Psa 127:3 | MHM | STEP | v. 3. Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. The psalmist turns from the affairs and business of the household to the increase of the family itself, and here also we must have an eye to God. II. In the increase of the family. 1. Children are God's gift. If children are withheld, it is God that withholds them (Gen. xxx. 2 ); if they are given, it is God that gives them (Gen. xxxiii. 5 ); and they are to us what he makes them—comforts or crosses, as he sees fit. Solomon multiplied wives, contrary to the law, yet we never read of more than one son that he had; for those that desire children as a heritage from the Lord must receive them in the way he is pleased to give them, by lawful marriage to one wife (Mal. ii. 15 ). Children are a heritage for the Lord as well as from him; they are, says God, my children which thou hast borne unto me (Ezek. xvi. 20 ), and they are most our honour and comfort when they are devoted to him for a generation. He that sends mouths will send meat, if we trust him. Obed-edom had eight sons, for the Lord blessed him because he had entertained the ark (1 Chron. xxvi. 5 ). Children are an heritage and a reward, and are to be so accounted

‏ Psalms 127:3

v. 3. Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. The psalmist turns from the affairs and business of the household to the increase of the family itself, and here also we must have an eye to God.

II. In the increase of the family. 1. Children are God's gift. If children are withheld, it is God that withholds them (Gen. xxx. 2 ^a); if they are given, it is God that gives them (Gen. xxxiii. 5 ^b); and they are to us what he makes them—comforts or crosses, as he sees fit. Solomon multiplied wives, contrary to the law, yet we never read of more than one son that he had; for those that desire children as a heritage from the Lord must receive them in the way he is pleased to give them, by lawful marriage to one wife (Mal. ii. 15 ^c). Children are a heritage for the Lord as well as from him; they are, says God, my children which thou hast borne unto me (Ezek. xvi. 20 ^d), and they are most our honour and comfort when they are devoted to him for a generation. He that sends mouths will send meat, if we trust him. Obed-edom had eight sons, for the Lord blessed him because he had entertained the ark (1 Chron. xxvi. 5 ^e). Children are an heritage and a reward, and are to be so accounted—blessings, not burdens.