Human effort without God will always fail to fulfill the basic needs of people. Because humans are body, soul, and spirit—with a mind to know God, a will to obey God, and emotions to love God—we are incomplete as persons unless God is an essential part of our lives. Solomon, who authored this psalm, recognized that wisdom and resources are not enough to meet our needs. The psalmist mentions our need for God and uses four common, well-known activities to show how that need is satisfied.
The first example is building a house. We can build with divine guidance and trust Him to provide us the joy of seeing Him work on our behalf, or we can build through the energy of the flesh. When we recognize that God has supplied everything for our building project, the true joy comes from seeing Him open the way for us to get the materials we need and handle the circumstances around that activity. Protecting a city is the second example. Ultimate security comes from God, not just our police force or alarm system. The third example relates to our employment and work. Overanxious workers are usually not your best workers, and they tend to be unhappy, which makes others unhappy and can slow down the whole project. When a man works diligently to provide for his family's needs, he can enjoy a happy family life at home. Then we can sleep peacefully at night. The fourth example is domestic happiness, which depends on divine wisdom to maintain. Human effort without God is futile and unfulfilling. We can even learn invaluable lessons from our children, and they learn from their parents.
Divine standards cannot sustain a house and a city unless the Lord is involved. Relying on the Lord for holiness, righteousness, and godliness in any part of society is essential. Hard work and long hours without God’s blessing and approval do not lead to true success in body, soul, and spirit. Everything is useless unless God is part of it. We depend on Him. Our heavenly Father knows what we need in every situation.
The latter part of the psalm speaks about children as a gift from the Lord. The pilgrim and his family may have been in Jerusalem together to celebrate and thank God for the inheritance entrusted to them. In ancient times, sons could protect a man and his wife in old age from enemies or anyone who opposed them. From the beginning of humanity, families have been the social foundation for raising and sustaining people. A healthy family unit is essential for a successful and happy life for children and for advancing the word of the Lord: “Be fruitful and multiply.” Careless reproduction of children without a strong family can harm children and young people emotionally, and this damage can persist into adulthood.
Family life and success at home come when we recognize each child as a source of trust and heritage from the Lord. A heritage is given to us by someone who cares for us. A child comes to us by birth from God, who grants that person life at conception. He shapes the individual in the way He chooses and sustains that life. Therefore, children are a gift from God. Gifts from God are of the highest value. Each one is unique, one-of- a-kind.
Children raised in a God-fearing home are guided, instructed, corrected, nurtured, and loved. They need to understand that discipline is a way to manage behavior. It begins with loving discipline from parents, which leads to self-discipline that they hopefully practice for a lifetime. A home's foundation starts with God. Maintaining a happy and effective family life requires recognizing our dependence on God. The passing of responsibility to the next generation to maintain the family unit remains effective when we rely on the Lord.
Spiritual weapons yield spiritual results. As we grow older, our children will become our defenders. A family without God lacks the spiritual bonds that are essential for lasting relationships. A city without God will ultimately fail due to internal corruption. When a man and his family sing these psalms of degrees on their way to Jerusalem, they are likely experiencing one of the year's most memorable moments. With joy, the father and his wife recall their heritage, and the older family members teach the younger ones the tunes, the words, and the meanings behind them as they travel day after day. The next generation learns from their elders, and mile after mile, the lessons, history, and music take on special significance for the children—it's the heritage of the Lord. How wonderful that God has arranged such a method for our learning.
PSALM 127 DEPENDENCE ON GOD v.1-2. Dependence on the Lord. “Except the Lord build…keep.” v.3-5. The Heritage from the Lord. “Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord.”