After all we’ve been discussing about having children in the previous entries, I’d like to conclude by highlighting one of the most important texts in the Bible regarding the blessing that children are: Psalm 127. This text is so clear and powerful that it will not allow us to continue undervaluing the worth of having children. Furthermore, it is a message that simply cannot be more timely.
Here is the psalm:
Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the Lord guards the city,
The watchman keeps awake in vain.
It is vain for you to rise up early,
To retire late,
To eat the bread of painful labor;
For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.
Behold, children are a gift of the Lord,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;
They will not be ashamed
When they speak with their enemies in the gate.
Normally, we think that this psalm is divided into two unrelated parts. When talking about children, we often take only verses 3-5, especially for occasions like baby showers or similar events. Certainly, those verses contain great truths about parenthood. However, without the first two verses, the last ones lose all their strength and context. Moreover, to live in our current society and dispel the misconceptions we have about the value of children, we need to understand this psalm in its entirety. So, let’s start with the often-overlooked first two verses.
In these verses, Solomon describes a problem: no matter how hard we strive, plan, or work, if we leave God out of the equation and try to do things our way, the result will be a resounding failure. Solomon mentions builders constructing a house and guards protecting the walls. Both do their jobs skillfully and diligently, but if they do not have God’s help, all their effort will amount to nothing. The second verse perfectly summarizes this: it makes no sense to work from dawn until dusk, with no rest and great effort. If it is not God who provides for you, you will be miserable. Then, Solomon shifts to the topic of children in the following verses.
What sense does this transition make? Did Solomon mistakenly include these first verses in what he later states about having children? Not at all.
Solomon does this with a very clear purpose. In the first paragraph, he asserts that God holds the key to success; He knows how to do things right. Therefore, any plan that excludes God is doomed to fail, even if it seems sensible or brilliant. And here is where Solomon connects this concept with the idea of having children. In doing so, he is shouting to our society, which has been intent on thinking that not wanting to have children is a good idea. Solomon, on the other hand, is saying, “It’s not a good idea; in fact, it’s a disastrous plan! If you follow that path, you will end up very badly.”
If you follow God’s plan, even if you are not as smart or laboring to seek what you think is best for you, He “grants sleep to those he loves” (Ps. 127:2). The specific plan that God has and to which Solomon refers is having children and raising them the right way. If we follow that plan—that is, if we fulfill the first mandate that the Creator gave to man when He created him—we will succeed, even if we do not imagine it.
It is in this context that those beautiful and well-known words about children come into play. The psalmist states that children are a gift from God and His reward (Ps. 127:3). For us to understand it correctly, Solomon provides two examples.
The first is that of arrows in the hands of a warrior. Think about it: previously, the author reminded us that the soldiers guarding the wall are useless without God’s help. Now, he uses another military image to illustrate what happens when God does help. A warrior with a sword can only attack what is near, but a warrior with a bow and arrow can reach much further.
Our world deceives us into thinking that having children is a burden. We believe that by having children, we cannot achieve our goals when we desire, and therefore we think they are hindering us. But God says otherwise. If we choose to have children and invest in their education, not only will they not detract from our lives, but they will add immensely. As we said in the last entry, children take away things like money, time, and patience, but they help us focus on what truly matters.
Moreover, just as the warrior prepares his arrows before the battle, we too must invest in our children—not simply have them and leave their education to the church or the government. If we do this, the impact we will have will far exceed any career or degree we may obtain. Our reach will be infinitely greater than any job position.
In fact, our society fills us with fear regarding our children. Education, influences, friendships, pornography… there are many things that worry us. But the psalmist does not present an image of fear. His image is that of a warrior launching powerful and precise arrows. We must prepare our children not to be afraid, but to be the ones society fears, because they will become powerful tools in God’s hands.
The second example is that of a man at the city gate talking with his enemies. In ancient times, gates were places where trade agreements were made and disputes were resolved. Here we see a man in an apparently defenseless situation, facing his enemies. But he is not alone: his children are by his side, like an army ready to defend him. No one will take advantage of him. His children will protect him.
The message is clear: children do not detract; they add. We see this not only in the spiritual sense, where God blesses those who have them, but also in practical terms.
I want to conclude with an example. One of the reasons many do not have children today is that they think caring for elderly parents is the government’s responsibility, thanks to the pension system. But that system is crumbling. We are paying our parents’ pensions, but who will pay ours? My advice is to act as if you will receive nothing in retirement because that is probably how it will be. When that time comes, who will take care of you? If you have children and prepare them, you will not be left helpless. They will take care of you.
Many people say they cannot afford to have children. Friend, the opposite is true: what you cannot afford is not having children. We must have children because it is what God commands. We must have them because that is divine wisdom, higher than our own. We must have children because they will go further than we will. And we must also have children because we cannot afford not to.
