Psalm 127:3

Psalm 127 belongs to the Songs of Ascents, the fifteen psalms from Psalm 120 to Psalm 134 that pilgrims traditionally sang as they went up to Jerusalem for the yearly feasts. Its title gives it to Solomon, a man known for his wisdom and his building. It opens with the truth that governs everything after it: “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. 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” (Psalm 127:1–2).

Verse 3 carries that truth from the house and the city into the family. In Israel, to build a house often meant to establish a family line as well as to put up a dwelling, so the psalm moves naturally from walls to sons. Strong’s traces the Hebrew word for son, bên, to a root meaning “to build”, and a man’s sons were the building up of his name. The family depends on the LORD just as the house and the city do. A man may rise early and sit up late, and the children who fill his home still come to him as the LORD’s gift.

The verse opens with “Lo”, hinnēh, an exclamation like “Behold!” that calls us to stop and take notice of what follows. Then comes the claim itself: “children are an heritage of the LORD.” The word bên means a son, and in its wider use it covers offspring and descendants. Here it stands for the children God gives a family.

The word heritage, naḥălāh, means an inheritance or possession, most often land handed down from one generation to the next. It is the word Moses uses for the land of Canaan, the inheritance the LORD gave Israel (Deuteronomy 4:21). To call children a heritage is to rank them with the most valued thing an Israelite family owned, a lasting possession from God. They are “of the LORD”, Yᵉhôvâh, the covenant God of Israel. They come from him and belong first to him, and parents receive them as a trust to care for.

The second line says the same thing in other words, as Hebrew poetry often does: “the fruit of the womb is his reward.” “The fruit of the womb” is a common biblical way of speaking of children, drawn from their beginning inside their mother. The word reward, śāḵār, means wages, payment or a good return. The psalm has just said that toil alone builds in vain, so this reward is the LORD’s own generous payment, given from his hand. Children are a blessing and a joy, and a sign of his favour.

Israel knew this well. A large family carried on the family name and inheritance and gave parents security in old age, and the birth of a child was a cause of great rejoicing. Childlessness was a deep sorrow, as the stories of Sarai (Genesis 16:1–2), Rachel, who cried, “Give me children, or else I die” (Genesis 30:1), and Hannah (1 Samuel 1:2, 1 Samuel 1:6) all show.

All of this goes back to the beginning, when God blessed the first man and woman and said, “Be fruitful, and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). He promised Abram that he would make of him a great nation (Genesis 12:2), and he set blessing on the fruit of the body among the blessings of obedience (Deuteronomy 28:4). A psalm praises him because “He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children” (Psalm 113:9), and another rejoices that God formed the psalmist in his mother’s womb and saw him before he was made (Psalm 139:13–16). Every child is God’s own work.

“As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.” The word for arrow, chêts, comes from a root meaning “to pierce”. In war and in hunting an arrow was a carefully made weapon. It had to be shaped and straightened, and in a skilled hand it carried the archer’s strength far beyond the reach of his arm, to protect his people and to bring home food.

The mighty man, gibbôwr (also written gibbor), is a warrior, a hero or a champion, a man of strength and skill. His arrows are useful because he knows how to aim them. Sons in ancient Israel were the strength of a household in the same way. They worked the family’s land, defended its property and honour, and carried its name and influence into the next generation.

The picture also speaks to parents. An archer looks after his arrows, straightens them and aims them with purpose, and fathers and mothers are given children to train and direct. Moses told Israel to keep God’s words in their hearts and to teach them diligently to their children at home and on the way (Deuteronomy 6:6–7). Proverbs says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6), and Paul tells fathers to bring their children up “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). A child raised in that way can carry faith and godly character far beyond the home, the way a well-aimed arrow reaches its mark.

“Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them.” The word happy, ʼesher, means happiness or blessedness, and it is used as an exclamation: “How happy is the man!” It describes someone who is fortunate and blessed by God. The KJV often renders it “blessed”.

The quiver, ʼashpâh, is the case that holds the arrows, so the picture of verse 4 continues. The family is the quiver and the children are the arrows in it. A full quiver means many children, and with them a household ready to meet whatever comes. The blessing reaches on into old age, for “Children’s children are the crown of old men” (Proverbs 17:6).

The blessing of children reaches its fullest meaning in Christ. Jesus welcomed little children and said, “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14). God had promised Abraham that all the nations of the earth would be blessed in his seed (Genesis 22:18), and Paul says that this seed is Christ (Galatians 3:16). To all who receive him, whatever their birth, Jesus gives power to become the sons of God (John 1:12), and they are brought into a family that reaches beyond every earthly tie.

The inheritance grows too. Israel’s naḥălāh was land, and the inheritance kept for believers is “incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven” (1 Peter 1:4).

The full quiver points to Christ as well. He is the truly blessed Man, and his quiver is filled with all whom the Father gives him (John 6:37), a great multitude from every nation, kindred, people and tongue (Revelation 7:9). They are “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9). Because he bore their shame on the cross, the promise of verse 5 is theirs: “Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” (Romans 10:11). He has spoiled principalities and powers and triumphed over them (Colossians 2:15), so his people can speak in the gate.

Believers are also sent out like arrows. Jesus said, “As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you” (John 20:21), and he sent his disciples to teach all nations (Matthew 28:19–20). The generations raised in faith and the disciples made through the gospel fill God’s quiver. For us the gate is wherever truth has to be spoken in public, in our towns, our work and our conversations, and we stand there with courage and grace, “strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might”, clothed in the whole armour of God (Ephesians 6:10–18).

Every child is a gift placed in a family by the LORD, and that shapes how we look at the children around us. A child is a heritage to be thankful for, entrusted to us for a season and belonging first to him. The hard days of raising children are part of a great privilege.

If God has given you children, the picture of the arrow gives you a task. Teach them his words at home and on the way, show them your own faith, and aim them toward the God who made them. The psalm that gives the task also gives rest, because the LORD builds the house, and the strength for this work comes from the God who gives his beloved sleep.

If you are still waiting for children, or God has led you along another road, the same hands hold your life, and the God who gives children knows your days. Every believer can take part in raising the next generation, because children in a church family need many fathers and mothers in the faith, and the Lord’s quiver is filled with all who come to him through Christ.