Psalms · Chapter 127

V. 1. Build-Assist and bless those that build it.

Verse 1. Except the Lord build the house] To build a house is taken in three different senses in the sacred writings. 1. To build the temple of the Lord, which was called tybh habbeith, the house, by way of eminence. 2. To build any ordinary house, or place of dwelling. 3. To have a numerous offspring. In this sense it is supposed to be spoken concerning the Egyptian midwives; that because they feared the Lord, therefore he built them houses. See the note on Exodus 1:21. But, however, the above passage may be interpreted, it is a fact that בנ ben, a son, and tb bath, a daughter, and tyb beith, a house, come from the same root hnb banah, to build; because sons and daughters build up a household, or constitute a family, as much and as really as stones and timber constitute a building. Now it is true that unless the good hand of God be upon us we cannot prosperously build a place of worship for his name. Unless we have his blessing, a dwelling-house cannot be comfortably erected. And if his blessing be not on our children, the house (the family) may be built up, but instead of its being the house of God, it will be the synagogue of Satan. All marriages that are not under God’s blessing will be a private and public curse. This we see every day.

Except the Lord keep the city] When the returned Jews began to restore the walls of Jerusalem, and rebuild the city, Sanballat, Tobiah, and others formed plots to prevent it. Nehemiah, being informed of this, set up proper watches and guards. The enemy, finding this, gathered themselves together, and determined to fall upon them at once, and cut them all off. Nehemiah, having gained intelligence of this also, armed his people, and placed them behind the wall. Sanballat and his company, finding that the Jews were prepared for resistance, abandoned their project; and Nehemiah, to prevent surprises of this kind, kept one-half of the people always under arms, while the other half was employed in the work. To this the psalmist alludes; and in effect says, Though you should watch constantly, guard every place, and keep on your armour ready to repel every attack, yet remember the success of all depends upon the presence and blessing of God. While, therefore, ye are not slothful in business, be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; for there is no success either in spiritual or secular undertakings but in consequence of the benediction of the Almighty.

1, 2. And for children, 3-5.

NOTES ON PSALM 127.

Verse 1. Except the Lord build the house — That is, assist and bless those that build it, whether an artificial house, such as the temple, or the royal palace, or any of those numerous structures which Solomon raised; or rather, a natural or civil house, a family or kingdom; they labour in vain that build it — They will never succeed well in their attempts, bring it to perfection, or have any comfort in it. The success of all our undertakings depends so entirely upon God’s blessing, that it is in vain to attempt any thing without it: in vain is it to build houses and cities, or to endeavour to uphold families, or establish states, unless he prosper the design: and the care of the watchman, of the soldier, or magistrate, is to no purpose, unless the divine providence be likewise the guard. “In every undertaking the blessing of God must accompany the labours of man to render them effectual. No work can prosper without him; nor can any design miscarry under his favour and protection. Above all men they ought to implore the divine grace and benediction, who are employed either in building or defending the spiritual house and city of God; especially as the same persons, like the Jews after the captivity, surrounded by enemies, always ready to obstruct the work, are often obliged to hold a sword in one hand while they build with the other. Our own edification in faith and holiness must likewise be carried on by us in this attitude, by reason of the many temptations which are continually assailing us.” — Horne.

1. House—Here to be taken literally, as city unquestionably should be in the next member. But it is viewed in its relations to home avocations, and the rearing of the family as the ultimate objects sought. It spoils the beauty and proportions of the psalm to consider it merely in the figurative sense of family, as in Ruth 4:11. As the “house” represents and relates to the family, so does the “city,” in the next clause, represent and relate to the state. Both are comprehended in the national life, and both depend on God, without whom all labour is profitless.

V. 2. You-Builders, or watchmen. To sit-To use constant and unwearied diligence. So-By his blessing. Giveth-Freely, without that immoderate toiling, wherewith others pursue it.

Verse 2. It is vain for you to rise up early] There seems to be here an allusion to the daily and nightly watches which Nehemiah instituted. The people are worn out with constant labour 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 Nehemiah and his servants, they never put off their clothes day or night but for washing.

Verse 2. It is vain for you — Builders or watch-men, or other persons engaged in any design, which to you seems important; to rise up early, to sit up late — To use constant and unwearied diligence; to eat the bread of sorrows — Or, the bread of fatigue, as some render it; to labour hard, and fare poorly. For so — By his blessing, and not singly by industry without it; or, as the word ˆk is rendered in the margin, certainly, or since, as Dr. Hammond translates it; he giveth his beloved sleep — His people, who, though hated and maligned by men, are beloved of God, and over whom his providence watcheth in a special manner. He gives them quiet rest, both of body and mind, and that freely, without that immoderate toiling and drudgery wherewith others pursue it. Observe, reader, the psalmist does not intend to say that labour and diligence are vain, but that they are so unless the Lord be with and bless the labourer: the business is not to be done by all the industry and pains, all the care and labour in the world, without him; whereas, if his aid be called in, if part of our time be spent in prayer, and not the whole of it in prayerless care and labour, our work will become easier and go on better: a solicitude and anxiety for its success and completion will no longer prey upon our minds by day, and break our rest at night; we shall cheerfully fulfil our daily tasks, and then, with confidence and resignation, lay our heads upon our pillows, and God will give us sweet and undisturbed sleep, which shall fit us to return every morning with renewed vigour and alacrity to our stated employments: see Horne.

