1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,080 Hi there y'all. I'm Adriene. I'm married to that one and I serve in worship 2 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:12,900 ministry and in Village Women and whatever else, whatever else needs to be 3 00:00:12,900 --> 00:00:21,420 done. Today's scripture reading is from Psalm 127. Unless the Lord builds a house, 4 00:00:21,420 --> 00:00:27,700 its builders labor over it in vain. Unless the Lord watches over a city, the 5 00:00:27,700 --> 00:00:34,120 watchman stays alert in vain. In vain you get up early and stay up late, working 6 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:40,880 hard to have enough food. Yes, he gives sleep to the one he loves. Sons are indeed 7 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:46,360 a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a 8 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:51,960 warrior are the sons born in one's youth. Happy is the man who has filled his 9 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:57,080 quiver with them. They will never be put to shame when they speak with their 10 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:02,280 enemies at the city gate. This is God's Word. 11 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:18,560 My lovely wife also works for our district under the leadership of Pastor 12 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:24,080 Mike Mugford and the last few weeks have been just going crazy getting ready for 13 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:27,520 family camp which just took place a couple weeks ago. I don't know how long 14 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:33,440 it was now. It feels like a lifetime. Lots of work leading up to family camp, lots of 15 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:37,800 hours and then lots and lots of time spent there. She'd get up before the sun 16 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:41,960 was out and come back to bed at night before the after the sun was down and 17 00:01:41,960 --> 00:01:47,600 after the clock hit midnight and I basically had no wife for a week or two 18 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:52,360 and on the drive home she looks at me and she's like, oh this is great and I 19 00:01:52,360 --> 00:02:00,320 said yeah I'm tired of being the first lady and she started laughing. So I get 20 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:05,680 to be that guy though still. We had a great time at family camp. I'll remind 21 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:09,840 you the registration is open for next year if you like hearing the stories and 22 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:13,440 you want to be a part of it next year. You can already register at the district 23 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:18,160 to be a part of that family camp and it's gonna be a good time. Our journey 24 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:24,080 continues as we join that festive throng of devoted worshipers who are making 25 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:31,320 their way to the temple. In this sermon series we've called a pilgrim song, Psalms 26 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:35,320 of Ascent and we are following in the footsteps of the ancient people of 27 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:41,000 Israel who would sing and recite and declare these songs as they would make 28 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:47,080 their way up to Jerusalem a couple times a year for a festival or celebration to 29 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:53,280 remember God and his steadfast love for them. And that journey as Nick pointed 30 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:58,680 out in our first episode, our first week, that journey was not easy. That journey 31 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:06,920 had many dangers, many potential pitfalls, thieves and robbers, idol worshipers and 32 00:03:06,920 --> 00:03:14,520 yet those faithful set out year after year to go and be a part of the 33 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:20,360 celebration of who God is and his love for them. These Psalms serve as a 34 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:25,880 reminder to them that their help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and 35 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:30,720 earth and that the Lord gave them the victory over their enemies, that the Lord 36 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:37,280 fought their battles. It was so integral to their faith and it caused a swelling 37 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:41,840 of gratitude and grateful love in their hearts and was to lead them to a 38 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:48,560 confident trust that the Lord could and would do it again for them. It was to 39 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:55,160 re-center their awareness on God who was at work in their lives in the 40 00:03:55,160 --> 00:04:00,800 extraordinary ways like in battle when they routed a foe that was larger and 41 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:07,960 bigger than them but also in everyday life. Their pilgrimage through many 42 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:15,520 danger, toils and snares is not all unlike our journey through this life. And 43 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:21,880 Psalm 124, it showed us that utter dependence or utter despair and defeat 44 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:29,120 await us if the Lord is not on our side. If the Lord had not been on our side, we 45 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:36,040 were this close to being snatched up by the enemy, swallowed up. And today we're 46 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:42,160 gonna look at Psalm 127 where the call to God-centered awareness is broadened to 47 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:50,160 include what we build and what we watch over in life. The main point, the point 48 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:54,840 