Psalms 128:3-4(v3)Your wife will be as a fruitful vine in the innermost parts of your house, your children like olive plants around your table. Behold, thus…
Deuteronomy 28:4(v3)You shall be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and…
1 Samuel 1:27(v3)I prayed for this child, and Yahweh has given me my petition which I asked of him.
Genesis 48:4(v3)and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land…
Genesis 33:5(v3)He lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, “Who are these with you?” He said, “The children whom God has…
Show all 23 cross-references
Isaiah 8:18(v3)Behold, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Yahweh of Armies, who dwells in Mount Zion.
Genesis 1:28(v3)God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the…
1 Samuel 1:19-20(v3)They rose up in the morning early and worshiped Yahweh, then returned and came to their house to Ramah. Then Elkanah knew Hannah his wife;…
Joshua 24:3-4(v3)I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his offspring, and gave him…
Genesis 24:60(v3)They blessed Rebekah, and said to her, “Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your offspring possess the…
Genesis 15:4-5(v3)Behold, Yahweh’s word came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir, but he who will come out of your own body will be your heir.”…
Genesis 30:1-2(v3)When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I will die.”…
Genesis 41:51-52(v3)Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, “For”, he said, “God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” The name…
1 Samuel 2:20-21(v3)Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, “May Yahweh give you offspring from this woman for the petition which was asked of Yahweh.”…
1 Chronicles 28:5(v3)Of all my sons (for Yahweh has given me many sons), he has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of Yahweh’s kingdom over Israel.
Proverbs 17:6(v4)Children’s children are the crown of old men; the glory of children are their parents.
Proverbs 31:28(v4)Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also praises her:
Proverbs 27:11(v5)Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, then I can answer my tormentor.
Jeremiah 50:9(v4)For, behold, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they will set…
Job 42:12-16(v5)So Yahweh blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of…
Psalms 120:4(v4)Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
Genesis 50:23(v5)Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph’s knees.
Job 5:4(v5)His children are far from safety. They are crushed in the gate. Neither is there any to deliver them,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv3, 53. Lo! children are the heritage of Jehovah. Solomon…
3. Lo! children are the heritage of Jehovah. Solomon here adduces one instance in which, in a particular manner, he would have us to recognize the truth which he has hitherto asserted generally — that the life of men is governed by God. Nothing seems more natural than for men to be produced of men. The majority of mankind dream, that after God had once ordained this at the beginning, children were thenceforth begotten solely by a secret instinct of nature, God ceasing to interfere in the matter; and even those who are endued with some sense of piety, although they may not deny that He is the Father and Creator of the human race, yet do not acknowledge that his providential care descends to this particular case, but rather think that men are created by a certain universal motion. With the view of correcting this preposterous error, Solomon calls children the heritage of God, and the fruit of the womb his gift; for the Hebrew word שכר, sachar, translated reward, signifies whatever benefits God bestows upon men, as is plainly manifest from many passages of Scripture. The meaning then is, that, children are not the fruit of chance, but that God, as it seems good to him, distributes to every man his share of them. Moreover, as the Prophet repeats the same thing twice, heritage and reward are to be understood as equivalent; for both these terms are set in opposition to fortune, or the strength of men. The stronger a man is he seems so much the better fitted for procreation. Solomon declares on the contrary, that those become fathers to whom God vouchsafes that honor.
As the majority of children are not always a source of joy to their parents, a second favor of God is added, which is his forming the minds of children, and adorning them with an excellent disposition, and all kinds of virtues. Aristotle in his Politics very properly discusses the question whether πολυτεκνια, that is, the having of many children, ought to be accounted among good things or no; and he decides it in the negative, unless there is added εὐγενεια, that is, generosity or goodness of nature in the children themselves. And assuredly it would be a far happier lot for many to be without children, or barren, than to have a numerous offspring, proving to them only the cause of tears and groans. In order, then, to set forth this blessing of God — the having offspring — in a clear light, Solomon commends a virtuous and generous disposition in children. The similitude introduced for this purpose is, that as an archer is armed ‘with a well-furnished bow, so men are defended by their children, as it were with a bow and all arrow. This similitude might seem, at first sight, a little too harsh; but if it is examined somewhat more closely, its elegance will be readily admitted. The Prophet means that those who are without children are in a manner unarmed; for what else is it to be childless but to be solitary? It is no small gift of God for a man to be renewed in his posterity; for God then gives him new strength, that he who otherwise would straightway decay, may begin as it were to live a second time.
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The knowledge of this doctrine is highly useful. The fruitfulness even of the lower animals is expressly ascribed to God alone; and if He would have it to be accounted his benefit that kine, and sheep, and mares conceive, how inexcusable will be the impiety of men, if when he adorns them with the honorable title of fathers, they account this favor as nothing. It is also to be added, that unless men regard their children as the gift of God, they are careless and reluctant in providing for their support, just as on the other hand this knowledge contributes in a very eminent degree to encourage them in bringing up their offspring. Farther, he who thus reflects upon the goodness of God in giving him children, will readily and with a settled mind look for the continuance of God’s grace; and although he may have but a small inheritance to leave them, he will not be unduly careful on that account.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv4–5That is, endued with strength and virtues from God:…
That is, endued with strength and virtues from God: for these are signs of God’s blessings, and not the number.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv3–5Psa 127:3 Lo, children [are] an heritage of the…
Psa 127:3 Lo, children [are] an heritage of the LORD: [and] the fruit of the womb [is his] reward.
Ver. 3. Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord] This Solomon could not but be sensible of. See the title of this psalm; especially, if by children are meant good children, as, Pro 18:22, by a wife is meant a good wife. And here the poor man that hath no inheritance otherwise hath one from the Lord; for such are oft full of children; neither may he wish, as one graceless man did, that God would keep such his blessings to himself, for he had too many of them.
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Is his reward] That is, his free gift; and God will be their exceeding great reward, if, by their parents’ prayer and good education, they prove towardly, as the Lord’s heritage, and as arrows in the hand, &c.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv3–5Children; which he mentions here, partly because they are…
Children; which he mentions here, partly because they are the chief of all these blessings, and partly because all the forementioned toil and labour is in a great measure and most commonly undertaken for their sakes.
Are an heritage of the Lord; they come not from the power of nature, and from a man’s conversation with his wife, or with a multitude of wives or concubines, which Solomon had, but only from God’s blessing; even as an inheritance is not the fruit of a man’s own labour, but the gift of his father, or rather the gift of God, both enabling and inclining his father to give it to him.
