28798081 psalm-127-commentary

PSALM 127 COMME TARYWritten and edited by Glenn Pease

PREFACE

The object of this commentary is to bring together the comments of a number of

authors in one place to make the study of this Psalm easier for the Bible student.

Sometimes I do not have the author's name, and if it is known and told to me, I will

give credit where it is due. If there is any author who does not wish his wisdom to be

included in this study, I will remove it when that author expresses his wish to have it

removed. My e-mail is [email protected]

I TRODUCTIO

1. Barnes in his commentary has what I consider to be the best introduction to this

Psalm. He wrote, “This psalm is entitled “A Song of Degrees for Solomon;” in the

margin, “Of Solomon.” In the Syriac Version the title is, “From the Psalms of the

Ascent; spoken by David concerning Solomon; it was spoken also of Haggai and

Zechariah, who urged the rebuilding of the Temple.” The meaning of the title may

be either “for Solomon,” or of Solomon; that is, it may have been either composed

by him, or with reference to him. Many have supposed that it was written by David

near the close of his life, and was designed to be a guide to Solomon, his successor, in

regard to the principles which should govern him in his reign. There is nothing,

however, in the title in the Hebrew which would indicate that it was composed by

David; and there is nothing in the psalm which would seem to be especially

appropriate to address to a young monarch just entering on his reign, unless it was

the mere filet of dependence on God. The allusion to children Psa_127:3-5, beautiful

and proper as it is, would seem to have no particular pertinence to an entrance on

the administration of a government, and would not be the topic which Would most

naturally be suggested in such circumstances. The probability, therefore, is, that the

psalm was composed by Solomon. On what occasion, however, it was written, it is

now impossible to determine. The sentiments and style are such as agree well with

the idea that Solomon was the author, and the whole psalm might have been

introduced into the Book of Proverbs without any manifest discrepancy with the

general character and style of that book. From the psalm itself it would seem that it

was composed mainly with reference to one who was entering on domestic life, and

that it was intended to set before such a one the views, which ought to guide him, or

the thoughts, which ought to occur to him. othing could be more appropriate in

such circumstances than the sentiments of the psalm:

I. The entire dependence on God for success, Psa_127:1.

II. The vanity of all efforts - rising early, and sitting up late - without the divine

blessing, Psa_127:2.

III. The fact that children belong to God, and are to be regarded as his, Psa_127:3.

IV. The aid, which children might be expected to render to a father in supporting or

defending him, Psa_127:4.

V. The comfort which he might expect to derive from them, and the honor which,

being properly trained, they would reflect on him and on the family, Psa_127:5.

2. Spurgeon wrote, “Did you notice, when we were reading this Psalm, that it is

entitled, “A Song of Degrees for Solomon”? The title may be either, “for Solomon,”

or, “by Solomon.” If it is by Solomon, I can only say that it is worthy to be placed

side by side with the Book of Proverbs or Ecclesiastes. It is a Psalm which is very

brief and which has the soul of wisdom in it. It is, in fact, a Solomonic Psalm—it is

quite after his style of writing. The whole of it might be made into a Proverb and its

separate sentences might be cut up into proverbial expressions. It was inspired by

the Spirit of God and He may have used for the writing of it no less accomplished an

individual than King Solomon, whose wisdom was greater than that of the men of

his age. If it is a Psalm, “for Solomon”—which it strikes me it is, then it is none the

less admirable in our esteem, for, if Solomon needed to be taught it, certainly we do.

If, when David knew that Solomon was to build the house of the Lord, he thought it

necessary, before he began the Temple, to remind him that “unless the Lord builds

the house, they labor in vain who build it,” we may depend upon it that as we are

less wise than Solomon, we need to have just such a lesson taught us! Let us accept it

as from David and let each one of us hear the words of the dying king as he speaks

to us as well as to his son and successor.”

“It was meet that the builder of the holy house should be remembered by the

pilgrims to its sacred shrine. The title probably indicates that David wrote it for his

wise son, in whom he so greatly rejoiced, and whose name Jedidiah, or "beloved of

the Lord", is introduced into the second verse. The spirit of his name, "Solomon, or

peaceable", breathes through the whole of this most charming song. If Solomon

himself was the author, it comes fitly from him who reared the house of the Lord.

Observe how in each of these songs the heart is fixed upon Jehovah only. Read the

first verses of these Psalms, from Psalm 120 to the present song, and they run thus:

"I cried unto the Lord", "I will lift up mine eyes to the hills", "Let us go unto the

house of the Lord." "Unto thee will I lift up mine eyes", "If it had not been the

Lord", "They that trust in the Lord." "When the Lord turned again the captivity."

The Lord and the Lord alone is thus lauded at each step of these songs of the

ascents. O for a life whose every halting place shall suggest a new song unto the

Lord!”

3. Bruce K. Dahlberg in his study of this Psalm wrote, “Artur Weiser says in his

commentary on Psalm 127, Since the psalm is couched in general terms it is not

possible to assign it to any particular historical situation; it belongs to the timeless

world of the proverb. There is truth to what he says, but the logical outcome of

his words is that any interpretation of this psalm is permissible within reason. This

is the exact opposite of what this section seeks to do. It is correct to say that the

timeless factor of the proverb speaks to all ages, but all ages do not interpret the

proverb. This chapter seeks to elucidate the meaning of this psalm. By assigning the

psalm to Solomon, historical direction is given to the exegetical process. Solomon

does speak in general terms, but these terms find meaning in history and culture. It

should be remembered that wisdom seeks to deal with life. The activities of one life

may be similar to another because of the nature of the activity.”

4. Matt Slick, “One of the most important features of this Psalm is that it addresses

three of the most important of human concerns: accomplishment, security, and

family. This Psalm forces you to examine these areas and recognize the One who is

in control of all three. In addition, this Psalm speaks of your need for utter reliance

and trust in God. And in that, you must remain humble.”

1. Unless the LORD builds the house,

its builders labor in vain.

Unless the LORD watches over the city,

the watchmen stand guard in vain.

1. What makes this Psalm unique is that it is the only one in this series of 15 songs of

degrees that is attributed to Solomon. He was the number one builder in the history

of Israel, and so he knows what he is talking about. Without the Lord’s blessings on

him he could never have accomplished what he did, for he built up an amazing

nation with enormous wealth, and impressive buildings. Solomon is admitting here

that he did not accomplish all he did because of his own ability. He admits that the

Lord’s blessing was the key to it all, and his reign of peace was also due to God’s

providence and not his own skill in diplomacy. He did have such skills, and he was a

wise man, but he knows it is all vanity without the providence and blessing of God.

This great and might man is being truly humble before his Lord, and had he

continued with this spirit all his life he would have been nearly flawless as a man of

God. Most men with his accomplishments would have been overly proud and been

big braggers on all they had done in life. Solomon here gives God the credit. He is

not saying God will build for you, but with you. You do your best, but invite God to

partner with you, and he will do his part to make the project a success. Without

God you can’t do it, but without you God will not do it. It is a partnership of God

and man that works in building a house.

