Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 127:3

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 127:3. 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."

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 125-128 Lessons from Jerusalem

As the worshippers journey towards Jerusalem, they recall some of the varied experiences that the city has passed through. They see these as typical of the experiences of God’s people as a whole. Believers are like Jerusalem in that they are completely secure and fully protected (125:1-2). Although Jerusalem sometimes came under the rule of its enemies, God never allowed these enemies to control it for long, in case God’s people lost their devotion to him (3). In the same way God cares for the righteous and punishes their enemies (4-5).
On another occasion God saved Jerusalem from some who plundered the land and threatened to destroy the capital. Israel rejoiced in God’s loving deliverance (126:1-3). But their problems were not over. Hard work lay ahead of them if they were to restore the land. They relied on God to provide water in the dry Negeb region, but they realized that they would have to work hard and long before they could enjoy the fruits of the land again. The lesson for the travellers is that they must persevere if they are to enjoy God’s blessing (4-6).
Whether in governing Jerusalem or in building a family, people must acknowledge the sovereign rule of God. If they become nervous wrecks because of worry-filled days and sleepless nights, their faith in God is shown to be weak (127:1-2). The travellers receive a further encouragement to trust in God by the reminder that a large and healthy family is a blessing from God. It also gives a person stability, strength and honour in society (3-5)
If people’s lives are characterized by trust, obedience and perseverance, they will enjoy the blessings of personal security and a happy home (128:1-4). Wherever God dwells, whether in the sense of dwelling in the family or in the sense of dwelling in Jerusalem, his people there will enjoy his fullest blessing (5-6).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"Lo, children are a heritage of Jehovah; And the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, So are the children of youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: They shall not be put to shame, When they speak with their enemies in the gate."

The imagery here is that of a large family, a special inheritance from God, "Enabling a man to meet his enemies in the gate of his city."International Critical Commentary, Vol. II, p. 457.

"As arrows in the hand of a mighty man" "A large family gave a man a strong position in the ancient community."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 532. The comparison of children to arrows is common, especially in the poetry of the Arabs.Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, a 1987 reprint of the 1878 edition), op. cit., p. 251.

"So are the children of youth" This especially refers to "Sons in their youth, i.e., in their prime and vigour of life."Ibid.

"Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them" A "quiver" was the device in which arrows were carried; and what us praised here is a large family.

"When they speak with their enemies in the gate" The whole implication here is that of a warlike society in which personal and family wars were the order of the day.

Before leaving this, it should be pointed out that children are "of the Lord." Only the Lord is able to give them; and, although they come "through" earthly parents, they still belong to God; and the parents who fail to recognize this and to rear their offspring in the fear and admonition of the Lord are of all human beings the most reprehensible.

More than once, this writer has observed children which were reared, not to fear God, but as mere animals, who turned upon their aging parents, oppressing them, deserting them, and in one instance murdering them. Parents who neglect to bring up their children as God has commanded are merely kindling the fires of their own hell.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

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.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

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.

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.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 127:1-5 is a psalm that is important for all of us to really get implanted deep in our hearts.

Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it ( Psalms 127:1 ):

I spent far too many years laboring in vain, trying to build the Lord's house. Trying to build the Lord's church. I used every gimmick that came down the pike, and there's a lot of them. There are people that are cranking out programs every day, sending them out to churches. And you can buy all kinds of programs: church growth programs, and financial programs. And we get letters all the time of some new program that they've devised for church growth or whatever. They'll come out for a fee and do a demographics on your community and determine just what kind of a program you should enter into to attract the community that you're in, and a sociological demographic. They've got everything all figured out. It's just like if you're trying to merchandise peanuts in an area. They'll come out and they'll take a survey of the people and find out just how to package the peanuts to sell them best, you know. Will they go best in the little cellophane wrap or a little box? Or do you need a can? And the colors and everything else. They've got the whole thing doped out. Well, they got them doped out for churches, too.

And I worked every program that I could trying to build the church of Jesus Christ... all to no avail. I was laboring in vain. Except the Lord build the house, you're spinning your wheels. It's just a lot of futile effort.

except the LORD keep the city, the watchman wakes up in vain ( Psalms 127:1 ).

Unless God keeps our house. Unless the Lord build our house, you know, you're just worrying in vain. You can't do anything. We've got to just trust the Lord.

It is vain for you to rise up early, and to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows ( Psalms 127:2 ):

Now, not to rise up early to work, but to eat the bread of sorrows.

for so he giveth his beloved sleep ( Psalms 127:2 ).

You know, a lot of people pound the pillow all night long worried about things. It's vain to spend the night worrying.

Now the psalmist begins to talk about the family and the family ties and the strength of the nation is in the strength of the family. And recognizing that this principle is true, he turns now his attention towards the family and declares,

Lo, children are a heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward ( Psalms 127:3 ).

