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 Psalms

It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows.

He directs his speech to the persons forementioned, the builders or watchmen, of both which sorts there are many that use the following course. To rise up early, to sit late; to use constant and unwearied diligence, from the very dawning of the day unto the dark night, that so you may accomplish your designs. To eat the bread of sorrows; to eat the bread which you get by excessive and grievous pains. So, to wit, by his blessing, which, though not expressed, is sufficiently understood out of the former verse, where it is twice expressed. As therefore he saith it is in vain for them to build or watch, if God do not give his blessing and assistance, ; so here he adds that it is in vain to be diligent in their labours and callings, understand, without God’ s blessing; for so, i.e. not singly by their industry, but by his blessing upon their labours. But the Hebrew word rendered so may be and is by others rendered when, or whereas, or since; by others, rightly, or well, when it is convenient and needful for them; by others, certainly; the sleep which they have is undoubtedly from God’ s blessing, without which all possible endeavours would never procure it. He; the Lord, expressed in the former and in the following verses. Giveth, to wit, freely, without that immoderate toiling and drudgery wherewith others pursue it. His beloved; his people, who though hated and maligned by men, are beloved of God, over whom his providence watcheth in a special manner. In this expression he seems to allude to the name of Jedidiah, which was given to Solomon, and signifies the beloved of the Lord, . Sleep; a quiet rest, both of body and mind, which many of those greedy worldlings cannot enjoy, as is observed, .

Psalms 127:2 [It is] vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: [for] so he giveth his beloved sleep.Ver. 2. It is vain for you to rise up early] Diluculantes surgere, tardantes sedere, to toil and moil in the world. It were to be wished that this Nisi, nisi, frustra, frustra, were ever sounding in the ears of worldlings, who will needs act upon their own principles; "God is not in all their thoughts." To eat the bread of sorrows] i.e. Hardly gotten, or that men can scarce beteem themselves, they are so miserable and parsimonious; or, bread eaten with carefulness, as Ezekiel 12:19 : certainly men may sooner by their care add a furlong to their sorrow than a cubit to their comfort. For so he giveth his beloved sleep] Dilecto sue, to each of his beloved ones; not without an allusion to Solomon’ s other name, Jedidiah, God’ s darling. To these he giveth sleep, extraordinary, quiet, refreshing sleep ( שׁðà with an Aleph quiescent, which is not usual), that is, he giveth wealth without labour, as to others labour without wealth, saith Kimchi; the world comes tumbling in upon them, as we say, they have it quasi per somnium, as towns were said to come into Timotheus’ s toils while he slept (Plut.); without anxiety, they break not their sleep for the matter, but live by faith, and make a good living of it too, Omnia necessaria benignissime Dominus quasi per iocum largitur (Beza). To make oneself wet and muddy; to wallow in mire

(2) It . . . sleep.—This verse, of the literal rendering of which there is no question, has met with many different interpretations. About the first clause there is no difference. Early rising, to pursue the business of the day, is vain without the Divine blessing on the labour. The next two clauses admit two different interpretations. Some connect the sitting down with the meal: “delaying to sit down and eat the bread of cares” (or sorrow), i.e., so immersed in business as to allow hardly time for meals. But it seems far more natural to take the Hebrew in its more extended sense of resting, and so explain, nearly as the Authorised Version:— “It is in vain to rise early; To delay the hour of rest, To eat the bread that has been won by toil; At His pleasure He giveth to His beloved (in) sleep.” As to the last clause, it seems right, from its use in Genesis 1, “it was so,” to give so the sense “at His pleasure,” this being also indicated by the general drift of the psalm. The word “sleep” may be either the direct object, as in the LXX. and Vulg., or the accusative used adverbially, “in sleep,” “while they sleep.” That the latter suits the context best there can be no question. The whole intention of the psalm is to assert the truth which the Book of Proverbs sums up in one sentence (Proverbs 10:22): “The blessing of Jehovah maketh rich, and toil can add nothing thereto,” the truth which was so impressively taught in the Sermon on the Mount, by the contrast of man’s restless ambition with the unconscious dependence on the Divine bounty of birds and flowers. To say that what others toil for from morning till night in vain, God gives to His beloved without all this anxiety and exertion, while they sleep, puts this truth forcibly, and with that disregard of apparent paradox which was natural to a Hebrew, and which appears so prominently in our Saviour’s treatment of the subject. Labour is decried as unnecessary neither here nor in the Sermon on the Mount, but “carking care” is dismissed as unworthy those who, from past experience, ought to trust the goodness of the great Provider. The Greek proverb, “The net catches while the fisher sleeps,” and the German, “God bestows His gifts during the night,” bring common expressions to confirm this voice of inspiration, which was, in almost so many words, recalled in our Lord’s parable (Mark 4:27). But old association pleads for the equally true and equally beautiful rendering which makes sleep the gift of God. If there is one thing which seems to come more direct from Heaven’s bounty than another, that in its character is more benign, in its effects more akin to the nature of God, it is the blessing of sleep. In all times men have rendered thanks to Heaven for this boon. The ancients not only spoke of sleep as “most grateful of known gifts,” but made itself a god.

