WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.000 There's a Latin phrase, which is probably not the way you were hoping any sermon would ever begin, 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:11.000 called Nisi Dominus Frustra. 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:16.000 And it's engraved, actually plastered onto a bus this morning. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:20.000 It's engraved into many buildings and doorways, 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:23.000 and about everything that you could imagine throughout the United Kingdom, 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:28.000 you'll be likely, if you just keep your eyes open, to see that Latin phrase plastered somewhere. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:34.000 And the phrase, as you probably know, is taken directly from Psalm 127. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:40.000 And it simply means, as all you Latin scholars know, without the Lord vanity. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:42.000 Without the Lord vanity. 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:48.000 And that phrase has been adopted as the motto of schools and military regiments 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:52.000 and watchtowers and wells and apparently buses and clergymen 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:58.000 and even our own very city of Edinburgh in 1647. 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:04.000 And I think one of the reasons this Psalm is so popular is because it describes daily life, 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:06.000 if you just look at the Psalm. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:10.000 It describes, it speaks of builders and it speaks of watchmen 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:14.000 and it speaks of parents and children and waking up and going to sleep 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:17.000 and it just feels, that's what our day is made of. 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:23.000 And it not only speaks of our lives but it speaks of our pains as well, if you look at the Psalm. 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:27.000 Rising up early and retiring to bed later than you may have wished 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:32.000 and laboring and toiling and the pains of raising children and the joys of that 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:37.000 and after all of that, somehow trying to sleep at night. 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:41.000 And if you look at the actual Psalm, if you have it in front of you, 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:46.000 you'll kind of see three main verbs that describe our daily lives 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:48.000 in the Psalm. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:52.000 If you look at verse one, you'll see that of building and that of watching. 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:57.000 And in verse two, that of sleeping, building, watching, sleeping. 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:00.000 Rising up early, returning to bed late. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:03.000 And I think building here doesn't just describe those of us, 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:06.000 if we were to raise our hand, who work in construction here. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:13.000 It's the idea of creating, of creating something beautiful where there once was nothing. 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:19.000 Turning an empty lot into a school or a craggy hill into a castle 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:23.000 or a few trees into a house or a stranger into a friend 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:28.000 or a broken relationship into one of trust, of creating something. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:34.000 And watching isn't just for those of us here who currently or have worked as a security guard somewhere, I don't think. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:40.000 It's the idea of preserving and watching over what you've created, of what has been created. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:45.000 We see we all put locks on our doors. We're all going to go home and lock our doors tonight. 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:49.000 And those of us who have children are vigorously trying to child-proof your houses, 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:51.000 or at least I am trying to learn to do that. 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:56.000 And we spend all of our days trying to build a good reputation in the days of our life. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:59.000 And then we try to protect that reputation that we've built. 00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:05.000 And we watch over the marriage vows that we've made to our spouses. 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:09.000 You see, all of our days are spent creating with our hands and our minds. 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:14.000 And then to the best of our ability, watching over what we've created. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:18.000 Whether you're an engineer, whether you're a student, whether you're a pensioner, 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:21.000 whether you're a mother, whether you're a father, this is what you do. 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:23.000 This is what your life is made up of. 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:27.000 You create and you protect. 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:31.000 And then you do this crazy thing that God has made us all do, 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:37.000 which is to spend a third of your entire life in bed asleep. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:41.000 And no matter who you are here this evening, what your life situation is, 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:43.000 where from the globe that you are from, 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:48.000 your life is a never-ending cadence of creating, protecting, 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:52.000 and then sleeping for a third of your life. 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:54.000 But this Psalm just doesn't, if you look at the Psalm, 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:57.000 it doesn't just describe what you do, 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:00.000 it describes how we feel in life as well. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:02.000 As we crawl into bed after a long day, 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:07.000 and maybe how many of us have come here this evening feeling. 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:11.000 A good idea when reading the Bible, and it's in this Psalm as well, 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:13.000 is to look for the word that's repeated. 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:15.000 What's the idea that keeps being repeated? 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:19.000 And if you look at Psalm 127, what's the word that keeps being repeated? 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:21.000 In vain. 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:24.000 In vain. 