Except The LORD Build the House

 Temple Baptist Church - 3-9-2025

Psalm 127

 

Introduction:

 

A.  Psalm 127 is another of the Songs of Degrees or Upward Psalms.  Psalms to be sung on the way to Jerusalem for one of the three Feast Days when all males were to appear.  The Psalmist wrote the Psalm FOR Solomon.  Here we find that the LORD was to be the Builder of the house, not man.

 

B. I find the precept of the house found in five ways that need to be addressed: 

 

1.  The House of God the Father.  God is the Builder!  John 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

 

2.  The House of the Lord Jesus.  The Lord needs to be the Builder!  Matthew 21:13  And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

 

3.  The House of the Local Church.  The Lord needs to be the Builder!  1 Timothy 3:15  But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

 

Acts 2:46-47  And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,  (47)  Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

 

4.  The House of the Righteous.    The Lord needs to be the Builder of our homes!  Yet He leaves the responsibility of building on the individual. 

 

Matthew 7:24-27  Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:  (25)  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.  (26)  And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:  (27)  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

 

5.  The House of the Wicked.  The house of the ungodly which will not stand.  Proverbs 3:33  The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.

 

C.  The Lord needs to build each of the aforementioned homes. We know that He built the Father’s House in heaven and the first local church in Jerusalem (we cannot build the local church; we witness and invite, but God builds it). He also needs to build our homes.

 

D.  I find this Psalm particularly interesting as it is "A song of degrees for Solomon." If anyone ever built a house in vain, it was Solomon. I often refer to Solomon as the most foolish wise man who ever lived. "To him that knoweth to do good" demonstrates the responsibility of upholding truth, which Solomon often held in unrighteousness.

 

James 4:17  Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

 

1.  Solomon had 1,000 wives: 700 wives and 300 concubines, or servant wives.  How foolish and vain could a man of such wisdom be?

 

2.  Solomon indulged himself in the pleasures of life instead of the pleasure of the Lord.  In Ecclesiastes, chapter 2, we find that he “lay hold on folly.”  “Lay hold on” means to grasp and possess!  Solomon enjoyed pleasure.  Solomon built houses, vineyards, gardens, orchards, had servants and maidens, great possessions of silver and gold, men singers, women singers, musical instruments, and increased above all men. 

 

3.  Solomon found that his life was one of vanity, not of God! He built his house instead of allowing God to build it.

 

4.  This Psalm is a censure of his worldly ways.

 

E.  As the Psalm begins, it shows us the Value of the Home and the Vanity of the foolish who do not allow God to build it.  When we realize some things found here, we realize that the LORD both owns and builds the house.

 

F.  I want to look at the Home.  Many homes are just houses!  Just a place to “hang their hat.”  Just a roof over their heads.  No love, no commitment, no stability, and no God!  Homes built in vain or to no avail.  Homes that mean nothing and produce nothing.  In the house but truly homeless!

             

G.  The word “vain” is used three times in the first two verses.  Vain – futile, hopeless, empty, unsuccessful.  Without the Lord, the home becomes a recipe for failure.  With the Lord, the home becomes fertile ground!

 

H.  The Founder and Builder of the home is the LORD. The LORD performed the first marriage and established the first home in the Book of Genesis. The LORD defined that relationship as one man and one woman! The world appears to struggle with the obvious truth of two genders: male and female. God created man, and the woman was within him. This is what God established as the example of the home. 

 

Genesis 2:21-25  And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;  (22)  And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.  (23)  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.  (24)  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.  (25)  And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

 

J.  The Importance of the Home. In the New Testament, our Lord chose marriage as the emblem of the union that binds together Himself and His ransomed Bride, the Church. ** (Eph 5:22-33)

 

1.  The Home Is Important To Our Spouses (a haven of peace and rest in a wicked and weary world)

 

2.  The Home Is Important To Our Children (a nest of safety, stability, provision, and instruction)

 

3.  The Home Is Important To Our Churches (a type of the relationship of Jesus Christ to His Church)

 

4.  The Home is Important To Our Nation (a stabilizing force in unstable days)

 

5.  The Home is Important To The Lord (He established it in wisdom) 

 

K.   The Home: 

 

1.  The Home:  A Place Of Companionship “It is not good that the man should be alone”

 

Ecclesiastes 4:9-11  Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.  For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.  Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?

 

2.  The Home:  A Place Of Divine Order “I will make him an help meet”

 

1 Corinthians 11:3, 7-9  But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God … For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.  For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.  Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.

 

3.  The Home:  A Place Of Completion  “An help meet for him”

 

Proverbs 18:22  Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.

 

1 Corinthians 11:7  For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.

 

4.  The Home:  A Place Of Oneness “He took one of his ribs … bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”

 

1 Peter 3:7  Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

 

5.  The Home:  A Place Of Approval “Brought her unto the man”

 

Genesis 1:27-28  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

 

6.  The Home:  A Place Of Separation “Leave his father and his mother”

 

Proverbs 5:18  Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

 

Genesis 24:58-59  And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.  And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant, and his men.

 

7.  The Home:  A Place Of Cleaving “Cleave unto his wife” (to stick with or to stay close to)

 

Matthew 19:6  Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

 

Romans 7:2  For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

 

8.  The Home:  A Place Of Union “They shall be one flesh”

 

Ephesians 5:31  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

 

Genesis 4:25  And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.

 

9.  The Home:  A Place Of Beauty “And were not ashamed”

 

Hebrews 13:4  Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.  (Intimacy outside of marriage is dirty, defiling, and to be hidden in the dark – Intimacy in the marriage is beautiful and fulfilling.)

 

Psalms 127:1  A Song of degrees for Solomon. 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.