Verse 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 labour 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 put off their clothes day or night but for washing.

2. Vain is it for you, O ye that rise up early and sit down late, Eating the bread of toil. Anxious toilers are addressed. ‘Uprising’ and ‘downsitting,’ as in Psalms 139:2, denote activity and rest. Men may begin their labours early, and continue them late; they may win their subsistence by a succession of unremitting labours (the word is plural), and lose all enjoyment of it through constant anxiety; but all this self-tormenting care is needless. For ‘toil’ cp. Proverbs 5:10 (thy labours = the results of thy toil); Proverbs 10:22 (R.V. marg.); Genesis 3:16 (sorrow), 17 (R.V. toil). for so he giveth his beloved sleep] Omit for. This is the natural rendering of the Heb. text, but the sense of it is not obvious. Perhaps it may be, ‘Bethink yourselves! so, even while you toil and moil with sleepless energy (Ecclesiastes 8:16), Jehovah gives calm rest to those whom He loves.’ So Keble, “Still on the favoured of His eyes He bids sweet slumber freely wait.” Compare Mrs Browning’s beautiful poem on the words. Most commentators however adopt the rendering, So he giveth unto his beloved in sleep. While Jehovah’s people rest in calm dependence upon Him, He gives them all for which others toil with wearying anxiety[82] (Mark 4:26-27). [82] This rendering is certainly not the natural rendering of the Heb. text. Wellhausen condemns it as “quite inadmissible.” It requires the supplement of an object to the verb, and ωֵׁ ?πָ ?ΰ must be taken as accus. of manner. If it were not for the exegetical difficulty, no one would hesitate to take ‘sleep,’ as the Ancient Versions take it, as the object of the verb ‘giveth.’ Some word however seems to be needed to correspond to the results of anxious toil, and though the Ancient Versions already had the present reading, the text may be corrupt. The anomalous form of the word for sleep (ωπΰ for ωπδ) may point in this direction.his beloved] The singular may be collective, His beloved ones, or individualising, each of His beloved ones. The epithet applied to Israel (Psalms 60:5; Deuteronomy 33:12; Jeremiah 11:15) is transferred to each faithful Israelite who responds with unwavering confidence to the love which has chosen him. It is hardly necessary to say that no sanction of idleness or depreciation of industry is here expressed or implied. What the Psalmist rebukes is the anxious spirit of those who toil restlessly as though they could ensure success by their own efforts, forgetting that God’s blessing is needed to prosper those efforts, and that He is ever ready to give that blessing to those who trust Him. It is the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:25-34. Cp. 1 Peter 5:7; Psalms 33:16 ff; Psalms 60:11 ff; Psalms 147:10-11; Proverbs 21:31 : and in particular Proverbs 10:22, “The blessing of Jehovah, it maketh rich, and He addeth no toil therewith.”

It is vain for you to rise up early - The psalmist does not here say that it is improper to rise early; or that there could be no advantage in it; or that people would be more likely to be successful

2. Rise… early—Namely, to engage in work. Sit up late—Not “sit up,” but sit down.