Unless the Lord Builds the House

This morning we're going to look at just the first two verses of Psalm 127. I think you'll recognize the words of this psalm. Charles Spurgeon called this psalm "A Psalm for Builders." Look at the inscription, just before the beginning of the Psalm. It's called "A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon." And that's an important clue to the context of this psalm.

This a distinctly Solomonic Psalm. Its style is more like the Proverbs than most of the Psalms. It's made of pithy statements that would work equally well as Proverbs. Each sentence stands perfectly well as a maxim. This is in the same style as Solomon's writing.

In fact, the words "Of Solomon" seem to suggest that this psalm was written by Solomon himself. That's entirely possible. 1 Kings 4:32, which is part of the biblical record of Solomon's legacy, says "[Solomon] spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005." So Solomon was known for writing psalms, and this could be one of them.

But the actual significance of the inscription is ambiguous. You could translate it "for Solomon." If I'm not mistaken, that's how it is in the King James Version. I'm actually inclined to think this psalm was penned by David in his final years and given to Solomon, as a formal reminder from father to son of what it means to be a wise builder. If indeed it was David who penned these verses, he was imparting the very soul of wisdom to his son, because David was well aware of Solomon's calling, and he knew that Solomon was inheriting the duty of building the Temple, which represented the house of God.

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