Theology: The Doctrine of God - Part 4

 Temple Baptist Church - 3-9-2025

1 John 1:5-7

II.  The Attributes of God

  “The Impeccability and Immutability of God”

 

A.  Theologically, we live in the days of “Doctrinal Divorce.”  Divorce defined:  to separate or dissociate (something) from something else.  The Bible says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable.”  This means that “All Scripture” is given to “All Generations” for every time period. 

 

Psalms 12:6-7  The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.  (7)  Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

 

2 Timothy 3:16-17  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  (17)  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

 

These verses are God’s promise of an incorruptible Word being preserved by God to a people , “this generation,” and to a time, “for ever.”

 

B.  As inspiration and preservation MUST go hand-in-hand, Impeccability and Immutability MUST go hand-in-hand! 

 

1. Inspiration without preservation would ultimately lead to corruption. This is the doctrine of God’s Word being taught in seminaries around the world: that what began as inspired is now a book flawed by the futile efforts of human translators and errors in all existing copies. Preservation is God’s guarantee of the continued inspiration of His Word.

 

2. Impeccability without immutability would ultimately lead to corruption, and such corruption would undermine Who God is. Immutability guarantees the continuation of the impeccability of God’s Person.

 

C. The Impeccability of God – Possibly the greatest of God’s attributes is His absolute holiness. Impeccability means that God not only has no sin but also lacks a sin nature. Understanding impeccability is challenging because we live in a sin-cursed world, on a sin-cursed earth, and in a sin-cursed body; therefore, nothing we know or understand is perfect except God.

 

1. God is absolutely impeccable (perfect) in both His person and His works. He cannot sin, nor can He be the cause of sin.

 

James 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

 

a. The question may arise because if God cannot be tempted with sin, why did the Tempter (Satan-the Devil) tempt Jesus Christ in Matthew, chapter four? This temptation came in three areas that correspond with the love of the world in 1 John 2:16.

 

1 John 2:16  For all that is in the world, (1) the lust of the flesh, and (2) the lust of the eyes, and (3) the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

 

b.  Here we see the dual nature of Jesus Christ.  He was 100% God on His divine side and 100% man on His human side.  Both sides of Jesus Christ were Impeccable as He had no Adamic nature.  Born of the “seed of woman,” not the seed of man.

 

c.  The temptation of our Lord Jesus Christ was outward, not inward, as God cannot be tempted as He is Impeccable.

 

Psalms 99:9  Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy.

 

Isaiah 57:15  For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. 

 

Habakkuk 1:13  Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

 

Revelation 22:1-5  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.  (2)  In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.  (3)  And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:  (4)  And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.  (5)  And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

 

2.  As believers, we are commanded to be holy.  We strive to be holy.  We remain sinful at best (Isaiah 64:6).  God does not strive to be holy; God is holy; therefore, God’s name is Holy!

 

Isaiah 64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

 

1 Peter 1:15-16  But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;  (16)  Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

 

3.  God IS Holy!  “The Impeccability of God.”  God is Impeccable! 

 

a.  God the Father is Impeccable.  James 1:13  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

 

b.  God the Son is Impeccable.  2 Corinthians 5:21  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

 

1 Peter 2:21-22  For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:  (22)  Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

 

Matthew 27:3-4  Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,  (4)  Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.

 

John 19:4  Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.

 

c.  God the Holy Ghost is Impeccable.  Mark 3:28-29  Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:  (29)  But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:

 

D.  Areas of God’s Impeccability.

 

1.  God is Impeccable in His Nature. 

 

1 John 1:5  This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

 

Psalms 104:1-2  Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.  (2)  Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:

 

John 18:38  Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.

 

2.  God is Impeccable in His Ways. 

 

Psalms 145:17  The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.

 

Romans 3:25-26  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;  (26)  To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

 

3.  God is Impeccable in His Judgements. 

 

Revelation 19:1-2  And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:  (2)  For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.

 

E.  The Immutability of God.  God’s Impeccability rests on His Immutability. As inspiration and preservation MUST go hand-in-hand, impeccability and immutability MUST go hand-in-hand!

 

1.  Immutability versus Mutability.

 

a.  Mutability.  Mutability involves either evolution or deterioration and God knows neither.  If God can change, then He could not continue to be Impeccable.  God does not mutate!

 

b.  Immutability.  Because God has no beginning and no ending; God knows no change.  He is everlastingly the same.  This principle is found in the Book of James.

 

James 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

 

2.  God is immutable in His Person. His nature and being are infinite, and so, subject to no mutations. There never was a time when He was not; there never will come a time when He shall cease to be. God has not evolved, grown, improved, or deteriorated.  All that He is today, He has ever been and ever will be.  God has not gotten better, as He is perfect,  nor has He become worse, as He is immutable.

 

Malachi 3:6  For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

 

Hebrews 7:24-27  But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.  (25)  Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.  (26)  For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;  (27)  Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.

 

3.  God is immutable in His Attributes.  His power has not greatened, nor has it diminished.  Whatever the attributes of God were before the universe was called into existence are precisely the same now and will remain so forever. The attributes of God are the very perfections, the essential qualities of His being. His power is unabated, His wisdom undiminished, His holiness unblemished. The attributes of God can no more change than Deity can cease to be.

 

Psalms 100:5  For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.  (His mercy ceases not)

 

4.  God is immutable in His counsel as His will never varies. What He says and wills today will stand forever.  His promises are sure, His prophecies are sure, and His purposes are sure.

 

Job 23:13-14  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.  (14)  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

 

Psalms 33:11  The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

 

Ecclesiastes 3:14-15  I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.  (15)  That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

 

5.  God is immutable in His Callings.

 

Romans 11:29  For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

 

Job 23:13-14  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.  (14)  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him. 

 

God’s eternal Impeccability is assured in His eternal Immutability.