There is a Latin motto that comes from Psalm 127:1, Nisi Dominus Frustra. This has been the motto of the city of Edinburgh for several centuries.
Basically nisi means “unless, if not or without,” Dominus means “lord or master,” and frustra means “in vain or useless.” Thread it all together the motto could read some thing like this – Without the LORD, useless. Without the LORD, everything is useless.The word “useless” conjures up in my mind negative memories that were fraught with frustration. No one wants to be called useless, involved in some useless endeavor, or use something that is useless, a total waste of time and energy. Come to think of it, useless is not a very affectionate word. People try to avoid useless like the plague.
Sadly, some people are overcome with a feeling of being of no further value in life; they feel useless and see only a useless future lacking purpose and meaning, and therefore, they resort to suicide. Only Yeshua ha Mashiach, Jesus the Christ, gives meaning and purpose to life.
Sadly, some people are overcome with a feeling of being of no further value in life; they feel useless and see only a useless future lacking purpose and meaning, and therefore, they resort to suicide. Only Yeshua ha Mashiach, Jesus the Christ, gives meaning and purpose to life.
Premise: Life is useless apart from Christ!
This statement maybe considered by many as stark, bold, exclusive, narrow, dogmatic, arrogant, intolerant, debatable, baloney, or troubling. It may be all of those things to people and more, but what if it was biblically true and no less truthful than the declarative statement made by Jesus as recorded in the book of John, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me (14:6)? Talk about exclusivity!
If this premise is true, and I believe that it is, the ramifications are enormous! For the unbeliever, their lifetime accomplishments will amount to zero. For the believer it is possible, not remotely but very, that their lifetime accomplishments to a large extent can amount to nothing in eternity! How much of our life counts in eternity, God only knows. But I think we can have a pretty good idea based upon our submission to Christ in the here and now (cf. 1 Jn 2:28; 3:2-3).
Solomon declared in the book of Ecclesiastes, I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him.
Whatever God does is eternal, everlasting, forever. God operates in the realm of eternity; man in the realm of temporality: a mind, a body, and a world that is in a state of perpetual change or flux. God by His very nature is immutable (unchangeable, Mal 3:6; Heb 13:8; Jas 1:17). God’s decrees represent His will and eternal purposes (Psa 33:11; Dan 4:34-35; Isa 46:10; Eph 3:11), and man can neither add to nor subtract from the will of God Prov 19:21; 21:30). And God does so that men should show reverential fear of Him (Rev 15:4; Psa 64:9, Amplified - And all men shall [reverently] fear and be in awe; and they will declare the work of God, for they will wisely consider and acknowledge that it is His doing.
Because God’s will or what God does is forever and changeless, this provides the believer an opportunity to do something of eternal value while on this temporal terra firma. It stands to reason if we do God’s will which is forever and changeless, then whatever we do in the will of God has eternal consequences and conversely, whatever we do in the flesh, out of the will of God, has temporal consequences. We see this in 1 Cor 3:11-15. Even though Paul is primarily referring in this passage to preachers and teachers, a general application can be made to all believers.
(11) For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (12) Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, (13) each one's work will become clear; for the Day [the Bema seat day] will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. (14) If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. (15) If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
Outside of Christ (as a non-believer, 1 Cor 2:14 with Jude 1:19; Rom 8:9; 2 Cor 4:4) we were an enemy of God (Rom 5:10; Col 1:21; Jas 4:4), loved sin (Jn 3:19), and desired to live for the world (cf. 1 Jn 2:16). In Christ, though trapped in this sinful flesh this side of eternity, we are a new creation, a new man.
This new life is characterized by a love for God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), a hatred of sin, and a desire to obey His Word. Those things which are done in Christ (according to the Scriptures) have eternal value (described as gold, silver, and precious stones). Those things done in the flesh, the old man or sin nature, have only temporal value (wood, hay, and straw). Paul states in 2 Cor 5:10,
For we must all appear [be revealed as we are] before the judgment seat of Christ [cf. Heb 9:27; Rom 14:10-12], that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad [worthless] [cf. 1 Cor 4:5; Eph 6:8].
The NEB translates it this way, We must all have our lives laid open before the tribunal of Christ. It is our thoughts, words (cf. Mt 12:36), and deeds being judged in a life of service for Christ. At the Bema seat believers are not judged for sin (Jn 5:24) but for service (cf. I Thes 1:3); Jesus took the penalty of sin for us at the cross when by faith (Eph 2:8-9) we received the offer of salvation. Remember, at the Cross – the issue is sin; at the Bema – the issue is service, a time of reward or loss.
