שִׁיר הַמַּעֲלֹות לִשְׁלֹמֹה אִם־יְהוָה לֹא־יִבְנֶה בַיִת שָׁוְא עָמְלוּ בֹונָיו בֹּו אִם־יְהוָה לֹא־יִשְׁמָר־עִיר שָׁוְא   127:1

 שָׁקַד שֹׁומֵר׃

Psal. 127:1   A song of the ascendance for Solomon:

                         If the Lord would not have established the house,

                                in vain its builders labor on it.

                         If the Lord would not guard the city,

                                in vain the watchman watches.

שָׁוְא לָכֶם מַשְׁכִּימֵי קוּם מְאַחֲרֵי־שֶׁבֶת אֹכְלֵי לֶחֶם הָעֲצָבִים כֵּן יִתֵּן לִידִידוֹ שֵׁנָא׃   127:2

Psal. 127:2   It is vain for you,

                                ones early of rising,

                       delayers of sitting,

                                eaters of the bread of toil;

                        forasmuch as He would give sleep to His beloved.

I believe this verse is saying the following:  You who rise early, and work hard all day, then delay the day’s end to do

a bit more accomplish nothing without the Lord’s help.  He even watches over his beloved people in sleep.

הִנֵּה נַחֲלַת יְהוָה בָּנִים שָׂכָר פְּרִי הַבָּטֶן׃   127:3

Psal. 127:3   Behold!  Children are the heritage of the Lord.

                                The fruit of the womb is a reward.

כְּחִצִּים בְּיַד־גִּבּוֹר כֵּן בְּנֵי הַנְּעוּרִים׃   127:4

Psal. 127:4   Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,

                                so are the children of the youthful years.

אַשְׁרֵי הַגֶּבֶר אֲשֶׁר מִלֵּא אֶת־אַשְׁפָּתוֹ מֵהֶם לֹא־יֵבֹשׁוּ כִּי־יְדַבְּרוּ אֶת־אוֹיְבִים בַּשָּׁעַר׃   127:5

Psal. 127:5   Happy is the man who fills his quiver with them;

                               they will not be ashamed

                        when they must speak with enemies at the gate.

Many scholars assume little connection between the first two verses of this psalm and the last three.  But I suspect

these last three subtly continue the thought of the first two, all five emphasizing the same theme:  That of the Lord’s

watching over us, even giving us children that they may help and protect us.  If I’m right, I have some difficulty with

this idea.  If you carry it just a bit further, the psalmist is saying that we don’t need to do anything, because the Lord

takes care of us.  So all we do is in vain, except maybe having children.  I can’t agree with this notion; I believe that

while the Lord does watch over us, I also believe He expects us to live in this world and learn from our mistakes and

successes.  I believe that is our purpose as faithful servants of a loving God.

[Return to Psalms Chapters]   [Prev.:  Psal. 126]   [Next:  Psal. 128]