1B. Spurgeon was strong on making it clear that man must work hard to expect

God to be his partner. He wrote, “We are not allowed to be idle, to sit still and do

nothing because we say that we are trusting in Providence. One of the things which

Christianity cannot bear is laziness! The Apostle Paul, writing to the Thessalonians,

was inspired to pass a very sharp sentence upon them—“This we commanded you,

that if any would not work, neither should he eat”—a sentence which would

exterminate a great number of persons who at the present time seem to flourish! If

in business I am not diligent, I cannot expect to prosper. If I wish to be a man of

learning, I cannot get it simply by praying for it—I must study, even to the

weariness of the flesh. If a man is sick, he may trust in God as much as he wills—

that should be his first thing—but let him also use such remedies as God has given if

he can discover them, or learn of them from others. My grandfather said to me,

many years ago, concerning the preparation of a sermon, and I have always

remembered his words, “I study my sermon as much as if the work of preaching

depended entirely upon myself. And I go into the pulpit relying upon the Spirit of

God, knowing that it does not depend upon myself, but upon Him.”

2. Calvin made a good point when he wrote, “By the word house he means not only

a building of wood or stone, but he comprehends the whole domestic order and

government of a family, even as a little after by the word city he denotes not only the

buildings or enclosure of the walls, but also the general state of the whole

commonwealth. There is likewise a synecdoche in the words builder and keeper; for

he intends to say in general that whatever labor, foresight, and skill men may

employ in maintaining a family, or in preserving a city, will be to no purpose unless

God grant from heaven a prosperous issue to the whole.” Calvin has broadened the

application of these words to cover all building that we do, and this covers home,

business, government, and church. All of life’s building projects need God’s input,

or the end result will not have eternal value.

3. What strikes me as an interesting commentary on life in the Reformation period

five hundred years ago is what Calvin goes on to write-“Farther, we may gather

from this doctrine, that it is not wonderful to find in the present day the state of the

world so troubled and confused as it actually is -- justice put to flight in cities, the

husband and the wife mutually accusing each other, fathers and mothers

complaining of their children -- in short, all bewailing their own condition. For how

few are to be found who, in their vocation, turn to God, and who, being rather

inflated with arrogance, do not wickedly exalt themselves? God then justly renders

this sad reward to ungrateful men when he is defrauded of his honor. But were all

men humbly to submit themselves to the providence of God, there is no doubt that

this blessing which Solomon here commends would shed its luster on all parts of our

life, both public and private.” Daily life of people and the nation has not changed a

lot, if at all, in the past half a millennium. People are much the same, and they

continue to build whatever they build in pride, believing they do not need God

4. The whole known world was behind the building of the Tower of Babel, but it

became a total fiasco and ended as one of the great unfinished projects of history,

and all because men chose to do it all without God’s partnership. On the other hand,

the house of Israel was built up by ordinary people who had little chance of

becoming famous for anything. Abraham and Sarah could not even have a child,

but God became their partner, and the hopeless situation went on to produce a

child, and then he had a child, and that child had a lot of children, and step by step

God and ordinary men build the house of Israel, and it has lasted for all these many

centuries because it was a partnership of God and man. Even this house collapsed,

however, when the Jewish leaders rejected the Chief Cornerstone. By rejecting

Jesus Christ as their Messiah, the cut God out of their partnership, and revealed

that even God’s own people cannot build anything permanent without submission to

the Lordship of God. This applies to the church as well, for when the church fails to

be submissive to its Lord, it also collapses, and history is full of examples of

churches becoming like those of Revelation chapters two and three, where they are

warned of judgment and of having their lamp stand removed. They were leaving

their first love, and that means pushing the Lordship of Jesus out of their lives, and

when he is on the outside and not a vital inside partner, the church is in danger of

collapse, and all its activity is vain, and without lasting value.

4B. Barry R. Leventhal, Ph.D. wrote, “He knew what we need to constantly bear in

mind: We are totally dependent on God to build our marriages and families.

Without such a total reliance upon Him, all of our marriage seminars, biblical

principles, and church activities are doomed to failure.” “Most of us think that if we

can just go to more marriage seminars or learn more biblical principles, our

marriages and families will thrive. But although these kinds of things are necessary,

without a conscious dependence on the Lord of heaven and earth, all of our good

efforts will be futile and our homes will ultimately collapse into ruins, as many

current Christian marriages are now experiencing.” “It is so easy to get caught up

in the worldly rat race to keep getting more and more stuff: working 12-hour plus

days or husbands and wives both dashing off to jobs that will keep them in a

lifestyle that matches the neighbors or that will get them more things to keep the

happy veneer intact. But the awful reality is that none of these workaholic pursuits

will ever give us the sustaining joy and fulfillment that God desires to freely give us.

ot only does He provide for proper seasons of rest, He also provides for us while

we are resting — gifts like physical and emotional recovery; spiritual renewal and

vision; new and wonderful surprises for the dawning day. Is it any wonder that so

many Christians are collapsing under the weight of such an enslaving lifestyle? If we

are going to rein in spiritual warfare in our marriages, for the glory of God, then we

are going to have to put the brakes on our rat race lifestyle and trust God to provide

all that we will ever need.”

5. In the light of the pilgrims marching back from Babylon to rebuild the city and

the temple, this is a good reminder to them that it is going to demand a great

reliance upon the Lord to pull this project off. They were not strong, and they had

enemies that were going to do all they could to stop the rebuilding of Jerusalem. As

they sang this song they would be challenged by it to be submissive to the Lord, and

cry out continually to him to be with them, and partner with them in getting this

great work of rebuilding the city and temple accomplished, and to his glory. I like

the way Jamison in his commentary sums it all up with these words: “The theme of

this Psalm, that human enterprises only succeed by the divine blessing, was

probably associated with the building of the temple by Solomon, its author.” And

Spurgeon says, “It is THE BUILDER'S PSALM. "Every house is built by some

man, but he that built all things is God", and unto God be praise.” “God is to be

acknowledged in all our works. By seeking his direction before them. By depending

upon his help in them. By giving him the glory of them.” Paul wrote in

1 Corinthians 15:58, "Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of

the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."

6. Bob Deffinbaugh wrote, “When is house-building vain?” House building is vain

when we engage in it without God. And when does God not build our house with us?

When we have the wrong priorities, the wrong motives, or the wrong methods. God

cares about what we do, why we do it, and how we do it. God is concerned about the

building of houses because so many of us are preoccupied with just such efforts. It

may destroy us as a family; it may keep us from fellow shipping with God and our

fellow-saints, and it may divert our energies from seeking His kingdom to building

one of our own. Such misdirected or wrongly motivated effort is futile, for it seeks to

trade off the eternal in preference for what is temporal. It is vain because our hearts

are wrong before God. It is worthless because we are serving the wrong master.”

7. One of the greatest applications of this truth in the history of the United States is

the speech of Benjamin Franklin at the time of forming the Constitution of our

nation. He said on that occasion: “In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when

we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for the Divine

protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of

us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a

superintending Providence in our favor. To that kind Providence we owe this happy

opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national

felicity. And have we now forgotten this powerful Friend? or do we imagine we no

longer need his assistance? I have lived for a long time 81 years; and the longer I

live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of

man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable

that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred

writings, that "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." I

firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall

proceed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel: we shall be

divided by our little, partial, local interests; our prospects will be confounded; and

we ourselves shall become a reproach and a byword down to future ages. And what

is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of

establishing government by human wisdom, and leave it to chance, war, or

conquest. I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers, imploring the

assistance of Heaven and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this assembly

every morning before we proceed to business; and that one or more of the clergy of

this city be requested to officiate in that service.” --Benjamin Franklin: Speech in

Convention for forming a Constitution for the United States, 1787.

