Psalm 127: 1 – “If Yahweh doesn’t build a house, the work of its builders is useless. If Yahweh doesn’t watch over a city, it’s useless for those on guard duty to stand watch over it.”
Yeshua encourages us to be vigilant over what spiritual doctrine we imbibe, and to guard our steps with severe discipline to ensure we stay on the true and narrow path. Yet sometimes we become vigilant over things that have no bearing on our spiritual life or the kingdom of God and these things can consume us. In this psalm, we are reminded that unless the foundation of our vigilance is rooted in the things of God, there is no need for us to continue to guard and protect those things that are not of him.
Psalm 127:2 – “In vain you get up early and stay up late, to eat the food of painful labor – yes, he gives sleep to the one he loves.”
The Psalmist continues that we can become consumed with our work to the point of losing sleep, yet God knows how to provide us the rest we need along with the food we need. We can only guard and protect so much, and then we need to ultimately rely on God’s provision.
It is a fine line and in our day and age of being “on” 24/7 where any distinctions between the essential and the unnecessary can get blurred or simply erased in the stream of digital overload. Yet, we must remember that our roles should never overstep their boundaries, even within the kingdom of God. Paul speaks to this in the ministry of himself and Apollos:
1 Corinthians 3:5-7, 9 – “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. … For we are God’s coworkers…”
While we have roles to play within the purpose of God, we must remember that it is God who ultimately gives the increase in all things. We must be vigilant primarily in the things that concern the kingdom, and then allow him to work through us. If he builds the house, if he founds the city, if he tells us to plant and water, then it is appropriate to continue and watch over these ventures with extreme vigilance. We are then appropriately his co-laborers. However, if we instead spend the bulk of our time protecting and guarding that which is not of him, we may be watching over empty borders that never needed protecting in the first place.
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