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:28.000 I think the fear that probably haunts many of us, 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:35.000 or all of us at some point, as we wear ourselves thin with working day after day after day, 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:38.000 is that all of this might actually just be in vain, 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:41.000 and sometimes it feels like it's in vain. 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:43.000 Vain, what is that? 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:46.000 It's the idea of emptiness, it's the idea of meaninglessness, 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:53.000 of toil without end, of pain with no meaning or no purpose at the end of that pain. 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:56.000 The biblical word is often used to describe storms, 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:00.000 and what a storm would leave behind. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:05.000 You've all seen the news, you've seen villages and seaside towns wrecked by storms, 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:12.000 and schools and gardens and cars and memories just have it by wind and sea. 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:15.000 And you look at it, and everything's torn and tattered, 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:19.000 and it just feels meaningless, it's sad. 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:23.000 And that's what the Psalm says your entire life can become. 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:28.000 You wake up early, you create and you protect, and you create and you protect, 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:33.000 and you fall asleep exhausted thinking and dreaming about what you've created and you've protected, 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:39.000 and the tragic thing is that this Psalm says it can all be meaningless. 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:46.000 It's like for those of us students here writing a 90,000 word thesis on Hermann Bovink, of course, 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:51.000 laboring on it for years, sacrificing family vacations and sleep and date nights, 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:57.000 and then after the last word has been written, selecting that shortcut, 00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:01.000 control all on your keyboard, hitting the backspace, deleting it all, 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:04.000 closing your computer and going to bed. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:06.000 Just give me a shivers thinking about it. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:08.000 Meaningless, right? 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:12.000 That's terrifying, it's a terrifying reality. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:20.000 And the rye of this Psalm says that that's what life can so easily become. 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:25.000 Decades of work and sleeplessness for nothing. 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:29.000 And so the question we have to ask ourselves here this evening, if we've ever felt that, 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:34.000 are we worried that that's true of our lives, is are we laboring in vain? 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:37.000 Are our labors in vain? 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:42.000 Do we bury the burdens on our schedules in vain? 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:44.000 Are they empty? 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:48.000 And so if there's going to be an outline, the first heading would be are we laboring in vain? 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:51.000 That's just that simple question, are we laboring in vain? 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:56.000 And if you look at the Psalm, it's very clear about what the vain life actually is. 00:06:56.000 --> 00:07:00.000 If you look at it with me at verse one, it's one where you build a house, 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:03.000 but God isn't building the house with you. 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:06.000 Whatever it is you're building, God isn't building it with you. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:11.000 It's where you're laboring, but whatever it is you're laboring, you're doing it alone. 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:16.000 And my guess is that if someone were to ask, how do I not live in vain? 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:19.000 How do I make sure that I don't spend my life in vain? 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:28.000 The first answer that person would probably get is something like what they should do with their lives. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:34.000 If you don't want to live in vain, you should be a missionary, or you should be a pastor, 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:39.000 or you should go work for the church in some way, or you should give more to the poor. 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:43.000 And those things are right. 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:45.000 I don't want to come across saying any of those things are wrong. 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:46.000 They're all right. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:51.000 But I think if the psalmist were here and he got that question, he would answer it a little bit differently. 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:55.000 He would give his advice in a little bit different of a way. 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:58.000 And here's why, because the psalmist says, if you look at the verses, 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:04.000 he tells you that you can be a builder or you can be a watchman, and the Lord can be with you. 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:10.000 And at the same time, you could be a builder or you can be a watchman, and the Lord cannot be with you. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:17.000 So it's not primarily about what it is you do, because the Lord can be with you or not be with you either way. 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:21.000 But how you do it, but how you do it. 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:26.000 So how do we know if we're living in vain? 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:30.000 If you look in verse two, you look at the phrase, there's a little phrase there, 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:33.000 eating the bread of anxious toil. 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:34.000 You see that? 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:37.000 Eating the bread of anxious toil. 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:41.000 And notice those two words, anxious toil. 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:43.000 Anxious toil. 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:47.000 He says that the vain life is one where you wake up early, you go to bed late, 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:55.000 and every moment of that is nothing but another bite of the stale bread of anxious toil. 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:59.000 Anxious toil is your daily bread. 