Essentials Of The Faith / Adult Sunday School Class

Psalm 127, An Allegory

 
In connection to our missions emphasis this weekend and on sharing the Gospel of Christ with all those we come in contact with, I thought we would take a different look at Psalm 127.
Psalm 127
I. Author
 There is some disagreement as to the author of this Psalm. Some attribute it to David as a gift to Solomon. Others believe that it was written by Solomon himself. I tend to view this Psalm as written by David. It seems to make more sense when we see David giving his son some godly,  fatherly advice.

II. Structure
 The Psalm is divided into two parts; verses 1-2 and verses 3-5. They seem to be two different themes but must somehow be connected.

III. Literal Interpretation
Question: What does verse 1 say to you?

Verse 1
 This psalm was written in connection with Solomon's building the Temple in Jerusalem. In verse 1 we see David reminding his son, Solomon, to keep his priorities straight as to who will be the inspiration behind building the house ( Hebrew:bayit) of God (other uses of the word bayit include temple).

 David reminds him that no matter how skilled the laborer or how diligently he works his craft, unless the Lord is the reason and the guiding force behind it, it would be better if he didn't  build it, for it will not please God.

Question: What does verse 2 say to you?

Verse 2
 In verse 2 we see David giving a parallel example of how Solomon is to trust in and rely upon God for the protection and care of all that was given to him by God. We don't have to worry all day about what God has given to us. We can sleep, rest assured that God is sovereign and He is in control and will watch over us and the building of the Temple as we sleep. Again, David is emphasizing Solomon's dependence on the Lord and on Him alone.

Question: What do verses 3-5 say to you?

Verses 3-5

 In the second part of the Psalm , verses 3-5, we see an abrupt shift to a more personal (family) type of advice. Here David is telling Solomon of the importance of God being at the center of his family relationships, especially those concerning his children.

Question: How many wives did Solomon have?

 Solomon had many wives and this was in direct rebellion to the commands of God. In his day, children, especially sons, were considered a blessing from God to the parent. At the time of this Psalm  Solomon had only one son, with all his wives it must have seen like God was ignoring his requests for sons.

 However, Solomon was trying to have sons of his own might by having multiple wives. He was not trusting in God to provide them for him. David was reminding him of this. Since it was considered a blessing from God to have many sons, then if you didn't, maybe you and God were not in good relationship. Others , especially your enemies, would see this and would have something evil to say about you and your relationship to your God.

Question: What is David's main or big idea that he wants his son Solomon to remember?

 The main idea that David is trying to get across to his son, Solomon, is fear the Lord, trust in Him and do nothing in your own power. He is telling him that he can do nothing of value if the Lord is not in it.

Question: But what about us? Are we building a literal temple for God?

What about if we don't have any children, is this saying that we are not blessed by God?

Do I have to have a very large family for God's blessing to be evident and for my retirement  years to be cared for by my
     children?

Does this mean that people will have bad things to say about us if we don't have a full   quiver of children?

What about the abruptness between verses 1,2 and 3-5? What is the connection?

 Like pealing back the layers of an onion and getting to the part that really hits you in the eyes, perhaps there is a deeper meaning than the literal words would suggest?  This hidden, or deeper spiritual meaning or application is called Allegory.

IV. Allegorical Interpretation
Disclaimer: Allegory assumes that the human language is insufficient to convey the profound mysteries of spiritual reality and the nature of God. Some of the early church fathers used the allegorical method of interpretation; Origen, Augustine, Bernard of Clairvaux, to name a few.

 Luther and Calvin, along with many other reformers rejected the allegorical method of interpretation because it is subjective (seldom did two allegorical interpretations agree) and they insisted that Scripture had only one meaning.

 I agree that allegory is not the best form of biblical interpretation, but is also not to be wholly discounted.
  -Take for example parable of the prodigal son. It is hard to make sense of this story without assuming that the father in some way represents God ( or Christ) and the prodigal represents the wayward and rebellious sinner (like the tax collectors of Lk 15:1). The older brother represents the self righteous hypocrite (like the Pharisees and Scribes of Lk 15:2)  That's allegory.  (Also see Gal. 4:21ff)

Question: If the reformers were correct and all Scritpure has only one intended meaning , what is the main idea or single interpretation of the parable of the prodigal son?

  1. The possibility of repentance for even the most rebellious sinner.
  2. The lavish forgiveness God offers all His children
  3. A warning against imitating the hard-heartedness of the older brother.

 The literal theme of Psalm 127 seems to be  'God must be in all your actions if He is to bless it.' Let's see if there is something else the author wants us to understand about God and His ways.

 Certainly, we in the 21st century are not building a physical building or Temple for God, like Solomon was and we don't have multiple wives to increase the odds of giving us sons as Solomon did, as a legacy. So what is this really saying to us today? Let's examine the Psalm.

'Unless the Lord builds the house,'
 -The word "Lord" here is God or Jesus Christ.

