John Calvin Commentary Psalms 127:3

"Lo, children are a heritage of Jehovah; [And] the fruit of the womb is [his] reward." — Psalms 127:3 (ASV)

Lo! children are the heritage of Jehovah. Solomon here presents one instance in which, in a particular manner, he would have us recognize the truth which he has previously asserted generally — that the life of men is governed by God. Nothing seems more natural than for men to be produced of men.

The majority of mankind dream that after God had once ordained this at the beginning, children were from then on begotten solely by a secret instinct of nature, God ceasing to interfere in the matter; and even those who are endowed with some sense of piety, although they may not deny that He is the Father and Creator of the human race, yet do not acknowledge that his providential care descends to this particular case, but rather think that men are created by a certain universal motion.

In order to correct this preposterous error, Solomon calls children the heritage of God, and the fruit of the womb his gift; for the Hebrew word שכר, sachar, translated reward, signifies whatever benefits God bestows upon men, as is plainly manifest from many passages of Scripture. 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, the better fitted he seems for procreation. Solomon declares on the contrary, that those become fathers to whom God grants that honor.

As the majority of children are not always a source of joy to their parents, a second favor of God is added, which is his forming the minds of children and adorning them with an excellent disposition and all kinds of virtues. Aristotle in his Politics very properly discusses the question whether πολυτεκνια, that is, the having of many children, ought to be accounted among good things or not; and he decides it in the negative, unless there is added εὐγενεια, that is, generosity or goodness of nature in the children themselves.

And assuredly it would be a far happier lot for many to be without children, or barren, than to have a numerous offspring proving to them only the cause of tears and groans. In order, then, to set forth this blessing of God — the having offspring — in a clear light, Solomon commends a virtuous and generous disposition in children.

The analogy introduced for this purpose is that as an archer is armed with a well-furnished bow, so men are defended by their children, as it were, with a bow and arrows. This analogy might seem, at first sight, a little too harsh; but if it is examined somewhat more closely, its elegance will be readily admitted.

The Prophet means that those who are without children are in a manner unarmed; for what else is it to be childless but to be solitary? It is no small gift of God for a man to be renewed in his posterity; for God then gives him new strength, so that he who otherwise would immediately decay may begin, as it were, to live a second time.

The knowledge of this doctrine is highly useful. The fruitfulness even of the lower animals is expressly ascribed to God alone; and if He would have it to be accounted his benefit that cows, and sheep, and mares conceive, how inexcusable will be the impiety of men if, when he adorns them with the honorable title of fathers, they account this favor as nothing.

It is also to be added that unless men regard their children as the gift of God, they are careless and reluctant in providing for their support, just as, on the other hand, this knowledge contributes very significantly to encourage them in bringing up their offspring.

Furthermore, he who thus reflects upon the goodness of God in giving him children will readily and with a settled mind look for the continuance of God’s grace; and although he may have but a small inheritance to leave them, he will not be unduly anxious on that account.