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:05.000 And that word that you see in your Bibles that's translated as anxious toil, 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:08.000 it's actually just one word in the original language. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:12.000 And it's kind of a tricky word to translate it, which is why they use two words. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:14.000 And if you just look at anxious toil, it kind of makes sense, 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:22.000 because it's the idea of anxiety, inner pain, and toil, outer burden. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:28.000 So you have both physical and emotional happening in the same concept. 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:33.000 It's both physical and emotional sorrow and pain. 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:36.000 And the Rady is trying to tell you that there is a way to spend your whole life 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:40.000 getting up early, going to bed late, creating and preserving 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:44.000 in both internal and external anguish. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:49.000 And that feeling right there, if we're wondering how do we make sure we don't live a life in vain, 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:53.000 that feeling is the indicator light that should pop on your radar 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:56.000 that you might be living this life in vain. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:00.000 And I don't really need to describe that feeling, my guess, as in this room, 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:04.000 because we've all felt that at some point, because we're humans. 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:08.000 And so the question we have to ask is not just what does that feeling feel like, 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:10.000 because we know that, but why is that feeling there? 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:13.000 Why is that anguish there? 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:18.000 This complicated word that I talked about is also in First Kings. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:24.000 And it's used in that context to describe a father who neglected his son. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:29.000 And the result was that the son felt that internal and external anguish, 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:32.000 because his father neglected him. 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:37.000 And the same word is used in the book of Isaiah to describe Israel. 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:42.000 And it pictures Israel as a forgotten and forsaken wife in the book of Isaiah. 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:47.000 And the picture is of a wife who should be paid attention to, 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:52.000 who should be nurtured, who should be loved, but isn't. 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:57.000 And the pain that creates in a son who should be cared for by his father, 00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:00.000 and a wife who's created to be loved by her husband, 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:03.000 but who's forgotten and left unloved, 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:07.000 it's that internal and external pain that that creates. 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:11.000 You see, this is a pain you can't get no matter how hard you stub your toe 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:15.000 or hit your thumb with a hammer, you don't get this kind of pain. 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:17.000 It's a soul pain. 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:19.000 And here's the point, here's the point of all this. 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:23.000 Just like the son in First Kings might work to be noticed by his father again, 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:27.000 and the forgotten wife might work to be noticed by her husband, 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:32.000 we can all work really hard to fill this deep void within ourselves, 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:37.000 to calm the anxious feeling that we aren't loved. 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:41.000 And we might look, we might search far and wide for that approval, 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:45.000 and all of us could do it, and as many people as there are in this room, 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:50.000 we could do it in different ways, but we might look for that satisfaction in our bosses, 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:56.000 our coworkers, our own sense of self-accomplishment and traveling and whatever it is. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:12:00.000 And so you spend all your waking moments trying to be loved, 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:03.000 trying to be noticed, and as Psalm says to you, 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:06.000 you were made to be loved, 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:10.000 but you're going about getting that in the wrong ways, 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:13.000 because you can't ever get that love, not that way. 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:16.000 That's not how that way, that's not how love works. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:21.000 And my guess is that somewhere deep down we know that, we know that's a vain pursuit. 00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:24.000 So what do we do? How do we not live in vain? 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:28.000 If that's what the vain life is all about, how do we not live that way? 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:32.000 And the Psalmist tells us that as well, and that's our second heading, 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:38.000 how to live meaningfully. 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:41.000 If you look again at the actual first two verses of the Psalm, 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:45.000 just look at the actual words that are in the Psalm. 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:50.000 We have building, we have houses, labor, vanity, 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:57.000 watching cities rising up early, going to bed late, eating, anxious toil. 00:12:57.000 --> 00:13:01.000 And then there's this one little word that seems like it doesn't belong. 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:03.000 It's like looking for the where's wall though. 00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:06.000 What's the one word that doesn't belong in this Psalm? 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:09.000 And it's that word, beloved. 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:13.000 It's like a rose poking up through cracked concrete. 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:19.000 In the midst of toil and work and sleeplessness and anxious toil and labor, 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:22.000 beloved. 