The Bread of Anxious Toil

A Meditation on Psalm 127

Dec 10, 2023

Dear Reader,

I can’t remember the last time I had hot pizza. Or sat down and enjoyed a meal. These days, it seems I am always scarfing it down in a rush simply for sustenance or feeding the baby between my own bites. With a new baby this year, life seems packed to the brim: teaching a full course load, writing newsletters, working on a book project, keeping the house, and attending to relationships—human and with the Lord. When I get ahead in one thing, I am behind on another. My daughter is the greatest joy, but I am tired. God bless those rockstars who do this with more than one child!

Recently, I read Psalm 127, and it felt like it had been written just for me.

1 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.
2 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.
3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
    the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
    are the children of one's youth.
5 Blessed is the man
    who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
    when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

Psalms of Ascent

This passage is one of the “Psalms of Ascent,” a group of psalms that were sung by the ancient Israelites on their pilgrimages to Jerusalem. The chapters form a chiasm: a poetic structure in which the themes of the first and last chapters or verses mirror one another, then the second and penultimate ones mirror each other, and so forth. Out of the chapters of the Psalms of Ascent, 127 is in the exact middle, which means it contains the message the author was trying to emphasize.

The power of the Psalms always amazes me. Thousands of years later we can read this piece of ancient poetry, and it still holds true. If you think you work hard in this century, imagine the labor of an ancient Jew: pressing your own wine, growing your own food and slaughtering your own cattle, washing your laundry by hand, walking everywhere. When I consider that, my own labor doesn’t seem quite as bad. And yet I feel the weight of my responsibilities, even in the 21st century. I rise early to squeeze in my alone time and writing, stay up late doing chores to maximize the time while the baby is sleeping, and stress about how much grading I have to do. I have been eating the “bread of anxious toil”. Without God, all of it, even the good things I do are in vain; they have no purpose. We can eat the bread that we make, but in the end it does not satisfy.

The Bread of the New Covenant

Not only was bread an essential part of the ancient Near East diet, it has symbolic meaning throughout Scripture. As with literature, whenever an image is repeated in the Bible, we ought to pay attention. There are too many mentions of bread to do it full justice here, but I want to point out a few significant ones. God gave the ancient Israelites mana—bread—from heaven when they were wandering in the wilderness. In the gospels, Jesus alludes to this miracle with his own when he multiplies the five loaves of bread and two fish. With this sign, Jesus declared to everyone that he is the new mana—the new bread.

During the last supper, Jesus broke bread and offered it to his disciples, saying “Take, eat; this is my body,” and then he gave them wine to drink and told them “this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:26–28 ESV). This was the first communion. Today when we eat of the bread, we are to think of Christ and his sacrifice.

How many times do we find ourselves eating other types of bread, thinking they will sate our hunger? Bread of entertainment, of lust, or even of work or relationships. It is like eating a donut for breakfast; it’s sweet in the moment, but you are hungry again in an hour. But Jesus is the true bread, and he will always satisfy.

Beloved

Notice that psalm does not say “Unless the Lord helps you build your house;” it says “Unless the Lord builds the house.” What a relief that God is the one who is building our house. He is doing the work. We need only submit to him.

Psalm 127, itself, is also a chiasm. At the exact center of the chapter—with 28 words on either side— is the word beloved. Beloved is a word used in both testaments. In the Old Testament, it can refer to love between a husband and wife, as in the Song of Solomon, or it can refer to God’s people. In its adjective form it also means lovely. The word also tends to be uses alongside a possessive pronoun. Here, verse 2 says “his beloved” (italics mine). Not only are we lovely and loved, we belong to God.

True Rest

“Children are a heritage from the Lord,” Psalm 127 tells us. I have never doubted it for a moment, but amid sleepless nights and diaper changes, it is easy to forget the fleeting nature of childhood. Children are arrows in the quiver of a warrior, but they cannot always stay there. One day they will be loosed out upon the world. How precious to me is every moment of this time of toil.

Verse 2 says, “For he gives to his beloved sleep.” Jesus is not only the true bread, but he is also the true rest. In Matthew, he gives us this promise: “Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28–30, ESV). The promise of God’s rest is not that we will have hours of doing nothing, but that even our labor will be restful. Rest when we get up before the sun, rest when we go to bed too late, rest when the baby wakes up in the night. This God gives to us, his beloved.

Join the conversation

What stands out to you about this psalm? What “bread” have you eaten that does not satisfy?

Note: Thanks to Poor Bishop Hooper for their amazing concert and presentation on the Psalms of Ascent! It was their concert that gave me the idea for this newsletter. Check out their Psalms project in which they have put every psalm to music.

Here is their song for Psalm 127, and here is a playlist of all the Psalms of Ascent.