The psalmist isn’t merely talking about house building in this famous psalm. He is talking about everything we build – a life, relationship, family, organisation, city, or society. There is no point in building anything without God, because it is bound to fail. Throughout the Bible we are introduced to people who tried to go it alone. Adam and Eve are the supreme examples, but they were merely setting the pace for a succession of people who felt they knew better than God and who tried to build their lives without him.
Jesus’ teaching about the vine is very similar to this verse where he concludes “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). We simply weren’t created by God to act independently of him. It doesn’t work. The God who created us knows us better than we know ourselves, and it is only as we work in partnership with him that we can be confident of the future.
This psalm is entitled a psalm of Solomon, and he was, supremely, a builder. He had the privilege of building the awesome temple in Jerusalem and, at first, things went well. However, he didn’t remain faithful to God and was particularly disobedient in his sex life. God had warned him that he shouldn’t marry foreign wives because they might turn his heart away from God. And that’s exactly what happened. Out of love for his foreign wives, he built pagan shrines for their gods, and even built a shrine on the Mount of Olives for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab. Because Solomon refused to listen to the Lord and be obedient to him, God did as he promised and tore the kingdom away from him and handed it on to others.




The point is clear. We need to make sure that we invite God to be the builder of our lives from day one, and then make sure that we keep close to him as we continue to build.




QUESTION
What does Solomon’s life teach you?
PRAYER
Loving Father, thank you that you love me so much that you want to bless every part of my life. Amen

Released on 8 Feb 2023