Thread: Daily Bread
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Old 10-28-2005, 07:03 AM   #857
HeavenBesideYou
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Daily Bread

October 28th

"Unless the Lord builds the house..."

At the age of eighty-one, Franklin was the oldest representative at the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Weeks after the convention began, representatives were still haggling about the relative voting power of large states and small states. Then Franklin stood up and said,

"In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for the divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard and they were graciously answered.…Have we now forgotten this powerful Friend? Do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance? I have lived a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing proof I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men.…We have been assured, sir, that 'except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it,' and without his concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel."

The verse from Psalm 127 had its effect. A compromise was soon worked out, and a Constitution ratified by the states the following year.

Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is useless. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good.

Psalm 127:1

Heaven

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