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His reward; not a reward of debt merited by good men, but a reward of grace, of which we read Rom 4:4, which God gives them graciously, as Jacob acknowledgeth of his children, Gen 33:5. And although God give children and other outward comforts to ungodly men in the way of common providence, yet he gives them only to his people as favours, and in the way of promise and covenant.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv3–5Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord,.... As…
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord,.... As all success, safety, and the blessings of life, depend on the providence of God; so this very great blessing is a gift of his; having children, and those good ones, as the Targum interprets it; for of such only can it be understood: so, in a spiritual sense, the children of Christ, the antitypical Solomon, are the gifts of his heavenly Father to him; his portion and inheritance, and a goodly heritage he esteems them;
and the fruit of the womb is his reward; "fruit" (y) is the same with "children" in the preceding clause; see Luk 1:42; a reward he gives to good men, not of debt, but of grace; the Targum,
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"a reward of good works:''
so regenerate persons are a reward to Christ, of his sufferings and death, Isa 53:10.
(y) "Nascitur ad fructum mulier", Claudian. in Eutrop. l. 1. v. 331.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv3–5Children - The chief of these blessings. Heritage -…
Children - The chief of these blessings. Heritage - Only from God's blessing, even as an inheritance is not the fruit of a man's own labour, but the gift of God.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv3–5Verse 3. Lo, children are a heritage of the…
Verse 3. Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord] That is, To many God gives children in place of temporal good. To many others he gives houses, lands, and thousands of gold and silver, and with them the womb that beareth not; and these are their inheritance. The poor man has from God a number of children, without lands or money; these are his inheritance; and God shows himself their father, feeding and supporting them by a chain of miraculous providences. Where is the poor man who would give up his six children, with the prospect of having more, for the thousands or millions of him who is the centre of his own existence, and has neither root nor branch but his forlorn solitary self upon the face of the earth? Let the fruitful family, however poor, lay this to heart; "Children are a heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is his reward." And he who gave them will feed them; for it is a fact, and the maxim formed on it has never failed, "Wherever God sends mouths, he sends meat." "Murmur not," said an Arab to his friend, "because thy family is large; know that it is for their sakes that God feeds thee."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv3–4Psa 127:3. Lo, children are a heritage of the…
Psa 127:3. Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord — They come not from the power of mere nature, but from God’s blessing, even as an inheritance is not the fruit of a man’s own labour, but the gift of God. He can, in a moment, blast the most fruitful stock, or he can make the barren woman keep house, and become a joyful mother of children. The psalmist mentions children here, because all the forementioned toil and labour are, in a great measure, and most commonly, undertaken for their sakes; and because they are the chief of all those blessings to which he refers. And the fruit of the womb is his reward — Not a reward of debt, merited by good men, but a reward of grace, as the apostle expresses himself, Rom 4:4, which God gives them graciously, as Jacob acknowledges of his children, Gen 35:5. God indeed frequently gives children, and other outward comforts, to ungodly men, but this is in the way of his common providence; whereas he gives them to his people as peculiar favours, and in the way of promise and covenant.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv3–5Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord -…
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord - They are an inheritance derived from the Lord. They are bestowed by him as really as success is in building a house, or in guarding a city. The idea is, that everything which we value, or which we desire, is a gift from God, and is to be received as from him, and to be acknowledged as his gift. The general idea here, as in the previous verses, is that of entire dependence on God.
And the fruit of the womb is his reward - Or rather, “a reward;” that is, they are of the nature of a reward for a life of devotion to God; they are among the blessings which God promises, and are evidences of his favor. Our translation by inserting the words “is his” obscures the sense, as if the meaning were that they belong to God as his “reward” for what he does for us. The reverse of this is the true idea - that they are a blessing with which he rewards or favors his people. Of course, this is not universally true, but the promise is a general one, in accordance with the usual promises in the Bible in regard to the result of piety. Children are to be reckoned among the divine favors bestowed on us, and for their lives, their health, their virtues, and the happiness derived from them, we are, as in other things, dependent on him - as in building a house, in guarding a city, or in the rest and comfort derived from toil.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv3–53. Lo, children—From dwellings, and the right ordering of…
3. Lo, children—From dwellings, and the right ordering of our labour, the psalmist proceeds to the family.
Heritage—A possession derived from a father by the law of blood relation. Children are a wealth, and the gift of God. To reverse this doctrine is a renunciation of the laws of God, both as written in Holy Scripture and implanted in our nature.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv3–53. Lo, sons axe an inheritance from Jehovah;
3. Lo, sons axe an inheritance from Jehovah;
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
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As He bestowed upon Israel the possession of Canaan (Exo_15:17; Deu_4:21), not as an hereditary right, but of His own free-will, in accordance with His promise, so of His free gift and grace does He bestow the blessing of numerous children. The P.B.V. well expresses the sense, “Lo, children and the fruit of the womb are an heritage and gift that cometh of the Lord.” If the thought of recompence is included at all in ‘reward,’ it is, in accordance with the spirit of Psa_127:1-2, as a recompence for the fear of God (cp. 128) that children are given, not, as the Targum glosses, introducing the later Jewish doctrine of merit, as a reward for good works.
the fruit of the womb] A more general expression including daughters. Cp. Psa_132:11; Gen_30:2; Deu_7:13.
3–5. All blessings are God’s gift, but especially the blessing of a numerous family. In dilating upon its advantages the Psalmist passes away from the primary theme of the Psalm.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv3–5(3) Children.—With the true patriarchal feeling of the blessing…
(3) Children.—With the true patriarchal feeling of the blessing of a numerous offspring, the poet here directly alludes to Gen_30:2. “Heritage of Jehovah” is, of course, “heritage from Jehovah,” i.e., a promise granted by Him, just as Israel itself was a possession He made for Himself.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv3–5Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord. The…
Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord. The teaching is enforced by an example. The prosperity, alike of states and of individuals, depends on nothing so much as on an abundant progeny of children. But children are manifestly the free gift of God. And the fruit of the womb is his reward. One of the ways in which he rewards his faithful ones. (see Deu_28:10:11)
Children a man"s reward.
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The picture presented is of the Hebrew man in mid-life, at rest in his country home, with his sturdy sons about him; his wife is still young; her fair daughters are like cornices sculptured as decorations for a palace" (Isaac Taylor). The Jews at all times of their history esteemed a large family one of the chief of blessings. "The Oriental view interweaves itself with the religious creed of the Brahmins, according to which a son, by offering the funeral libation, is said to procure rest for the departed spirit of his father." By "reward" we may understand "sign of Divine favor." The reward of a whole life"s goodness cannot come until the life is completed. Signs of Divine favor cheer and encourage as life progresses. Some married people do not have families, but we have no right to regard the withholding as a judgment. We need only say that, when children are sent, they are a sign of Divine favor. And this is not saying that all children who come into the world come as a Divine reward. We are exclusively dealing with the families of God"s people, and all we have said is strictly true of them. There is a great compensation for persons who have no children, in the fact that they often have an unusual love for other-peoples children, and skill in ministering to them. This is illustrated in Sunday schools, ministers, orphan and outcast institutions, etc.