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:29.000 He gives his beloved rest, or he gives his beloved sleep. 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:30.000 So what's the difference? 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:33.000 What's the difference between a vain life and a meaningful life? 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:39.000 It's the difference between a loved wife making dinner for her husband as he sits 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:42.000 after a long day warmly talking to his wife. 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:46.000 And a servant girl making dinner for her tyrant master. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:50.000 They're both making dinner, and that's about the only similar thing that's 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:53.000 happening in those two scenarios. 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:57.000 And this is where we begin to see the gospel intertwining with the way we 00:13:57.000 --> 00:13:59.000 actually live our daily lives. 00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:04.000 You see, the gospel is, it's more than a list of points you need to believe, 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:08.000 or a choice, or a decision you need to make, or something you sign. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:11.000 The gospel is a view of the heartbeat of God for you. 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:13.000 It's an actual view of God himself. 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:16.000 That's what sits behind the gospel. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:20.000 And so we have to ask ourselves, how does this psalm present the heart of God to you, 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:23.000 the person of God to you? 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:26.000 And look at verse one. 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:31.000 God builds the house as we build the house. 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:37.000 The Lord watches over the city all through the night right beside the watchman. 00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:42.000 And as we rise up early, as the one who rises up early to work, the Lord rises up early 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:45.000 right alongside of him, and he makes sure he isn't alone. 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:51.000 And as that person yawns and stays up late to finish the project or watch whatever he's watching, 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:55.000 the Lord sits beside him or her lovingly. 00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:59.000 And the Lord gives sleep, it says. 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:01.000 He holds us as we fall asleep. 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:03.000 And I wonder if we think about that as we fall asleep. 00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:06.000 Do you have a view of God that says, sleep is a gift that he's just giving to you, 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:09.000 as you fall asleep at night? 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:13.000 And do you see the picture this psalm is presenting for you? 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:17.000 It's of a God who says, I will never leave you. 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:23.000 And my guess is if you've been in the church or read your Bible, you've heard those words before, 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:29.000 but the way this psalm paints that picture for you is so beautiful and tangible. 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:35.000 I won't leave you as you build relationships and homes and careers and marriages and dreams 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:39.000 and not only will I not leave you, but I'm building along with you. 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:43.000 And not only am I building along with you, I'm doing it for you and through you. 00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:49.000 And as you watch over what you've created, as you tidy your homes and steward your finances 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:55.000 and pray for your marriages and raise your children, I'm not only with you, I'm doing it for you. 00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:59.000 And I'm the God who says at the end of the day, please sleep now. 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:02.000 And you can rest because you know that even while you sleep, 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:06.000 why the Lord will keep watch over your little ones and over your house and over your city 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:08.000 and over your family and your marriage. 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:11.000 And I'll be right here when you wake up. 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:13.000 In other words, you're beloved. 00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:16.000 And that's what the Lord does for His beloved. 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:24.000 And I just would ask all of us here this evening, do we have a view of the world that lets us think about God like that? 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:29.000 And actually, you know, we might not. 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:31.000 I might not. You might not all the time. 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:37.000 We might have a view of God that says, you know what, God doesn't really want anything to do with me. 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:39.000 Or God isn't that interested in that area of my life. 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:46.000 He doesn't really care that much about my friendships or about my work or about my jobs or my family. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:50.000 Or maybe it's even more extreme and you're saying God doesn't actually want to be near me. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:52.000 I'm unclean. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:59.000 And you would understand that feeling if you just knew what I did, if you knew what I thought, if you knew it was in my head. 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:06.000 And when you think like that, you're just slicing off another piece of the loaf of anxious toil. 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:11.000 And you're having, that's your daily bread for one more day when you think like that. 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:18.000 And here's what we need to remember when we have thoughts like that. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:22.000 When we find ourselves eating that bread of anxious toil. 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:30.000 If you want to draw near to God and you want to be with Him and you want Him to be there through the watch of the night with you. 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:33.000 He's already come in the person of Christ. 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:41.000 And if you trust your whole life, everything, if you say, I'm throwing it all in and I trust on the person and work of Christ on my behalf. 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:48.000 Then if you were to, if any of you were to stand before God right now with those feelings, He would say to you, 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:52.000 but I don't see any sin in you. 