First Kings 4 tells us that Solomon wrote over 1,000 songs. Two of them are included in our book of Psalms (72 & 127). In Psalm 127 he writes something very interesting:
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.
Psalms 127:1 ESV
Solomon knew a little something about building. His father David had wanted to build a temple to replace the tabernacle, which was a glorified tent. In 2 Samuel 7:1–2 David lamented that he lived in “a house of cedar” while the ark of God was in a tent. God spoke to the prophet Nathan that night, however, to tell him that David would not build a temple for him. He made a covenant with David, promising to make his kingdom an everlasting kingdom by placing one of his offspring on an eternal throne. God also promised that David’s son Solomon would build the temple. And man, did he ever build.
In 1 Kings we read about some of the work force employed to build the temple. Solomon had conscripted “70,000 burden bearers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country, besides Solomon’s 3,300 chief officers who were over the work” (1 Kings 5:13–16). These were in addition to those who cut wood in Lebanon and those who did the actual construction on-site. It is clear this was a monumental undertaking. The sheer amount of logistical planning is staggering. Every stone was cut by hand from a quarry. Every stone was shaped to exact dimensions by hand. Every stone was dressed (given a fancy exterior) by hand. Every stone was hauled from the quarry / work site to the temple mount where it was put in place by hand. They did not have heavy machinery or cranes or even aliens to assist them. It took a full seven years to build the temple, even with hundreds of thousands of people involved in its construction in one way or another.
Solomon clearly knew something about building a house! Seven years to build the temple is quite a long time, yet 1 Kings 7:1 says it took Solomon thirteen years to build his own house! If anyone knew what it took to build a house, it was Solomon. This makes Psalm 127 even more profound:
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.
Psalms 127:1 ESV
Solomon knew that he built a truly magnificent temple. The Most Holy Place was shaped like a cube, with the length and width and height each being approximately 30′, and Solomon lined this Most Holy Place with gold—not gold paint. Gold. It was a wonder to behold. Hundreds of years later, however, this temple would be destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army. Decades after this destruction the temple would be rebuilt and then a few centuries later King Herod would expand not only the temple proper, but would fill in the valley between the temple mount and the neighboring hill, making the temple mount absolutely massive. It could accommodate a couple hundred thousand visitors at a time. This is the temple mount we see in Jerusalem today. Many of the foundation stones from Herod’s builders are still in place as evidenced by their dressing in the Herodian style. Herod’s additions and incredible adornments of the temple complex made the temple far more luxurious than Solomon’s temple, yet Solomon’s words ring true. The temple complex was not finished until the mid-60s, only to be destroyed by Roman general Titus in AD 70—less than a decade later.
The importance of Solomon’s words in Psalm 127 cannot be understated. Whatever building effort we engage in, whether we’re building literally or figuratively, unless the Lord builds it, we labor in vain. Solomon could write those words knowing how much effort went into building. Whenever—whatever—we build for our own purposes or in our own strength is built in vain. All man-made monuments and ministries (and businesses and reputations, etc.) will always turn to dust, no matter how sturdy or opulent we make them. We are capable of building houses without the Lord (while understanding that even our very breath is a gift from him), yet unless he builds it, we labor in vain. Let’s not waste our time building things apart from the Lord. Instead, let’s build things for the Lord, knowing that what he builds will last forever.