Wisdom for Building House and Home (Psalm 127–130)

Start with a simple, unsettling claim: unless the Lord builds, our best work turns hollow. From there we walk through Psalms 127–130 to explore how God reframes our ideas about home, happiness, history, and hope. We talk about why labor without God exhausts the soul, why children are a heritage even when headlines are bleak, and how awe—real, trembling awe—reorders what we call success.

We look straight at the fear many feel about raising kids in a chaotic world, then reach back to Scripture’s hard seasons: Moses born under Pharaoh’s cruelty, Elijah raised in a nation spiraling toward idolatry, and Jesus entering history under Herod and a decaying empire. God often answers darkness by planting small beginnings. Hope isn’t denial; it’s trust that the Builder works through ordinary families and faithful steps.

From there, we sing the history of grace in Psalm 129: God cuts the cords that bind. The image of oxen unyoked becomes a picture of people freed from oppression and shame. Finally, Psalm 130 brings us to the deepest relief—“with the Lord there is forgiveness” and “plentiful redemption.” We count our sins and come up short; God counts his mercy and we stand. Along the way, we unpack how satisfaction in God outlasts circumstance, why work becomes worship when aligned with his purposes, and how forgiveness turns heavy homes into places of peace.

If this journey helped you see your work, family, and faith with fresh clarity, share it with a friend, subscribe for more wisdom-rich conversations, and leave a review so others can find the show. Where do you need the Builder to start in your life today?

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Chapters

• 1:57 Who God Blesses And Why
• 2:34 Unless The Lord Builds
• 3:32 Children As Heritage And Hope
• 5:08 Raising Kids In A Broken World
• 7:24 Christ Born Into Darkness
• 7:40 Walking In Trembling Awe
• 9:30 Satisfaction Over Success
• 9:32 Grace Sung On The Ascent
• 10:09 God Cuts The Cords
• 10:42 Counting Sins And Finding Mercy
• 12:39 Forgiveness And Plentiful Redemption
• 13:37 Closing Blessing And Resources

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 1:37

Does God bless some people more than others? Well, God's blessing is upon those who fear him and who seek his glory by his power. This is true of individuals, families, and even nations. You see it in the provision, deliverance, and forgiveness and joy that he brings into our lives. Today on the wisdom journey, Stephen comes to Psalms 127 through 130 with the lesson that he's called, Wisdom for Building House and Home.

