Psalm 127:2 KJV,ASV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 127:1-5

We are here taught to have a continual regard to the divine Providence in all the concerns of this life. Solomon was cried up for a wise man, and would be apt to lean to his own understanding and forecast, and therefore his father teaches him to look higher, and to take God along with him in his undertakings. He was to be a man of business, and therefore David instructed him how to manage his business under the direction of his religion. Parents, in teaching their children, should suit their... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 127:2

It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late ,.... A description of an industrious and laborious person, who takes great pains to get a livelihood, or increase his substance; see Psalm 104:23 ; which, yet, as in the former instances, depends upon the blessing of divine Providence, Proverbs 10:4 . For, after all, it may come to nothing more at last than to eat the bread of sorrows ; that is, to eat bread gotten with much sorrow and labour; such get bread, and that is all, and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 127:2

It is vain for you to rise up early - There seems to be here an allusion to the daily and nightly watches which Nehemiah instituted. The people are worn out with constant labor and watching; he therefore divided them in such a manner, that they who had worked in the day should rest by night, and that they who worked by night should rest in the day; and thus his beloved, a title of the Jews, the beloved of God, got sleep, due refreshment, and rest. As for Nehemiah and his servants, they never... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 127:2

Verse 2 2.It is vain for you in hastening to rise early. Solomon now expresses more plainly that men in vain wear themselves out with toiling, and waste themselves by fasting to acquire riches, since these also are a benefit bestowed only by God. The more effectually to move them, he addresses himself to every man in particular. It is, says he, in vain for you He particularizes two means which are thought to contribute in an eminent degree to the amassing of riches. It is not surprising to find... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 127:1-5

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 127:1-5

The blessing of God. The psalm is in keeping with that prevalent piety which led the devout Israelite to trace God's hand in everything, and ascribe both good and evil, both joy and sorrow, to his directing power. I. UNBLESSED LABOR . 1. We can do nothing at all without the Divine co-operation. We constantly depend on the presence of his material, on the action of his laws, on the activity of the forces he keeps in play. We all recognize this in agriculture; that it is vain for... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 127:1-5

The builder's psalm. Our ignorance of the exact reference of this psalm enables us to apply it, as perhaps otherwise we might not be able, to all builders whatsoever. Four such seem to be pointed at here. I. THE TEMPLE - BUILDERS . 1. We know that this was one of the solicitudes of the returned exiles—to uprear again the temple of the Lord. And in the books written after the return from Babylon we read about this and the difficulties they had to encounter, and the success... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 127:2

It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late (comp. Isaiah 5:11 ); i . e . to be "careful and troubled" about your work in the world, whatever it is. To eat the bread of sorrows . To feed, as it were, on sorrow—and trouble and care—to make your lives a burden to yourselves through your carefulness. For so he giveth his beloved sleep ; rather, surely he giveth to his beloved in sleep ; i . e . in their sleep. The teaching is similar to that of Exodus 14:14 ; Isaiah... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 127:2

The sleep God gives. This psalm is, by its title in our Bible, ascribed to Solomon; in the Septuagint it is left without a title; in the Syriac Version it is ascribed to David. In structure it is like all the rest of these "Psalms of Degrees." Hence we are very much in the dark as to its date and authorship, and are shut up, as it is well we should be, to its religious teachings. What these are it is not difficult to see; for its plain lesson is that all our defense and security are in the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 127:2

The limited value of self-exertion. The great lesson of this psalm is "that without God's blessing all human efforts and human precautions are in vain; that man can never command success; that God gives and man receives." It is suggested that the psalm was written to check self-congratulation and self-reliance on the part of those who were rejoicing in their national restoration. The sentence, "so he giveth his beloved sleep," may mean—so much as others gain by hardest toil and pains God... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 127:1-5

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 127:2

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 127:2

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 127:2

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 127:1-5

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 127:1-5

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 127:1-5

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 127:2

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 127:2

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 127:2

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