A principle from God’s Word leaped from Psalm 127:1 into my heart this week during my devotional time! Psalm 127:1 is the verse assigned our church to memorize this week, and oh how the Word of God speaks when we are committing it to memory!
“Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain [uselessly, no good] who build it. Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain” (Ps. 127:1).
Church members were assigned to memorize this particular verse in support of a recent series of messages on parenting. The first part of the verse points to the plan and power of God as the only reliable foundation for the home. The second part of this verse I have used when praying for our city’s patrol officers. As a volunteer chaplain for the Batesville Police Department, I often meet and pray with our police chief, and we ask the Lord to please guard the city and the officers who patrol its streets.
But it was only this week that I saw how far-reaching this principle can be (and should be) for believers. The “aha” moment was when my wife Jennifer walked into the kitchen as I was at the kitchen table, pondering this verse. And rather than saying, “Good morning!”, Jennifer opened with: “John, today I am asking God to guide me on how to handle every text to a parent. I am asking God to lead every phone call with a parent, and with every contact with a parent or child today.” Jennifer serves as children’s director at our church, and the Lord has blessed her ministry of late with much spiritual activity in the lives of the children. So much, in fact, that it has been hard for her (and us) to keep up with it all!
So I told my wife, “Thanks! You’ve just illustrated this verse we are memorizing!” And she had! My wife had just applied “the Psalm 127:1 Principle”: “Unless the LORD builds a ministry, the minister or servant works and serves in vain.”
I continued to ponder this verse on that particular morning. Most mornings, I pray for my wife’s two brothers, who lead a growing and fast-paced company. So, when it was time to pray for them, I prayed, “Lord, help Jeff and Dan see this principle: unless the LORD presides over the company, the owners labor in vain.”
Emerging from Psalm 127:1 into my mind and heart during this sweet devotional time was a great and unswerving principle that operates in God’s kingdom, stated as follows:
- God is all-knowing and all-wise, and He always has a plan; and
- God is all-powerful and thus always has the power to carry out His plan.
God tells His children: “You trust Me! You trust My promises and My presence, though unseen. Trust Me!”
Examples of “the Psalm 127:1 Principle”
Next, in this special and joyous time of meditation last Wednesday morning, examples from Scripture of this great principle came into my heart and mind:
- “God, you have said that I will be the father of a great nation, but Sara and I are past childbearing years, and we have no heir!”
Did God have a plan regarding Abram’s appeal? Did God have the power to carry out the plan? God assured Abram: You will have a son. He will be “one who will come from your own body” (Gen. 15:4). You will be the father of a great nation, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.
Doesn’t this beautifully amplify Ps. 127:1? “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it…” (On the other hand, Abram and Sara’s plan, which involved bringing the slave-girl Hagar into the mix, illustrates what not to do, for they built the family by means of fleshly reasoning, and “in vain.”)
- “Moses, here we are out in the desert! And we have no water! No food! We are all going to die!”
Did God have a plan for these circumstances with which He tested the Israelites? Or did He say, “Oh yeah, I forgot…these humans hafta drink and eat. I guess I should have thought this through”? Of course not! Did God have the power to carry out His plan? Of course He did! He simply and amazingly brought water from the rock, and brought down food from heaven. He always has a plan and always has the power to carry out His plan. (On the other hand, the Israelites’ plan to return to the bondage of Egypt in exchange for food was no good, vain, useless!)
- Here’s this principle in play out in the future, as spelled out in Bible prophecy:
“LORD, all the nations seek to destroy Jerusalem! They have gathered a mighty army in the plain of Megiddo! Help, or we are doomed!”
Does God have a plan for this future, mega-invasion of Israel? Does He have the power to carry out His plan? God responds in Zech. 12, Rev. 19 and Rev. 14 (as well as speaking to this future testing of Israel in many other Scriptures). God says, “Yes I have a plan! ‘They will look on Me whom they pierced’ and ‘they will mourn for Him’ (Zech. 12:10). In that day, I will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and I will destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. The blood from the men of these invading armies will be as deep as the bridles of the horses.” God’s Son the Lord Jesus Christ will return to the earth, and God Himself will again fight for His people Israel! Now that’s a plan!
In other words, “Unless the LORD defeats the hordes of invading enemies, Israel labors in vain to defend herself.” Yes, examples of “the Psalm 127:1 Principle” abound in Scripture.
At the personal level
“The Psalm 127:1 Principle” is also a very personal principle. Have you ever engaged in this kind of heart-cry to God?
“God, I am a sinner! I am a dirty, rotten sinner who is unrighteous in thought and action. You are holy and just, clothed in glory, and You can have no unrighteousness in Your presence. I know that my sins bring death and separation from You. I know that I do not deserve to go to heaven when I do. I know that because of my sins, I deserve to go to the lake of fire forever.”
Does God have a plan to save us sinners? Does He have a plan for this horrific problem of sin and spiritual death? Does God have the power to carry out His plan? God’s Word assures me that He does indeed have such a plan, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ assures me that He indeed has the power the carry out His wonderful plan of providing salvation and eternal life by means of His grace:
God tells me in His Word: “I love you! I have sent my only Son to die on the cross to pay your sin debt. I accept His sacrifice. I am propitiated—fully satisfied—by His shed blood. My Son, Jesus Christ, was crucified for you, John. His blood was shed for your sins and for the sins the world. Whoever believes in My Son will not perish, but will have everlasting life. Through faith in My Son, I will give you the gift of eternal life. I will impute to you the righteousness of My beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Yes! Thank you, Lord! God has put into motion such a plan whereby sinners like me can be saved, and receive the gift of eternal life! During my morning meditation, I heard this glorious truth stated in the language of “the Psalm 127:1 Principle”: “Unless the LORD provides salvation for sinners, the sinner strives in vain to be saved.”
Does God have a plan for my sanctification, and the power to carry it out?
Lastly, let’s make this “Psalm 127:1 Principle” personal in the Christian life.
“Father, I struggle with my flesh. Bad thoughts come into my mind and can leak out into my attitude and actions if I walk in the flesh. And God, this world system tries to confuse me, to distract me and to tempt me. Also coming at me are the assaults of the dark world and its agents, trying to hurt me and my family, and trying to damage my ministry. Father, is there a plan? Is there power to stand against these daily assaults? Did you leave me alone to combat these enemies?”
Well, does God have a plan to sanctify those whom He has saved? Does God have the power to overcome these enemies that we face, day after day? Of course He does!
God tells Me in His Word: “You have been born again, and My Son’s life is in you. You are indwelt by the very power of the life of My Son. This power is made real and accessible by the indwelling Holy Spirit. ‘But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you’ (Rom. 8:11). ‘Walk by means of the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh’ (Gal. 5:16).”
Or put this way, filtered through “the Psalm 127:1 Principle” : “Unless the LORD gives His child direction and power for the battles of the day, His child will live that day in vain.”
God always, always has a plan. A good plan! A perfect plan! And He has given ample evidence and proof that He has the power to carry out all of His plans and purposes. I was reminded of these radical truths during that very special time of meditation and pondering. I was reminded, “John, don’t trust your own plans, or your puny power. Unless you trust Me—My plans, My power—you will live this day in vain, just producing more wood, hay and stubble. I can do exceedingly, abundantly above all that you could even ask or think (Eph. 3:20).”
“Unless the LORD directs and empowers my life and ministries—my life will be spent in vain.” Praise God for His living Word, and for His great plans and His great power!