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:56.000 He would say, when I look at you, I only see the righteousness of my son. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:01.000 I only see his life and his death and his resurrection as I look at you. 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:02.000 And He would say, I love you. 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:07.000 I want you to rest from this daily bread of anxious toil in your life. 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:10.000 Why? Because you're my beloved. 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:16.000 And if you're like I am, and there's probably something in you that says, 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:18.000 that seems too backward. 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:19.000 I don't deserve that. 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:20.000 I haven't earned that. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:21.000 It's backward. 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:24.000 It's too good to be true. 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:32.000 But if you probably haven't got the gospel right, if it doesn't feel backward to your mind and your soul, 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:37.000 because it's the truth, the work has already been done. 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:42.000 And do we actually live like that is what God says about us? 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:48.000 In ancient Rome, when a general was victorious in battle, 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:54.000 he would ride into Rome in a chariot with his troops in the booty from the battle 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:58.000 and the prisoners of war behind him. 00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:03.000 And interestingly, they would put one other person in his chariot with him. 00:19:03.000 --> 00:19:06.000 They would put a slave in the chariot with him. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:11.000 And that slave had one job as the whole procession came down. 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:17.000 And that job was to repeat the words to the general over and over and over and over again. 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:24.000 Homo es, you are but a man, is what that slave would repeat to him over and over again. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:27.000 Because why? Because the general had won the battle. 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:29.000 He had troops behind him. 00:19:29.000 --> 00:19:31.000 He was coming into the city. 00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:33.000 The crowds were cheering. 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:38.000 And it would be easy for that general just for even a moment to maybe think, 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:41.000 maybe I'm a little bit more than a man. 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:47.000 He needed to be reminded he was just a man. 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:55.000 My guess is that's probably not most of our problems here when we hit Monday morning. 00:19:55.000 --> 00:20:02.000 We feel sinful and tired and weary and probably a little bit unlovable and unworthy if you're anything like I am. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:08.000 Which is why the father sent someone else to ride along the chariot with you. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:14.000 And that person is the Holy Spirit and that person repeatedly says to you as you ride through life in your chariot, 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:17.000 you're a son or a daughter of the king. 00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:19.000 You're a son or daughter of the king. 00:20:19.000 --> 00:20:21.000 You're a son or daughter of the king. 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:23.000 And guess what? You're loved. He loves you. 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:26.000 You're beloved over and over and over and over and over. 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:31.000 And Satan would do anything but let you listen to that voice your whole life. 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:34.000 How would your life change if you listen to that voice? 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:41.000 And the reason that he does that is because everything in your life is going to tell you other than that reality. 00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:44.000 Just like that general coming in would be tempted to think by everything around him, 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:46.000 maybe I'm a God even just for a moment. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:50.000 Everything in your reality is going to convince you God wouldn't love you. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:53.000 There's no way you're his beloved. 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:58.000 And if you don't listen to that voice, if you don't listen to that voice and the chariot with you, 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:02.000 life will be both excruciating and meaningless. 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:04.000 And look what the psalm also tells you. 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:08.000 It's a life that's not only meaningless, but it's a life that is lonely. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:11.000 It's a life where you're building a house without God. 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:16.000 It's a life where you're staying up late to watch a city or watch over your finances without God. 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:20.000 It's a life where you fall asleep without God. 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:23.000 And I hope there's something in me. 00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:27.000 I hope there's something in you that says, I don't want to be without the Lord. 00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:30.000 I don't want to do any of those things without the Lord. 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.000 I've been alone too many nights, too many early mornings. 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:42.000 And the crazy thing is, if that's what you're saying in your heart this evening, 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:46.000 you've just uttered your side of the covenant. 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:48.000 What do I mean by that? 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:52.000 God's made a covenant with mankind and it's all over the pages of Scripture. 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:56.000 And he says, I will be your God and you will be my people. 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:59.000 You've surely read it if you've read your Bible. 00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:04.000 And he says that over and over and over again, I will be your God, you will be my people. 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:10.000 And if your heart says, I want to be his, then you can trust his word when he says, 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.000 oh, I want to be your God, I would love for you to be my people. