Psalm 127 Meditation | Don’t Waste Your Life

You are at risk of wasting your life. That is the shocking message of Psalm 127. You can expend yourself and gain exactly nothing. But that isn’t the only option. The psalm contains two contrasting stanzas that at first seem disconnected. The second stanza describes the blessedness of covenant children. Godly children are compared to arrows a warrior uses against an enemy. Good children protect their parents and promote their biblical values in the world. For this reason throughout history children were not thought of as a curse to be avoided but as a blessing to be se-cured. Scripture’s overall view of children is positive, and God’s people should ordinarily desire children and actually strive to have and raise them well.
But the second stanza on the blessing of covenant children is specifically given as an answer to the first stanza, which warns against the possibility of a wasted life. The writer describes the tragedy of an energetic, exhausting, diligent, disciplined life that truly amounts to nothing. It is possible to labor, keep watch, stay up late and wake up early—all in vain. Vanity is a powerful word. It means emptiness, uselessness. With-out dependence on the Lord our energies lack the ability to promote genuine flourishing.
So how do the two stanzas relate? They contrast two ways to live. Just as building, watching, resting, and waking are examples of activities that can amount to nothing, so having children is an example of a great blessing given from God. People don’t really “make babies.” Ideally they join in an act of love and God does the real work. In context the writer isn’t discouraging labor, or demanding procreation. He teaches—first negatively, and then positively—a proper posture toward God that makes life worth living. Faithless exertion of energy is fruitless; by simple faith in God, children—the fruit of the womb—become a “heritage from the Lord” (3). God’s beloved receive restful sleep (2) and the reward of children. So the psalm isn’t first about having children or watching over a city. It is about prioritizing God. Trust God, and he will bless whatever you do.