that seems to be repeated over and over again in this psalm is something like 49 00:04:54,840 --> 00:05:01,240 deny God in all of your ways and everything is emptied of ultimate 50 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:06,640 purpose and worth and instead will be filled with anxious toil and 51 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:13,720 restlessness. Or to put it the positive, acknowledge God in all your ways and 52 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:20,800 everything is filled with ultimate meaning, purpose and rest and emptied of 53 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:27,320 anxiety. That sounds like a good life, yeah? Filled with meaning and purpose, 54 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:36,200 filled with substance, not empty, except emptied of the anxieties of anxious toil. 55 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:42,360 More than a high moral principle or abstract thought, it was extremely 56 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:47,960 practical to these pilgrims as they made their way to Jerusalem and it is 57 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:51,720 extremely practical to us today, I believe. And we're gonna look at this 58 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:56,600 passage under three comparisons. The three comparisons, I'll give you the 59 00:05:56,600 --> 00:06:02,080 broad overview here and then we'll go one by one. Fullness or futility, blessing 60 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:11,400 or burden, rest or restlessness. And so we begin with fullness or futility. Unless 61 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:15,840 the Lord builds a house, it's builders labor over it in vain. Unless the Lord 62 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:21,040 watches over a city, the watchman stays alert in vain. In vain you get up and 63 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:28,960 stay up late, working hard to have enough food. Unless the Lord builds a house, 64 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:35,360 unless who? The Lord. Unless the Lord builds a house, it's builders labor over 65 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:42,400 it in vain. A house may refer to walls and to roof and to the doors of a house. 66 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:49,640 We have a home up in Georgetown and we found out that it's not very square. It is 67 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:55,400 not a very square at home because we needed to install a new back door that 68 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:59,760 was in a frame and when we took out the old one and tried to get the new one in 69 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:08,920 there, it was wonky. Is that a word? Wonky? Yeah, okay. And we spent hours collecting 70 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:13,920 the materials and then trying to get it to line up as best as we could in all 71 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:18,840 the ways so that the door would open and so it didn't look like this in the back 72 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:24,400 door. I don't know if you know that but doors operate best when it looks more 73 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:33,120 like this than like that. It doesn't want to open. In a sense we were repairing or 74 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:37,640 rebuilding our home. We were building it up. A home might be built with walls, with 75 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:43,120 doors, with a roof, but in a broader meaning we could see that this this 76 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:50,480 really could include anything that takes our creative labor to produce something. 77 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:56,240 Anything that we as people might direct our creative energies towards to build 78 00:07:56,240 --> 00:08:00,920 and that might include our work, that might include our relationships or 79 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:10,880 church or our financial well-being that we would build up our nest egg. It might 80 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:15,080 include all of those and more. We all have creative energies that we are 81 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:20,360 directing to some kind of building project in our life and most of us have 82 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:26,080 many building projects. Things that we are trying to build up and it would seem 83 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:33,520 that the human race as a whole is inclined toward building. But to what end? 84 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:41,280 For what purpose? This psalm referring it's referred to at times as a wisdom 85 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:49,120 psalm is inviting us to think deeper about our inclination to build. This 86 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:54,280 psalm is inviting us to reorient our aptitude for creating in a way that can 87 00:08:54,280 --> 00:09:02,240 give it ultimate meaning and purpose as we go about our building. Are we building 88 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:08,000 whatever we might be building for our own glory and fame? Are we building 89 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:11,480 whatever in order to throw off the constraints of being a creature 90 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:16,200 ourselves having been created or built in order that we might find some 91 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:20,840 self-appointed throne which we can sit down on and rule the world? I don't know 92 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:25,240 if you know about the Tower of Babel or Babel depending on how you say it but 93 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:33,600 that was their goal. Let us build a mighty tower reaching to the heavens that 94 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:41,800 we might rule in place of God. To what ends are we building? And the same might 95 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:48,240 be said of watching. It says unless the world watches over a city it's watchmen 96 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:56,240 watch in vain. Unless the world watches the watchmen stay alert in vain. There is 97 00:09:56,240 --> 00:10:02,840 a way in which the Lord watches even as the human watchman watches. You see that? 98 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:10,840 Unless the Lord watches the watchmen who are watching are doing it in vain. What 99 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:17,320 is watching? Well isn't watching securing and preserving whatever we have created. 