“It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.”
Psalm 127:2, ESV
I can so relate to this verse, as I’ve often struggled with insomnia. It might be because I don’t know how to solve a particular problem or heal a painful relationship. Or, it might be just that my mind is so full of details—good or bad—that I can’t sleep. In other words, an exciting project might keep me up just as well as a difficult problem might.
As men we wonder, “Do I have what it takes” to lead my family, to maintain our household, or to take us to the next level? What if I fail? And as we get older, have less energy, or have made some mistakes, we can become risk-averse. It can seem easier to not put ourselves out there—to stop trying. And yet, in a real sense, the only real failure in our life is the one we learn nothing from.
Fear of failure mixed with worry about things like we mentioned last week—disease, attack, or drought—is a particularly debilitating cocktail. As one singer-songwriter put it, “It’s dust to dust, until we learn how to trust.” Whether we’re building a house, defending a city, or earning a living, without God we’re just spinning our wheels. And even if it seems that we’re not, if he’s not involved—if he’s not the wind behind our backs—there will be no eternal value to our actions.
So, the point of Psalm 127:1-2, when taken together, is that work done independently of God is futile.
It’s not that people shouldn’t be diligent. In fact, Psa. 128, part of the family trilogy (127-128, 133), encourages hard work: “You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.” (128:1, ESV) There should be intentionality, effort, and perseverance. And, yes, there is truth to the motivational statement: “Some people dream of worthy accomplishments while others stay awake and do them!” Even the book of Proverbs has a lot to say about hard work and its connection to competence. Here are just two examples:
- Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave. (12:24, NLT)
- Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men. (22:29, ESV)
Again, it’s not that we shouldn’t be diligent; rather, Psalm 127:2 stresses that working long days without dependence on God is futile. Prov. 3:5-6 captures the essence of this kind of dependence well: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (NIV)
If you’re having trouble sleeping (and it’s not because of a crying baby or having too much caffeine the night before!), I encourage you to look at the situation that’s troubling you and ask: What does belief in a sovereign God look like for your situation right now?
If God really is sovereign, then he’s in charge and running the universe even while you sleep:
- I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. (Psalm 4:8, NIV)
- He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. (Isa. 40:11, NIV)
What all this means for the Christian, for those of us with the cross at the center of our faith, is that we must lay down our self-sufficiency. Moreover, we must come to God, as Jesus describes in the Beatitudes, as those who are “poor in spirit;” that is, spiritually bankrupt. Dependence (trust) and repentance really are the primary marks of following Jesus. As the old hymn says, “Nothing in my hand I bring; simply to your cross I cling.”
Holocaust survivor Corrie Ten Boom once recalled a powerful insight that helped her put her anxious heart in perspective:
“Somebody said to me, ‘When I worry I go to the mirror and say to myself, ‘This tremendous thing which is worrying me is beyond a solution. It is especially too hard for Jesus Christ to handle.’ After I have said that, I smile and I am ashamed.”[1]
Friend, know this beyond a shadow of a doubt: Your worry and your self-sufficient strivings will not empty tomorrow of its troubles—only tonight of its rest and tomorrow of its strength.
[1] Corrie Ten Boom, “Each New Day,” Christianity Today, Vol. 31, no. 13.