I CHILDREN REWARD A MAN IN WHAT THEY THEMSELVES ARE. A man has no pleasure in life that can equal his joy in his children, who bear his image, and in miniature reproduce himself. Their ways, their talk, their crudities, their innocence, their unfolding, their very frailties, are a perpetual interest, relief, and pleasure. The child-ministry of childhood is seldom sufficiently estimated. Illustration may be taken from McLeod"s "Wee Davie;" or the more recent story of "Bootle"s Baby.
II CHILDREN REWARD A MAN IN WHAT THEY BECOME. For a man lives over again in the success of his children. He is proud of their well-grown healthy bodies; of their developed, and cultured minds; of their honorable and useful positions. A man never feels to have lived in vain when he leaves a respectable and well-ordered family behind him.
III CHILDREN REWARD A MAN IN WHAT THEY DO FOE HIM. This is especially in the psalmist"s mind. The good man who has good children has a fortune laid up against old age and infirmity safer far than shares in joint-stock companies. His every need will be safely met by the response child-love will make to all his sacrifices in days gone by. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon1885 · Public DomainOn vv3–5Ver. 3. Lo, children are an heritage of the…
Ver. 3. Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD. This points to another mode of building up a house, namely, by leaving descendants to keep our name and family alive upon the earth. Without this what is a man's purpose in accumulating wealth! To what purpose does he build a house if he has none in his household to hold the house after him? What boots it that he is the possessor of broad acres if he has no heir? Yet in this matter a main is powerless without the Lord. The great Napoleon, with all his sinful care on this point, could not create a dynasty. Hundreds of wealthy persons would give half their estates if they could hear the cry of a babe born of their own bodies. Children are a heritage which Jehovah himself must give, or a man will die childless, and thus his house will be unbuilt.
And the fruit of the womb is his reward, or a reward from God. He gives children, not as a penalty nor as a burden, but as a favour. They are a token for good if men know how to receive them, and educate them. They are "doubtful blessings" only because we are doubtful persons. Where society is rightly ordered children are regarded, not as an incumbrance, but as an inheritance; and they are received, not with regret, but as a reward. If we are over crowded in England, and so seem to be embarrassed with too large an increase, we must remember that the Lord does not order us to remain in this narrow island, but would have us fill those boundless regions which wait for the axe and the plough. Yet even here, with all the straits of limited incomes, our best possessions are our own dear offspring, for whom we bless God every day.
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Ver. 3. Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD. There is no reason, therefore, why you should be apprehensive for your families and country; there is no reason why you should weary yourselves with such great and such restless labour. God will be with you and your children, since they are his heritage. -Thomas Le Blanc.
Ver. 3. Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD. That is, to many God gives children in place of temporal good. To many others he gives houses, lands, and thousands of gold and silver, and with them the womb that beareth not; and these are their inheritance. The poor man has from God a number of children, without lands or money; these are his inheritance; and God shows himself their father, feeding and supporting them by a chain of miraculous providences. Where is the poor man who would give up his six children with the prospect of having more, for the thousands or millions of him who is the centre of his own existence, and has neither root nor branch but his forlorn solitary self upon the face of the earth? Let the fruitful family, however poor, lay this to heart: Children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. And he who gave them will feed them; for it is a fact, and the maxim formed on it has never failed, "Wherever God sends mouths, he sends meat." "Murmur not", said an Arab to his friend, "because thy family is large; know that it is for their sakes that God feeds thee." Adam Clarke.
Ver. 3. Children are an heritage of the LORD. The Hebrew seems to imply that children are an heritage belonging to the Lord, and not an heritage given by the Lord, as most English readers appear to take it. The Targum likewise bears this out. H. T. Armfield.
Ver. 3. Children are an heritage of the LORD, etc. The Psalmist speaks of what children are unto godly and holy parents, for unto such only is any blessing given by God as a reward, and the Psalmist expressly speaks of blessings which God gives his beloved ones, and this blessing of children he makes to be the last and greatest. It is also as certain that he speaks of children as supposed to be holy and godly; for otherwise they are not a reward, but a curse, and a sorrow to him that begat them. The Psalm was made, as appears by the title of it, "of or for Solomon", and therefore, as it is more than probable, was penned, as that other Psalm, the 72nd, which bears the same title, by David the father, of and for Solomon his son, who was, for his father's sake, "the beloved of God." (2Sa 12:24-25), and upon whom the sure covenant and mercies of David were entailed, together with his kingdom. And what is said in this Psalm, in the verses before, fitly agrees to him, for he it was who was to build God's house, to keep and preserve Jerusalem the city, and the kingdom in peace, and to have rest, or as the Psalmist calls it (Ps 127:3), quiet sleep given him by God from all his enemies round about him. And for this, compare the prophecy of him (1Ch 22:9-10) with the instructions here given him in the three first verses of this Psalm, and ye will see how fitly this Psalm concerns him. Thomas Goodwin.
Ver. 3. Children are an heritage of the LORD. Hence note, 'tis one of the greatest outward blessings to have a family full of dutiful children. To have many children is the next blessing to much grace. To have many children about us is better than to have much wealth about us. To have store of these olive plants (as the Psalmist calls them) round about our table is better than to have store of oil and wine upon our table. We know the worth of dead, or rather lifeless treasures, but who knows the worth of living treasures? Every man who hath children hath not a blessing in them, yet children are a blessing, and some have many blessings in one child. Children are chiefly a blessing to the children of God. "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward." But are not houses and lands, gold and silver, an heritage bestowed by the Lord upon his people? Doubtless they are, for the earth is his, and the fulness of it, and he gives it to the children of men. But though all things are of God, yet all things are not alike of him: children are more of God than houses and lands. Joseph Caryl.
Ver. 3. Children! might one say as the word was utteredI left mine in my distant home, in poverty, their wants and numbers increasing, with the means of providing for their comfort daily narrowing. Even should my life be prolonged, they will be children of want, but with sickness and warnings of death upon me, they will soon be helpless and friendless orphans. Yes I but will God be neglectful of his own heritage? will he turn a gift into a sorrow? Poor as thou art, repine not at the number of thy children. Though lions lack thou shalt not, if thou seekest him; and know that it may be even for their sakes that he feedeth thee. If even thou wouldst not part with one of them for thousands of gold and silver, believe that he who is the fountain of all tenderness regards them with yet deeper love, and will make them now, in thy hour of trial, a means of increasing thy dependence on him, and soon thy support and pride.
