Chapter Text
127:1 {A Song of degrees. Of Solomon.} Unless Jehovah build the house, in vain do its builders labour in it; unless Jehovah keep the city, the keeper watcheth in vain:
127:2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to lie down late, to eat the bread of sorrows: so to his beloved one he giveth sleep.
127:3 Lo, children are an inheritance from Jehovah, [and] the fruit of the womb a reward.
127:4 As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of youth.
127:5 Happy is the man that hath filled his quiver with them. They shall not be ashamed when they speak with enemies in the gate.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "song", "degrees", "solomon", "unless", "jehovah", "build", "house", and "vain". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "song" and "degrees", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The local DBY text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "song" and "degrees" carries the first interpretive weight. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "song" and "degrees" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.