Meditation on the Text of the Week

The Blessing of God in our Labours

Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labour in vain who build it;
Unless the Lord guards the city,
The watchman keeps awake in vain.
Psalm 127:1

This is a wonderful text to remind us of the “true state of play.” What it tells us is that when I am building a house, there are really two people who are building it: myself and God. If God is not building the house in, with, and through me, then it is an utter waste of time.

Similarly when the watchman is patrolling the city, there are really two people who are on guard: the watchman and God. If God is not there, so as to be working in and through the vigilance of the watchman he might as well go to sleep.

This perspective, which belongs only to the citizens of Jerusalem, makes the Believer's zeitgeist, or “way-of-looking-at-the-world” completely different from the Unbeliever.

In the first place, it tells us that all of life is holy. God actually does build houses and guard cities. He also feeds children, does accounts, and drives cars. He does these things in and through our doing them. As Luther used to say, when the milk-maid milks the cows, God is milking the cows.”

The pagan view is completely different. In the pagan view, both men and gods are on the same chain of being; the gods are merely a higher form of man. Thus, in Unbelief the gods are conditioned and shaped by the actions and re-actions of man. Similarly, man is conditioned and shaped by the gods. The gods do something and we react or respond.

For the Unbeliever, all existence is a matter of a co-operative enterprise between man and his gods (however they are conceived to be). Thus, when man does something, he looks to his god to do its bit. We do something, god makes a contribution, and together we achieve success. This concept is applied to the matter of salvation. We do some things which are right or good; we live a certain way; and we expect the gods will approve our acting in good faith, and meet us half-way, as it were, and deliver us or save us, or do for us whatever we are wanting them to do.

Thus, the Unbeliever might fast a bit, pray a little, or offer up a token of incense. In so doing, he is seeking to buy the favour of his god, so that the god will do its bit, respond, and give him what he wants. All superstitions work this way. Sadly there are not a few in Jerusalem's walls who have brought the pagan zeitgeist with them; they have not yet grown out of it.

On the other hand, many Christians remain fundamentally confused about our work and God's work and how they interrelate in another direction. They have come to realise that God is so great that He is utterly unlike them. They don't want to trust their own work. Human labour they think is a “work of the flesh.” They think that all that they do is a waste of time; useless effort. It is not “living by faith.” Therefore, they think the best course is to “let God and let God take over.” At its most extreme, they would not pick up the hammer to build the house. They would sit and wait until God did it for them. They would sit down and not watch the city at night. If it stayed safe they would say, Look it was God who guarded the city. I was asleep.

Such believers are always decrying their own efforts; they are looking instead for the unexpected, the different outcome, the change of direction. When this happens they think that God, rather than they, is at work. They will give away their means of support and wait for someone else to provide for them—which they will claim had to be a work of God, since they had contributed nothing.

The biblical view is radically different from both these pagan perspectives. The Believer knows that God has both commanded that houses be built and declared who is responsible to build them. But more than this, every man who builds a house only does so by the power and work of God. As Paul said, “For in Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) Elsewhere, he is inspired by God to declare to the Philippians: “ . . . work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2: 12,13)

Notice the relationship: as the Philippians work out their salvation, God is working and willing in their work. Thus when we build the house we do so in faith, believing that God is building it through us; we look to Him to make our labour successful, that the house might stand. When Believers grasp this truth, they no longer remain confused over how much they should do, and how much they should expect God to do. They will work and act with vigor and diligence, since they will need to do it all. But as they labour, they work in faith, looking to God to work in their work that it might indeed be successful and stand.

This is why Jerusalem is such a dynamic and vital city. Its citizens believe and know that God is as work in and through their work. Not only is this inspiring—it also makes our labours a great joy and privilege.