Commentaries on today's passage
Psalm 72 - Conceptions of Davidic Hope by Greg Herrick
Psalm 127 - A Word for Workaholics by Bob Deffinbaugh and Don't Eat the Bread of Anxious Toil by John Piper
I'd like to focus on Psalm 127. Both of the above commentaries were an excellent read. I especially liked how Bob Deffinbaugh tied in the last half of the psalm with the first half - since at first glance they seem so unrelated.
Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. Psalm 127:1 This verse tells us that no matter what work we are doing - whether it's building a house, guarding a city, or washing the dishes - if we are doing it with the wrong motives, relying on our own strength instead of in God, if we are doing it anxiously, then it's being done in vain and is useless.
In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat - for he grants sleep to those he loves. Psalm 127:2 This verse seems to be a warning against workaholism, as well as anxiousness and not trusting fully in the Lord to provide for us. The NASB says for He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.
John Piper summed up these two verses very well....
So don't eat the bread of anxious toil, because no matter how hard you work to achieve anything, God has lifted off your back the final responsibility for its success, and God can accomplish more good for those who trust him while they sleep than they can accomplish with anxious labor while awake. (from above commentary)
Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Like arrows in teh hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is teh man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate. Psalm 127:3-5
The first tie in to these verses from the first few is that children are a gift from God, a blessing that he gives us during our rest - after all, children are often conceived in bed, when we rest - not when we toil.
Secondly, children are a gift of God, a reward. As Bob Deffinbaugh explains...
A man may toil to build a house, but by giving us children God builds our home. The watchman stands guard to provide security and protection, but the children God gives provide a greater security. Solomon poetically describes them as arrows in the hand of a warrior (v. 4). The children born in a man’s youth are strong and well established by the time he has reached old age. His quiver full of children will look after the aged man and his wife......The man who puts too much stock in his labor is the man who has failed to understand the grace of God. In His grace God has provided man with a time of rest and relaxation. And in His grace God has made provision for many of our needs through the gift of children. Contrary to the thinking of the workaholic, God’s gifts are not acquired by feverish efforts, burning the candle at both ends, but by resting in His grace.....We, sadly enough, have reversed our priorities from that given in this Psalm. Many have come to view children as a curse and work as the means of finding fulfillment and security.
This is a beautiful psalm - reminding us to trust in God's grace, in God's strength and to value the blessings He gives us in our children, to realize that they are our priority and our blessed responsibility.I found a very interesting post in a blog I read occasionally which I think is very appropriate to this psalm as it encompasses work, children and parenting (specifically mothering) - here is a snippet....
the widespread exodus of mothers out of the home have implications we can barely grasp. A societal problem is never a symptom of just one disease, but it’s hard to think of a more destructive shift than that of mothers leaving her domestic realm in droves.
And here is where tomatoes are thrown. Which is why so few people are willing to say what needs to be said…that mothers have a full time, very important job already and when they abdicate that responsibility, we all pay for it.
“It’s my business”. Actually, it’s not. The character of a child, multiplied exponentially, becomes the character of society. That affects me greatly. It affects you. It affects us on a personal level when we are left in the wake of familial distress, and it affects us on a much larger level as we deal with economic effects and the influences of those who lead our country. We do not live autonomously!
So back around….dear mothers, we have a hard job. Some days I feel like giving up. I’m sure you do too. It would be easier to let someone else do this work. But it’s not about what’s easiest. It’s about what’s best. For us, for them and for everyone. You’re not just feeding babies, or keeping a clean house or sweeping up Cheerios.
Every little moment you are planting, watering and weeding around those tender seeds of character which will one day either grow to flourish and give life all around it, or become a needy, sucking vacuum that depletes the life around it.
Rule your realm.
As of tomorrow we're moving into the Proverbs. It's going to be really hard to cover 4 chapters per day here - you could literally focus on one verse per day! Definitely different verses will jump out at each of us - could provide some good discussion and insight.Tomorrow's passage: Proverbs 1-4
2 comments:
Thanks, Tammy! I only read Bob Deffinbaugh's commentary, but it was very eye-opening. Not 10 minutes before that I was praying that God would show me whether taking kids in for daycare was the way I should go as opposed to go back to my job(s) outside the home. I think I have my answer! Now I need to remember to do the seemingly mundane "chores" of feeding and cleaning up after them every day as though I were doing them for God... which I am, but it's hard to remember that sometimes. Like when 3 of them are crying at once and I only have 2 hands! "Be strong and do the work," right?
That's awesome Miriam!
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