SPEAKER_01: 2:14

Now, as we set sail today, here in Psalm 127, we're going to discover God's advice on building house and home. In this Psalm, you've got some rather well-known verses, including verse 1. Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Now the word for vain here means empty or meaningless. And what that means is there are a lot of people building lives that are meaningless. Empty. And that's because they have nothing to do with the builder, the Lord. So in the clearest language possible, right here at the outset of this Psalm, we're reminded here that our heart needs to be dedicated to God's glory. We might build something on earth that's really impressive. But unless the Lord is leading us and we're giving him the glory, all of our efforts are well, they're going to do nothing but leave us empty inside. Another well-known verse with wisdom for building house and home is here in verse 3, where we read, Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them. Now, let me tell you, this isn't a promise that God's going to fill everybody's quiver. I know a lot of faithful believers who long to have children. They can't, and the reason is known only to God. For those who have children or hope to have children one day, you might be worried that, well, this isn't a very good time to bring children into the world. You know, we live in a messed up, confused, dangerous world today. Terrorism seems to be rising today, crime is rising, violence, it's in the news every single day. Sinful lifestyles and moral choices are not only permitted, well, they're applauded and promoted to the younger generation. If you express any disagreement with any of this, you might even be punished today. Do you really want to bring children into this kind of world? Well, I like what one writer said about the parents of Elijah, the prophet. Suppose they they reasoned that way. You know, the world is just too sinful to bring a child into it. Think about what the Bible tells us. The king at that time was one of the most wicked kings to ever reign in Israel. Uh he married to a wicked woman. Everybody knows the name Jezebel. I don't know any parent who names their child Jezebel. But just look at what Elijah grew up to do for his nation Israel. Or suppose for a moment that the parents of Moses decided this is a terrible time to have a child or children. Pharaoh is on the throne. He's just made it a national law that baby boys, Hebrew baby boys, they're going to be thrown to the crocodiles in the Nile River. That was actually a religious act of deference to the Nile River God. Crocodiles were his servants. Well, I can't think of a worse time in the world to have a baby. Well, with that in mind, I agree with an author who wrote with this perspective many years ago. Listen to this. When God sees that in this poor old world a wrong needs writing, or a truth needs preaching, or a benefit to mankind needs inventing, what does he do? He sends a baby into the world to do it. Listen, you can't imagine a worse time in human history for a baby boy to be born than when God sent his son to be born of a virgin named Mary. Her husband Joseph was something of a first century migrant worker, taking whatever masonry and carpentry jobs he could find. The Roman Empire was decaying, the emperors were immoral, wicked men. The Roman appointed ruler there in Palestine, Herod the Great, was so self-obsessed that he instructed his army to kill hundreds of Jewish people on the day he died so that there would be weeping in Jerusalem. Remember that soon after the wise men announced to him that a rival king had been born, we sent his soldiers over to that region around Bethlehem with orders to slaughter every baby boy under the age of two. What kind of world was that to bring a baby into? Corrupt, immoral, just as wicked as our world might be today. But aren't you glad a baby boy was born? Think of it, God's son was born into this world. Why? Because this world, back then and to this day, needs a Savior. And so God sends a baby to grow up and do it. Well, here in Psalm 128, now the author adds to this theme of trusting the Lord for what he decides to do in your life, uh what he decides to do in your home as you walk with him. He writes here in verse 1, Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways. This word here for blessed means happy. Happy is everyone who fears the Lord. Well, that means uh we need to understand the word fear. Uh fear doesn't mean we're we're afraid of the Lord, it it means we're in awe of the Lord. I think I like to think of it as trembling awe. Happy is everyone who lives in in this trembling awe, this great reverence of God. Now the world is gonna tell you that happiness depends on what happens to you. So if if bad things happen, if difficult things happen, uh you're you're never gonna be happy. Well, that's true to some extent. The Bible doesn't tell you to put on a fake smile and call everything happy. But the idea of happiness in the Bible has more to do with satisfaction than success. The person who is in awe of God will always be satisfied with God. That's the point. I often sign my personal letters with the words satisfied in Christ. It it's a way of reminding me that I ought to be, I need to be, I should be satisfied with Christ, satisfied in Christ. So instead of focusing on happenings, which the world says will make you happy, we need to focus on Him. And then at the end of the day, we can say we are truly satisfied. Now, Psalm 129 focuses on the grace of God. It was written to be sung again, as these Israelites now they're traveling upward to Jerusalem to celebrate one of their festival seasons. This is one of those Psalms of Ascent. And this one here is designed to be sung responsively. Now, the first verse might have been sung by a priest. Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth. Now, no doubt this is a reference to Israel suffering from their days in Egypt as a young nation. Well, then all the people will sing after the priest sings that, and they're going to be very enthusiastic here in verse 4. The Lord is righteous, he has cut the cords of the wicked, cutting the cords. Here's a picture of oxen being released from the plow, sort of ending their day of hard labor out there in the field. So the Lord is pictured here as that farmer. He's not keeping his people harnessed in his discipline as they suffer as slaves, they're working the fields of Egypt under those taskmasters. He finally cut their cords, that is, he took them out of the harness and set them free. Well, now finally, in our wisdom journey today, we're going to set sail in Psalm 130, where we find a beautiful expression of God's forgiveness and his love. The psalmist writes here of the people confessing their sins as they're ascending, they're walking up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Passover or perhaps tabernacles. The Psalmist writes here in verse 3, if you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? In other words, who can stand before the Lord with the record we have in sinning? You think, well, you know, my record's not that long. Well, just think with me for a moment. How easy is it to commit five sins a day? Just five uh selfish thoughts or unkind words or covetous ideas, lustful thoughts, self-centered responses. Just five. Just five a day. Well, I can commit five before lunch most days. I don't know about you. Well, if you only commit five sins a day, that's nearly two thousand a year. You're gonna need your fingers and all your toes to keep count. Listen, beloved, the truth is you and I have never once gotten on our knees and confessed every single sin we've committed, even in one day. You know why? Because we can't keep track. Well, the psalmist says here if the Lord should mark iniquities, that is, if the Lord should keep track, so to speak, what chance do we have to stand in his presence? Well, the answer to that is implied, well, none of us have a chance. None of us have a prayer except one prayer. Lord, forgive me for all the sins I've committed today. Well, with that, the psalmist goes on to write here with very encouraging words. He says here in verse 4, but with you, Lord, there is forgiveness. Well, if that doesn't want to make you, you know, give a sigh of relief and start singing. Well, you might want to go ahead and sing. I think the psalmist expected that kind of response as he writes this hymn. He writes in verse 7, For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. He wants us to say and sing, praise God, from whom all blessings flow. The blessing of forgiveness. Well, until next time, beloved, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

SPEAKER_00: 13:17

Thanks for listening to The Wisdom Journey with Stephen Davey. To learn more about us and access all of our Bible teaching resources, visit wisdomonline.org. Our phone number is 866-482-4253. And you can email us at info at wisdomonline.org. Stephen developed this daily program to help you know what the Bible says, understand what it means, and apply it to your life. So please join us next time to continue the wisdom journey.