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A reminder from Ps. 127

Psalm 127:2: It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved.


Many of us overwork. We work all day and sometimes late into the night. With our hand-held technology our work follows us home. Yet many of us experience work the same way as the Psalmist. Working all the time is like living on a diet of anxiety and long hours. It makes your spirit puny.

The end of Ps.127:2 hints at another option. The “he” is a reference to God. No matter how hard you work, all rest and rejuvenation comes from outside. Significance is generally not found in work, but in the one who renews our spirits and restores our soul.

It is not that we quit working, but that we quit looking to our toil and work for significance and renewal. That comes only from above. The first line of Psalm 127 reveals a critical life truth: “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”

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