Therefore we make it our aim (strive earnestly, ambition in the good sense), whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him (2 Cor 5:9). The exposing of our works done in our body since salvation at the Bema seat of Christ is definitely one motive to be well pleasing to Christ (cf. Col 3:1-2). Is our life as a believer in Christ producing eternal consequences (1 Jn 2:17) or is it mostly all the worldly temporal stuff of wood, hay, and straw to be consumed by the fire at the judgment seat of Christ? Our choices have consequences!
I know what it is like living in a house without God; I know what it is like watching out for what is yours without God; I know what it is like working for a living without God; and I know what it is like raising a family without God. The truth is we don’t set out to live a life as a believer with God being totally out of the picture; God forbid, for that would be nothing short of paganism! But many of us are HIHOs, Half In Half Out (one foot in the church and the other foot in the world) in our service to God.
Sadly, many believers live most of their lives as HIHOs. HIHO, HIHO, it’s off to living I go! HIHO, HIHO, HIHO, HIHO, HIHO, HIHO. This sort of reminds you of Snow White and the seven dwarfs. HIHOs are what I call soft atheists. They believe in God and claim to be a Christian, but most of their daily routine is without thought of God, except of course on a Sunday, weddings, funerals, holidays, or when calamity strikes, “Oh, God….” Forget spending time reading and studying the Bible, praying, and being a witness for Christ on a daily basis, that is for fanatics!
This is what Solomon under inspiration went through great lengths to discuss in Ecclesiastes. He concluded that a life lived without God, living under the sun, as he put it, is vanity of vanities, all is vanity. In other words it is living life in a horizontal orientation “under the sun” and not a vertical one, “living above the sun” (cf. Eccl 12:13-14). This phrase “under the sun” occurs 29 times only in Ecclesiastes.
Life is fruitless, meaningless without God. It is a life that lives by the rule of one’s own reasoning rather than the rule of God, His Word. Any enterprise without God according to Solomon, and who would know better than him, is useless, meaningless, vanity of vanities, fruitless, a waste of time and energy. Sounds depressing doesn’t it? That is exactly the way God designed it – nothing truly satisfies without Him! This applies not only to the unbeliever but to the believer as well (“I got my eternal life insurance; now I go and do as I please mentality.”). As the classic rock and roll song so aptly described it, “I can’t get no satisfaction.” We will never be happy and truly satisfied apart from the LORD. Without Christ there will be no satisfaction.
If Solomon did indeed pen Psalm 127 (the halfway point of the 15 Psalms of Ascent: Psalms 120-134), and there is really no compelling reason that he didn’t, this theme is continued in this song of ascents.
The Psalmist employs four common activities to illustrate the point that ultimately our lives are dependent upon the LORD and to leave the LORD out of our lives is a pure waste of time and energy: building a house, protecting what is ours, working for a living, and raising a family.
Psalm 127:1, Building a house and protecting what is ours
A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
Solomon. This Psalm is ascribed to Solomon along with Psalm 72. In 1 Kgs 4:32 it is said that Solomon wrote 3,000 proverbs, many preserved in the book of Proverbs, and 1,005 songs, one being the Song of Solomon. He wrote the Song of Solomon, most of the book of Proverbs (1-29), and Ecclesiastes. One commentator suggested that he wrote the Song of Solomon as a young adult, Proverbs in his middle years, and Ecclesiastes near the end of his life as he reflected back on his experiences (BKC).
Vain. This word is used three times in the first two verses. Solomon employs this word to state that all activities such as building, guarding, rising early and staying up late toiling for sustenance (vv 1-2 and raising a family (vv3-5) were useless without God’s help. Vain carries the idea of emptiness, vanity, worthless, useless, meaningless, valueless, futile, or fruitless. “Primarily it means deceit, lie, or falsehood” (Zodi).
Builds the house is referring to a literal house, a place where we live, where we eat, drink, rest, sleep. It is where we return to day after day, where we put down roots and raise a family, surrounded my other houses doing the same thing, becoming a part of a community with common interests and concerns, creating friendships and bonds, making a living.
First question that pops up in my mind is how does the LORD build a house – Unless the LORD builds the house? He does it through the labor of others. So, does this mean no house can be built unless the LORD is working through others? No, we certainly can build a house without the LORD and we can live in a city without the LORD.
Notice where the house is located? It’s located in the city, where a collection of houses are. And who is watching over the city, the watchman. Unless the LORD is guarding the city where the house is located, whether the watchman is awake and alert, the enemy will penetrate the defenses, murder, plunder, and destroy the houses.
This is the most dangerous of situations for an individual or a collection of individuals forming a community where God is not an integral part of the daily life or a nation for that matter; the Psalmist called it vain or useless.
Psalm 127:2, Working for a living
It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep. Cf. Gen 3:17.
