He Grants Sleep
“Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat, for he grants sleep to those he loves.”
— Psalm 127:1-2 (NIV)
The heading on this psalm attaches it to Solomon, who built more than anyone in the story. It is not an argument against working. The builders still build and the guards still stand. What it denies is that the building and the watching are what holds everything up. Then it puts sleep on the list, which is the one item nobody produces by trying harder.
There are weeks that end without the list being finished. Some nights are hard to sleep through, because the list of what did not get done keeps running. This psalm counts sleep as something God gives, not as time lost. Stopping is not the same as failing at the work.
Stop Before It Is Finished
- 1Pick a time this evening and stop working then, whatever state things are in.
- 2Go to bed without opening the list again.
God, I have not finished and I want to keep going. Thank You that the day holds together without me watching it. Please help me put it down tonight at a decent hour. And give me the sleep this psalm says You give.
The one thing I cannot produce by trying harder is rest.
Is this psalm against hard work?
No. The builders build and the guards watch. It denies only that those efforts are what holds things up.
Who is the psalm attached to?
Its heading names Solomon, who built on a larger scale than anyone else in the story.
Why does it mention sleep?
Sleep is listed as something given rather than something lost. That is unusual in a poem addressed to builders and watchmen.