Years ago we were living in Tucson, Arizona, and we had a captain in the Air Force that was living next door to us. And they were a very friendly couple, Jim and Jan and their three daughters. And because our driveways were adjacent to each other, according to the sociological books, you have a... if your driveway is adjacent to your neighbor's driveway, then you'll get acquainted with that neighbor. It's sociologically compatible homes. And it's interesting in the demographics, sociological demographics, according to where your driveway is and where your house is in the block and so forth, they can show you which houses you'll be friends of the neighbors around. It's a crazy deal and they've worked it all out.

But we had sociological compatible driveways and so we got acquainted with them. And through our acquaintance, Jan came to receive Jesus Christ. And ultimately, Jim accepted the Lord. Shortly after Jim accepted the Lord, he was transferred to Alaska. He was a pilot of the B29s and I got a letter from Jim, which I will treasure and prize as long as I live. Jim had been a professor at Cornell University prior to being recalled into the Air Force. And he wrote in his letter of his agnosticism that he had had, of his attitudes towards his three daughters. He said, "I used to say that children were the scourge of the earth." And he said, "I hated being tied down in marriage. And I hated being tied down by my girls. I couldn't wait to get away. I love the missions where I would fly off overseas and all and I could just get away from them for a while." He said, "But since receiving Jesus Christ, since your sharing His love with me and my finding out how glorious it is to know the Lord and follow Him," he said, "you know, I'm so lonely for my family I can hardly wait for them to get things packed and get up here with me." He said, "I have such a love for my little girls. They're such a blessing, they're such a heritage, you know." And oh the way the Lord can turn things around in a person's life. Giving us the true sense of value for children are a heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is His reward.

As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of his youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them ( Psalms 127:4 , Psalms 127:5 ):

So the quiver full of children.

they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate ( Psalms 127:5 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 127

Solomon spoke of God’s blessing in family life in this ascent psalm that is also a wisdom psalm. Trust in God yields domestic benefits that hard work alone cannot provide.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. The providential blessings of God 127:3-5

The folly of working all the time and not trusting in the Lord should be obvious when one considers that much of what we enjoy does not come from working hard. Many of life’s best blessings come as gifts from God. Children are one of these great gifts. God gives them to a couple or withholds them, as He chooses, regardless of how much a husband and wife may strive to obtain them. Under the Mosaic economy God promised to bless the godly with children (Deuteronomy 28:4), but He gave no such promise to Christians. Therefore it is a mistake to conclude that the more children a Christian couple has the more godly they are.

In Solomon’s day, grown children normally cared for their parents in their old age. They would defend them as the parents became increasingly dependent and vulnerable. That is what Solomon evidently had in mind in Psalms 127:4-5. Children (sons) can be a defense for their parents from exterior and interior foes. Arrows defend against attacking invaders. Negotiating in the gate pictures defending against enemies who would seek to rob the defenseless through legal maneuvering and bring shame on them. Thus children can be a kind of insurance policy, but not one that someone can work hard to buy. They are a gift from God.

The godly need to recognize that people are never self-made. We owe all that we possess to God’s providence ultimately. Consequently, we should avoid the trap of depending totally on ourselves for all we need in life. Instead, we should trust God as we work and acknowledge His good gifts.

"No amount of human sacrifice or toil can accomplish much unless God’s blessing is upon His people." [Note: Ibid., p. 346.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

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 Luke 1:42; a reward he gives to good men, not of debt, but of grace; the Targum,

"a reward of good works:''

so regenerate persons are a reward to Christ, of his sufferings and death, Isaiah 53:10.

y "Nascitur ad fructum mulier", Claudian. in Eutrop. l. 1. v. 331.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

A song of degrees for Solomon.

      1 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.   2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.   3 Lo, children are a heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.   4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.   5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

      We are here taught to have a continual regard to the divine Providence in all the concerns of this life. Solomon was cried up for a wise man, and would be apt to lean to his own understanding and forecast, and therefore his father teaches him to look higher, and to take God along with him in his undertakings. He was to be a man of business, and therefore David instructed him how to manage his business under the direction of his religion. Parents, in teaching their children, should suit their exhortations to their condition and occasions. We must have an eye to God,

