As Arrows are in the Hand of a Mighty Man
Ps 127
1 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.
2 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.
3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
KJV
This morning we celebrated mother’s with our message, tonight I thought it would be nice to spend some time talking about the blessing of children.
Our text uses one of my favorite word pictures in describing this blessing. I’m using the KJV because I like the colorful wording just a bit more than the other versions.
I. Children are a heritage
a. What does the word heritage mean? Webster’s defines it as a property inherited or a legacy. In the Hebrew, the word is nachalah (nakh-al-aw) referring to something inherited.
1. Children are the Lord’s inheritance – They don’t belong to us, we are simply stewards of our children. Children are a gift to us.
2. They are our legacy and the Lord’s
3. Our children are His reward. There are two ways to look at that. 1 – They are a reward given to His beloved creation to be a blessing. 2 – They are His reward as the author of creation. This is why I believe the sanctity of life is such a critical issue. Life is a gift. It is from the Creator of life. You are not an accident no more than I am or anyone else in this building tonight.
II. Children are like arrows
a. The analogy here is that as parents, we are the archers. The arrow doesn’t shoot itself. It is shot by the skillful hands of the archer.
b. What target are you aiming at?
c. A miscalculation of even the slightest degree can cause the arrow to miss the mark, perhaps the target all together.
d. We spend a good portion of our life making a true arrow. We raise our children, teaching them right from wrong and the Godly values we’d like to see in them.
e. Graduation is just around the corner. Many parents will be releasing the arrow this year. They’ve spent a lifetime preparing the arrow, and though it may be tough, the arrow must fly toward the target if the archer is ever to see the results of his work.
III. Children are a blessing. Happy is the man whose quiver is full of them
a. Last night our house once again echoed with the pitter patter of children’s feet (ours and a few we borrowed from some other parents)
b. Our peaceful home was overtaken by college students that had come home for the summer. It was fairly clean, then TV’s, carpets, furniture, refrigerators, computers and lots of laundry came lugging itself through the doorways. And that was before the plumbing exploded and we had to shopvac about an inch of water out of the basement.
c. As I sat preparing this message, I found myself smiling at the comedy of it all. And I remind myself what a blessing it is to have them. We don’t get many chances for all the kids, grandkids, in-laws, and parents to get together, but when we do, it really makes me happy. I get to look at each of those kids and know they are loved, blessed and happy in the Lord. I know if you’re a parent, you feel that way when you’re with the children too.
