How does that bread taste?
Psalm 127 tells us about the "bread of anxious toil." Have you ever eaten it?
Lets begin with a better question. Are you consciously aware of your need of God’s presence in your life? That’s a big question – maybe one of those sprawling, far reaching questions that we never fully answer, or maybe the question is not clear. Do you readily know in your thinking and reasoning that you need the Lord’s help and guidance in life’s situations? We are always all conscious of something, even if it’s just our own musings. The world we create in our thinking can be as big or as small as we make it – our ideas can be as broad and bold as solving world hunger to as narrow and paltry as fixating on our own grumbling stomach.
But we are always aware of something. Take a scenario. Imagine you’re in a crisis. What are you thinking about? On one level, you are thinking about the crisis itself and the immediate circumstances. On another level, you are thinking about what led up to the crisis and trying to determine cause and effect. On a third level, you are thinking of the implications of the crisis and the different outcomes that may happen depending on how it is handled. On another level entirely, you are thinking about whatever your normal task or routine would have been had the crisis not occurred and how you are going to keep up “business as usual.” A lot goes through our minds, as humans, when we try to solve problems. But, I ask again, Are you consciously aware of your need of God’s presence in your life?
I like to imagine myself as a thinker. As a rule, I think more than I speak. Its part of my personality. I almost never say what comes to my mind, but what has been in my mind, turned about and processed and examined. Maybe its part of being an introvert. Eventually, I have to say something, and sometimes I think I would have been better off saying the first thing that came to my mind than the highly edited product of my strange mind! But really, everyone is a thinker; some think and process information out loud, in groups, and in conversations with others. Some think about situations by working on them, figuring them out “on the fly.” Some think about things by researching and gathering information in books and articles. We all are thinkers and gifted with intelligence to navigate challenges. But are we consciously aware of our need of God’s presence in our lives? Psalm 127:1-2 say this:
"Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
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."
Did you catch that part in verse 2 about rising up early and going to bed late? Does that sound familiar? Have you even been so consciously aware of a situation, a problem, a crisis, that you lost sleep trying to work on it? Have you burned the midnight oil coming up with solutions and thinking about a situation from every facet, every angle, every detail? If you are a human you probably have. Whether you are an introspective thinker, a group-thinker, or a research-thinker, there have been things that you were so aware – so vivid in your mind as needing “solved” that you have sacrificed sleep and sanity to remedy them. But, I ask you, have you ever been that consciously aware about your need of God’s presence in your life?
We are told that Psalm 127 is written by Solomon. The great, wise, and wealthy king. Solomon had a kingdom to manage, an immense number of political relationships to steward, building projects and advancements to oversee, and as Israel’s king, all this was to be done under the overarching theme of righteous leadership in the sight of God. So when Solomon writes, “unless the Lord builds the house, those who built it labor in vain” he had a lot of experiences to apply that to. Whether it was physically “building the house,” i.e. the Temple, or spiritually “building” the people of Israel as their leader, Solomon knew that life was empty apart from God’s presence and intervention.
Consider his reflection on his own life in Ecclesiastes 2:4-11. “I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man. So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.”
Do you think Solomon ever “ate the bread of anxious toil” with all his accomplishments? His greatness was renowned throughout the world, but all his accomplishments were not self-sufficiently fulfilling. There was more to be had, more to be understood, more than met the eye. Solomon concluded that the greatest duty of mankind is to “fear God and keep his commandments.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13) That is, a life apart from the Lord is empty, but a life lived unto and toward the Lord is the greatest achievement. Solomon was wise and brilliant. He was a thinker, a mover, a doer. But all his thinking and movement and doing and wisdom was nothing unless the Lord’s presence was there to guide, instruct, and bless.
Thinking is work – it is labor. Do you labor in vain? Do you eat the bread of anxious toil over your circumstances? Do you read endless amounts of online articles on your problem or situation? Do you envy those who aren’t going through what you are going through? Do you imagine vividly what life would be like if the situation were different? Does your situation cloud and shade every circumstance and relationship in your life? If you are that consciously aware of your problems, you may be “eating the bread of anxious toil,” which is vain. Its empty. Unless your labor is aimed toward the Lord and seeking His presence, help, and His wisdom, your struggles and even your accomplishments are empty. In your dire need, is your first awareness of your need of God’s presence? If we were only as consciously aware of God as we are of our own need, we would be greatly blessed.
It may not be coincidental that Solomon uses the analogy of bread for anxiousness. Do you think he ever had a late-night snack because he was worried and couldn’t sleep? Have you? In that hour, when its midnight, and you turn to that bag of chips because you are “stress eating,” or you turn on another episode of your tv show when you should be sleeping, or you click another link on Google to try to solve your dilemma, remember – all the bread of anxious toil in the world will not satisfy your hunger for peace and fulfillment. The Lord gives his beloved one’s sleep. Unless the Lord is in your mind, you labor in vain by overthinking and stressing and worrying. Unless the Lord is your ultimate solution, you labor in vain by coming up with clever fixes. Unless the Lord is your rest, your sleepless nights won’t gain you much. Whatever problem is vivid in your thinking, may you be ever more aware of your need of God and His presence in your life. In stead of eating the bred of anxiety, may you drink deeply from the well of His wisdom and provision.
Praying for your Peace,
Pastor Aaron Frost
May 20, 2022