And what about making a living? Most houses spring up because the location is a good place to make a living, a good place to raise and support a family. There is security for the family and a sense of community. But a city where the LORD is not in the building and watching also results in sleep deprivation. How so? Working independently of God is fruitless. The difference between one trusting the LORD and the one who isn’t is that trust brings rest – For so He gives His beloved sleep.
This doesn’t mean we should not be diligent to provide for our family and for others. But to the one who worries, frets, and doubts, the working of long hours produces no rest for worrying about the lack of bread or never having enough bread. Rather than sleeping and getting rest and rejuvenation, he continues to eat the bread of sorrows (cf. Gen 3:17) and is deprived of sleep. He cannot even avail himself of that which is given to every man. This also is useless, valueless, vanity, futile, fruitless, producing no result, a waste of time and energy. Haggai describes what it is like when God is out of the picture or placed on the back burner.
You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough; you drink but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes (1:6).
But for those who place their trust in Him, He gives His beloved sleep.
Psalm 127:3-5, Raising a family
Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward.
Behold. Solomon uses an interjection to draw our attention to something.
Children are a heritage from the LORD. This presupposes the children have been brought up in a home where the LORD was honored and obeyed and the children were trained in the way they should go (Prov 22:6). A heritage can turn into a horror story with rebellious children who bring great sorrow to their parents. If not for the LORD there would be no heirs to perpetuate our family name. Our estate would be left to strangers.
If you recall the meaning of vain in vv 1-2 is useless, a waste of time and energy. But its primary meaning is deceit, lie, or falsehood (Zodi). If living a life apart from the LORD is valueless or futile, then raising a family apart from the LORD has the same results.
How many of us have lived the life of HIHO while raising our kids. Kids are like sponges; they absorb everything that is going through their five senses. The next thing we know they are grown and have flown the nest and now they are HIHO, a chip off the old block; the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
What we have taught our children was the lie that you can live a life without God and still do okay in the world. Look at mom and dad! After all, how many people do you know who are not Christians and are not living too shabby!
How long does it take to figure out that apart from Christ, our life amounts to nothing more than wood, hay, and straw? Is this what we want for our self, our spouse, our kids, and our grandkids to find out at the Bema seat of Christ that all our life has amounted to nothing more than wood, hay, and straw? To realize after it is too late that we bought into the lie, you can make it in the world without God (HIHO)….? How do we turn it around?
When we reach that point in our lives where nothing satisfies apart from Christ, then our future service to God can turn into some thing of lasting value: gold, silver, and precious stones. We can believe the words of King Solomon, or we can waste a life time to figure out that only Christ truly satisfies.
If our kids are grown and are nothing more than HIHO or worst, never have accepted Christ, all we can do is to live The Life before them and pray for them for the remaining days we have left on this earth. It is never too late for obedience, faith active in the heart.
If our kids are grown and are nothing more than HIHO or worst, never have accepted Christ, all we can do is to live The Life before them and pray for them for the remaining days we have left on this earth. It is never too late for obedience, faith active in the heart.
To those who still have kids at home, to raise a family apart from Christ is futile, useless, a waste of time and energy. We are talking about two world views here, one without Christ and one with Christ. The former has no future, no hope (worthless, useless existence) and the other has eternity with God (a worthwhile, useful existence). (I)magine (F)urther…
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
David said, For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in the mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well (Psa 139:13-14). Children are viewed as a reward, not as a burden or an inconvenience but a blessing from God.
The #1 cause of death in the US is still considered to be due to heart disease, but did you realize there is another cause why people are dying in America that exceeds heart disease twofold annually! You will not see it listed on the top ten causes of mortality in the US. It is induced abortion (not medically necessary).
From a Judeo-Christian perspective, abortion of this nature is tantamount to murder. It is incredulous that this subject is treated with such hyper-sensitivity, to the point of being taboo in social circles, concerning an act of cold-hearted brutality against a defenseless unborn child. Over a half million people die due to heart disease every year (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lcod.htm); over a million unborn children die annually due to induced abortion. Since 1973 over 51 million+ abortions have taken place (http://www.all.org/faq/index.php?id=4749)!
Let’s translate this into something to help us better understand the enormity of abortions in the US. Based upon 7/1/2009 population estimates, this would be close to nearly depopulating all the states of Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee (http://www.thegreenpapers.com/Census10/HouseAndElectors.phtml)!
This is a painful time for any woman who has allowed her unborn child to be aborted but even more traumatic for the child. I don’t mean to appear insensitive to the person who made a terrible and tragic choice to go through with an induced abortion simply because the child was considered to be “an unwanted pregnancy,” but like Abel, the voice of the child’s blood cries out to the LORD from the ground (cf. Gen 4:10).