8. John Piper gives us his testimony on how this can apply to all of us in any task we

seek to accomplish. He wrote, “How does it, then, help us overcome anxiety? It

worked like this for me. As I walked out of my office on the way to class, I reasoned

that if my highest efforts are only in vain without God's special help, then the

success or failure of this class lies ultimately on him, not me. And with that a weight

was lifted off my back that I was never created to carry, namely, the final

responsibility for the success or failure of any venture. Sometimes the truth of that

would well up in me so much I felt as light as a butterfly. I can't carry the weight of

whether this class likes me today, Lord. I can't carry the weight of whether they

may ask me questions beyond my ability, Lord. I can't carry the weight of opening

their hearts to believe the doctrine of your sovereignty, Lord. These weights are too

heavy! They are yours! And I have found that God is not only willing but eager to

take the burden of final responsibility for whether the house gets built and the city is

saved. And for me that is a great reason not to be anxious in my labor.” In a

nutshell, he is saying, “Let go and let God.” Do your best and let God do the rest.

9. Rev. Cynthia O’Brien wrote, “How can you apply this scripture to your life?

Here’s one idea. If you haven’t done so in a while, sit down and write down what’s

most important to you for your life and your future. Make a simple list: Things that

are most important in my life and for my future. Then check it against real life.

Look at your typical weekly schedule of activities. Where are you putting your time?

Look at your checkbook and your credit card statement. Where is your money

going? If a person you respect were to evaluate your life based on what you spend

your money on, what would they say?”

10. Wayne Shih wrote, “Solomon, who wrote this psalm, also wrote the book of

Ecclesiastes. In that book he shared his discovery that many of our pursuits turn out

to be meaningless. “I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted

vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I

made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female

slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds

and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for

myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers,

and a harem as well - the delights of the heart of man. I became greater by far than

anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. I denied

myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took

delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I

surveyed all that my hands had done and what I gad toiled to achieve, everything

was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun (Eccl.

2:4-11). That is an honest look at life. Psalm 127 teaches a similar lesson. It shows us

the futility of life without God. When we really grasp that truth, it redirects our

hearts to rely on God.”

11. Bruce K. Dahlberg wrote, “It is not hard to see Solomon as the author of this

psalm. For he was the master builder and military genius. The use of "house" and

"city" bring into view stone houses cramped inside a walled existence. One of

Solomon's goals was to build up the defense of the land. Even though the situation

was peaceful, the threat of war still existed. Where the house provided shelter it was

the city that provided security with its watchman stationed throughout, making his

rounds through the night.”

Unless the LORD watches over the city,

the watchmen stand guard in vain.

1. This second part of the verse is saying that all the protection you plan for will not

spare you a tragic defeat if the Lord does not watch over you. Many a city has had

plenty of watchmen on the walls, and the enemy get in anyway, and they go down in

flames. There are all kinds of factors that can lead the best guarded city, or any

other thing or value, to be overcome. Sometimes the enemy comes up with a

superior weapon. Sometimes they are able to bribe a gatekeeper to betray their own

city for a price. Sometimes the enemy finds a new way into the city by way of

underground tunnels. Clever men can find ways to get what they want, and this was

the case with most all of the great conquers of ancient times. Everything people did

to protect themselves did not work, for these mighty warriors found a way to

overcome all the guards and render them vain and worthless. If God is not on your

side, and giving you his protection, all human efforts are vain.

1B. Adrian Dieleman wrote, “In ancient China, the people desired security from the

barbaric hordes to the north; so they built the great Chinese wall. It was so high

they knew no one could climb over it and so thick that nothing could break it down.

They settled back to enjoy their security. During the first hundred years of the

wall's existence, China was invaded three times. ot once did the barbaric hordes

break down the wall or climb over the top. Each time they bribed a gatekeeper and

then marched right through the gates.”

2. Jerusalem is a good example of what Solomon is saying. He made the city one of

the most awesome in the ancient world. It was beautiful and glorious to the eyes,

and it was well protected, but as the people continued to slip away from the

Lordship of Jehovah the judgment of God came down upon this glorious city, and it

was swept away by pagan invaders. It was built up again, and even the temple was

restored, and you would think that God would protect his city and his temple, but

because they forsook his Lordship he withdrew his protection and the Romans came

and demolished it again, and to the point of fulfilling the prophecy of Jesus that not

one stone would be left upon another in the temple. Even God’s own people cannot

protect anything in their own power. If God is told by actions that he is not needed,

he will stop watching out for his own temple and his own people, and they will end

up having restored it all for nothing. All is done in vain without the Lordship of the

living God. When God withdrew his hand of protection over Israel, the pagan

warriors came and demolished their land and carried them away captive. They had

to learn the hard way that God is Lord of all, or he is not Lord at all.

3. We need to apply this to building up our family. We can teach our children not to

lie and cheat, and be good people in all moral ways. We can give them the teaching

they need to live the good life, and be respectable members of society, but if they are

not established in Christ it can all go down the tube, and these righteously raised

children can go off to college and be turned against all they were taught and become

committed to the ways of the world. All your labor becomes worthless, unless these

kids come to make a deep commitment to their Lord. It is not enough just to go to

Sunday School, and church events, and become a social Christian. They need to

become true disciples of Jesus, for if he is not their Lord, they will soon be following

another lord, and they will be serving the god of this world. The point of both

things that Solomon is saying here is that the Lordship of God the Father, and of

Jesus the Son, are absolutely essential for ultimate success in any kind of building,

and it any efforts to preserve what has been built. What good is it to build a city, or

a government, or a family, if you cannot protect it and guard it from collapse?

Lordship of God in our lives is our only hope for ultimate success in all that we do.

There are no ends to the ways this truth can be applied in our lives. This is why we

need to include God in all that we do by constant prayer without ceasing, for if he is

not our senior partner we are going out of business one way or the other, for

nothing can work forever without his input.

4. The famous author Madam Guyon gave this testimony about this verse: "I

became", she says, "deeply assured of what the prophet hath said, "Except the

Loud keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." When I looked to thee, O my

Lord? thou wast my faithful keeper; thou didst continually defend my heart against

all kinds of enemies. But, alas! when left to myself, I was all weakness. How easily

did my enemies prevail over me! Let others ascribe their victories to their own

fidelity: as for myself, I shall never attribute them to anything else than thy paternal

care. I have too often experienced, to my cost, what I should be without thee, to

presume in the least on any wisdom or efforts of my own. It is to thee, O God, my

Deliverer, that I owe everything! And it is a source of infinite satisfaction, that I am

thus indebted to thee." --From the Life of Jeanne Bouvier de la Mothe Guyon, 1648-

1717.

2. In vain you rise early

and stay up late,

toiling for food to eat—

for he grants sleep to those he loves.

1. Sleep is one of the blessings of God, and it is a blessing that is most often lost by

the workaholics who spend too much time working to have time for adequate sleep.

This is a very difficult verse to understand, for it is a virtue to be a hard worker, and

yet it can be a vice to work too hard and long. It is a blessing to get a good nights

sleep, and yet there are vast numbers of God’s people who struggle to get such a

night. A verse like this can cause a lot of anxiety, which is a cause of sleeplessness.