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:18.000 I want to give you peaceful rest, beloved. 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:25.000 And as we transition to the final three verses of the Psalm, if you're still looking at it, 00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:30.000 it seems that we've almost turned to an entirely different psalm as you look at the last three verses. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.000 Most sermons that you'll hear will either preach the first two verses or the last three verses. 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:40.000 Because it's now about children, it's about arrows and quivers and enemies and gates. 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:42.000 What's this all about? 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:46.000 And many have thought over the years that these are actually two separate psalms 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:49.000 that have been stitched together to make one psalm. 00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:53.000 But I think if we actually understand what those first two verses are saying, 00:22:53.000 --> 00:22:57.000 then the final three verses will make all the sense in the world. 00:22:57.000 --> 00:22:59.000 And just look at what's happening then. 00:22:59.000 --> 00:23:09.000 It says, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb, a reward. 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:14.000 Notice the words from the Lord and a reward. 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:15.000 You see this? 00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:18.000 The Lord gives us children. 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:21.000 He gives us a reward. 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:23.000 And we all know that, but think about it. 00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:25.000 The Lord creates children. 00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:28.000 The Lord is building families. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:31.000 He's building generations. 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:35.000 The Lord is creating anew in each of our homes. 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:37.000 And then look at verses four and five. 00:23:37.000 --> 00:23:42.000 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:44.000 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them. 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:49.000 He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. 00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:54.000 Again, notice the language of arrows, warriors, quiver, enemies, gates. 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:57.000 That is battle language, right? 00:23:57.000 --> 00:24:00.000 This is the language of someone who protects, someone who guards. 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.000 We might even say stands watch on a city gate, maybe. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:07.000 Remember verse one. 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:11.000 And do you see the themes emerge again of creating, building families, 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:15.000 and protecting, watching over, guarding the same themes 00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:18.000 carried from the first two into the last three verses. 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:21.000 The Lord not only creates and builds our families, 00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:26.000 but he protects not only our families, but us through our families. 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:29.000 He guards us through what he has created in us. 00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:34.000 Do you see, this is an example of the Lord creating and protecting us 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:41.000 in one of the most mundane, quiet, unnoticed areas of our lives, in our homes. 00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:45.000 And the Psalmist is saying, don't you see the Lord caring for you, 00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.000 even in your little ones, even in your living room? 00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:53.000 Mothers, fathers, do you want proof that I'm still creating in your lives 00:24:53.000 --> 00:24:55.000 and caring for you? 00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:58.000 Look at your children, look at the children. 00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:03.000 And how would one of those little children know that the father loves her? 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:06.000 All she has to do is look into the eyes of her mother, 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:10.000 who stays up with her late at night, and when she can't sleep. 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:12.000 Or that little girl would just have to look at her father, 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:16.000 who builds little houses of blocks with her and who locks the door at night. 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:20.000 And that is God's subtle, strong way of saying, 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:23.000 I love you to that little girl. 00:25:23.000 --> 00:25:27.000 God is saying, I couldn't be more involved in the fabric of your homes 00:25:27.000 --> 00:25:30.000 or of your lives or of your living rooms. 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.000 I am always, always creating and protecting for my people. 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:40.000 And God wants to press into the place where you, parents, might feel the most forgotten. 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:43.000 Where your work goes the most unnoticed. 00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:47.000 Where you lose the most sleep and nobody else will ever know 00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:49.000 and you never get a promotion for that. 00:25:49.000 --> 00:25:51.000 Where you might feel the most alone, 00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:56.000 where you might feel the most anxious over the little souls of your children. 00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:59.000 And the God who says, I see in secret, 00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:02.000 says, I see you, mothers and fathers, I see your homes, 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:04.000 and I'm there with you. 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:07.000 Though you won't be given awards or promotions for parenting, 00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:12.000 I'm giving you this Psalm to remember that your labor isn't in vain. 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:16.000 And it's not only not in vain, but it surely isn't alone. 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:20.000 Because you aren't just given buildings to build or cities to watch. 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:23.000 You're given little eternal souls. 00:26:23.000 --> 00:26:27.000 And God lets you create habits in these little holes and these little souls 00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:32.000 and teach them to sing and to read and to be a good friend and to pray. 00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:37.000 And this passage promises you parents that he is involved in your work. 00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:40.000 That as you rock that screaming baby to sleep, 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:43.000 God is right there with you singing this little baby to sleep. 