Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep.  Psalms 127:1-2 NKJV

 

Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.

The word “house” here means a house in the greatest variation of applications, but it especially represents family. It could be used of your very own family or God’s family – the church. In either case, each member is a part of the whole house. You can try to build a family or a ministry, but unless God is at the helm of your vessel, even your best efforts will fail and come to nothing.

 

God is not our co-pilot. We need to make Him the pilot and we need to obey Him in everything. He is the author and the finisher of our faith. He is the architect and the builder. We must trust His judgment and His wisdom enough to follow it in spite of our own opinions to the contrary. God’s word is tried and proven and it stands as a rock and a testament to His truth and His faithfulness.

 

If you labor in vain – you labor uselessly. There is no fruit of your labor. The result you desired will not be achieved. Why spend all your efforts on something that is going to fail anyway? You need to step back, take your hands off of the helm and allow God to have His way – always, in everything. Only then will your efforts produce the desired result. You see – some people do nothing when they should be doing something, while others work really hard and yet they are both unfruitful, and they wonder why! You have to put an effort in, however, it must be led, guided and inspired by the Lord or it will be all your own efforts and it is destined to fail.

       

Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

If you serve and honor God in your life, He promises to watch over you and protect you in all your ways of obedience and service. Without Him, you are exposed to the elements. With Him, you are safe in the direst of situations. You cannot waste time worrying about your life. It won’t help one bit. All your worrying will be for nothing – you might as well just trust Him! You need to live your life, trusting in Him and He will take care of you.

 

It is vain for you to rise up early and to sit up late. There is nothing wrong with getting up early or going to bed late unless you are doing it because of fear or because you are relying on yourself alone. You might as well get some sleep because you cannot do everything yourself – you need the Lord’s help anyway.

 

It is vain for you to eat the bread of sorrows.

“Sorrows” is grievous or painful toil. Deuteronomy 24:19 says that God will bless the work of your hands. If you are a believer, if you are serving God with all your heart, He will bless the work of your hands. It is unprofitable for you to work and sweat and struggle by your own efforts. Trust God, obey Him, allow Him to guide your way and your work will be blessed and fruitful. You will reap a multiplied harvest of blessing.

 

For so He gives His beloved sleep.

You don’t need to worry

You don’t need to fret

God has never failed you yet

You can close your eyes and float away

As He watches over you until the light of day

You don’t have to stay up worrying about your way

He is in control every day

There is a rest for the people of God 

It is faith in His power, His wisdom, His love

God loves you so and He watches you close

Give Him your all and rest in His hands

 

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.  James 3:13-18 NIV

 

Everybody thinks that they are wise, but only if you compare your words and deeds to the Word of God, can you know for sure. Good deeds that originate from a humble heart are evidence that a person is wise. However, if a person harbors bitter envy and selfish ambition in their heart, then they are not wise at all, but they are foolish.

 

You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?  Corinthians 3:3 NIV

 

Jealous and quarrelsome Christians are behaving like people who have not yet been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. They are worldly and they behave like the world. As children of God, we should live our lives in a way that is pleasing to our Heavenly Father.

 

NIV – He who loves a quarrel loves sin; he who builds a high gate invites destruction. TLB – Sinners love to fight; boasting is looking for trouble.  Proverbs 17:19

 

If you fight and quarrel and love it—you are a sinner and most likely an arrogant and boastful one at that. Pride and strife are partners. They usually go together. At the very least, a proud person will be touchy and defensive. At their worst they will aggressively pick fights with others. They are touchy and reactionary and it doesn’t take much to make them angry. Jesus tells us to love God and to love our neighbor. It is a very proud person who has little or no respect for God and who thinks nothing of fighting and striving with their neighbor.

 

For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.  James 3:16 KJV

 

Where you allow strife to exist—you also allow confusion and evil to manifest. This is why devils make stirring strife a priority. Learn to recognize when the devil is stirring strife and cut him off. The problem is that we look at the people we can see and we think that they are our problem, when really it is a spiritual problem and we have to deal with it in a spiritual way. We need to choose a path of peace. You cannot make another person behave one way or another, but you can control your own feelings, emotions and reactions. Eliminate strife and you will shut the door on the devil.

 

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.  Philippians 2:3 KJV

 

Humility is a good antidote for strife. A humble person is not concerned about winning the fight or being “right.” The wisdom that is from above is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. If you are wise, you will conduct yourself in such a way that you promote peace in your life and your relationships.

 

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  Romans 12:17-18 NIV

 

It doesn’t matter who tries to fight with you, you can make the choice to eliminate strife, live in peace and do right.