Many seek good sleep by praying to God to grant it, and then have terrible nights of

tossing and turning and not being able to sleep. If God grants sleep to those he loves,

why does he not love me?, is a natural question of many believers.

1B. Mrs. Browning wrote,

Of all the thoughts of God that are

Borne inward unto souls afar,

Along the Psalmist's music deep,

ow tell me if that any is,

For gifts or grace, surpassing this-

'He giveth His beloved, sleep'?

2. Calvin struggles with understanding this verse, and he comes up with an

interpretation that has some value, but is far from satisfactory. He wrote, “That

God gives food to his people without any great care on their part -- which seems

incredible, and a fiction, Solomon points to the thing as it were with the finger. He

indeed speaks as if God nourished the slothfulness of his servants by his gentle

treatment; but as we know that men are created with the design of their being

occupied, and as in the subsequent Psalm we shall find that the servants of God are

accounted happy when they eat the labor of their hands, it is certain that the word

sleep is not to be understood as implying slothfulness, but a placid labor, to which

true believers subject themselves by the obedience of faith. Whence proceeds this so

great ardor in the unbelieving, that they move not a finger without a tumult or

bustle, in other words, without tormenting themselves with superfluous cares, but

because they attribute nothing to the providence of God! The faithful, on the other

hand, although they lead a laborious life, yet follow their vocations with composed

and tranquil minds. Thus their hands are not idle, but their minds repose in the

stillness of faith, as if they were asleep. If it is again objected, that God's people are

often agitated with distressing cares, and that, oppressed with pinching poverty, and

destitute of all resources, they are anxiously concerned about the morrow, I answer,

that if faith and love to God were perfect in his servants, his blessing, of which the

Prophet makes mention, would be manifest. Whenever they are tormented above

measure, this happens through their own default, in not resting entirely upon the

providence of God. I farther add, that God punishes them more severely than

unbelievers, because it is profitable for them to be agitated by disquietude for a

season, that at length they may attain to this peaceful sleep. In the meantime,

however, God's grace prevails, and always shines forth in the midst of darkness, in

respect of his cherishing his children as it were by sleep.

3. I think Barnes has best captured the meaning, but even so, it is not a satisfactory

interpretation due to the fact that it does not actually happen to masses of God’s

children as they continue to struggle with the sleep issue. It is an ideal that does not

become real for a great many. Barnes wrote, “Some have supposed it to mean that

God gives his people rest without toil, or that, while others labor, his “beloved” - his

friends - sleep; but this interpretation is not necessarily demanded by the Hebrew,

and is inconsistent with the general doctrine of the Bible. Others have supposed the

idea to be, that God gives his beloved rest after labor; but though this is true, it is

not true of them especially or exclusively. Some suppose, with as little probability,

that the meaning is, that what others hope (but hope in vain) to get by labor, the

Lord bestows upon his people in sleep, they know not how.

The meaning evidently is, that God bestows “sleep” upon his people in some sense in

which it is not bestowed on others, or that there is, in regard to their case, something

in which they differ from those who are so anxious and troubled - who rise so early

for the sake of gain - who toil so late - who eat the bread of care. The idea seems to

be that there would be calmness, repose, freedom from anxiety or solicitude. God

makes the mind of his people - his beloved - calm and tranquil, while the world

around is filled with anxiety and restlessness - busy, bustling, worried. As a

consequence of this calmness of mind, and of their confidence in him, they enjoy

undisturbed repose at night. They are not kept wakeful and anxious about their

worldly affairs as other men are, for they leave all with God, and thus he “giveth his

beloved sleep.”

4. Clarke has the best resolution of the problem by removing it from a general

promise, and making it a specific reference to an historical situation. Clarke wrote,

“It is vain for you to rise up early - There seems to be here an allusion to the daily

and nightly watches which ehemiah instituted. The people are worn out with

constant labor and watching; he therefore divided them in such a manner, that they

who had worked in the day should rest by night, and that they who worked by night

should rest in the day; and thus his beloved, a title of the Jews, the beloved of God,

got sleep, due refreshment, and rest. As for ehemiah and his servants, they never

put off their clothes day or night but for washing.” If Clarke is right he has resolved

the problem, but there is no evidence that the text refers to that situation.

5. Gill finds even more historical applications. He wrote, “…such who are partakers

of his grace, that fear and love him; to them, thus diligent and industrious, he gives

not only bread to eat, but sleep, which to a laboring man is sweet; and having food

and raiment, he gives them contentment, quietness, and satisfaction of mind, which

is the greatest blessing of all. Sleep, even bodily sleep, was reckoned with the very

Heathens a divine gift (x). Some think respect is had to, Solomon, whose name was

Jedidiah, and signifies the beloved of the Lord, 2Sa_12:24; to whom God gave

peace, rest, and safety all around; or, as others, the kingdom without labor, when

Absalom and Adonijah toiled for it: Christ, who is the Beloved of the Lord, the Son

of his love, his well beloved Son, may be thought of, whose rest is glorious; his sleep

in the grave, where his flesh rested from his labors and sufferings, in hope of the

resurrection of it: and it may be applied to all the Lord's beloved ones; to whom he

gives spiritual rest in this world, sleep in the arms of Jesus at death, and an

everlasting rest in the world to come; all which depends not on their endeavors, but

on his grace and goodness.”

6. “The design is, to draw men away from excessive labors and anxious cares; and to

excite godliness and faith in Jehovah. To this the Psalm manifestly tends: for since

men, desirous of the happiness and stability of their houses, are unable to secure this

by their own endeavors, but need the blessing of God, who gives prosperity with

even lighter labors to those that fear him; it is their duty to put a limit to their

labors and cares, and to seek the favor of God, by conforming their life and conduct

to his will, and confiding in him. --Hermalt Venema, 1697-1787.

6B. Believers are often too busy to be the loving parents they ought to be. Part of

trusting in God’s providence is to let go of the drive that keeps you so busy that you

do not spend the proper time with the precious children that God has given you.

The great pioneer missionary, David Livingstone, wrote to a friend, “I hope you are

playing with your children .... In looking back ... I have one regret, and that is that I

did not feel it my duty to play with my children as much as to teach the [natives]. I

worked very hard at that, and was tired out at night. ow I have none to play with.

So, my good friend, play while you may. They will soon be no longer bairns”

(George Seaver, David Livingstone). What is the point to fret and sweat when all

you get is wet, and then regret that you missed the best of what God had for you?

7. Commentators struggle to avoid saying it is fruitless to rise early, and to stay up

late as literal wisdom, and at the same time make it clear that doing so is of no value

without God’s input. They don’t want the Bible to be saying it is okay to be lazy and

indifferent to the amount of work you do, but they also want it to be saying that

zealous human effort alone will not lead to ultimate success. The struggle for

balance is what is sought in interpreting this verse. Barnes, for example, wrote,

“The psalmist does not here say that it is improper to rise early; or that there could

be no advantage in it; or that people would be more likely to be successful in their

undertakings if they did not rise early; but that, although this was done, they would

be still altogether dependent on God. Mere early rising, without his blessing, would

not secure what they hoped to accomplish, for everything is still in the hand of God.

Health, strength, clearness of mind, and success, are all under his control; and

though early rising may tend to produce all these - as it does in fact - yet still people

are not the less dependent on God for success.”