      I. In all the affairs and business of the family, even of the royal family, for kings' houses are no longer safe than while God protects them. We must depend upon God's blessing and not our own contrivance, 1. For the raising of a family: Except the Lord build the house, by his providence and blessing, those labour in vain, though ever so ingenious, that build it. We may understand it of the material house: except the Lord bless the building it is to no purpose for men to build, any more than for the builders of Babel, who attempted in defiance of heaven, or Hiel, who built Jericho under a curse. If the model and design be laid in pride and vanity, or if the foundations be laid in oppression and injustice (Habakkuk 2:11; Habakkuk 2:12), God certainly does not build there; nay, if God be not acknowledged, we have no reason to expect his blessing, and without his blessing all is nothing. Or, rather, it is to be understood of the making of a family considerable that was mean; men labour to do this by advantageous matches, offices, employments, purchases; but all in vain, unless God build up the family, and raise the poor out of the dust. The best-laid project fails unless God crown it with success. See Malachi 1:4. 2. For the securing of a family or a city (for this is what the psalmist particularly mentions): if the guards of the city cannot secure it without God, much less can the good man of the house save his house from being broken up. Except the Lord keep the city from fire, from enemies, the watchmen, who go about the city, or patrol upon the walls of it, though they neither slumber nor sleep, wake but in vain, for a raging fire may break out, the mischief of which the timeliest discoveries may not be able to prevent. The guards may be slain, or the city betrayed and lost, by a thousand accidents, which the most watchful sentinel or most cautious governor could not obviate. 3. For the enriching of a family; this is a work of time and thought, but cannot be effected without the favour of Providence any more than that which is the product of one happy turn: "It is vain for you to rise up early and sit up late, and so to deny yourselves your bodily refreshments, in the eager pursuit of the wealth of the world." Usually, those that rise early do not care for sitting up late, nor can those that sit up late easily persuade themselves to rise early; but there are some so hot upon the world that they will do both, will rob their sleep to pay their cares. And they have as little comfort in their meals as in their rest; they eat the bread of sorrows. It is part of our sentence that we eat our bread in the sweat of our face; but those go further: all their days they eat in darkness,Ecclesiastes 5:17. They are continually fell of care, which embitters their comforts, and makes their lives a burden to them. All this is to get money, and all in vain except God prosper them, for riches are not always to men of understanding,Ecclesiastes 9:11. Those that love God, and are beloved of him, have their minds easy and live very comfortably without this ado. Solomon was called Jedidiah--Beloved of the Lord (2 Samuel 12:25); to him the kingdom was promised, and then it was in vain for Absalom to rise up early, to wheedle the people, and for Adonijah to make such a stir, and to say, I will be king. Solomon sits still, and, being beloved of the Lord, to him he gives sleep and the kingdom too. Note, (1.) Inordinate excessive care about the things of this world is a vain a d fruitless thing. We weary ourselves for vanity if we have it, and often weary ourselves in vain for it, Haggai 1:6; Haggai 1:9. (2.) Bodily sleep is God's gift to his beloved. We owe it to his goodness that our sleep is safe (Psalms 4:8), that it is sweet, Jeremiah 31:25; Jeremiah 31:26. God gives us sleep as he gives it to his beloved when with it he gives us grace to lie down in his fear (our souls returning to him and reposing in him as our rest), and when we awake to be still with him and to use the refreshment we have by sleep in his service. He gives his beloved sleep, that is, quietness and contentment of mind, and comfortable enjoyment of what is present and a comfortable expectation of what is to come. Our care must be to keep ourselves in the love of God, and then we may be easy whether we have little or much of this world.

      II. In the increase of the family. He shows, 1. That children are God's gift,Psalms 127:2; Psalms 127:2. If children are withheld it is God that withholds them (Genesis 30:2); if they are given, it is God that gives them (Genesis 33:5); and they are to us what he makes them, comforts or crosses. Solomon multiplied wives, contrary to the law, but we never read of more than one son that he had; for those that desire children as a heritage from the Lord must receive them in the way that he is pleased to give them, by lawful marriage to one wife. Malachi 2:15, therefore one, that he might seek a seed of God. But they shall commit whoredom and shall not increase. Children are a heritage, and a reward, and are so to be accounted, blessings and not burdens; for he that sends mouths will send meat if we trust in him. Obed-edom had eight sons, for the Lord blessed him because he had entertained the ark, 1 Chronicles 26:5. Children are a heritage for the Lord, as well as from him; they are my children (says God) which thou hast borne unto me (Ezekiel 16:20); and they are most our honour and comfort when they are accounted to him for a generation. 2. That they are a good gift, and a great support and defence to a family: As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, who knows how to use them for his own safety and advantage, so are children of the youth, that is, children born to their parents when they are young, which are the strongest and most healthful children, and are grown up to serve them by the time they need their service; or, rather, children who are themselves young; they are instruments of much good to their parents and families, which may fortify themselves with them against their enemies. The family that has a large stock of children is like a quiver full of arrows, of different sizes we may suppose, but all of use one time or other; children of different capacities and inclinations may be several ways serviceable to the family. He that has a numerous issue may boldly speak with his enemy in the gate in judgment; in battle he needs not fear, having so many good seconds, so zealous, so faithful, and in the vigour of youth, 1 Samuel 2:4; 1 Samuel 2:5. Observe here, Children of the youth are arrows in the hand, which, with prudence, may be directed aright to the mark, God's glory and the service of their generation; but afterwards, when they have gone abroad into the world, they are arrows out of the hand; it is too late to bend them then. But these arrows in the hand too often prove arrows in the heart, a constant grief to their godly parents, whose gray hairs they bring with sorrow to the grave.