A Closer Walk

This new year is off and running. So far our theme here in this space has been getting closer to our God and honoring Him more. As part of that consider this. “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,” Psalm 127:1 NASB. This is one of the Psalms written by ancient Israelite King Solomon. Many regard him as the wisest man who ever lived. Guidance from the wisest man who ever lived? Seems like it would be a good idea to pay attention to that.
Unless the Lord builds the house they labor in vain who build it. Does that mean our God is going to grab a hammer and start driving nails? Unlikely. God won't do our part. And we cannot do His part. High probability this means that unless the Lord is involved in the project we are laboring in vain. Well if He ain't gonna grab a hammer, what's His part? Usually to provide the resources to buy the components and materials that will be needed. Who grew the tree that became the lumber? Who provided the iron that was made into the nails? That's Gods part. Our part? To gain the knowledge and experience required to carry out the project. To do the actual hammering, sawing, etc.
They labor in vain who build it. Said another way, all our efforts will come to naught if the Lord is not involved from the planning to the completion. Any building without the proper foundation and supports will eventually fall in on itself. As the building project begins and continues the Lord will be there to help catch mistakes or things that were overlooked. Someone will notice that and it will get corrected before the work continues.
Further in this passage we read, “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,” Psalm 127:2 NASB. This verse can be uplifting and encouraging to those of us in our post retirement time of life. And even to younger people as well. Sometimes our jobs require long hours; the farmer during harvest or calving. The retailer during inventory prep and the Christmas season. In each case because that is “the nature of the beast” so to speak. And we do what we have to do. But we should remember that it is our God's responsibility to provide for us. But we must do the work. So if the farmer doesn't plant any seeds he won't have anything to harvest.
But our Lord tells us that He provides for us even in our sleep. An example: if we have money invested in the stock market and the market goes up, suddenly and with no effort on our part, we have more money. Cool, huh? He gives to His beloved even in his sleep. We must do the work, come up with the funds to put into the stock market, but God provides. And if the market goes down? Well, we have the opportunity to buy more shares of our favorite companies at what is now a “sale price.” Cool, huh?
“Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, Who alone works wonders,” Psalm 72:18 NASB. Psalm 72 is the other Psalm written by King Solomon that we still have preserved for us in our time, and it is included in our Bibles. It is basically about his personal relationship with Almighty God. He has become King over all Israel and if we read the entire Psalm we may get a sense of how inadequate Solomon felt to do what God had called him to do. By the way, it is unfortunate that only three of Solomon's songs have survived. You may be thinking, “Wait, it was just stated that Solomon wrote two Psalms.” Let's see what our Lord tells us about Solomon. “Now God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore. And Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men, than Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was known in all the surrounding nations. He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. And he spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the wall; he spoke also of animals and birds and creeping things and fish. And men came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom,” 1 Kings 4:29-34 NASB.
So the Bible credits Solomon with 3,000 proverbs, some of which are contained in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. The first 29 chapters of the Book of Proverbs is attributed to Solomon. The last two chapters to two other men. And his songs were 1005. Over a thousand songs. We have in our Bibles the two already mentioned and a third song which may be the greatest of all, “The Song of Solomon” or “Song of Songs” as it's titled in some Bibles, which in our Bibles follows the Book of Ecclesiastes. It is eight chapters long and it is an ode to one of his wives as their marriage begins and is about to be consummated.
We who are living in the 21st century would be well advised to show some wisdom of our own and read and refer to this ancient wisdom from the wisest man who ever lived. Why? What does then have to do with now? Godly wisdom is timeless. There is no expiration date. And unless the Lord builds the house they labor in vain who build it.