8. Spurgeon makes these comments: “Some deny themselves needful rest; the

morning sees them rise before they are rested, the evening sees them toiling long

after the curfew has tolled the knell of parting day. They threaten to bring

themselves into the sleep of death by neglect of the sleep which refreshes life. or is

their sleeplessness the only index of their daily fret; they stint themselves in their

meals, they eat the commonest food, and the smallest possible quantity of it, and

what they do swallow is washed down with the salt tears of grief, for they fear that

daily bread will fail them. Hard earned is their food, scantily rationed, and scarcely

ever sweetened, but perpetually smeared with sorrow; and all because they have no

faith in God, and find no joy except in hoarding up the gold which is their only

trust. ot thus, not thus, would the Lord have his children live. He would have

them, as princes of the blood, lead a happy and restful life. Let them take a fair

measure of rest and a due portion of food, for it is for their health. Of course the

true believer will never be lazy or extravagant; if he should be he will have to suffer

for it; but he will not think it needful or right to be worried and miserly. Faith

brings calm with it, and banishes the disturbers who both by day and by night

murder peace.

"For so he giveth his beloved sleep." Through faith the Lord makes his chosen ones

to rest in him in happy freedom from care. The text may mean that God gives

blessings to his beloved in sleep, even as he gave Solomon the desire of his heart

while he slept. The meaning is much the same: those whom the Lord loves are

delivered from the fret and fume of life, and take a sweet repose upon the bosom of

their Lord. He rests them; blesses them while resting; blesses them more in resting

than others in their moiling and toiling. God is sure to give the best thing to his

beloved, and we here see that he gives them sleep -- that is a laying aside of care, a

forgetfulness of need, a quiet leaving of matters with God: this kind of sleep is better

than riches and honor. ote how Jesus slept amid the hurly burly of a storm at sea.

He knew that he was in his Father's hands, and therefore he was so quiet in spirit

that the billows rocked him to sleep: it would be much oftener the same with us if we

were more like HIM.”

8B. An unknown author gives another example: “God gives quiet sleep as a token of

his love; yea, in the times of their greatest peril. Thus Peter in prison when he was

bound with chains, beset with soldiers, and to die the next day, yet see how fast he

was found asleep (Ac 12:6-7): "The same night Peter was sleeping, and behold the

angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison", yet Peter slept

till the angel smote him on the side and raised him up: so God "gives his beloved

sleep", and let his beloved give him the honor; and the rather because herein God

answers our prayer, herein God fulfils his promise.” “Is it not our prayer that God

would prevent fear, and afford refreshing sleep? and is it not God's answer when in

sleep he doth sustain us? "I cried (says David) unto the Lord with my voice, and he

heard me out of his holy hill. I laid me down and slept, for the Lord sustained me":

Psalms 3:4-3. Philip Goodwin adds this text, “Is it not God's promise to vouchsafe

sleep free from frights? "When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou

shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet": Proverbs 3:24. Henry Milvill adds this

interpretation: "Surely he giveth his beloved sleep", may be taken as parallel to

what is promised in Isaiah -- "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is

stayed on thee." Whatever you can understand by the "peace" in the one case, you

may also understand by the "sleep" in the other.”

9. Spurgeon quotes another who says, “The bread of sorrows means the bread of

toil, of wearisome effort. Do what you ought to do, and the Lord will take care of

that which you cannot do. Compare Proverbs 10:22: "The blessing of the Lord, it

maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it", which means, "The blessing of

Jehovah maketh rich, and toil can add nothing thereto." Compare also Matthew

6:25: "Take no thought be not anxious for your life", etc.

10. John Piper has some good comments on the two possible translations of this

verse. He wrote, “Some translations say, "He gives his beloved sleep." Either is a

possible translation from the Hebrew. One implies that God helps a person rest at

night, the other implies that while a person is resting God is busily at work in the

world to bless him. Which fits the context better? The first half of verse 2 says that it

is vain to rise early and go late to rest, but how would the simple statement that God

gives sleep discourage a person from rising early and going to bed late? He is not

interested in his sleep; he's worried and wants to be about his work. But if Solomon

meant, as I think he did, "God gives to his beloved in his sleep," then there is a

tremendously strong incentive to stop being anxious and cutting our sleep short. The

incentive is this: God can perform more good for those who trust him while they

sleep than they can perform with anxious labor for themselves while awake. Can

you think of a better reason not to rise early and go late to rest, eating the bread of

anxious toil?

Have you ever wondered why God made us in such a way that we have to sleep

away a third of our lives? God could have designed a human being that was always

fresh and rested and needed no sleep. Why did he decree that sleep be part of

human experience? I'll give you my opinion. He wanted to give a universal reminder

to the human race that we are but children and ought to own up to it. We are so

frail that we have to become helpless and unconscious and blind and weak every day

in order to live at all. Sleep is a terribly humbling experience. We are never more

weak, never more childlike than when we sleep in faith. And has not God said, "My

power is made perfect in weakness"! And, "Unless you turn and become like little

children, you will not enter the kingdom of God." If God's power is made perfect in

our weakness, then surely we may believe this psalm that when we hand over our

anxieties to God and lay our heads down in peace, God works with all his might

through the night on our behalf.”

11. The bottom line for me is that this is like one of Solomon’s proverbs, and it

means that wisdom invites God into daily life so that all of life is not devoted to

getting ahead with unceasing labor and anxiety. The believer trusts God to provide,

and prays accordingly, “Give us this day our daily bread.” They do not lose sleep

worrying about where there next meal is coming from, or because they are not

content with their resources, and so labor beyond measure to store up more than is

needed. It simply means that life is so much easier if we relax and trust in God, and

this less anxious life style will almost always produce a life with more contented

sleep. It is confirming the sayings, “Let go and let God.”; and “Slow down and smell

the roses.”

12. Spurgeon wrote on the universal gift of sleep, and of what a great blessing it is.

He wrote, “O my friends, how thankful should we be for sleep. Sleep is the best

physician that I know of. Sleep hath healed more pains of wearied bones than the

most eminent physicians upon earth. It is the best medicine; the choicest thing of all

the names which are written in all the lists of pharmacy. There is nothing like to

sleep! What a mercy it is that it belongs alike to all! God does not make sleep the

boon of the rich man, he does not give it merely to the noble, or the rich, so that they

can keep it as a peculiar luxury for themselves; but he bestows it upon all. Yea, if

there be a difference, the sleep of the labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or

much. He who toils, sleeps all the sounder for his toil. While luxurious effeminacy

cannot rest, tossing itself from side to side upon a bed of eider down, the hard-

working labourer, with his strong and powerful limbs, worn out and tired, throws

himself upon his hard couch and sleeps: and waking, thanks God that he has been

refreshed. Ye know not, my friends, how much ye owe to God, that he gives you rest

at night. If ye had sleepless nights, ye would then value the blessing. If for weeks ye

lay tossing on your weary bed, ye then would thank God for this favour. But as it is

the gift of God, it is a gift most precious, one that cannot be valued until it is taken

away; yea, even then we cannot appreciate it as we ought.”

