A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene H. Peterson
Week 9: Chapter 8 — Happiness (Psalm 127)
Read Chapter 8 of A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. Primary text: Psalm 127.
Previewing Week 9 of A Long Obedience in the Same Direction
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 14-week guide when you’re ready.
Psalm 127 is attributed to Solomon and cuts through our culture's anxiety about productivity and achievement with a radical claim: that apart from God, all our building and watching and striving is vanity.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1."Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain." Peterson uses this opening verse to diagnose a deep anxiety at the heart of modern life — the fear that if we stop working, everything will fall apart. Do you recognize that anxiety in yourself? What does it feel like?
2.Peterson distinguishes between "happiness" and the counterfeit versions we chase — success, comfort, the approval of others. He argues that Psalm 127 defines happiness as receiving life as a gift rather than seizing it as a project. What would it look like for you to hold your life more as a gift than a project?
3."He grants sleep to those he loves." Peterson sees in this verse a profound anti-anxiety statement — that God's provision is so reliable that we can actually rest. How does your relationship with sleep (and rest more broadly) reflect your actual theology of God's provision?