100 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:24,200 Securing and preserving whatever we have built. It is making sure that no band of 101 00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:29,200 thieves or a sailing army will come and take what we have toiled to make and 102 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:38,960 build for ourselves. We watch to preserve. We watch to keep. But to what end? 103 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:45,760 Now this leads to a question. Three times the author uses the word vain. Unless the 104 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:53,440 Lord builds a house. It's builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over a 105 00:10:53,440 --> 00:11:04,160 city it's watchmen stay alert in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late. 106 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:13,840 What does vain mean? Well in this context vain means anything done without its 107 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:23,720 ultimate meaning in mind. Work that is vain is work that is empty or detached 108 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:31,000 from the reality of how things are supposed to be. Detached from the reality 109 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:36,840 of their intended purpose and ultimate worth. 110 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:45,160 Preserving is vain. Watching is vain when we watch to keep things without the 111 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:50,760 ultimate reality of meaning behind all that is created. Everything is vain, empty 112 00:11:50,760 --> 00:12:00,000 and meaningless without God. You might say why? Why is everything? I find some 113 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:04,480 pleasure in it. Well I'll give two reasons for sure and these are just big 114 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:10,040 picture reasons. Number one he's creator of all things. To deny him is to deny the 115 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:16,680 origin of all things that are. And number two is just as important if not more 116 00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:21,720 important to our daily lives and that is he is actively governing all things by 117 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:28,280 his infinite wisdom and power according to his purpose. He is actively governing 118 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:32,560 all things by his infinite wisdom and power according to his purpose. 119 00:12:32,560 --> 00:12:38,040 Colossians 1 15 and 16 says this of Jesus. He is the image of the invisible 120 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:45,080 God, the firstborn over all creation for everything was created by him in heaven 121 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:50,840 and on earth visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers 122 00:12:50,840 --> 00:13:01,000 or authorities all things were created through him and for him. All things were 123 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:05,480 created through him and for him. If everything was created through him and 124 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:13,480 for him then it is only in him that all things have meaning. Our building and our 125 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:20,040 watching and our toil for sustenance are futile if they are done without a 126 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:28,000 God-centered awareness and God-centered purpose filling them up to the fullness 127 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:37,520 with meaning. This psalm invites us to fullness or to fertility and is our 128 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:44,560 choice. I said that word really funny futility. Sorry I'm going on a little 129 00:13:44,560 --> 00:13:48,720 sleep last night just a little bit. We had an awesome time celebrating down in 130 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:54,640 Lodi some friends who had a marriage renewal. It was a hundred and a billion 131 00:13:54,640 --> 00:14:00,160 degrees outside and they happened to do it outside and so every plate on the 132 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:04,000 table became a fan as they're doing their vows and you can just see it across 133 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:08,400 the wind and the sweat and it was it was a lot of fun but we got home late 134 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:14,320 because it was down in Lodi so it was 10 or 11 and and yeah long night long 135 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:22,560 explanation. My wife's giving me that look like move on which leads us just 136 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:30,720 the second point. Blessing or burden. Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord 137 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:37,200 offspring a reward like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons born in 138 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:43,800 one's youth. Happy is the man who has filled his quiver with them. They will 139 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:49,840 never be put to shame when they speak with their enemies at the city gates. Now 140 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:55,080 at first these verses may seem like they come out of left field like maybe 141 00:14:55,080 --> 00:15:00,000 someone took two Psalms and pasted them together right about there. What's the 142 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,960 connection with the first part of the Psalm? Now I believe the psalmist is 143 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:08,640 giving us actually a very important and maybe even foundational illustration of 144 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:13,320 what the first two verses are actually saying. A way for us to see them worked 145 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:23,040 out and I will start by saying a house is built for a family. At the heart of 146 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:28,120 the cultural mandate of Scripture at the very beginning is the creation of man 147 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:34,640 and woman. The man who is to leave his father and mother's house and to be 148 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:40,960 united with his wife and the two are to become one flesh with one vocation of 149 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:47,080 being fruitful and multiplying image-bearers throughout the earth. 150 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:54,480 Having kids who are made in the image of God for his glory occupy and fill the 151 00:15:54,480 --> 00:16:00,840 earth. This is the purpose. A house is built for family and multiple houses 152 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:06,240 together are built to make a community or a city that needs to be watched over. 153 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:11,480 At that time watchmen would oftentimes be set up on the walls of a city, a 154 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:16,640 reinforced city or a fortified city and and they would look out over the distance 155 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:21,120 to see if any trouble was coming and the people inside and some of the people who 156 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:25,560 dwell outside would hear the call if an army was coming down on them. Come on and 157 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:28,800 they would all gather within the fortified city and they would close the 158 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:34,000 gates to be safe. The watchman looked. The watchman might also be looking for a 159 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:40,360 messenger who brings good news or glad tidings. The watchman watch, guarding, 160 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:48,320 looking out over the houses, the people, the families. A house is built for family 161 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:53,280 and multiple houses for community but what do these verses really get at? 162 00:16:53,280 --> 00:17:00,960 Verse 3, 4 and 5. Where do kids come from? We don't have to have that talk right now 163 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:09,600 but I'll use Bethany Rosemeyer as an example right now. Right now there's a 164 00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:17,280 kid baking in her oven. Right now. Not a good Mexican dinner last night. 165 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:23,720 Women get pregnant right and have kids. Women get pregnant and have kids. That's 166 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:27,320 the order of things. Now I understand this may be controversial to some 167 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:33,800 nowadays. Women get pregnant and have kids and some people might be confused 168 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:41,960 but there's been no confusion for many many millennia. Women get pregnant and 169 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:51,160 have kids. But Psalm 127 says that behind the building of those kids within the 170 00:17:51,160 --> 00:18:00,760 woman, someone's active. Something's active. Someone. God. The Lord. Children 171 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:08,680 are a heritage from who? The Lord. Children, offspring, are a gift. Offspring 172 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:15,680 are a reward. Offspring are a blessing because they come from God. His building. 173 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:21,200 What the Lord is building up. Elsewhere in the Psalms it says, you knit me together 174 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:28,240 in my mother's womb. You saw me as my little body was formed. You were there. 175 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:35,920 You counted as every hair appeared on my body. You Lord. You saw it all. You know 176 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:41,960 it all. Offspring. Children are a gift. They are a reward and a blessing. Why? 177 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:46,120 Well the Psalm tells us here that because when evil or when the enemies 178 00:18:46,120 --> 00:18:55,640 come against to kill, steal, and destroy God's good glory, you've got backup. Kids 179 00:18:55,640 --> 00:19:03,000 are your backup. When you raise God-honoring, God-exalting, God-centered 180 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:09,080 image-bearers, they are like arrows in the hands of a warrior. To stand up 181 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:16,160 against enemies. Instead of being routed and put to shame, they have your back. You 182 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:26,640 roll deep. As the kids say. Maybe 20 years ago. Now does our society or culture 183 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:33,600 preach that kids are a blessing? Do we get that kind of message from society and 184 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:42,560 culture? Don't have kids. They'll ruin your life. They'll ruin your body. They 185 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:47,960 will take your time, every ounce of time and energy you have and ruin that 186 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:55,080 perfect companionship you have with your spouse. Kids just mean that you you have 187 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:59,920 to postpone your career goals and ambitions and maybe you need to 188 00:19:59,920 --> 00:20:08,440 forfeit them all together. Kids are a burden. They're a burden. When will they leave? 