If we have not met yet, my name is Logan Bailey. I am the student pastor here at Peace Church. I oversee our student ministries. I am also the pastor over our young adult ministry and friends at Peace. It is an honor to be with you this morning to read God's word and give this morning's sermon on Psalm 127.

Before we get into the message, though, I have a quick announcement. On July 8th, 2023 at 210 in the afternoon in Hastings, Michigan, after nine months of pregnancy and almost two days of labor, my wife and I met our son, Hezekiah James Bailey. If you were on the church prayer chain, then you already knew that because on July 8th, a prayer request went out asking this church to pray for a baby who wasn't breathing. So thank you for your prayers.

His name is Hezekiah. We call him Kiah. Kiah had incredible nurses at Helen DeVos in Grand Rapids. We had incredible medical staff at Pennock in Hastings, and we had an incredible prayer team through the brothers and sisters of this church. So thank you for your prayers.

This morning, I have the honor of not only preaching my first sermon as a new pastor, but preaching my first sermon as a new dad. Today's sermon is on Psalm 127. We're going to ask three questions. First, we'll look at verses 1 and 2 for the main idea of the psalm. What is this psalm saying?

Second, we'll try to make sense of the rest of the psalm. Why does the psalm mention children? This is a very famous psalm for mentioning children, but why does it mention children when children have nothing to do with verses one and two? And then lastly, I hope that we will all ask ourselves what God wants us to do in response to this message.

In both my job and now as a father, I feel the heavy weight of responsibility. Responsibility always comes with accountability. I will need to give an account for what I have done and how I have done it and whatever responsibilities you have you will need to give an account as well for the things that you did or didn't do and so

we all worry if we're doing enough. That means we all know very well, anxiety. We are all anxious. We don't like that we're anxious, but yet we all keep coming back to anxiety. Anxiety is the heavy, sinking feeling that maybe everything we do is worthless in the end.

We worry that the things we do are in vain. If something is in vain, that means it's worthless, it's empty, it means nothing. We worry that the things we do ultimately are in vain, and the things that we care about are important things. And yet, the deeper we care about something, actually the worse our fears and anxieties become. I am not here to tell you that all of our fears are unjustified, because that would be a lie.

Jesus doesn't do that. I'm not going to do that. Some of our fears are substantiated. And when the storm is real, Jesus never says to ignore the storm. So I am not here to tell you to ignore your storm because there is a storm that's very real

in all of our lives. Our anxiety makes us think that our efforts aren't enough. And the Bible says they aren't. We all have a lot of responsibility in life and we worry if what we accomplish will be enough for our finances, for our stability, for our legacy, for our marriages, for our family, for our health. The Bible enters this conversation and says at the end of the day all of your hard work, everything you do for your family, for your marriage, for your career, for your eternity

is worthless. That's what today's passage says. So welcome to Peace Church. We are just being honest this morning, honest to goodness. In this series we're giving each pastor a chance to preach a different psalm by a different biblical author.

And this morning we are looking at Psalm 127. Psalm 127 is going to be brutally honest about our fears and anxieties. But please keep leaning in because God does have more to say about our anxieties. As we jump in I want to point out that I think Psalm 127 is the perfect Psalm for me to preach this morning. Not just because it's only five verses and the other pastors had like over 80. But at our wedding we sang a song that quotes Psalm 127.

All glory be to Christ by King Scaliatoscope. It opens with, should nothing of our efforts stand, no legacy survive, unless the Lord does raise the house in vain its builders strive. Not only that, but also given I'm a new father, this psalm is a very famous one for how it mentions children, but the Lord actually put an exclamation point on this psalm for us because while my son was being born, the song that was playing quoted Psalm 127. On a playlist 11 hours long and on shuffle.

The song that happened to be playing when Hezekiah was born was a song that opens with Psalm 127. It's called Establish the Work of Our Hands by the Porter's Gate. And it says, If you don't build it, we labor in vain. Without your spirit, we stand with no strength.

I know my life is passing away, but the works of your hands are what will remain. Let the favor of the Lord rest upon us So as we read Psalm 127 this morning I Pray that we will all remember that Jesus says if you abide in my word You will know the truth and the truth will set you free

Psalm 127 1 through 5 Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil, for he gives to his beloved sleep. Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb of reward,

like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them. He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. Let's pray.

Father, thank you for guiding our time this morning. Jesus, we pray that you soften our hearts, you soften our minds, and Holy Spirit, we pray that you speak through your word. In your name we pray, amen. Unless the Lord builds the house,

those who build it labor in vain. Our provision is in vain. This verse mentions building and labor, and so I immediately think of the man who has a reason to build, to provide a shelter, to provide a home.