Children! might another say, as the Psalm referred to them on their opening promise the breath of the destroyer has been poured. They are ripening visibly for the grave, and their very smile and caress cause my wounded heart to bleed anew. Yes, mourner; but God's heritage! may he not claim his own? They are in safe keeping when in his, and will soon be restored to thee in the better land, where death will make them ministering angels at his throne; nay, they will be the first to welcome thee to its glories, to love and worship with thee throughout eternity.
Children! this word to a third, of an even sadder and more anxious spirit, might seem like the planting of a dagger in his heart. His children have forsaken their father's God. Their associates were the vain and vicious; their pleasures were the pleasures of folly and shame; their lives barren of all promise, their souls destitute of all purpose, and steeled against all reproof. True, but the heritage of the Lord still. Hast thou, sorrowing parent, asked him for wisdom to keep it for him? Have due thought, prayer, watchful and holy living been expended on that heritage of God? No culture, no harvest in the soil; no prayer, no blessing from the soul. "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it", is a promise that though sometimes, yet but seldom has missed fulfilment. Bring them to Jesus, and, unchanged in his tenderness, he will still lay his hands upon them and bless them. Robert Nisbet.
Ver. 3. The fruit of the womb is his reward. John Howard Hinton's daughter said to him as she knelt by his death bed: "There is no greater blessing than for children to have godly parents." "And the next", said the dying father, with a beam of gratitude, "for parents to have godly children." Memoir in Baptist Handbook, 1875.
Ver. 3. Sermon by Thomas Manton. Works: vol. 18. pp. 84-95. Nichol's Edition.
Ver. 3-5. Children. Consider:
1. The effects of receiving them as a heritage from the Lord.
a) Parents will trust in the Lord for their provision and safety.
b) Will regard them as a sacred trust from the Lord, of whose care they must render an account.
c) Will train them up in the fear of the Lord.
d) Will often consult God concerning them.
e) Will render them up uncomplainingly when the Lord calls them to himself by death.
2. The effects of their right training.
a) They become the parents' joy.
b) The permanent record of the parents' wisdom.
c) The support and solace of the parents' old age.
d) The transmitters of their parents' virtues to another generation; for well trained children become, in their turn, wise parents. J. F.
Psalms 127:4*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv3–4Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord.
Psa_127:3-5
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord.
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Children--Divine gifts
Children come not into the world by chance or fate. God sends them as His gifts.
I. They are gifts of great value.
1. They are of great value in themselves.
(1) The intellectual possibilities of a child. In the babe which the mother for the first time presses to her bosom, there may be powers that will work out into the greatest of poets, sages, apostles, reformers, even angels.
(2) The emotional possibilities of a child. What capabilities of love and hate, wrath and tenderness, rapture and misery.
2. They are of great value to the parents.
(1) Look at the influence of a child on the mind of a parent. It unseals a new fountain of love. It creates a new world of interest, it supplies new motives for diligence, sobriety, and virtue.
(2) Look at the power of a child to bless the parent. It comes with the filial instinct deeply planted in its nature, an instinct which, as it rightly develops itself, makes the parent the object of its strongest and purest affection, its most loyal and devoted service. When God gives to parents a loving and loyal child, He gives that which is of more worth to them than lordly estates, or even mighty kingdoms.
II. They are gifts involving great trusts.
III. They are gifts that may become great curses. Man has a faculty of perversion. In nature he can turn food to poison, make the quickening sunbeam his own destroyer, and transform the blessings of Providence into curses. Thus he can deal with his own child, his choicest gift from God. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
About children
I. Children are a Divine treasure. God prizes children because they are--
1. His images.
2. His instruments. From a holy child the Most High can let His glory shine forth as truly as from an aged saint. In the goodness which He can form in the young, there is an attractive beauty by which all hearts are melted, and which is fitted to convince the proudest gainsayer. It is not the largest flowers which the gardener cherishes most tenderly, or to which he points his visitors as the best proof of his skill and taste.
II. Children are a Divine gift.
1. One of inestimable value. They are to take our places when we go away--to repair the losses caused by the removal of others--to labour in that with which we are now busy--to carry on and to carry further whatever of noble and useful effort we have begun--not merely to replace but to surpass us.
2. One of happy influence. They diffuse a Divine harmony over the hearts of those who take them as from God, and train them as for Him. They keep alive our noblest feelings. To them we owe much of that tenderness of heart, which is so imperilled by the business, and cares, and wickedness of the world. They are a witness from God which we cannot suppress.
III. Children are a Divine trust.
1. We must strive to show them a right example.
2. We must give them a careful training.
3. We must show a kindly interest in them.
4. We must give them our fervent prayers. (A. MacEwen, D. D.)
Children--Gods gift
What we want is for every father and mother to be moved be say when a little one is put into their arms, This child is a heritage from the Lord, a sign of the Divine favour towards us, a precious charge of love to be brought up in His nurture and admonition.
I. Try to estimate their worth. As Gods gifts they possess an inestimable value. Nothing He sends can be worthless. The humblest flower which He pencils into beauty by a ray of sunlight is not to be overlooked. Of every work that bears the mark of His creative touch, however insignificant, the exhortation may be uttered, Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones. How much more shall it be said--and said by the Master of men Himself--of those little flowers of humanity that spring up and bud and blossom in our homes. The hopes of two worlds, of time and eternity, meet in every child born into our homes. Have we ever realized as completely as we might do what they are and may become? If we have attempted this, then all relationships in which they may stand to us are as nothing compared with this, that they may become heirs of immortality and eternal life.
II. Try to understand their individual characters. A family is a little world. Each member of it has a personality of his and her own. But what that is who can tell? There is no magic method of discovering it. God has hot intended to save us the trouble of constant watchfulness by sending with each child a tabulated description of its character. Everything is unformed, yet there is a distinct individuality lying and working underneath, and that manifests itself as education and circumstances develop the mind and heart. What we have to do is to wait, and watch, and guide; acknowledging the existence of variety, yet training it in wholesome ways.
III. Try to appreciate the power of your influence. Do they learn from us to honour and to attain the highest principles? Do they see that we as Christian men and women esteem godliness and truth above all other things? Let our influence be such as to nurture in them a fervent love of what is right because it is right, and a profound abhorrence to all that is mean, selfish, double-minded, impure, un-Christlike, and then will their minds respond with quick sensitiveness to all forms of goodness, and turn with spontaneous hatred from that which is contrary to uprightness and truth. (W. Braden.)