Remember the amber alert? A child goes missing, and the whole nation knows about the abduction. What about the 2,740+ fetuses being destroyed daily in the US alone? Often in ancient biblical times the pagan inhabitants of a walled city being besieged by an enemy would throw their children over the wall in a desperate attempt to appease their false gods. When I first saw an artist’s rendition depicting this, I thought how severe the situation must have been and how misguided these ancient people were to sacrifice their children to their gods by throwing them over the wall in order to save themselves. It was an act of selfishness, cruelty, and coldblooded murder.
But is not twenty-first century man guilty of the same heinous act? It was legal to throw children, not unborn mind you, over the wall to fall to their death "to keep the city from falling;" it didn’t work. Women besieged by their own lusts to keep from falling (loss of freedom, reputation, career, etc) are assaulted by the enemy of inconvenience (an unwanted pregnancy). So she decides the only way to appease the god of convenience is to throw her unborn child over the wall (into some plastic bag) through the act of induced abortion. But what proved to be an act of convenience turned out to be a lifetime of incovenience of guilt and condemnation. The death of the unborn haunts them until the day they die. All the secular counseling in the world will not wash away the blood stained hands, only Christ can.
The Apostle John through the Holy Spirit doesn’t sugarcoat sin because the lake of fire is an exceedingly terrible place; it’s real; it’s forever; and the only way to keep from going there is to have saving faith in Jesus Christ. Abortion is sin in the eyes of God. The taking of human life is reprehensible, and all those complicit in the atrocity will be separated from God for an eternity in the lake of fire barring a rescue.
But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death (Rev 21:8).
But all is not lost!! There is forgiveness for those who choose to receive it and a healing that only God can give. Read what John recorded prior to the above verses,
… I [Jesus Christ] am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts (Rev 21:6). And afterwards,
… And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely (Rev 22:17).
The invitation for all sinners is found in Rev 3:20,
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
If you have never received Jesus Christ into your heart, I want you to know there is no sin, no matter how despicable, that God cannot forgive (He forgave King David for Uriah’s death). There is forgiveness and healing with the LORD, but it requires the turning of the door knob of your heart to allow Him into your life (Rom 10:9-10).
If you have invited Jesus into your heart, but got away from Him, and had an abortion, you can receive restoration of fellowship if you confess (or agreeing with God) your sins (1 Jn 1:9). Only Jesus can give the peace that passes all understanding!
The LORD says, "Now, let's settle the matter. You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow. Although your stains are deep red, you will be as white as wool. (19) If you will only obey me, you will eat the good things the land produces. (20) But if you defy me, you are doomed to die. I, the LORD, have spoken" (Isa 1:18-20, GNB).
Our destiny is not determined by the circumstances of life but by the choices we make. We have to live with the consequences of our choices. Choose Jesus and live and experience the peace that only forgiveness brings.
Psalm 127:4
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth.
Arrows. Children are likened unto an arrow that a warrior uses to hit his target. I like what Jeremiah said about an expert warrior,
For behold, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country, and they shall array themselves against her; from there she shall be captured. Their arrows shall be like those of an expert warrior; none shall return in vain [empty] (50:9).
Our job is to “make arrows of them (our children) in our youth” (Spurgeon). We need to point them in the way they should go so when they are shot in the air of life they will not return empty but hit the mark, men and women of God.
Psalm 127:5
Happy is the man who has his quiver [his house] full of them; they shall not be ashamed [overawed, disheartened, or disarmed, K&D], but shall speak [contend (NIV), confronts (NLT), subdue, Psa 18:47] with their enemies in the gate.
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.
I agree with brother Spurgeon, “…if they are only sticks, knotty and useless, the fewer the better.” I will not broach the subject of bringing a handful of children in the world and unable to take care of them properly. In the culture of the day there were advantages of having a large family – speaking with their enemies in the gate in matters of law and protection.
On my ring tone is the intro to the song by the Rolling Stones, “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.” Every time some one calls me I want to be reminded that without Christ nothing satisfies. It’s too bad the Rolling Stones hadn’t figured that out yet. Wouldn’t it be cool for Mick to announce to a packed out coliseum, “I want to sing a song about life before I was saved, I can’t get no satisfaction. Then I want to sing a song after I got saved, Amazing Grace.” One could only pray.
Are you satisfied with the sacrifice that satisfied the just demands of a holy and righteous God? You will never be satisfied until you find life in Christ and in Him alone. The Great White Throne is on the horizon for the unbeliever and the Bema seat is on the horizon for the believer. As long as you got breath, it is never too late to be obedient.
Truly, in light of eternity, life really is useless apart from Christ! Read the words of Solomon from the book of Ecclesiastes just one more time and decide for your self about HIHO.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil (12:13-14).
“Only one life, ‘twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last”
C.T. Studd, English missionary to China, India, and Africa
HIHO is not the will of God, and therefore, it is only useless wood, hay, and straw. Nisi Dominus Frustra is Bema-friendly, beloved.
