Unless the LORD builds the house,
The builders labour in vain
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
The guards stand watch in vain.
In vain you rise early
And stay up late,
Toiling for food to eat—
For he grants sleep to those he loves.
“In vain” you try to do things by yourself. “Shua” is the word in Hebrew. It could also be translated as “futility.”
In a society that wants to be rid of God, wants to go about its house-building, city-watching, food-collecting all on its own, Christians say, “we need God.” Not only do we need God in the middle of the task with us, but we also recognize that without Him, we’ll just be making sandcastles and the next wave will wipe it all away.
God is with us in our work. Jesus invited us into the job he was and is doing. So we work and we rest in the confidence that larger hands than ours are at work with us.
AND he grants sleep to those he loves. The Hebrew word could be translated as “the darling of Him.” That’s pretty sweet! God doesn’t see you as a production unit but as His delight, His darling who co-labours with Him. That puts praying into a different light, doesn’t it?
Working and praying with you this day!
Andrew
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