Psalms 127King James Version

A Solomon psalm in the ascent collection. Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain who build it. Except the LORD keep the city, the watchman wakes but in vain. It is vain to rise up early, sit up late, eating the bread of sorrows; for God gives his beloved sleep. Children are a heritage of the LORD. As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Happy is the man with his quiver full; they shall speak with enemies in the gate.

Human effort, divorced from divine building and keeping, produces anxiety without fruit; rest and children are given, not achieved, and that is the correction to the anxious worker.

verse: "Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." The two examples (domestic and civic) cover the full range of human striving.

Superscription: 'A Song of degrees for Solomon.' The only ascent psalm attributed to Solomon. The house-building theme connects to Solomon's temple-building project (1 Kings 5-8). The children theme may reflect the emphasis on dynastic continuation in Davidic theology. The psalm addresses both the professional (builder) and domestic (parent) dimensions of a full life.

Solomon attributed in the superscription; the anxious early-rising workers as the cautionary figures; God who gives his beloved sleep; the children as the LORD's heritage; the man with a full quiver.

Psalm 127 is unique in the ascent psalms for its attribution to Solomon and its focus on household and children. Its vision of rest as divine gift rather than earned outcome challenged the ancient honor culture's emphasis on vigilance and striving. The children-as-arrows image was widely used in Jewish and Christian theology of family as participation in God's work.

For when anxiety about work and home is producing sleeplessness and depletion. The psalm reframes the work without denying it: the building and keeping are real, but the LORD must be the builder.