The pleasure given by children
There is a pathetic passage in the autobiography of Herbert Spencer, which was published some time ago. At the age of seventy-three he wrote, When at Brighton in 1887, suffering the ennui of an invalid life, passed chiefly in bed and on the sofa, I one day, while thinking over modes of killing time, bethought me that the society of children might be a desirable distraction. And so he wrote to a friend, Will you lend me some children? The children were sent to him, and of them he wrote, instead of simply affording me a little distraction . . . afforded me a great deal of positive gratification. And the great scientist who had no children to love longed for the gifts that had not been bestowed upon him.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On v3property that a person can inherit from his ancestors.…
heritage
property that a person can inherit from his ancestors. Children normally receive an inheritance from their parents. Inheritance goes from parents to children. This passage uses parents inheriting children from Yahweh as a metaphor for Yahweh being the only one who can give children.
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Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth
Arrows are very important to a warrior because they protect him in battle. Children are spoken of as if they are a warrior's arrow. AT: "Having many children will help to protect you" (See: Simile)
his quiver full of them
A quiver is a container for arrows. Having many children is spoken of as if the children were arrows in a quiver. AT: "a home full of children" or "many children" (See: Metaphor)
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv3–4127:3-5 Children are one of God’s blessings. The words…
127:3-5 Children are one of God’s blessings. The words translated “children” (Hebrew banim) and “builders” (bonim, 127:1) form a wordplay. Having children builds a family.
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv3, 5 3. Lo! children are the heritage of Jehovah. Solomon…
3. Lo! children are the heritage of Jehovah. Solomon here adduces one instance in which, in a particular manner, he would have us to recognize the truth which he has hitherto asserted generally — that the life of men is governed by God. Nothing seems more natural than for men to be produced of men. The majority of mankind dream, that after God had once ordained this at the beginning, children were thenceforth begotten solely by a secret instinct of nature, God ceasing to interfere in the matter; and even those who are endued with some sense of piety, although they may not deny that He is the Father and Creator of the human race, yet do not acknowledge that his providential care descends to this particular case, but rather think that men are created by a certain universal motion. With the view of correcting this preposterous error, Solomon calls children the heritage of God, and the fruit of the womb his gift; for the Hebrew word שכר, sachar, translated reward, signifies whatever benefits God bestows upon men, as is plainly manifest from many passages of Scripture. The meaning then is, that, children are not the fruit of chance, but that God, as it seems good to him, distributes to every man his share of them. Moreover, as the Prophet repeats the same thing twice, heritage and reward are to be understood as equivalent; for both these terms are set in opposition to fortune, or the strength of men. The stronger a man is he seems so much the better fitted for procreation. Solomon declares on the contrary, that those become fathers to whom God vouchsafes that honor.
As the majority of children are not always a source of joy to their parents, a second favor of God is added, which is his forming the minds of children, and adorning them with an excellent disposition, and all kinds of virtues. Aristotle in his Politics very properly discusses the question whether πολυτεκνια, that is, the having of many children, ought to be accounted among good things or no; and he decides it in the negative, unless there is added εὐγενεια, that is, generosity or goodness of nature in the children themselves. And assuredly it would be a far happier lot for many to be without children, or barren, than to have a numerous offspring, proving to them only the cause of tears and groans. In order, then, to set forth this blessing of God — the having offspring — in a clear light, Solomon commends a virtuous and generous disposition in children. The similitude introduced for this purpose is, that as an archer is armed ‘with a well-furnished bow, so men are defended by their children, as it were with a bow and all arrow. This similitude might seem, at first sight, a little too harsh; but if it is examined somewhat more closely, its elegance will be readily admitted. The Prophet means that those who are without children are in a manner unarmed; for what else is it to be childless but to be solitary? It is no small gift of God for a man to be renewed in his posterity; for God then gives him new strength, that he who otherwise would straightway decay, may begin as it were to live a second time.
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The knowledge of this doctrine is highly useful. The fruitfulness even of the lower animals is expressly ascribed to God alone; and if He would have it to be accounted his benefit that kine, and sheep, and mares conceive, how inexcusable will be the impiety of men, if when he adorns them with the honorable title of fathers, they account this favor as nothing. It is also to be added, that unless men regard their children as the gift of God, they are careless and reluctant in providing for their support, just as on the other hand this knowledge contributes in a very eminent degree to encourage them in bringing up their offspring. Farther, he who thus reflects upon the goodness of God in giving him children, will readily and with a settled mind look for the continuance of God’s grace; and although he may have but a small inheritance to leave them, he will not be unduly careful on that account.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv4–5 That is, endued with strength and virtues from God:…
That is, endued with strength and virtues from God: for these are signs of God’s blessings, and not the number.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Psa 127:3 Lo, children [are] an heritage of the…
Psa 127:3 Lo, children [are] an heritage of the LORD: [and] the fruit of the womb [is his] reward.
Ver. 3. Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord] This Solomon could not but be sensible of. See the title of this psalm; especially, if by children are meant good children, as, Pro 18:22, by a wife is meant a good wife. And here the poor man that hath no inheritance otherwise hath one from the Lord; for such are oft full of children; neither may he wish, as one graceless man did, that God would keep such his blessings to himself, for he had too many of them.
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Is his reward] That is, his free gift; and God will be their exceeding great reward, if, by their parents’ prayer and good education, they prove towardly, as the Lord’s heritage, and as arrows in the hand, &c.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Children; which he mentions here, partly because they are…
Children; which he mentions here, partly because they are the chief of all these blessings, and partly because all the forementioned toil and labour is in a great measure and most commonly undertaken for their sakes.
Are an heritage of the Lord; they come not from the power of nature, and from a man’s conversation with his wife, or with a multitude of wives or concubines, which Solomon had, but only from God’s blessing; even as an inheritance is not the fruit of a man’s own labour, but the gift of his father, or rather the gift of God, both enabling and inclining his father to give it to him.
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His reward; not a reward of debt merited by good men, but a reward of grace, of which we read Rom 4:4, which God gives them graciously, as Jacob acknowledgeth of his children, Gen 33:5. And although God give children and other outward comforts to ungodly men in the way of common providence, yet he gives them only to his people as favours, and in the way of promise and covenant.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord,.... As…
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord,.... As all success, safety, and the blessings of life, depend on the providence of God; so this very great blessing is a gift of his; having children, and those good ones, as the Targum interprets it; for of such only can it be understood: so, in a spiritual sense, the children of Christ, the antitypical Solomon, are the gifts of his heavenly Father to him; his portion and inheritance, and a goodly heritage he esteems them;
and the fruit of the womb is his reward; "fruit" (y) is the same with "children" in the preceding clause; see Luk 1:42; a reward he gives to good men, not of debt, but of grace; the Targum,
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"a reward of good works:''
so regenerate persons are a reward to Christ, of his sufferings and death, Isa 53:10.
