1[A Song of Ascents; of Solomon]. Except Jehovah build the house, They labor in vain that build it: Except Jehovah keep the city, The watchman waketh but in vain.
2It is vain for you to rise up early, To take rest late, To eat the bread of toil; [For] so he giveth unto his beloved sleep.
3Lo, children are a heritage of Jehovah; [And] the fruit of the womb is [his] reward.
4As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, So are the children of youth.
5Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: They shall not be put to shame, When they speak with their enemies in the gate.
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 127
This is a family-psalm, as divers before were state-poems and church-poems. It is entitled (as we read it) "for Solomon," dedicated to him by his father. He having a house to build, a city to keep, and seed to raise up to his father, David directs him to look up to God, and to depend upon his providence, without which…
Read the full commentary →