 -The word "house" can represent the spiritual kingdom of God which is inhabited by  those who have been chosen by God and who have accepted His death on the Cross as payment for  their sin. We can call these individuals regenerated man, believers or Christians.

  -We see in John 14:1-3 that the kingdom of God is represented by a house to which Jesus said  he goes to prepare a room for us.

'They labor in vain who build it;'
 -"They" can  represent  regenerated man.

 -"labor in vain" can be seen as witnessing and soul winning for the sake of the person doing the  witnessing.

  -If we proclaim the mysteries of God unto salvation yet do it for our own glory,  it will be without reward.

 The following two phrases run parallel to the first two phrases. David is trying to make a point. The point being  God is sovereign and  all that is done by the believer must be done in accordance to His will and for His glory.

'Unless the Lord guards the city,'
  -Jesus Christ himself must allow His presence to surround unregenerated man.

 -The "city" seen here is the harvest field of  unbelievers.

  -Jesus will choose those who will be saved and His Spirit will surround them with irresistible grace to believe. It is the Holy Spirit who will direct our witnessing energy.

'The watchman keeps awake in vain'
 -Again, we can continue to do what we were called to do. A watchman keeps awake so as not to  let intruders into the city, our job as Christians is to be a  witnesses to the unsaved world,  but we must do it for the Lord.

 -In this phrase we see that as believers, "watchman", if we try to win souls on our own strength and   without the guiding of the Holy Spirit, we do so without reward, for naught,  for God is not with  us and has not prepared the way for us.

'It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late,'
 -All the things we can do with our day. Rising up early and to retire late figuratively represents our  day. It is another way of saying 'it is foolish for you to spend all your day'.

Question: Doing what?

'To eat the bread of painful labors;'
 -To 'eat' can mean to partake of or to experience fully.

 -What is it that we are fully experiencing?  'Bread'. This  may represent sustenance or that which  keeps us going. That which we make  with our hands.

  -Or 'bread' could mean the Word of God as given to us through the Scriptures.

  -However the word "bread"  is associated here with 'painful labor'. Therefore it    can not  mean the Word of God because man is not responsible for 'making' Scripture. (2 Peter 1:20-21) It was by divine revelation through which  man  wrote the Bible.

 -'Painful labors" can be all the attempts man makes to bring glory to himself. It is the result of man's fall from the paradise of the garden. When we do things on our own and without the direction of God, we do them painfully, w/o joy and with much labor.

'For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep'
 -Oh the wonderful grace of God given to us.  We are God's beloved. His chosen people whom He loves. And He can most effectively use us for ministry when we are asleep to our natural tendencies.

  -When we sleep, we can do no work for ourselves. We stop trying to bring glory to  ourselves when we sleep.

  -'Sleep' here is symbolic for the times the believer gives up the reigns of his life an allows  God to work through him.

'Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward'
 -'Children'  here can be viewed as the spiritual offspring of one who faithfully proclaims the Good News of  Jesus Christ for the glory of God.

Paul uses the term children to emphasize this point.

Romans 8:16 1The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.

1 Corinthians 4:14   I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear  children.

and even more fully revealed in

Galatians 4:19  My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.

 Is this speaking of literal children? No, Spiritual children wither those Paul led to the Lord or those who he has helped mature in Christ.

 The term  'womb' can be related to what Christ speaks of when He encountered by Nicodemus.

John 3:3-4 In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."  "How can a man be born when he is old?"  Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"

 Therefore, as we can see, the children spoken here are not our physical progeny but the progeny of the Holy Spirit in the regeneration of man. The 'gift' and the 'reward' are the same. It is the new believer him/herself.  God can  reward our faithfulness with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who confess Him as savior.

'Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth.'
 - Just as a commander will make certain his faithful and skilled warriors will have ammunition for battle, so Jesus our commander gives to the faithful follower (warrior) , spiritual children, (arrows) new converts to Christ, to assist us in the spiritual battle we are called to fight.

 -Remember how it felt when you got saved? Remember how it felt the first time you led someone to Christ? It felt exciting! Like being young again. Spiritual children given to the believer by God  to build up His kingdom, is exciting.

'How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;
they shall not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate.'

 -The idea of warfare continues as we see that God blesses the believer who has been faithful and who has proclaimed the Good News of Jesus to the unsaved.

 -God has blessed his endeavors (with many new converts) because he did it to build God's kingdom and not to bring glory to himself.

 -Therefore when pressured by Satan (the enemy) as to what we have done for God, we can say that we have served our God faithfully and the fruit or proof of this is in lives being won for Christ.

Conclusion:
 Let's bring this all home.

 Spiritual children live in God's house that God builds through faithful men and women. That's the connection between vs 1,2 and 3-5.

 The house is God's Kingdom and he children are spiritual offspring of the work of the Holy Spirit in faithful believers who share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those God surrounds with His irresistible grace.