CP211003     Catechesis Notes for the Week — Psalm 127: The Lord Alone Preserves the Family—Without the Lord “building” our marriages, homes, and families by His gracious Word and Spirit we can accomplish nothing of lasting value or worth. Psalm 127 gives all glory and honor to the Lord as the one who builds, establishes, and protects our families and the city in which we dwell. Our efforts, apart from faith and prayer, accomplish nothing. “It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep.” This psalm of Ascent paints a beautiful picture that contrasts our striving apart from the Lord’s Word and faith with the rest that the Lord alone gives to His beloved who trust in Him. Furthermore, Psalm 127 speaks against the prevailing wisdom of our age by extolling children as a precious gift from God. “Children are a heritage from the Lord…Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.” Even though God has given us work to do in our station in life, happiness, contentment, and peace comes, not from our striving, but from the gifts and provisions that Lord provides in Christ to sustain us. Those who trust in Him will never be put to shame and will triumph over their enemies.