The last Psalms post I wrote was for Psalm 79 on June 30! Today is my first Monday back after taking the last 6 weeks off, and today we find ourselves at Psalm 127. Let’s look at it.

Songs of Ascents=Roadtrip Music

Psalms 120-134 each have the same superscription: “A Song of Ascents”. These psalms were sung by the Israelite pilgrims as they made they way “up” to the Temple Mount for the big religious festivals every year. (To the Israelites, you always go “up” to Jerusalem, even if you are coming from a higher elevation. Mount Zion was spiritually high, so to speak.)

So, these psalms were roadtrip music.

No doubt the boy Jesus sang these songs as he made the 3 week journey from the Galilee to Jerusalem every year!

What are you listening to as you make your journey through life? With what are you filling your thoughts?

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

127 Unless the Lord builds the house,
    those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
    the watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early
    and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
    for he gives to his beloved sleep.

The Lord is the ultimate source of all strength and success, and unless we are building on his principles, what we are doing will be both exhausting and ephemeral.

The reason so many people are so tired is because they are trying to do it on their own.

What would it look like for you to partner with the Holy Spirit today in whatever it is you are doing?

P.S.

3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
    the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
    are the children of one's youth.
5 Blessed is the man
    who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
    when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

What a great image! “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.”