189 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:18,160 I have a 20 year old, a 17 year old, and a 15 year old and I have joked. I have 190 00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:23,400 made that joke before. Let's call it a joke. 191 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:34,360 They ruin your life. They take your energy. They're a burden. And that, to 192 00:20:34,360 --> 00:20:47,280 that, what does the Word of God say? Lies! Lies! That's a lie! The Word of God says 193 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:56,600 they are blessings. They are gifts. They are rewards. Happy is the man who's 194 00:20:56,600 --> 00:21:06,240 filled his quiver with them. Happy, blessed. They are not a burden. They are 195 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:14,920 not a ruiner of my goals and ambitions. They are not someone who has taken me 196 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:23,120 away from my ultimate purpose. They are blessings. They are good. But they alone 197 00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:30,160 are not ultimate or ultimately from you. We learn that in the Psalms. They are 198 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:38,400 from God. Gifts given. And we also learn that if Colossians is true, then they 199 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:44,800 are not from you ultimately and they are not for you ultimately. For all 200 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:52,640 things are created through him and for him. Do you believe the Word of God or do 201 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:57,720 you believe your culture? Do you believe the Word of God or will you believe your 202 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:02,400 society that you grow up in? Do you believe the Word of God or do you 203 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:08,240 believe your own intuition? Do you believe the Word of God or do you 204 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:15,920 believe your own feelings about the matter? Happy is the one who has filled 205 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:23,040 his quiver with children. That's what the Word says. It's what we choose to 206 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:28,640 believe. Families, the primary God-designed way of filling the earth 207 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:34,720 with his image, his glory and goodness, they are blessings. They are a building 208 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:45,200 of the Lord. Do we acknowledge that truth? This leads to how are we to live our 209 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:52,360 lives in light of the words of this Psalm? When you and I, when we build, when 210 00:22:52,360 --> 00:22:59,880 we watch and we toil in vain, it does not produce peace in our life. What we 211 00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:06,400 build does not last. I'm always reminded, I don't actually know the name off the 212 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:11,640 top of my head, but I'm reminded of a mall that was to be built in Elk Grove. 213 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:17,240 I'm reminded of the countless times I drove past the skeleton of that mall as 214 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:24,160 it sat under the elements. And I'm reminded recently when it was tore down 215 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:30,520 and replaced with something else. Think of all those guys who were out there toiling 216 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:37,040 and laboring initially. Think of all those guys who built that structure only 217 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:42,640 to have it replaced with something completely different. It reminded me of 218 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:48,640 stories you hear from Vietnam War of men who were frustrated and angry because 219 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:53,080 they were told to take that hill only to be told the next day, take that hill and 220 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:58,720 leave that hill, and having left the dead behind on that hill, friends and buddies 221 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:04,720 who took that hill, to then have to take that hill and let the enemy have that 222 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:09,040 hill again, to then go back and have to take that hill and lose more brothers, 223 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:23,000 and be told this over and over and over again, feudal, in vain. When we build, it 224 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:32,280 doesn't last. When we watch over, the things slip away. All our toil and 225 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:38,200 struggle simply starts over tomorrow again, and the next day, and the next, and 226 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:45,320 the next. Is there a way that we can build? Is there a way that we can watch 227 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:49,600 and we can work for our sustenance without the anxiety that comes from 228 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:57,480 doing it in vain? Can we find not only ultimate purpose in our lives, but can we 229 00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:08,680 find peaceful, restful hope in the process? Look at what verse 2 says in 230 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:16,720 Psalm 127. In vain you get up early and stay up late, working hard to have enough 231 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:24,480 food. Yes, he gives sleep to the one he loves. 