(y) "Nascitur ad fructum mulier", Claudian. in Eutrop. l. 1. v. 331.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Children - The chief of these blessings. Heritage -…
Children - The chief of these blessings. Heritage - Only from God's blessing, even as an inheritance is not the fruit of a man's own labour, but the gift of God.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Verse 3. Lo, children are a heritage of the…
Verse 3. Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord] That is, To many God gives children in place of temporal good. To many others he gives houses, lands, and thousands of gold and silver, and with them the womb that beareth not; and these are their inheritance. The poor man has from God a number of children, without lands or money; these are his inheritance; and God shows himself their father, feeding and supporting them by a chain of miraculous providences. Where is the poor man who would give up his six children, with the prospect of having more, for the thousands or millions of him who is the centre of his own existence, and has neither root nor branch but his forlorn solitary self upon the face of the earth? Let the fruitful family, however poor, lay this to heart; "Children are a heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is his reward." And he who gave them will feed them; for it is a fact, and the maxim formed on it has never failed, "Wherever God sends mouths, he sends meat." "Murmur not," said an Arab to his friend, "because thy family is large; know that it is for their sakes that God feeds thee."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv3–4 Psa 127:3. Lo, children are a heritage of the…
Psa 127:3. Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord — They come not from the power of mere nature, but from God’s blessing, even as an inheritance is not the fruit of a man’s own labour, but the gift of God. He can, in a moment, blast the most fruitful stock, or he can make the barren woman keep house, and become a joyful mother of children. The psalmist mentions children here, because all the forementioned toil and labour are, in a great measure, and most commonly, undertaken for their sakes; and because they are the chief of all those blessings to which he refers. And the fruit of the womb is his reward — Not a reward of debt, merited by good men, but a reward of grace, as the apostle expresses himself, Rom 4:4, which God gives them graciously, as Jacob acknowledges of his children, Gen 35:5. God indeed frequently gives children, and other outward comforts, to ungodly men, but this is in the way of his common providence; whereas he gives them to his people as peculiar favours, and in the way of promise and covenant.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord -…
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord - They are an inheritance derived from the Lord. They are bestowed by him as really as success is in building a house, or in guarding a city. The idea is, that everything which we value, or which we desire, is a gift from God, and is to be received as from him, and to be acknowledged as his gift. The general idea here, as in the previous verses, is that of entire dependence on God.
And the fruit of the womb is his reward - Or rather, “a reward;” that is, they are of the nature of a reward for a life of devotion to God; they are among the blessings which God promises, and are evidences of his favor. Our translation by inserting the words “is his” obscures the sense, as if the meaning were that they belong to God as his “reward” for what he does for us. The reverse of this is the true idea - that they are a blessing with which he rewards or favors his people. Of course, this is not universally true, but the promise is a general one, in accordance with the usual promises in the Bible in regard to the result of piety. Children are to be reckoned among the divine favors bestowed on us, and for their lives, their health, their virtues, and the happiness derived from them, we are, as in other things, dependent on him - as in building a house, in guarding a city, or in the rest and comfort derived from toil.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv3–5 3. Lo, children—From dwellings, and the right ordering of…
3. Lo, children—From dwellings, and the right ordering of our labour, the psalmist proceeds to the family.
Heritage—A possession derived from a father by the law of blood relation. Children are a wealth, and the gift of God. To reverse this doctrine is a renunciation of the laws of God, both as written in Holy Scripture and implanted in our nature.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv3–5 3. Lo, sons axe an inheritance from Jehovah;
3. Lo, sons axe an inheritance from Jehovah;
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
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As He bestowed upon Israel the possession of Canaan (Exo_15:17; Deu_4:21), not as an hereditary right, but of His own free-will, in accordance with His promise, so of His free gift and grace does He bestow the blessing of numerous children. The P.B.V. well expresses the sense, “Lo, children and the fruit of the womb are an heritage and gift that cometh of the Lord.” If the thought of recompence is included at all in ‘reward,’ it is, in accordance with the spirit of Psa_127:1-2, as a recompence for the fear of God (cp. 128) that children are given, not, as the Targum glosses, introducing the later Jewish doctrine of merit, as a reward for good works.
the fruit of the womb] A more general expression including daughters. Cp. Psa_132:11; Gen_30:2; Deu_7:13.
3–5. All blessings are God’s gift, but especially the blessing of a numerous family. In dilating upon its advantages the Psalmist passes away from the primary theme of the Psalm.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv3–5 (3) Children.—With the true patriarchal feeling of the blessing…
(3) Children.—With the true patriarchal feeling of the blessing of a numerous offspring, the poet here directly alludes to Gen_30:2. “Heritage of Jehovah” is, of course, “heritage from Jehovah,” i.e., a promise granted by Him, just as Israel itself was a possession He made for Himself.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord. The…
Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord. The teaching is enforced by an example. The prosperity, alike of states and of individuals, depends on nothing so much as on an abundant progeny of children. But children are manifestly the free gift of God. And the fruit of the womb is his reward. One of the ways in which he rewards his faithful ones. (see Deu_28:10:11)
Children a man"s reward.
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The picture presented is of the Hebrew man in mid-life, at rest in his country home, with his sturdy sons about him; his wife is still young; her fair daughters are like cornices sculptured as decorations for a palace" (Isaac Taylor). The Jews at all times of their history esteemed a large family one of the chief of blessings. "The Oriental view interweaves itself with the religious creed of the Brahmins, according to which a son, by offering the funeral libation, is said to procure rest for the departed spirit of his father." By "reward" we may understand "sign of Divine favor." The reward of a whole life"s goodness cannot come until the life is completed. Signs of Divine favor cheer and encourage as life progresses. Some married people do not have families, but we have no right to regard the withholding as a judgment. We need only say that, when children are sent, they are a sign of Divine favor. And this is not saying that all children who come into the world come as a Divine reward. We are exclusively dealing with the families of God"s people, and all we have said is strictly true of them. There is a great compensation for persons who have no children, in the fact that they often have an unusual love for other-peoples children, and skill in ministering to them. This is illustrated in Sunday schools, ministers, orphan and outcast institutions, etc.
I CHILDREN REWARD A MAN IN WHAT THEY THEMSELVES ARE. A man has no pleasure in life that can equal his joy in his children, who bear his image, and in miniature reproduce himself. Their ways, their talk, their crudities, their innocence, their unfolding, their very frailties, are a perpetual interest, relief, and pleasure. The child-ministry of childhood is seldom sufficiently estimated. Illustration may be taken from McLeod"s "Wee Davie;" or the more recent story of "Bootle"s Baby.
II CHILDREN REWARD A MAN IN WHAT THEY BECOME. For a man lives over again in the success of his children. He is proud of their well-grown healthy bodies; of their developed, and cultured minds; of their honorable and useful positions. A man never feels to have lived in vain when he leaves a respectable and well-ordered family behind him.
