Week 20 Psalm 127
Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is useless.
I don’t think Solomon is saying that a) the Lord actually builds houses or that b) home builders’ work is futile.
I think Solomon is talking about doing a project (maybe something as simple as just working at my job). I think Solomon’s point is that I consider the project in terms of its Degree of Usefulness.
He says: IF I build a house BUT I give Zero Consideration to the Lord THEN the house is useless.
Think of some Project X:
Project X – the Lord = a Useless Project
Project X + the Lord = a Useful Project
(There’s likely a fairly big middle ground between 100% Uselessness and Total Usefulness. There’s likely many points along a continuum that measure a greater or lesser inclusion or exclusion of the Lord in the project.)
I thought back to the Tower of Babel. I’m guessing that those builders solicited roughly zero input from the Lord. The result was a building that registered close to zero on the Degree of Usefulness Scale.
I remember the Lord’s story about two builders. One guy built a house on a sand foundation. The other built on rock. Both guys successfully got their houses built and they moved in. And there was no need to think about the Degree of Usefulness of the structure or its foundation. Or at least not as long as the weather cooperated.
Note: quote from Psalm 127:1 (NLT)