psalm 127
1 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.
2 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.
3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
They shall not be ashamed,
But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
Verse 1: 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.
Without God, all things are done in vain. Nothing is possible without God, yet so many times we think we can do it on our own (i.e. self righteousness).
Verse 2: It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows;
To use your own effort to purposely spend as much time in a day as possible (wake up early, toil/labour (i.e. eat the bread of sorrows [H6089]) until late into the night) is meaningless (i.e. vain, according to strongs H7723).
For so (that is why) He gives His beloved sleep
Sleep here doesn’t refer to literally be in bed sleeping. It refers to rest, peace of mind etc. So the first part of the chapter means it’s meaningless to labour by your own strength, that’s why God gives us rest, as being at rest lets us let God labour for us. Side note: Rest does not mean do nothing. It is a state of mind that is a result of a knowing that God is in control of everything and that He is for you. Rest lets Him work through you.
Verse 3: Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Children: The church is represented by woman in the bible. Children is a result of intimacy between a woman and her groom. So children, or fruit of the womb, is only possible when the church (woman) is intimate with Jesus (groom). And that intimacy is only possible when you know you are righteous before God, because that knowing lets you stand bold before God, allowing intimacy.
Heritage: Refers to inheritence (Strongs H5159)
Therefore: Reward (or blessings) is an inheritence from the Lord as a result of intimacy with Jesus due to the knowing that you are righteous before God.
Verse 4 to 5: Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
Arrows are made from wood, cut into strips, shaped out, soaked into oil so that it is not easily waterlogged, heated and burnt over fire, and bundled up and pressed together so that it becomes strong after that. Oil, fire and pressed together represents Jesus as man on Earth: Anointed by God (oil), yet to go through the fire of judgement of God so that we can be tied together with HIm that we can live strong and powerful, offensive and ready to strike any time.
Therefore: Happy is the man who has a quiver full of arrows (things or people or giftings that have encountered Jesus), it shall not make you be ashamed but you dare to speak against your enemies.