III CHILDREN REWARD A MAN IN WHAT THEY DO FOE HIM. This is especially in the psalmist"s mind. The good man who has good children has a fortune laid up against old age and infirmity safer far than shares in joint-stock companies. His every need will be safely met by the response child-love will make to all his sacrifices in days gone by. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Ver. 3. Lo, children are an heritage of the…
Ver. 3. Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD. This points to another mode of building up a house, namely, by leaving descendants to keep our name and family alive upon the earth. Without this what is a man's purpose in accumulating wealth! To what purpose does he build a house if he has none in his household to hold the house after him? What boots it that he is the possessor of broad acres if he has no heir? Yet in this matter a main is powerless without the Lord. The great Napoleon, with all his sinful care on this point, could not create a dynasty. Hundreds of wealthy persons would give half their estates if they could hear the cry of a babe born of their own bodies. Children are a heritage which Jehovah himself must give, or a man will die childless, and thus his house will be unbuilt.
And the fruit of the womb is his reward, or a reward from God. He gives children, not as a penalty nor as a burden, but as a favour. They are a token for good if men know how to receive them, and educate them. They are "doubtful blessings" only because we are doubtful persons. Where society is rightly ordered children are regarded, not as an incumbrance, but as an inheritance; and they are received, not with regret, but as a reward. If we are over crowded in England, and so seem to be embarrassed with too large an increase, we must remember that the Lord does not order us to remain in this narrow island, but would have us fill those boundless regions which wait for the axe and the plough. Yet even here, with all the straits of limited incomes, our best possessions are our own dear offspring, for whom we bless God every day.
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Ver. 3. Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD. There is no reason, therefore, why you should be apprehensive for your families and country; there is no reason why you should weary yourselves with such great and such restless labour. God will be with you and your children, since they are his heritage. -Thomas Le Blanc.
Ver. 3. Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD. That is, to many God gives children in place of temporal good. To many others he gives houses, lands, and thousands of gold and silver, and with them the womb that beareth not; and these are their inheritance. The poor man has from God a number of children, without lands or money; these are his inheritance; and God shows himself their father, feeding and supporting them by a chain of miraculous providences. Where is the poor man who would give up his six children with the prospect of having more, for the thousands or millions of him who is the centre of his own existence, and has neither root nor branch but his forlorn solitary self upon the face of the earth? Let the fruitful family, however poor, lay this to heart: Children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. And he who gave them will feed them; for it is a fact, and the maxim formed on it has never failed, "Wherever God sends mouths, he sends meat." "Murmur not", said an Arab to his friend, "because thy family is large; know that it is for their sakes that God feeds thee." Adam Clarke.
Ver. 3. Children are an heritage of the LORD. The Hebrew seems to imply that children are an heritage belonging to the Lord, and not an heritage given by the Lord, as most English readers appear to take it. The Targum likewise bears this out. H. T. Armfield.
Ver. 3. Children are an heritage of the LORD, etc. The Psalmist speaks of what children are unto godly and holy parents, for unto such only is any blessing given by God as a reward, and the Psalmist expressly speaks of blessings which God gives his beloved ones, and this blessing of children he makes to be the last and greatest. It is also as certain that he speaks of children as supposed to be holy and godly; for otherwise they are not a reward, but a curse, and a sorrow to him that begat them. The Psalm was made, as appears by the title of it, "of or for Solomon", and therefore, as it is more than probable, was penned, as that other Psalm, the 72nd, which bears the same title, by David the father, of and for Solomon his son, who was, for his father's sake, "the beloved of God." (2Sa 12:24-25), and upon whom the sure covenant and mercies of David were entailed, together with his kingdom. And what is said in this Psalm, in the verses before, fitly agrees to him, for he it was who was to build God's house, to keep and preserve Jerusalem the city, and the kingdom in peace, and to have rest, or as the Psalmist calls it (Ps 127:3), quiet sleep given him by God from all his enemies round about him. And for this, compare the prophecy of him (1Ch 22:9-10) with the instructions here given him in the three first verses of this Psalm, and ye will see how fitly this Psalm concerns him. Thomas Goodwin.
Ver. 3. Children are an heritage of the LORD. Hence note, 'tis one of the greatest outward blessings to have a family full of dutiful children. To have many children is the next blessing to much grace. To have many children about us is better than to have much wealth about us. To have store of these olive plants (as the Psalmist calls them) round about our table is better than to have store of oil and wine upon our table. We know the worth of dead, or rather lifeless treasures, but who knows the worth of living treasures? Every man who hath children hath not a blessing in them, yet children are a blessing, and some have many blessings in one child. Children are chiefly a blessing to the children of God. "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward." But are not houses and lands, gold and silver, an heritage bestowed by the Lord upon his people? Doubtless they are, for the earth is his, and the fulness of it, and he gives it to the children of men. But though all things are of God, yet all things are not alike of him: children are more of God than houses and lands. Joseph Caryl.
Ver. 3. Children! might one say as the word was utteredI left mine in my distant home, in poverty, their wants and numbers increasing, with the means of providing for their comfort daily narrowing. Even should my life be prolonged, they will be children of want, but with sickness and warnings of death upon me, they will soon be helpless and friendless orphans. Yes I but will God be neglectful of his own heritage? will he turn a gift into a sorrow? Poor as thou art, repine not at the number of thy children. Though lions lack thou shalt not, if thou seekest him; and know that it may be even for their sakes that he feedeth thee. If even thou wouldst not part with one of them for thousands of gold and silver, believe that he who is the fountain of all tenderness regards them with yet deeper love, and will make them now, in thy hour of trial, a means of increasing thy dependence on him, and soon thy support and pride.
Children! might another say, as the Psalm referred to them on their opening promise the breath of the destroyer has been poured. They are ripening visibly for the grave, and their very smile and caress cause my wounded heart to bleed anew. Yes, mourner; but God's heritage! may he not claim his own? They are in safe keeping when in his, and will soon be restored to thee in the better land, where death will make them ministering angels at his throne; nay, they will be the first to welcome thee to its glories, to love and worship with thee throughout eternity.
Children! this word to a third, of an even sadder and more anxious spirit, might seem like the planting of a dagger in his heart. His children have forsaken their father's God. Their associates were the vain and vicious; their pleasures were the pleasures of folly and shame; their lives barren of all promise, their souls destitute of all purpose, and steeled against all reproof. True, but the heritage of the Lord still. Hast thou, sorrowing parent, asked him for wisdom to keep it for him? Have due thought, prayer, watchful and holy living been expended on that heritage of God? No culture, no harvest in the soil; no prayer, no blessing from the soul. "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it", is a promise that though sometimes, yet but seldom has missed fulfilment. Bring them to Jesus, and, unchanged in his tenderness, he will still lay his hands upon them and bless them. Robert Nisbet.
