Unless the LORD builds a house, its builders labor over it in vain.
I repointed my foundation yesterday and this verse kept drifting in and out my head. My house has a fieldstone foundation held together by mortar which, in several locations, had begun to crumble and fall away. In one three foot stretch, there was even a gap into my basement. Much of the mortar on the was the consistency of sand and only held together by a stiffer outer layer that masked the true extent of deterioration. There was also a layer of white paint or whitewash covering the beautiful granite and basalt stones and further hiding deep deterioration. There is a spiritual lesson here about looking good on the outside but being rotten on the inside…
So, I scraped away the old mortar and packed in new mortar. Average depth of scour was probably 4 inches. I used 5 bags total of Type N masonry mortar, a couple trowels, and my hands. Total material cost including tools was $65 (two bags unopened and an unused trowel would’ve lowered this to $45) and total time was 9.5 hours.
The extent of the work on the south side of my house was considerably greater than the north side. It was more repair/rehabilitation than repointing.
As I said at the top, Psalm 127:1 kept drifting in and out of my head. I didn’t come up with a great exposition of the verse or any deep and profound insights. I am reminded that unless the LORD builds the house, unless the LORD is involved with our every decision (great and small, repointing and repair), unless we humble approach Yahweh at every turn, we build in vain. It’s easy to act without consulting Yahweh. On the south side of my house, where the deterioration was minimal, my worry was low and I didn’t approach God. When I examined the north side, where deterioration had extended through the entire foundation, I quickly prayed, “God, don’t let me tear down my house!”
I should’ve approached God upon commencing my work on the easy side. In hindsight, I am reminded to turn to God in big and small. In this instance, it’s just a house. But the houses we build are personal relationships, church families, physical families, ministry efforts, etc. The list is big. In each instance, turn to the Lord for help and guidance. Don’t build in vain.
What are your houses that you build? How can you allow the Lord to build it?
A Repository of Thought 