I think of the man who labors to provide food for his family, to provide for those he loves. Build, labor, provide, provision. We attempt it all in vain. This verse says, unless the Lord builds the house, but it is silent on whether or not he does. We all labor.

Most of us have jobs. Most of us have projects that we care about. We all strive towards something, whether we physically sweat or not, we all strive forward for some purpose. And so we all know what it means to labor in an attempt to provide for something. We labor as mothers, we labor as fathers, we labor as friends, sons, daughters, students,

players, coaches, mentors. Our labors, our provision in the end, the Bible says, is in vain. Those who build it, labor in vain. This verse also says our protection is in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city,

the watchman stays awake in vain. So here we see the idea of watching. This word watchman is a biblical role that had a particular responsibility for protection. The protection always took a different form at different times, but a watchman was always responsible for protection. Some biblical roles are really weird and hard to explain. This one is super self-explanatory. A watchman is a man who watches. Watch for the enemies coming. Watch for friends coming. A city would

have someone at the gate watching. A guard tower would have someone in the tower watching. A field might have someone around the perimeter watching. A simple job but a taxing one because you can't fall asleep. You can't be distracted, you have to be alert, and if you don't do your job, everyone knows. Physical watchmen would have a very important part to play in protecting everyone,

but here's where it gets interesting, because the Bible also has spiritual watchmen in Scripture. There are prophets in the Old Testament, they were watchmen for the people, spiritual watchmen. Ezekiel 33, seven, for example, mentions prophets as watchmen, they would stand at the gate

and they would watch God's people and then God would speak through them in response to what they watched, sin or disobedience or repentance. So the role of a watchman was to be on constant lookout in order to protect people.

So it's not hard to see what modern day watchmen are. We have parents who watch their patients and the tests of their patients diligently in order to give a proper diagnosis. Even something as simple as a lifeguard constantly watching the water. And for us in this room, the watchmen of our church are our church leaders. Hebrews 13, 17 says, and submit to them for they are keeping watch over your souls.

But lastly, the Bible encourages us each to be the watchman over our very own lives. To look at your life and be vigilant. The role of a watchman at every level is necessary for protection. Watch, protect. But note the final word of this verse. The watchman stays awake in vain.

How many times have you been the watchman over your own life and yet you fall asleep on the job and sinful desires come in and take over without you on the lookout? How many of us have been the watchman over our own lives and yet we fall asleep on the job

and we, as Paul says in Romans 7, 15, we do not do what we want, but we do the very thing we hate We are no match for the powers of sin and temptation the Watchman fails the enemy enters the city the Watchman stays awake in vain our

Attempts at protection are in the end in vain. It is in vain in vain. That you rise up early, that you go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil. All of our work is in vain. It is in vain. All of our efforts, building, providing, watching, protecting, rising up early, going to bed late, striving forward for the things we care about, working and working and working with the anxiety that we all know, terrified that everything we

Everything we do will amount to nothing, and the Bible says it is in vain. Your suffering, your pain, your passions, your accomplishments, your best efforts for your family, for your friends, for your career. Scripture says all of our work is in vain. Unless. Unless the Lord builds the house.

Unless the Lord watches over the city. Unless the Lord gives sleep to His beloved. So even our best efforts amount to nothing, save one thing, if God gives sleep to His beloved. And the good news this morning is God does give sleep to his beloved.

We can rest knowing that God is also at work. We can rest because he gives to his beloved sleep. The sleep that God gives to those he loves is the restful assurance that is only possible through divine hands. Rest, assurance. The work of our own hands will always amount to dust,

but divine hands can reach into eternity. This message is the calm whisper that says, God is at work. He is laboring, He is building, He is protecting. He does not ever sleep. He is always working. He doesn't let any moment go to waste.

Rest assured, the Lord is at work. Rest assured. Even when your efforts fail, you can have assurance. The Lord is always working for the good of those who love Him, even through our failures and our sufferings. That's what Romans 8, 28 tells us.

He works all things together for the good of those who love Him. So, we can either strive forward with anxious vanity or restful assurance. Vanity and anxiety versus rest and assurance. Anxiety makes a lot of sense unless the Lord is at work.

And since God is at work, strive forward with assurance. Since God is at work, our work doesn't have to be in vain. We can have blessed assurance. If you're familiar at all with wisdom literature in the Bible, so what the Bible has to say about wisdom, biblical wisdom, then this core dilemma should sound familiar to you, because this is a question of biblical wisdom. Do we live in anxiety, living on our own power, relying on the results we create,

or do we live in assurance, trusting God to be faithful to His promises in the end? This is the question of biblical wisdom. This entire psalm is actually a psalm of wisdom. Who wrote this psalm? Solomon. Solomon is known for his insight into biblical wisdom.

