Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate. Psalm 127: 4, 5, NKJV.
Dear LORD, as we look to You today, we do it, confident that we have not come before You in vain. We know that You will bless our study, as we depend upon You for guidance. In the holy name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
As we continue with our devotionals dedicated to children, we have come to a very important feature of parenting, the power for change that children exert upon their parents. I thought it would be interesting to go to some of the original meanings of a few of the words in these verses.
The first word we are going to take a look at is hand. This is referring to an open hand, an indication of “power, means, direction . . . ,” in contrast to a closed hand. On some occasions it refers to “authority, right of possession, location.” Our text says that “children of one’s youth” are like arrows in the hand of a warrior. Oftentimes, when a young couple become parents, the birth of the infant is the turning point (direction) in their experience. When they realize that this helpless child is dependent upon them for guidance, all of a sudden, they are empowered, to make any changes they deem necessary. They realize that they must assume certain authority, and, the right of possession, of this new life that has been lent to them by the Divine Lienholder. Like a good warrior, they aim carefully, so as not to miss the mark!
“Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them[.]” This happiness is actually a state of blessedness. One of the definitions is, “a state of bliss.” Does this sound familiar? Do you remember the first look you had of your newborn baby? Nothing was ever the same after that! You knew that from that moment you would be living for that child. You would be willing to go through whatever you had to, in order to care for your baby. For days, even weeks, you remained in that state of profound and peaceful joy.
Now, in today’s society I don’t believe having a “quiver full of them,” without the necessary means, and adequate help, would produce the same kind of “bliss.” What I can say, is that each child bring his or her own joy, and once he or she enters your life, you can never imagine life without that child after that.
I was curious about the meaning of the word “ashamed.” As I studied, I found some rather interesting meanings of the word. “By implication,” the meanings ranged “from disgrace to guilt.” Other meanings were “acting unwisely,” “disappointed.” One meaning that really gripped my heart, as well as my attention, was, “To be ashamed is to experience distress, as farmers with no harvest” (emphasis provided). I immediately felt the sadness it would bring to the heart of any parent, if, when we came to the end of our road, we should find that we had no harvest to present to the Lord from the beautiful heritage that He had lent us!
What inexpressible pain that would cause, not only us, as earthly parents, but more so, the heart of God, our Heavenly Parent! How important then, that we allow the Lord to teach us how to raise the children that He has entrusted to our care, so that on that final day, we need not be ashamed, because we have no harvest. Instead, may it be the day of greatest rejoicing in our lives, to be able to say to the Lord, “Here is the beautiful flock that You lent me. Not one of them is missing!”
Our word study was taken from the Hebrew – Greek Key Word Study Bible.
NOTE: These counsels are shared from a Biblical, not a clinical, perspective.
*A note of clarification was added to yesterday’s devotional.