Solomon demonstrated a desire to build the temple, not to house God as pagans did, but for God’s name and for His honor. He sought out the best possible materials and negotiated with generosity to purchase them. He conscripted a vast workforce to transport the materials and complete the labor.
But all these materials and all this labor would be meaningless unless the Lord enabled them.
“Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1a.
God brought this point home to me in an interesting way today. I read this chapter this morning and completely drew a blank on what I could share. I pulled up some commentaries and read through what they had to say, which was fine, but still I had nothing to say.
I went about my day, came home, reviewed it again, and still could not find something meaningful to share.
Only when I finally prayed, “Lord, what can I say about this? I’ve got nothing!” did God bring to mind Psalm 127:1.
The truth is, even after almost a whole year of reading a chapter a day and having God reveal some truth, some nugget, some bit of wisdom to help me see Him in a new way or understand yet another facet of His magnificent character — even after all of that, I still am completely helpless to offer anything of value unless God Himself reveals it to me.
All the commentaries, all the bible studies, even reading God’s Word has no value to me or to anyone else unless the Holy Spirit illuminates it for us. As 1 Corinthians 1:18 tells us, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
So thank you, Father, for opening my eyes each day to understand you more, to gain some treasure of value from the mysteries of Your Word, and to apply Your truth to my life.
But all these materials and all this labor would be meaningless unless the Lord enabled them.
“Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1a.
God brought this point home to me in an interesting way today. I read this chapter this morning and completely drew a blank on what I could share. I pulled up some commentaries and read through what they had to say, which was fine, but still I had nothing to say.
I went about my day, came home, reviewed it again, and still could not find something meaningful to share.
Only when I finally prayed, “Lord, what can I say about this? I’ve got nothing!” did God bring to mind Psalm 127:1.
The truth is, even after almost a whole year of reading a chapter a day and having God reveal some truth, some nugget, some bit of wisdom to help me see Him in a new way or understand yet another facet of His magnificent character — even after all of that, I still am completely helpless to offer anything of value unless God Himself reveals it to me.
All the commentaries, all the bible studies, even reading God’s Word has no value to me or to anyone else unless the Holy Spirit illuminates it for us. As 1 Corinthians 1:18 tells us, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
So thank you, Father, for opening my eyes each day to understand you more, to gain some treasure of value from the mysteries of Your Word, and to apply Your truth to my life.
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