So in order to truly understand what this psalm is saying, we need to understand the basics of what the Bible says about wisdom. So I want to point out two things, two very important things in regards to biblical wisdom. First, the Bible says in many places, the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.

What does that mean? And there are a lot of opinions on what it means to fear God, but Jesus says it best. In Matthew 10, 28, he says, do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Jesus says, be afraid of the one who can damn your soul. We stand before an all-powerful God, and we should stop trying to sugarcoat that or soften it. That is terrifying. We are in an entirely different category than God. God is holy.

We are not. That isn't a small issue. That is the most important issue for all of humanity. We are, in our sinfulness, enemies to a holy God. So if you have an ounce of wisdom, you would fear God more than all of your other fears combined. And you would give everything to avoid God's anger. So if you don't take God seriously,

you don't take your life seriously. The first step of wisdom is to fear the all-powerful God. To be concerned about his opinion of you. But the Bible does not stop there when it talks about wisdom. Wisdom says we should fear God because it is true that He is all-powerful, but wisdom also says that we are loved by that same God. Psalm 127 calls us beloved.

We are the beloved of God. So the Almighty is looking at us with the intention to bless us. Wisdom says God is almighty and God is love. That means that he has promised to bless our work according to his eternal purposes. If you are in Christ, you can rest

knowing that the almighty is after your good. So we can either strive forward in anxious vanity, not thinking about God and His work, or we can strive forward in restful assurance and wisdom, knowing that the Almighty has promised to bless us. The good news this morning is that we can have assurance. The all-powerful God calls us His beloved children.

It's not just, it's not, we cannot see ourselves as the one in control. It's not just us putting in effort. God is also at work to bless us and bless our work according to his eternal purposes. So we can either strive forward in anxious vanity or restful assurance.

That is what this Psalm is saying. That's the main idea. So it's curious why this Psalm then seems to make a strange change in topic and starts talking about children. What do children have anything to do with verses 1 and 2? Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,

the fruit of the womb, a reward, like arrows in the hand of a warrior, are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them. He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. So children are talked about here as a great thing. Fine-crafted arrows. Children make life better. Better for the warrior, better for the young parent, better for the mature parent. Children are a net positive. But

what do children have to do with verses 1 and 2? It can feel a little strange to be talking about assurance and anxiety and wisdom and then switch to children. But this is not strange at all. It is actually a perfect example of what this psalm is talking about. The gift of children is a prime example of the Lord's blessing. As a new parent, I'm beginning to see this very clearly and how deeply true this is, that children are a gift from the Lord. And this applies to the kids in your family, but also the kids in our entire faith family,

the covenant children of this community. Our church is blessed by the kids in our kids ministry. Our church is blessed by the students in our student ministry. And so no matter what your circumstances in regards to kids,

we all experience that blessing that kids are, that the Lord has blessed his people. And children are a prime example of that blessing, of his building, of his watching, of his provision, of his protection. And this creates an interesting situation for us

because how are we going to respond to that blessing? How we respond to the gift of children is a prime case study of choosing anxiety or choosing assurance. As parents, we have a massive responsibility, we have an unquantifiable love, and yet we have no power. We can never force our children to be exactly

who we want them to be. It's their lives, their struggles, their choices. So how will we respond? This is the prime case study of choosing anxiety or choosing assurance. Trusting our own efforts or trusting in the Lord's providence. I'm not saying it all work out the way you want it to. It almost certainly will not. I'm saying that God is working all things according to his eternal purposes.

And since he, the Almighty, loves us, we can close our eyes at night and leave the heavy lifting to him. Rest in the blessed assurance of his love. Perfect submission, all is at rest. I and my Savior am happy and blessed, watching and waiting, looking above,

filled with his goodness, lost in his love. We can rest knowing that God is also at work, so we can either strive forward in anxious vanity or restful assurance. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,

eating the bread of anxious toil, because he gives to his beloved sleep. God is saying that ultimately the success is on his shoulders and that should feel like a relief because we know we can't handle the weight of it all but he can and he has promised to. Wisdom is resting in that truth.

As Jesus says in 15.5, apart from me you can do nothing. If you are in Christ, rest assured, you're not apart from Christ. And He does do the heavy lifting. And if you are not following Christ, please take a moment to consider the eternal weight of your anxious toil. Jesus can give you rest.