13. Then Spurgeon wrote of the specific sleep he gave to his servants. “First, there is

a miraculous sleep which God has sometimes given to his beloved―which he does

not now vouchsafe. Into that kind of miraculous sleep, or rather trance, fell Adam,

when he slept sorrowfully and alone; but when he awoke he was no more so, for

God had given him that best gift which he had then bestowed on man. The same

sleep Abram had, when it is said that a deep sleep came on him, and he laid him

down, and saw a smoking furnace and a burning lamp, while a voice said to him,

"Fear not, Abram; I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." Such a

hallowed sleep also was that of Jacob, when, with a stone for his pillow, the hedges

for his curtains, he laid him down and slumbered. Dreaming, he saw a ladder set

upon the earth, the top of which reached to heaven, the angels of God ascending and

descending upon it. Such a sleep had Joseph, when he dreamed that the other

sheaves made obeisance to his sheaf, and that the sun, moon, and seven stars were

subject unto him. So ofttimes did David rest, when his sleep was sweet unto him, as

we have just read. And such a sleep was that of Daniel, when he said, "I was asleep

upon my face, and behold the Lord said unto me, Arise, and stand upon thy feet."

And such, moreover, was the sleep of the reputed father of our blessed Lord, when

in a vision of the night, an angel said to him, "Arise, Joseph, and take the young

child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, for Herod will seek the young child to

destroy him." These are miraculous slumbers. God's angel hath touched his

servants with the magic wand of sleep, and they have slept, not simply as we do, but

slept a wondrous sleep; they have dived into the tenfold depths of slumber; they

have plunged into a sea of sleep, where they have seen the invisible, talked with the

unknown, and heard mystic and wondrous sounds: and when they awoke, they have

said, "What a sleep! Surely, my sleep was sweet unto me." "So he giveth his beloved

sleep."

13 B. Spurgeon goes on, “Then look at Peter. Did you ever notice that remarkable

passage, where it is said that Herod intended to bring out Peter on the morrow; but,

behold, as Peter was sleeping between two guards, the angel smote him? Sleeping

between two guards, when on the morrow he was to be crucified or slain! He cared

not, for his heart was clear; he had committed no ill. He could say, "If it be right to

serve God or man, judge ye;" and, therefore, he laid him down and slept. O sirs! do

ye know what the sleep of a quiet conscience is? Have you ever stood out and been

the butt of calumny—pelted by all men; the object of scorn—the laugh, the song of

drunkards? And have ye known what it is, after all, to sleep, as if you cared for

nothing, because your heart was pure? Ah! ye who are in debt—ah! ye who are

dishonest—ah! ye who love not God, and love not Christ—I wonder ye can sleep, for

sin doth put pricking thorns in the pillow. Sin puts a dagger in a man's bed, so that

whichever way he turns it pricks him. But a quiet conscience is the sweetest music

that can lull the soul to sleep.” “It is a blessed thing to be able to say with Madame

Guyon—

To me 'tis equal, whether love ordained,

My life or death, appoint me pain or ease;

My soul perceives no real ill in pain,

In ease or health, no real good she sees.

One good she covets, and that good alone,

To choose thy will, from selfish bias free,

And to prefer a cottage to a throne,

And grief to comfort, if it pleases thee.

That we should bear the cross is thy command—

Die to the world, and live to sin no more;

Suffer unmoved beneath the rudest hand,

As pleased when shipwrecked, as when safe on shore.

14. Sleep is a large subject in the Bible, and Ken Gehrels has compiled these

examples: Sleep - a topic mentioned surprisingly often in the Bible.

Sometimes in a bad way:

- there is the sleep of sloth; like those chastised in Proverbs for snoozing away

harvest time.

-there is the sleep of indifference; like godless people against whom the Bible says,

"Let us not sleep... but let us who are of the day be sober."

- there is the sleep of false security; like King Saul who falls asleep, and his general,

Abner, falls asleep beside him. David, whom - they’ve been stalking, sneaks in and

could easily have killed him.

- there is the sleep of lust; think of Samson at Delilah’s house.

- there is the sleep of sorrow; think of the disciples in Gethsemane.

Sleep.

Ah, but then there is good sleep. The sleep that God grants. Holy sleep:

- the sleep of someone who is receiving a vision; like Abraham or Peter, and in that

vision sees God’s care and direction for their lives.

- the sleep of a quiet conscience; Peter, between two guards and in jail for his faith,

asleep even while in chains. His heart is right with the Lord and this man is

confident of eternal security. So he sleeps.

A quiet conscience. Where can we truly find that, but at the foot of the cross? Ah,

yes – sleep, good sleep...... a gift from God.

- And the sleep of contentment; the person satisfied with her lot in life, finding

comfort that she belongs body and soul, in life and in death, to her faithful Saviour

Jesus Christ.... who will work all things together for her salvation.... who provides

for all that she needs in far greater measure than he does for the lily.

There’s an old poem that says:

Mortals cease from toil and sorrow

For God provideth for the morrow.

3 Sons are a heritage from the LORD,

children a reward from him.

1. Right away we have a problem of interpretation again, for if we take this literally,

then parents who have only daughters are not in on God’s heritage, and those

Christian couples who cannot have children receive no reward, for it is limited to

those who have children. Texts like this can be a downer for those to whom they do

not apply literally. We need to take Solomon’s writing as general wisdom, and that

which applies in normal circumstances to the majority of people, and not take it as

the only truth, or only perspective on a subject. To apply this to families who live in

poverty, and who have no funds to prevent pregnancy, and who, therefore, have

child after child with no hope of survival or successful lives, is folly. This is a picture

of the ideal, and not a stamp of approval on every child that is brought into the

world. Many a child is the wages of sin, and immoral behavior contrary to the will

of God, but for the righteous couple seeking a growing family, this is a fact of life

that brings great rejoicing.

2. Calvin seems to think that this is saying that all children are the result of God’s

determination. He wrote, “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.” The problem with this is that it does not fit

the child of David born from his adultery with Bathsheba. God took the child in

judgment for his sin, even though he pleaded desperately for the child. God did not

approve of the affair, nor of the fruit of the affair, and we can assume that it is the

case also with the millions of other children born as a result of disobedience to this

revealed will. God cannot be on both sides of the issue. He cannot be ordaining the

conception and birth of children due to sin, and at the same time condemning it as

out of his will. It is wrong and sinful to have children out of his will by sinful

behavior, and so it cannot also be his will that such children we the result of his will.

It is inconsistent with God’s Word to call all children a reward from Him. God did

reward David with other children with Bathsheba when they were married, and

Solomon himself is the great example, but the child born out of wedlock was not

God’s reward.

3. Barnes wrote, “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.” Thomas Goodwin sees this with a very specific application. He wrote, “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." (2 Samuel 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 (Psalms

127:3), quiet sleep given him by God from all his enemies round about him. And for

this, compare the prophecy of him (1 Chronicles 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.”

4. Joseph Caryl makes it clear that it is not a universal, but a specific and limited

reality. He wrote, “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 fullness 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.” In other words, you

cannot make this verse apply to the many children born to families out of God’s will

who will be taught to worship idols, and live lives that are despicable in the eyes of

God.

5. Pastor Steven Cole recognizes the problem in trying to apply this Psalm to all

believers. He wrote, “I also realize that the subject of family life doesn’t directly

apply to everyone here. You may be single and not have your own family. You may

be divorced and feel like you’ve failed because your family is shattered beyond

recovery. Maybe your family is already raised and gone. Perhaps you’re married

without children. I cannot apply these things to every possible category represented

here today.” It is just a fact of life that not every subject the Bible deals with applies

to every believer at the same time, and sometimes it is a topic that never applies to

many believers. Life is too complex to think that all subjects are relevant to all

believers.

