Because of the space limitations of Bible on the Block, I’m only going to focus on verse 1 of this Psalm. But, to truly start at the beginning, please note that the author of this Psalm is King Solomon, the son and heir to the throne of David. Solomon was a man of great wisdom and great contradictions. His time on the throne was the high-water mark for peace and prosperity in the history of Israel but the failures of his personal life initiated the long, slow decline and fall of the kingdom. He built the Temple in Jerusalem to which the pilgrims singing this Psalm were ascending. He expanded the borders and influence of the Kingdom to its farthest extent. He built palaces and fortresses. He wrote many psalms, the Book of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. But he also made multiple foreign alliances forbidden by God and took a thousand wives and concubines to ratify those alliances. He erected idols of worship for his foreign consorts. He pressed his fellow Israelites into forced labor and ruinous taxes to create his fabled wealth and he left the kingdom in the incompetent hands of his only son, Rehoboam.
When Psalm 127 begins with, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” Solomon is not just speaking from the point of view of a carpenter or watchman, but as a father who failed his family and a king who failed his nation. The City of Edinburgh, Scotland has as its motto – inscribed on its crest and stationery – “Nisi Dominus Frusta” – which is the Latin translation of this Psalm’s opening words – literally, “Without the Lord, Frustration.”
We are coming up on the 250th Anniversary of the founding of the United States. Our founding documents (The Constitution and Declaration of Independence) adopt a combination of morality based in Biblical revelation and reason based in the 18th Century Age of Enlightenment. What is too often missing from the implementation of those principles is wisdom based on God’s Word. Godly wisdom is also too often missing in every human endeavor from individual choices to the choices made by businesses, educational institutions, families and societies.
In addition to the upcoming July Fourth celebration, we are also in the season of graduations. One of the most often heard poems at graduation ceremonies was written by an English poet named William Ernest Henley in 1875. It is called “Invictus” (Latin for ‘unconquered’ or ‘undefeated’). The most often quoted line from that poem is, “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.” Of all men, Solomon would have recognized that belief as nonsense. And yet it is the philosophy of so many in today’s world.
As Christians our minds should be so saturated by the words of our Savior that we would recognize the lies of “Invictus” and remember that Jesus said, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’, and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” (Luke 6:46–49)
So don’t build your life on emotions, feelings, internet influencers, trust in your own abilities and the wisdom of the crowds. When Jesus was praying in Gethsemane before his crucifixion, he put all those shallow things aside and said to his heavenly father, “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42)
Dependence on God’s will is true wisdom.