Ver. 3. The fruit of the womb is his reward. John Howard Hinton's daughter said to him as she knelt by his death bed: "There is no greater blessing than for children to have godly parents." "And the next", said the dying father, with a beam of gratitude, "for parents to have godly children." Memoir in Baptist Handbook, 1875.
Ver. 3. Sermon by Thomas Manton. Works: vol. 18. pp. 84-95. Nichol's Edition.
Ver. 3-5. Children. Consider:
1. The effects of receiving them as a heritage from the Lord.
a) Parents will trust in the Lord for their provision and safety.
b) Will regard them as a sacred trust from the Lord, of whose care they must render an account.
c) Will train them up in the fear of the Lord.
d) Will often consult God concerning them.
e) Will render them up uncomplainingly when the Lord calls them to himself by death.
2. The effects of their right training.
a) They become the parents' joy.
b) The permanent record of the parents' wisdom.
c) The support and solace of the parents' old age.
d) The transmitters of their parents' virtues to another generation; for well trained children become, in their turn, wise parents. J. F.
Psalms 127:4*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv3–4 Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord.
Psa_127:3-5
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord.
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Children--Divine gifts
Children come not into the world by chance or fate. God sends them as His gifts.
I. They are gifts of great value.
1. They are of great value in themselves.
(1) The intellectual possibilities of a child. In the babe which the mother for the first time presses to her bosom, there may be powers that will work out into the greatest of poets, sages, apostles, reformers, even angels.
(2) The emotional possibilities of a child. What capabilities of love and hate, wrath and tenderness, rapture and misery.
2. They are of great value to the parents.
(1) Look at the influence of a child on the mind of a parent. It unseals a new fountain of love. It creates a new world of interest, it supplies new motives for diligence, sobriety, and virtue.
(2) Look at the power of a child to bless the parent. It comes with the filial instinct deeply planted in its nature, an instinct which, as it rightly develops itself, makes the parent the object of its strongest and purest affection, its most loyal and devoted service. When God gives to parents a loving and loyal child, He gives that which is of more worth to them than lordly estates, or even mighty kingdoms.
II. They are gifts involving great trusts.
III. They are gifts that may become great curses. Man has a faculty of perversion. In nature he can turn food to poison, make the quickening sunbeam his own destroyer, and transform the blessings of Providence into curses. Thus he can deal with his own child, his choicest gift from God. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
About children
I. Children are a Divine treasure. God prizes children because they are--
1. His images.
2. His instruments. From a holy child the Most High can let His glory shine forth as truly as from an aged saint. In the goodness which He can form in the young, there is an attractive beauty by which all hearts are melted, and which is fitted to convince the proudest gainsayer. It is not the largest flowers which the gardener cherishes most tenderly, or to which he points his visitors as the best proof of his skill and taste.
II. Children are a Divine gift.
1. One of inestimable value. They are to take our places when we go away--to repair the losses caused by the removal of others--to labour in that with which we are now busy--to carry on and to carry further whatever of noble and useful effort we have begun--not merely to replace but to surpass us.
2. One of happy influence. They diffuse a Divine harmony over the hearts of those who take them as from God, and train them as for Him. They keep alive our noblest feelings. To them we owe much of that tenderness of heart, which is so imperilled by the business, and cares, and wickedness of the world. They are a witness from God which we cannot suppress.
III. Children are a Divine trust.
1. We must strive to show them a right example.
2. We must give them a careful training.
3. We must show a kindly interest in them.
4. We must give them our fervent prayers. (A. MacEwen, D. D.)
Children--Gods gift
What we want is for every father and mother to be moved be say when a little one is put into their arms, This child is a heritage from the Lord, a sign of the Divine favour towards us, a precious charge of love to be brought up in His nurture and admonition.
I. Try to estimate their worth. As Gods gifts they possess an inestimable value. Nothing He sends can be worthless. The humblest flower which He pencils into beauty by a ray of sunlight is not to be overlooked. Of every work that bears the mark of His creative touch, however insignificant, the exhortation may be uttered, Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones. How much more shall it be said--and said by the Master of men Himself--of those little flowers of humanity that spring up and bud and blossom in our homes. The hopes of two worlds, of time and eternity, meet in every child born into our homes. Have we ever realized as completely as we might do what they are and may become? If we have attempted this, then all relationships in which they may stand to us are as nothing compared with this, that they may become heirs of immortality and eternal life.
II. Try to understand their individual characters. A family is a little world. Each member of it has a personality of his and her own. But what that is who can tell? There is no magic method of discovering it. God has hot intended to save us the trouble of constant watchfulness by sending with each child a tabulated description of its character. Everything is unformed, yet there is a distinct individuality lying and working underneath, and that manifests itself as education and circumstances develop the mind and heart. What we have to do is to wait, and watch, and guide; acknowledging the existence of variety, yet training it in wholesome ways.
III. Try to appreciate the power of your influence. Do they learn from us to honour and to attain the highest principles? Do they see that we as Christian men and women esteem godliness and truth above all other things? Let our influence be such as to nurture in them a fervent love of what is right because it is right, and a profound abhorrence to all that is mean, selfish, double-minded, impure, un-Christlike, and then will their minds respond with quick sensitiveness to all forms of goodness, and turn with spontaneous hatred from that which is contrary to uprightness and truth. (W. Braden.)
The pleasure given by children
There is a pathetic passage in the autobiography of Herbert Spencer, which was published some time ago. At the age of seventy-three he wrote, When at Brighton in 1887, suffering the ennui of an invalid life, passed chiefly in bed and on the sofa, I one day, while thinking over modes of killing time, bethought me that the society of children might be a desirable distraction. And so he wrote to a friend, Will you lend me some children? The children were sent to him, and of them he wrote, instead of simply affording me a little distraction . . . afforded me a great deal of positive gratification. And the great scientist who had no children to love longed for the gifts that had not been bestowed upon him.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v3 property that a person can inherit from his ancestors.…
heritage
property that a person can inherit from his ancestors. Children normally receive an inheritance from their parents. Inheritance goes from parents to children. This passage uses parents inheriting children from Yahweh as a metaphor for Yahweh being the only one who can give children.
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Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth
Arrows are very important to a warrior because they protect him in battle. Children are spoken of as if they are a warrior's arrow. AT: "Having many children will help to protect you" (See: Simile)
his quiver full of them
A quiver is a container for arrows. Having many children is spoken of as if the children were arrows in a quiver. AT: "a home full of children" or "many children" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
children
fruit
womb
reward
bow and arrow
soldier
bless
shame
adversary
gate
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3–4 127:3-5 Children are one of God’s blessings. The words…
127:3-5 Children are one of God’s blessings. The words translated “children” (Hebrew banim) and “builders” (bonim, 127:1) form a wordplay. Having children builds a family.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.