6. Bob Deffinbaugh wrote, “Some scholars have suggested that this Psalm was

originally two separate psalms. They propose this because the connection between

verses 1 and 2 and verses 3-5 is an enigma to them. I personally am convinced that

there is a very clear sequence and progression of thought. Children provide an

excellent conclusion to the argument of verses 1 and 2. Children illustrate and apply

positively the truths previously taught from a somewhat negative perspective. The

provision of children differs from that for which men toil. When men work they are

striving for wages, not a gift. Wages are what we produce with the work of our

hands. Gifts are those things generously and graciously given to us by another.

Children, verse 3 informs us, are a gift from God. They are a great reward.”

7. Deffinbaugh goes on, “Isn’t it interesting that children, while given by God, are

conceived when we are at rest, not when we toil. Children are normally conceived in

bed. What a beautiful illustration, then, of what we are told in verse 2, that God

gives to His beloved in his sleep…..” Deffinbaugh is going by a different translation,

and he uses it to eliminate the sleep issue, and I like it as a solution, for it works and

is a reality. He is using the ASB, which renders it, “For He gives to His beloved

even in his sleep.” It is when sleeping with his wife that the Lord gives him the fruit

of his loins, and he is given children. It is by means of making love and not putting

in long hours that he has the blessing of a family.

7B. Deffinbaugh continues, “Do you see the point of the Psalm? The man who puts

too much stock in his labor is the man who has failed to understand the grace of

God. In His grace God has provided man with a time of rest and relaxation. And in

His grace God has made provision for many of our needs through the gift of

children. Contrary to the thinking of the workaholic, God’s gifts are not acquired

by feverish efforts, burning the candle at both ends, but by resting in His grace.”

What I see him saying is that the greatest rewards and gifts come to the believer in

rest and relaxation, and in trusting God rather than in working our fingers to the

bone. Workaholics build a house of many rooms, but those who slow down and

enjoy God’s provisions of a family build a much happier house that brings greater

pleasure to God and man.

8. The above view of Deffinbaugh is supported by others. Wayne Shih, for example

wrote, “Verse three says, “Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward

from him.” The word “heritage” or “inheritance” draws upon the idea of a gift. It’s

something that belonged to someone else but has been left to an heir. It’s something

that has been given as a trust. In the ancient world, where life was fragile and infant

mortality was high, to have children and to see them grow and become strong was a

real cause for joy. But where do children come from? I don’t mean that as a sex

education question. I mean, children are a gift and a trust from God Eugene

Peterson writes, “The example couldn’t have been better chosen. What do we do to

get sons [or daughters]? Very little. The entire miracle of procreation and

reproduction requires our participation, but hardly in the form of what we call our

work. We did not make these marvelous creatures that walk and talk and grow

among us. We participated in an act of love which was provided for us in the

structure of God’s creation (A Long Obedience inthe Same Direction, 105-106).

4. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior

are sons born in one's youth.

1. Arrows are a source of protection. It is a dangerous situation to be facing an

enemy without weapons, and so it is a source of great comfort to have arrows in

your hands as you march forward. To be unarmed is to be at the mercy of the foe.

Having sons when you are young, which is the age when you are obligated to be a

warrior and endure combat, is a great source of comfort. They give you confidence

that you can face your enemies with assurance that you have backup that will give

you the victory. Someone wrote, “ aturally speaking, as arrows exceed a man's own

reach, so children exceed the span of his life -- projecting into the future the father's

influence either for good or ill, long after his death.” Like arrows shot out ahead of

the warrior, so children are shot out ahead in life to give the warrior an impact on

the future.

2. Barnes adds another value when he writes, “They are what a parent may rely on

for defense in danger, or for help in securing provision for himself and family - as

the warrior or the hunter relies on his arrows. Sons in their youth; in their prime

and vigor. The comparison of sons with arrows or spears is common in Arabic

poetry. “ Clarke adds, “Each child will, in the process of time, be a defense and

support to the family, as arrows in the quiver of a skillful and strong archer…” Gill

adds, “so are children of the youth: not young children, or children in their youth;

but such who are born to their parents when they are in their youth; and which are

generally healthful and strong, and their parents live to see them grown up; and

who are useful to protect them, and defend their persons and properties from

enemies when grown old and feeble, and unable to defend themselves…”

3. Spurgeon wrote, “As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of

the youth. Children born to men in their early days, by God's blessing become the

comfort of their riper years. A man of war is glad of weapons which may fly where

he cannot: good sons are their father's arrows speeding to hit the mark which their

sires aim at. What wonders a good man can accomplish if he has affectionate

children to second his desires, and lend themselves to his designs! To this end we

must have our children in hand while they are yet children, or they are never likely

to be so when they are grown up; and we must try to point them and straighten

them, so as to make arrows of them in their youth, lest they should prove crooked

and unserviceable in after life. Let the Lord favor us with loyal, obedient,

affectionate offspring, and we shall find in them our best helpers. We shall see them

shot forth into life to our comfort and delight, if we take care from the very

beginning that they are directed to the right point.”

4. Steven Cole wrote, “Arrows must be shaped and sharpened. In Solomon’s day,

you didn’t go down to the local sporting goods store and buy arrows. either did

you find them lying around on the ground. Sticks aren’t arrows by nature. They

had to be carefully shaped and sharpened. Children are the same. This implies

work. Derek Kidner insightfully writes, “... It is not untypical of God’s gifts that

first they are liabilities, or at least responsibilities, before they become obvious

assets. The greater their promise, the more likely that these sons will be a handful

before they are a quiverful” (p. 442). Children don’t grow into straight, sharp

arrows by being left to themselves or to the TV set. It takes diligent effort on the

part of a wise father to bring them up in the training of the Lord.”

5. Blessed is the man

whose quiver is full of them.

They will not be put to shame

when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

1. Of course, Solomon was all for having a large family with unlimited numbers of

children. He had a thousand wives and concubines, and he had more wealth than

anyone else we know of in history. In the same circumstances most everyone would

be all for an extended nursery, with paid help to raise and care for the overflowing

quiver. On the other hand, there are those who can barely afford one arrow in their

quiver, and they would feel cursed rather than blessed if they had to support a full

quiver of them. Trying to apply this in all people, and in all nations, especially very

poor ones where poverty is overwhelming, it meaningless. What Solomon is saying is

that in the circumstances of his time, and in his nation, where abundance was

everywhere, it was considered by the public to be a great blessing to have a large

number of children.

2. A large family at that time could be an enormous help in running the family farm,

or business. They would supply an abundance of love and fun, and they would be a

force to be reckoned with in any conflict. I would feel quite secure with 4 or 5 big

husky sons walking beside we when we are confronted with a couple of bullies

looking for trouble. It is not likely that I will walk away from the conflict in shame,

for it is more likely that the bullies will be crawling away in shame. I would be

walking around with my own body guard, and be humming to myself, “How blessed

I am to have a quiver full of these boys.” Phillips agrees with this and wrote,

“….the object of the verse is doubtless to show, that a numerous progeny is a great

blessing to a man, and an important addition to his strength and safety; that they

will be a defense to him in a time of danger, and serve him to repel an enemy, as

arrows do in the hand of a mighty man." Barnes put it, “The meaning is, that they

would do honor to the family, and gratify the heart of the parent, by their valor in

defending their city and home, or in attacking the cities of the enemies of their

country.” Spurgeon put it, “ obody cares to meddle with a man who can gather a

clan of brave sons about him.”

