the wilderness after his long, long flight from Jezreel, so he mercifully refreshes his body with sleep. And thus compassionately does He deal with us. Alas, how little are we affected by the Lord’s goodness and grace unto us. The unfailing recurrence of His mercies both temporally and spiritually inclines us to take them as a matter of course. So dull of understanding are we, so cold our hearts Godward, it is to be feared that most of the time we fail to realize WHOSE loving hand it is which is ministering to us. Is not this the very reason why we do not begin really to value our health until it is taken from us, and not until we spend night after night tossing upon a bed of pain do we perceive the worth of regular sleep with which we were formerly favored?
And such vile creatures are we that, when illness and insomnia come upon us, instead of improving the same by repenting of our former ingratitude, and humbly confessing the same to God, we murmur and complain at the hardness of our present lot and wonder what we have done to deserve such treatment. O let those of us who are still blessed with good health and regular sleep fail not daily to return thanks for such privileges and earnestly seek grace to use the strength from them to the glory of God. [Quoted from A.W. Pink’s ‘Life of Elijah’]
heresy
The name Quiverfull comes from Psalm 127:3–5, which Pride cited in The Way Home. It says: "Lo, children are a 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."
The Quiverfull movement also cites the words of God in Genesis: "Be fruitful and multiply".
Some Quiverfull followers may also believe that through childbirth, they are creating an army of Christians on Earth. Nancy Campbell, a supporter of the Quiverfull moment and Tennessee-based preacher, wrote on the website Above Rubies that "God is looking for an army...The womb is a powerful weapon against Satan." -Newsweek
The Quiverfull movement also cites the words of God in Genesis: "Be fruitful and multiply".
Some Quiverfull followers may also believe that through childbirth, they are creating an army of Christians on Earth. Nancy Campbell, a supporter of the Quiverfull moment and Tennessee-based preacher, wrote on the website Above Rubies that "God is looking for an army...The womb is a powerful weapon against Satan." -Newsweek