2. Rise… early—Namely, to engage in work. Sit up late—Not “sit up,” but sit down. It is not lateness in sitting down to rest at night merely, after the day’s work is done, as the antithesis might seem to require, but delaying to sit down by day as well, whether for momentary rest or for eating. See Deuteronomy 6:7; Psalm 139:2. The reproof lies, not against labour and care as such, which are made necessary by a divine decree, (Genesis 3:17-19,) and in which, as a judgment and a discipline, God takes tender sympathy with man, but against seeking the world with such absorbing care and desire as to rob the body of needful rest and the soul of quiet and meditation. Such a habit is inconsistent with dependence on God, who alone giveth prosperity. See Matthew 6:24-34. Bread of sorrows—Bread procured by bitter labours and cares. The allusion is to Genesis 3:17: “In sorrow shalt thou eat.” Excess of care should be rolled upon God: forethought and diligence belong to us, in reliance upon his guidance. 1 Peter 5:7. So he giveth—The Hebrew ˆk, (ken,) is a particle of comparison—so, in like manner, thus; and the sense of this obscure sentence seems to be, that in the midst of cares and labours, thus tempered by faith and patience, God giveth to his beloved sleep. Hereby health and present enjoyment are secured, with a better guaranty of ultimate success by this godly advice. Quiet and healthful sleep was considered a special mark of divine care and favour. Leviticus 26:6; Proverbs 3:24. His beloved—The Hebrew wdydy, (jedido,) “his beloved,” is supposed to refer to the name given to Solomon at his birth, hydydy, (Jedidiah,) the “beloved” of Jehovah. 2 Samuel 12:25.

V. 3. Children-The chief of these blessings. Heritage-Only from God’s blessing, even as an inheritance is not the fruit of a man’s own labour, but the gift of God.

Verse 3. Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord] That is, To many God gives children in place of temporal good. To many others he gives houses, lands, and thousands of gold and silver, and with them the womb that beareth not; and these are their inheritance. The poor man has from God a number of children, without lands or money; these are his inheritance; and God shows himself their father, feeding and supporting them by a chain of miraculous providences. Where is the poor man who would give up his six children, with the prospect of having more, for the thousands or millions of him who is the centre of his own existence, and has neither root nor branch but his forlorn solitary self upon the face of the earth? Let the fruitful family, however poor, lay this to heart; “Children are a heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” And he who gave them will feed them; for it is a fact, and the maxim formed on it has never failed, “Wherever God sends mouths, he sends meat.” “Murmur not,” said an Arab to his friend, “because thy family is large; know that it is for their sakes that God feeds thee.”

Verse 3. Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord — They come not from the power of mere nature, but from God’s blessing, even as an inheritance is not the fruit of a man’s own labour, but the gift of God. He can, in a moment, blast the most fruitful stock, or he can make the barren woman keep house, and become a joyful mother of children. The psalmist mentions children here, because all the forementioned toil and labour are, in a great measure, and most commonly, undertaken for their sakes; and because they are the chief of all those blessings to which he refers. And the fruit of the womb is his reward — Not a reward of debt, merited by good men, but a reward of grace, as the apostle expresses himself, Romans 4:4, which God gives them graciously, as Jacob acknowledges of his children, Genesis 35:5. God indeed frequently gives children, and other outward comforts, to ungodly men, but this is in the way of his common providence; whereas he gives them to his people as peculiar favours, and in the way of promise and covenant.

3. Lo, children—From dwellings, and the right ordering of our labour, the psalmist proceeds to the family. Heritage—A possession derived from a father by the law of blood relation. Children are a wealth, and the gift of God. To reverse this doctrine is a renunciation of the laws of God, both as written in Holy Scripture and implanted in our nature.

V. 4. Youth-These he prefers before other children, because they live longest with their parents, and to their comfort and support, whereas children born in old age seldom come to maturity before their parents death.

Verse 4. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man] Each child will, in the process of time, be a defence and support to the family, as arrows in the quiver of a skilful and strong archer; the more he has, the more enemies he may slay, and consequently the more redoubted shall he be. Children of the youth.] The children of young people are always more strong and vigorous, more healthy, and generally longer lived than those of elderly, or comparatively elderly persons. Youth is the time for marriage; I do not mean infancy or a comparative childhood, in which several fools join in marriage who are scarcely fit to leave the nursery or school. Such couples generally disagree; they cannot bear the boyish and girlish petulancies and caprices of each other; their own growth is hindered, and their offspring, (if any,) have never much better than an embryo existence. On the other hand age produces only a dwarfish or rickety offspring, that seldom live to procreate; and when they do, it is only to perpetuate deformity and disease. It would be easy to assign reasons for all this; but the interpretation of Scripture will seldom admit of physiological details. It is enough that God has said, Children of the youth are strong and active, like arrows in the hands of the mighty.