3. The above is certainly a valid interpretation, but it is not likely the only thought

Solomon had in mind, for he was a man of peace, and was not likely one who was

out ready for a brawl with strangers, or contending with enemy forces at the gate.

He more likely had in mind the idea that when he dealt with issues of debate with

those who differed from him in the gate, where many decisions of law and

government were decided, he would have the support of a large number of his

family, which made him a substantial member of the community with a bigger voice

in matters that effected the community than those with few or no children. In other

words, a large family made him superior in authority, and with greater validity in

his defense of his perspective. It was clearly a political advantage.

4. Clarke points out that the courts were held at the gate of the city, and if a man is

falsely accused of a crime he has to defend himself, and if he has a large family he

has many witnesses to his integrity and his whereabouts at the time of the crime. In

other words, his large family is his key defense against his enemies who are accusing

him of wrong doing. Clarke sees this as a possible interpretation, but still prefers to

see it as a matter of having a good size force in case he needs to defend his property.

Gill agreed, and wrote, “The sense is, that their children should stand and plead the

cause of their parents against their adversaries in courts of judicature;…”

5. Spurgeon has mixed emotions about this verse, for he defends the value of the

verse, and then in the end of the paragraph concludes that it really does not make a

difference in the long run, and even the childless couple can be just as happy. It

makes sense to be ambiguous on this matter, for there is endless variety in the world

of happy families, and happy couples. He wrote, “Happy is the man that hath his

quiver full of them. Those who have no children bewail the fact; those who have few

children see them soon gone, and the house is silent, and their life has lost a charm;

those who have many gracious children are upon the whole the happiest. Of course

a large number of children means a large number of trials; but when these are met

by faith in the Lord it also means a mass of love, and a multitude of joys. The writer

of this comment gives it as his own observation, that he has seen the most frequent

unhappiness in marriages which are unfruitful; that he has himself been most

grateful for two of the best of sons; but as they have both grown up, and he has no

child at home, he has without a tinge of murmuring, or even wishing that he were

otherwise circumstanced, felt that it might have been a blessing to have had a more

numerous family: he therefore heartily agrees with the Psalmist's verdict herein

expressed. He has known a family in which there were some twelve daughters and

three sons, and he never expects to witness upon earth greater domestic felicity than

fell to the lot of their parents, who rejoiced in all their children, as the children also

rejoiced in their parents and in one another. When sons and daughters are arrows,

it is well to have a quizzer full of them; but if they are only sticks, knotty and

useless, the fewer of them the better. While those are blessed whose quiver is full,

there is no reason to doubt that many are blessed who have no quiver at all; for a

quiet life may not need such a warlike weapon. Moreover, a quiver may be small

and yet full; and then the blessing is obtained. In any case we may be sure that a

man's life consisteth not in the abundance of children that he possesseth.”

6. This Psalm obviously fits a war like culture where combat is a regular part of life.

It our culture it does not seem appropriate, for we do not think of our children as

weapons needed for protection of our persons and properties. We need to see them

as precious for other reasons than warfare, and so quantity is not now as essential as

in the days where numbers were important in combat. Steven Cole has some words

of wisdom for parents at this point. He wrote, “Children are called a “gift,” a

“reward,” and, indirectly (v. 5), a “blessing.” They are not burdens or interruptions

to our pursuit of our self-centered goals. We need to treasure our children as we

would a precious gift from a wealthy friend, because that is what they are. If

children are gifts from God, two applications follow: (1) Communicate verbally to

your children how precious they are to you. Let them know in words that they are

God’s special gift to you. You don’t do this to “build their self-esteem,” an

unbiblical concept that has come to us from psychology. You do it to instill in

them the realization that they were created by a loving, sovereign God for His

sovereign purpose. Since my kids were infants, I’ve told them repeatedly, “You’re

such a blessing! I’m so glad God gave you to us!” Children need to hear that

verbally from both parents, but especially from their dads. (2) Communicate non-

verbally to your children how precious they are to you. One of the key ways to do

this is to spend time with them. That says, louder than words, “You’re more

important to me than my job or my other interests.” Kids often interpret an

absent father as rejection, even if he thinks that his absence is a sacrifice he’s

making to provide for them. A child who feels rejected will often grow angry and

bitter.”

7. Some feel that a quiver full is a little too much, and they would rather see the

glass half empty at least. Adrian Dieleman gives us a word picture of the paradoxof children, for it is clear to all parents that they are both precious and painful. Hewrote, “We know from Psalm 127 how precious our children really are: "Blessedis the man whose quiver is full of them."

"Stop that wrestling. Look what you just did. You wrecked the end table."

Aren't children a precious gift from above? Aren't they one of life's richest

blessings?

"Why would you slide down the roof and hood of the car? What possessed

you to make it more slippery by throwing gravel on top? Look at all the

scratches and gouges."

How dreary this world would be without the pitter-patter of little feet, the melodic

strains of their laughter, the happy looks on their sun-freckled faces.

"Where is my screwdriver? I keep telling you to put everything back."

How fragile a child! How short is the time we have to delight in them. Moms and

Dads, enjoy your children when they are little. And don't bruise their tender souls

or burst the delicious bubble of their happiness ...

"Don't fill your glass over the floor ... Oh no! Juice all over the floor I just

washed. That does it!"

The psalmist does not tell us children are a gift of God because they are always so

much fun or because they are so sweet and cute. The Promised Land was a heritage

from God too. And, it took the Israelites years of struggle to wrestle this land from

the Canaanites. Even then the land remained a mixed blessing. So it goes with the

bundles of joy God entrusts to parents. Being a parent does involve struggle and

trial.”

7B. Dieleman ends his message on this Psalm with these words, “I would like to end

with a prayer of General Douglas MacArthur for his son.

Title: Build Me a Son, Lord

Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak,

and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud

and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.

Build me a son whose wishbone will not be where his backbone should be; a

son who will know You [and Christ].

Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and

spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm;

here let him learn compassion for those who fail.

Build me a son whose heart will be clean, whose goal will be high; a son who

will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will learn to

laugh, yet never forget how to weep; one who will reach into the future, yet

never forget the past.

And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so

that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him

humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of greatness, the

open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength.

Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, "I have not lived in vain."

8. Matt Slick has written this conclusion to this Psalm, and it is a fitting way to end

this study, for he wraps it up nicely.

“This Psalm calls you to recognize and acknowledge that God is the true builder

and that all you do must be done in an attitude of humble dependence upon Him. It

calls you to look to God for your security, both on a national and in a personal level.

It calls you to trust God for your safety and the safety of your family and to

recognize that God blesses His people with children. His children. Your dependence

upon God, as Christians, will not produce vain effort. If you seek God's will in all

you do and have, then it is not vain work. On that day of judgment, when the Lord

Jesus judges all the secrets of men and women and the fires of purification remove

the pure works from the impure, your works will stand... if they were done for the

Lord, if they were blessed by Him, if you gave to Him all that you do and have. In

humility, seek God in all you do. Seek His will. Give to Him your work, your

security, your family... and He will bless you.”