(A Song of degrees. Of Solomon.) Unless Jehovah build the house, in vain do its builders labour in it; unless Jehovah keep the city, the keeper watcheth in vain
Solomon's name stands over this psalm — the man who built both a temple and a palace. Its opening line puts the question every builder and every guard must face: whose work is it, and what remains of ours if God is not in it?
The Thread Running Through These Songs
The verse is one line in a sequence where the singers trace every good thing back to one source.
Notice how, again and again, these psalms give the Lord the credit for every blessing. It is the Lord who sets the captive free (Ps. 124:6-7). It is the Lord who is round about His people as they take their pilgrim way (Ps. 125:2); the Lord sets Zion free from the enemy (Ps. 126:1); the Lord builds the house and keeps the city (Ps. 127:1); and the Lord is the source of all millennial blessing.
For the pilgrims singing it, the house and the city were not abstractions. They were the goal of the journey, and the psalm teaches them that the God who purposed it must also carry it out.
They had seen the purpose of the Lord to have Jerusalem "builded" and "compact together" (Ps. 122:3). Now they recognise that only the Lord can carry out His purpose.
Which House Is Meant
Commentators note a question over the wording: the house, or a house? One writer argues the wider reading sharpens the lesson.
Some argue that it should be rendered a house, and not the house. If we accept the correction, the teaching is even stronger. It then takes in Solomon's own house, the temple which he had the privilege of building, and the house or temple which will yet be rebuilt. The Jews will build that one in unbelief after their restoration, and the Lord Himself will build at last, after His kingdom is set up. (See Zechariah 6:12.)
Pride Builds; God Builds
There is a motive behind building without God.
The pride of man moves him to want to do something — something even for God. But this is not submission to Him who is Himself the Builder. "For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God" (Heb. 3:4).
Solomon Wrote It and Then Forgot It
The most sobering comment on the verse comes from the life of the man whose name stands over it. Twenty of his years went into building, and the proportions tell their own story.
First of all we have the general truth. All human undertakings come to nothing unless the Lord is with us in them, guiding, controlling, and sustaining. They come to nothing unless we are only carrying out His purposes and designs… Solomon forgot the divine principle he had been given to record. You can see it in the comment added to the statement that he was seven years building the Lord's house: "But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years," nearly twice seven. How often we start our own service in real dependence on the Lord, with a full sense that we can do nothing apart from Him. Then, from one cause or another — sometimes even from delight in the work itself — we begin to lean on our own methods or our own energies. Or we lose sight of God's object because our own object absorbs us.
Keeping the City: Learning It the Hard Way
Israel did not learn this in theory. Both halves of the verse — the building and the watching — cost them painful experience.
Counting on God's word, they have learnt to count on Him alone for everything… They had learnt how empty it was to build the house without the Lord's favour. They had felt their powerlessness to keep the invader out of the city. The house had been laid low (Ps. 74) and the city had been a prey to the enemy… All the extra watchfulness on man's part was only in vain. God would have His people trust Him.
However strong the defences, the second half of the verse allows no exception.
Jerusalem may yet be rebuilt and fortified so strongly that people think it can never be taken. The sentries may stay on the alert, and the city may take every precaution against attack, especially at night. But the hardest efforts of human strength and care will be useless unless the Lord keeps the city.
A Warning for Christian Builders
The warning reaches anyone who builds for God today.
These words carry a solemn warning to Christian builders. As Paul writes, "According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it." (1 Cor. 3:10.) The one who builds in wood, hay, or straw only labours in vain… The day will declare the character of every man's work, whether of Jewish or Christian builders, because fire will reveal it.
Summary
- Vain — real effort, real hours, real skill, all coming to nothing because the Lord was not in it.
- Pride — the root of vain building is the urge to do something for God instead of submitting to the One who is Himself the Builder.
- Solomon — the author spent seven years on the Lord's house and thirteen on his own. Knowing the principle is not the same as keeping it.
- Trust — Israel learned it by loss — the house laid low, the city taken, all their watching useless. Then they counted on Him alone.
- Fire — the same test reaches every Christian builder, since the day will show what sort of work each one did.