Verses 4, 5. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man — That knows how to use them for his own safety and advantage; so are children of the youth — Children born to their parents when they are young, who are generally the strongest and most healthful children, grow up, and become qualified to serve their parents by the time they need their service, and who live longest with them; whereas those who are born in old age seldom arrive at mature age before their parents die. Such children, when well educated, pious, and obedient, are like so many arrows in the hand of a mighty man, “ready winged with duty and love to fly to the mark; polished and keen to grace and maintain the cause of their parents, to defend them from hostile invasions, and instantly to repel every assailant.” Happy is he who hath his quiver full of them — Whose house is as full of children as the quiver of a mighty man is of arrows. They — These parents, who have such a numerous issue; shall not be ashamed, &c. — Shall courageously plead their cause in courts of judicature, which were held at the gates of cities, not fearing to be crushed by the might of their adversaries, as weak and helpless persons frequently are. Or, as some understand the words, the children shall not be ashamed to plead for their parents in the gates, but will be ready at all times to appear for them, to answer any charge that may be brought against them and to vindicate them in their persons, their good name, or their property.

4. Children of the youth—Children born while their parents are young. Thus Genesis 49:3, “My firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength,” distinguished from those begotten when their parents were aged. Genesis 37:3.

V. 5. Full-Who hath a numerous issue. Shall speak-They shall courageously plead their cause in courts of judicature, not fearing to be crushed by the might of their adversaries.

Verse 5. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them] This is generally supposed to mean his house full of children, as his quiver if full of arrows; but I submit whether it be not more congenial to the metaphors in the text to consider it as applying to the wife: “Happy is the man who has a breeding or fruitful wife;” this is the gravida sagittis pharetra “the quiver pregnant with arrows.” But it may be thought the metaphor is not natural. I think otherwise: and I know it to be in the Jewish style, and the style of the times of the captivity, when this Psalm was written, and we find the pudendum muliebre, or human matrix, thus denominated, Ecclus 26:12: Katenanti pantov passalou kaqhsetai, kai enanti belouv anoixei faretran. The reader may consult the place in the Apocrypha, where he will find the verse well enough translated.

With the enemies in the gate.] “When he shall contend with his adversaries in the gate of the house of judgment.”—Targum. The reference is either to courts of justice, which were held at the gates of cities, or to robbers who endeavour to force their way into a house to spoil the inhabitants of their goods. In the first case a man falsely accused, who has a numerous family, has as many witnesses in his behalf as he has children. And in the second case he is not afraid of marauders, because his house is well defended by his active and vigorous sons. It is, I believe, to this last that the psalmist refers.

This Psalm may be entitled, “The Soliloquy of the happy Householder:— The poor man with a large loving family, and in annual expectation of an increase, because his wife, under the Divine blessing, is fruitful.” All are blessed of the Lord, and his hand is invariably upon them for good.

Verses 4, 5. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man — That knows how to use them for his own safety and advantage; so are children of the youth — Children born to their parents when they are young, who are generally the strongest and most healthful children, grow up, and become qualified to serve their parents by the time they need their service, and who live longest with them; whereas those who are born in old age seldom arrive at mature age before their parents die. Such children, when well educated, pious, and obedient, are like so many arrows in the hand of a mighty man, “ready winged with duty and love to fly to the mark; polished and keen to grace and maintain the cause of their parents, to defend them from hostile invasions, and instantly to repel every assailant.” Happy is he who hath his quiver full of them — Whose house is as full of children as the quiver of a mighty man is of arrows. They — These parents, who have such a numerous issue; shall not be ashamed, &c. — Shall courageously plead their cause in courts of judicature, which were held at the gates of cities, not fearing to be crushed by the might of their adversaries, as weak and helpless persons frequently are. Or, as some understand the words, the children shall not be ashamed to plead for their parents in the gates, but will be ready at all times to appear for them, to answer any charge that may be brought against them and to vindicate them in their persons, their good name, or their property.

5. Quiver full of them—The figure is elliptical. The idea is, that of protection, vindication. As the warrior is safe—able to defend himself— with his quiver full of arrows, so the parent with numerous children. They shall… speak with the enemies in the gate—The language here is forensic. The “gate” was the place of judgment, (Deuteronomy 21:19,) and to “speak with” adversaries “in the gate,” was to conduct the suit, and to overcome them. Compare Proverbs 27:11. The same word rendered “speak,” in the text, means destroyed in 2 Chronicles 22:10, and subdue in Psalm 18:47; 47:3. Such a man “need not fear lest he should be put to shame—that is, lose his cause; his stalwart sons would not suffer might to prevail against right.”—Perowne. Not… ashamed, is equal to having abundant proof to meet the allegation, and to overcome.