Church, we can rest knowing that God is also at work. We must not see ourselves as the one in control. Jesus is a better builder. The Holy Spirit is a better protector. And for all of those other anxious fathers out there, the Heavenly Father is a better father. The results of our efforts are on His shoulders because He has promised to do the heavy lifting according to His eternal purposes. As a father, I have a whole new way of viewing the world.

I have a whole new set of responsibilities, which means a whole new list of reasons to be anxious. The role of a father is to provide and protect. My anxiety of whether I can is very real. Building the house, watching the city, provision, protection, things that a father wants to bring his family,

things a father must do, things a father is going to be held accountable for. And as a father, I was powerless when I sat in a hospital chair next to my exhausted wife and we were told that an ambulance was on the way to take our son. As a father, my fears were becoming true.

When the ambulance was going north through Middleville, some of our friends heard it go by, and our community group sent us a text during it all and said, Kaia has never left God's hands in the last nine months, and he won't today either. Kaia has never left God's hands in the last nine months,

and he won't today either. That meant the world to me. Not because it was a sweet sentiment, but because it was true. Two days, after two days in recovery, my wife was able to be discharged

and could come and see him. And then shortly after that, Kaia was discharged from the NICU. We were headed home. We had felt like we were awake for four days in the whirlwind.

The whole experience was incredibly sobering and not at all what I assumed would happen, which I know is very relatable. But the thing that I have been stuck on more than anything else is the fact that we could have lost him sooner than we ever could have prepared for and that that is still true. It is true for all of us and all of our children. The anxiety we have for our kids are real, but it is more real and true that none of us or our covenant children are outside the divine hands of a heavenly Father. I am not saying I understand all that God does or how

More true than our fears, that we all can have assurance. God is working. God is working. And the best thing for us to do, especially in the midst of our powerlessness, is to trust in him to provide and protect,

most importantly of all, to provide for and protect the eternal life he has promised us in Christ Jesus. He does not say to have assurance so long as things are going the way you think they should. He actually confirms our fears and says the storm is real, you are not enough, but He also says I am enough. Our assurance is dependent on Him and His eternal promises,

not our anxious toil. In Matthew 11, 28, Jesus says, "'Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, "'and I will give you rest.'" Jesus is saying, you labor anxiously, eating the bread of anxious toil,

but I want to give you rest. Keep building, keep watching, keep working, but rest assured, when you're working, so am I. And my work is never in vain. The message for us today is this, rest. Rest, knowing that the Lord is working.

We know assurance when and only when we know that our hope is in Christ. That is restful assurance. That is blessed assurance, knowing that our hope isn't in ourselves, but totally in Christ.

And he wastes nothing, not our failures, not our sufferings, not even our weakest moments. He gives to his beloved sleep. He builds the house. He watches the city. Do not eat bread of anxious toil, but eat the bread of life. Live in light of the hope of God's promises and above all, the promise of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

If God is involved, which he is, we can have assurance that our work will never be in vain, but will be used by God for his eternal purposes. So, we can either strive forward in anxious vanity, not thinking about or relying on God and his work like a fool, or we can strive forward in restful assurance knowing that the Almighty is at work on

behalf of his beloved. So what does this mean for you today? Ask yourself what is the Holy Spirit wanting you to do with this message in your life? Maybe God is encouraging you. He's encouraging you to see his purposes in your life more clearly,

encouraging you to pray more purposefully, encouraging you to lean deeper into family devotions and meaningful conversations as a family, or to stop letting you have a bad habit get in the way of where he is leading you. Maybe he's challenging you

and challenging your restlessness, challenging you to slow down, especially as summer comes to a close, our calendars get more full, school starts back up, to stop filling your calendar with so much of the wrong things

and to start taking your Christian life more seriously. As 1 Corinthians 15, 58 says, this has become one of my favorite verses if you're taking notes, please write it down 1 Corinthians 1558 It says be steadfast Immovable always abounding in the work of the Lord

Knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain Peace church your labor is not in vain. In the Lord, your labor is not in vain. Rest in that blessed assurance. Let's pray. Father, thank you for inviting us

to this restful assurance, knowing that our hands, the work of our hands will always turn to dust, but the work of your hands can reach into eternity. Father, you are calling us to this for your glory and our joy. Jesus, you are the way, the truth and the life. And so we look to you for assurance and for rest, knowing that we're not the only

one's working, but God, when we work, even in our failures and our sufferings, Father, you are also at work and in the Lord, our labor is not in vain. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

Transcribed with Cockatoo