There is a Psalm in the Bible, Psalm 127, that in many ways encapsulates the Gospel. The first three verses say this. “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. It is vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.”

Basically, the idea is this.

You can do everything you are supposed to do, but if God is not in it, then it doesn’t matter. If you are building a house, but don’t rely on God, then your labor is in vain. If you are the watchman whose job is to protect the city, but don’t depend on God, then your efforts won’t accomplish anything. And that is quite true. Our efforts, our work, will not have eternal results unless God is part of what we do, unless he is also at work, and we are relying on him. A watchman can watch over the city, but if an enemy attacks, then you are going to need more than a watchman; you are going to need God.

But the last sentence is instructive. It gives a commentary for the previous two statements. “It is vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” It is vain to get up early and go to bed late if God is not involved. All of our hard work, our late nights and early mornings, won’t amount to much if we don’t depend on God.

But look at how the writer of this psalm describes getting up early and going to bed late. He calls it “eating the bread of anxious toil.” Now, there is nothing wrong with hard work. There is nothing wrong with getting up early and going to bed late in order to put food on your table, to provide bread to eat. The problem comes when we do it with anxiety. The psalmist calls it anxious toil.

So, what is anxious toil? I believe anxious toil occurs when we work feeling like the results are all on our shoulders. Anxious toil is when we feel like it is all up to us, that everything depends on us. This is the toil of the person who doesn’t believe in God, who doesn’t trust in Jesus, who doesn’t live by faith in the love and power of God for him. This is the toil of those who rely on their own abilities to get them through life.

You see, a Christian can toil, but without anxiety. A Christian can do his best and work hard, and then leave the results to God. God may choose to bring about the desired outcomes, or he may not. But a Christian can rest, knowing that after he has done all that he can do—even if that means getting up early and going to bed late—God can be trusted. He is good and his plan is good. And the knowledge of the love and goodness of God brings confidence and peace and rest, especially after you have worked hard.

The last phrase gives the reason that it is vain to toil anxiously. God gives sleep to his beloved. What a sweet promise! God gives sleep. You see, sleep is hard to come by when you are anxious. But when you rest in the love and goodness of God, God brings rest and sleep. And God brings sleep to his beloved, to those he loves.

Let me rephrase this passage like this. If you are one of God’s beloved ones, then act like it! Act like you have a Father in heaven who is good and who loves you, who is for you and is on your side. Don’t toil anxiously. Don’t act like everything is up to you. Don’t act like you have to have all the answers, or that it is all up to your hard work. It is not. If you are one of God’s beloved ones, then toil, yes, but don’t toil anxiously. Do all that you know to do, in whatever you are doing, but do so trusting and resting in the work of God on your behalf, in God’s great goodness and love for you. And after you have worked hard, but trusting in the work of God for you, God will give sleep.