232 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:30,720 The extraordinary loving kindness of God in this Psalm is this, that he gives 233 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:40,320 sleep to his beloved. He gives sleep to his beloved. What is sleep? What is 234 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:50,160 sleep? What happens to a man who thinks that the whole world, or at least his 235 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:57,040 whole world, is sustained only through his work and determination? Sleeping is 236 00:25:57,040 --> 00:26:04,600 a waste of time. It's a waste of precious time to continue to build my 237 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:08,760 kingdom, to check my stock portfolio, to make sure everything's in order, to make 238 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:14,840 sure that I'm moving up, up, up, up, up. It's a waste of time to sleep. Time that I 239 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:19,840 could be spending, spending on making more money or building bigger storehouses 240 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:30,280 so I can store more money, so I can keep watch over the gains endlessly. Psalm 127 241 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:38,880 says that the Lord gives his beloved sleep. Listen to what one pastor said about 242 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:46,720 this part of the verse. It'll be up on the screen as well. Sleep is a daily 243 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:54,560 reminder from God that we are not God. He who keeps Israel will neither slumber 244 00:26:54,560 --> 00:27:00,440 nor sleep. That was from Psalm 121 that Nick preached out of a couple 245 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:08,720 weeks ago. But Israel will sleep. For we are not God. Once a day God sends us to 246 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:14,960 bed like patients with a sickness. The sickness is a chronic tendency to think 247 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:21,440 we are in control and that our work is indispensable to cure us of this disease. 248 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:31,600 God turns us into helpless sacks of sand once a day. How humiliating to the 249 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:37,040 self-made corporate executive that he has to give up control and become as 250 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:46,320 limp as a suckling infant every day. Sleep is a parable that God is God and 251 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:54,040 we are mere men. God handles the world quite nicely while our hemisphere sleeps. 252 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:59,560 Sleep is like a broken record that comes around with the same message every day. 253 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:07,440 Man is not sovereign. Man is not sovereign. Man is not sovereign. Don't let 254 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:14,280 the lesson be lost on you. God wants to be trusted as the great worker who never 255 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:19,680 tires and never sleeps. He is not nearly so impressed with our late nights and 256 00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:26,640 early mornings as he is with the peaceful trust that casts all anxieties 257 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:38,280 on him and sleeps. Sleep is a silent protest against the self-made, 258 00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:45,320 self-glorifying idolatry of our age. Sleep is silent trust that the Lord is 259 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:51,360 the ultimate decisive effect behind all of our building, all of our watching, 260 00:28:51,360 --> 00:29:00,160 behind our families and all of our work. Sleep is a daily exercise of trust and 261 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:07,520 God grants sleep to the one who acknowledges him by restfully trusting 262 00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:18,560 in his sovereignty. God is God. You are not. Anything you build apart from him is 263 00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:30,720 destined to the flame. Anything that he builds is eternal. As the pilgrims make 264 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:35,440 their way to Jerusalem, they remind themselves that the homes that they have 265 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:42,000 left behind, that their fields in their possessions, that their communities and 266 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:47,120 the temple that they're heading to and the nation that they are a part of and 267 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:52,400 that their families who are on the perilous road with them, they are all 268 00:29:52,400 --> 00:30:01,400 under the watchful sovereign eye of God and so they rest. And that is our 269 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:08,560 invitation to you today. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you for words of 270 00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:14,760 wisdom, ancient words of wisdom renewed for us today and we pray your blessing 271 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:21,240 over these words in our heart that we would find comfort and peace, we would 272 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:27,760 find hope and restfulness as we sit under the caring and watchful eye of our 273 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:34,360 father, our heavenly father, and we trust. Lord, build in us and through us 274 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:40,520 something great for your kingdom. Strengthen families. May families be 275 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:46,200 strengthened as fathers and mothers pour their lives into loving and caring and 276 00:30:46,200 --> 00:30:50,680 training up their children in the way they should go. But may the mothers and 277 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:57,680 fathers never hit the pillow on the bed thinking that it all relies on them. 278 00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:05,680 For in the end, when we sleep, you are still at work. And we thank you for that. 279 00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:28,680 In Jesus' name, amen.