Psalm 127:3-5 "The Gift of Children"

Introduction

Psalm 127 is traditionally thought to be written by King Solomon and it is a song of ascents. Songs of Ascents were songs that were sung when the ancient Jewish people would make their journey to Jerusalem to celebrate the various feast that were prescribed by the Law of Moses.

You see in those days they didn’t have wi-fi or radio on their camels or donkeys so the people of God would collectively sing songs of worship and instruction as they traveled. Psalm 127 was one of those songs.

What is so interesting about it to me is in how the first two verses are setting up the contextual basis for how we are to understand the final three verses of the Psalm. Notice how the Psalm opens up in verses 1-2*:

The over-arching truth of these two verses is that the work of the Lord is what ultimately makes the difference. Without the Lord all the works of man are expressions of his own vanity.

The Lord is the one who builds and protects and provides and His work is what ultimately makes a difference in the lives of men. This is why the transformed lives of men are a testimony to His glory and honor and not a testimony to the glory and honor of men.

So the principle is established in verses 1-2 and then the Psalmist moves right into the relationship between parent and child. The principle from verses 1-2 has been established and the priority of the Lord’s work is still being emphasized in verse 3 when it comes to the unmistakable fact that children are a heritage. Look back at our text to verse 3:

I. The Heritage (3).

The term “heritage” denotes the idea of a possession or an inheritance. And it is obvious that children did not come to us by chance. God is the one who established the biological order and created the life of the child and then gave the child to the parents as their heritage.

Regardless of the biological connection of natural birth or adoption the child was still created by God in line with His established order and design. All children are the fruit of the womb by God’s design and they are assigned by God into the family that He has chosen.

My brother is adopted but God is still the one who brought it to pass that my brother Chad was assigned to our family.

This is a very positive truth being declared by the Psalmist. We know this due to the end of verse three the fruit of the womb is referred to as being a reward.

In our culture it is often thought that children are a liability and not necessarily an asset. But in contrast to this view the Bible asserts the divine truth of children being a precious gift to the parents.

Children a gift from the Lord and an endowment of our heritage as parents. That Biblical truth can often be challenged whenever the selfish ambitions and desires of parents can take priority. The high stress of life can at times eclipse the reality of our heritage and reward from the Lord.

Christian we do have to fight to keep the truth before us. One of the greatest ways we can do this is keeping the Lord as a priority in our lives and making sure we never loose sight of the priority of His work in providing for us. Not just in regards to the task that we perform but the relationship that He has established between us and our children.

The Lord established these relationships as a reflection of His relationship with us through Christ. Psalm 2 is Messianic in nature, it is foretelling us something about Christ and in verses 7-8 of that Psalm it says, 7 I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.

The Nations of the world are the heritage of Christ but children are the heritage of the Lord. This is one of the beautiful things about the covenant coming to bear upon generation to generation. Some of us here are aware historically of the generations that have gone before you that God used in your lives from great, great grandparents or beyond who were devout believers that God used from generation to generation to pass on the Christian faith.

If I did not believe in covenant theology I am not so sure I would have wanted to have kids. This old fallen world in all it’s corruption and and a sin nature passed on from Adam, with a devil on the loose. No way! I wouldn’t wish that on anybody and especially my kids. But the implications of the covenant are true and this I know, that the Lord will work His purpose in accordance to His degree in the lives of my children.

Without that governing our life as parents our children and our parenthood are nothing more than expressions of our own vanity. Instead they are blessings from the Lord entrusted to us for His purposes. Look back at verses 4-5:

II. The Blessing (4-5).

Notice the imagery of a warrior equipped with arrows. Children are the arrows and parent you are the warrior who has the arrows in your hand.

This is not trying to imply that parents need to shoot their kids through the air. No, the Psalmist is making the point that blessed is the man who has a full quiver of arrows. These arrows are not liabilities, these arrows are assets in the possession of the warrior.

Children are seen as liabilities when parents make their own lives primarily about themselves. Children get in the way because they demand our attention. They pull us away from ourselves. When our own selfishness is dominating our perception of life the demands of parenting will intrude and be in conflict with our selfish ambitions. And yes even Christians can slide into this at times.

When our lives are primarily about Christ we live out our parenthood as stewards of Christ with the ambition that our children would be used by Him and His purposes in the world.

Now remember the imagery of a warrior and his full quiver of arrows and how verse 5 says the warrior with a full quiver “shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.”

The “gate” in ancient times was the place of negotiation. In this context the warrior shows up with a full quiver of arrows to negotiate with his enemies at the gate.

Now I don’t think that this text is trying to emphasize the need for more couples to adopt or to to have more babies. But if the Spirit moves you go right ahead!

I think it the emphasis of this text is to communicate to us the idea that as believers we are raising our children for the purpose and plan of the Lord. They are assets for His Kingdom advancement and we are shameless at the gate when our purpose is aligned with the Lord’s purposes for our children.

To do other would be to parent in vain. There are many in the culture who want to exploit our children for selfish and evil purposes. Children and all human beings are created by God in His image and for God and His purposes.

Jesus warned against deceiving little children in Mark 9:42- Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.

Misleading children is serious business in the eyes of the Lord. Children are to be protected and cherished as a heritage from the Lord. They have been entrusted to us by God for His purposes. And this can be hard to embrace at times. I am being confronted with this truth in my own life.

Story about Coffee Mug given to me for Father’s Day. (Show the file attached mug picture)

Audry going to College in Mississippi. I told her she would be so far away I would miss her but I raised her to be an arrow.

Christian we should have the perspective that our children are in the world for God’s purposes for His kingdom advancement. We all should want the best for our children but biblically that is not characterized by an increased materialism.

From the biblical perspective the best for them is God and what His plan is for them. How does God want to use them for His glory in the world.

A person can be a success in the eyes of the world but be a colossal failure in the eyes of the Lord.

Conclusion:

We know this from the reality of the Cross. Jesus came into the world to live among us but to submit to the plan and purpose of God to even embrace death on the Cross in our place. In the eyes of the world that was the absolute bottom of a failed attempt to establish His Kingdom.

But when we realize that Christ took our place on the Cross as our substitute He paid the penalty for our sin before God. And through Him our sins are forgiven in full and we can be reconciled to God by faith in Jesus Christ.

Because that was God’s plan all along never has anyone ever been so successful as Christ has been. And God has exulted Him to the highest place and set Him over all things as supreme. In the eyes of God Christ achieved the greatest victory.

And if you are not a believer, the good news is that God calls us to join in this victory with Christ. To believe the good news that you might be saved.

Christian we live in the security and purposes of God and in His covenant we trust not only for ourselves but for our children too. This is how we find courage to parent even in a dark world. Because this world is ultimately His and His grace is sufficient for us and that same grace is sufficent to work His salvation into the lives of our children at the appointed time.

Confess your sin and rest in the security of His transforming grace! Let’s Pray!