00:26:43.000 --> 00:26:47.000 And as your child sleeps, God says to you, mother or father, please rest. 00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:50.000 I will protect this little soul with my strong hands. 00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:53.000 And as you teach your little boy or girl to pray, 00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:56.000 God is right there sowing seeds of faith in this little soul, 00:26:56.000 --> 00:27:01.000 protecting the little hearts with his strong hands. 00:27:01.000 --> 00:27:10.000 In conclusion, Nisi Domines Frustra, without God, vanity. 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:18.000 In 1964, another university in Edinburgh wanted to use that same motto for their university. 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:21.000 But they changed the wording just slightly. 00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:23.000 They changed just one word in it. 00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:30.000 And they changed it so their motto is Nisi Sapentia Frustra. 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.000 Without wisdom, vanity. 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:39.000 And the ironic thing is that's the least wise thing anyone could have done. 00:27:39.000 --> 00:27:45.000 They've gone against everything that Psalm 127 has to say about life. 00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:48.000 Psalm 127's unmistakable cry is, 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:51.000 unless the Lord is the one building, 00:27:51.000 --> 00:27:54.000 unless the Lord is the one creating, it is all meaningless. 00:27:54.000 --> 00:27:57.000 It's all in vain. 00:27:57.000 --> 00:28:03.000 And the one word they've decided to remove is Lord from that picture. 00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:07.000 And in his place, they've put the word wisdom. 00:28:07.000 --> 00:28:12.000 And by doing so, they've condemned themselves to vanity and to meaninglessness. 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:16.000 And it's easy to see, I don't think any of us would probably make that decision, 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:21.000 but how often do we make similar decisions in our own lives in more subtle ways? 00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:28.000 How often do we say, unless I have this one thing, then my day is meaningless? 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:32.000 Unless I'm liked, unless I'm respected, unless I get that promotion, 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:35.000 unless I get the family that I want, or my kids turn out the way I want, 00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:38.000 or they marry the person that I want, or I go on the vacation that I want, 00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:40.000 then life is meaningless. 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:46.000 And on and on and on and on and on, we spend our whole lives putting new words into that little blank. 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:50.000 And we could probably all in some way put our own words into that. 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.000 Without blank vanity. 00:28:54.000 --> 00:28:58.000 And we're just like that university. 00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:03.000 What would happen if you actually lived as if God loved you, as if you were his beloved? 00:29:03.000 --> 00:29:08.000 What would happen? How would you respond differently to your anxious toils? 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:16.000 And I think of the Gospel of John as he describes himself as the one Jesus loves. 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:19.000 That's how he writes the Gospel of John. 00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:25.000 What would happen if the love of Jesus so imprinted itself upon our lives and our minds, 00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:31.000 that we lived as if we were the one that Jesus loves? 00:29:31.000 --> 00:29:39.000 And in the Gospels, Jesus says, you know this, come to me and I will give you rest. 00:29:39.000 --> 00:29:42.000 My yoke is easy and my burden is light. 00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:45.000 And notice that Jesus says, I will give you rest. 00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:51.000 But then he uses the language of working, of labor, of toils, of burdens, of yokes. 00:29:51.000 --> 00:29:55.000 You see, the labors of life don't go away. 00:29:55.000 --> 00:30:00.000 But when you have Jesus, you can rest because you are his, even while you work in labor. 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:05.000 And life doesn't become easy, but it does become peaceful. 00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:13.000 Let me pray for us. 00:30:13.000 --> 00:30:23.000 Lord, thank you that you are building here, that you're creating in our homes and in our lives 00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:24.000 and each of us in different ways. 00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:30.000 I'm sure I know that you're creating and building in each of these people and you're preserving them 00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:32.000 and you want us to rest. 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:41.000 And I pray that each person in this room would go home with the imprint on their mind 00:30:41.000 --> 00:30:45.000 that they are the one that Jesus loves, that they are beloved, 00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:52.000 and that you would take that anxious toil, that daily bread that we eat for ourselves 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:57.000 and you would place your work over it, you'd place your calming hand, 00:30:57.000 --> 00:31:02.000 and mostly you'd place your love over it, and that we'd listen to the Holy Spirit 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:06.000 as he says, you're a son and you're a daughter of the king and he loves you. 00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:09.000 I pray this truth would become real. 00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:14.000 And I pray that would change the way that we interacted with each other and our families. 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:19.000 We wouldn't need things from people and use people for things 00:31:19.000 --> 00:31:25.000 and try to fill meaningless holes in our life, but we would love each other because we know that we are loved. 00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:31.000 And I pray that that would take over the way we love each other as a church community, 00:31:31.000 --> 00:31:35.000 the way that we love our city, and every corner of our lives. 00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:40.000 That we are beloved would change the way we lived our lives. 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.000 And I pray that you would assure us of that, help us to dream of those truths and think about those truths, 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:50.000 and I pray the Spirit would apply them to our hearts and our minds as we go back out into the week starting tomorrow. 00:31:50.000 --> 00:32:05.000 And I pray for all these things in Christ's name, amen.