National Defense
California Farmer 263:4 (Sept. 21, 1985), p. 21.
Psalm 127 is about national defense. We are three times told that human efforts without God are “vain” or futile. The primary defense of a people is to make the Lord the builder of the community. This means believing and obeying His law-word.
Then the Psalmist tells us that children are the best weapons system whereby we can command the future for the Lord. First, they are an inheritance from God, and a reward. Second, they are described as “arrows in the hand of a mighty man,” as weapons of war. We are called to serve God and to be His instruments in holy warfare so that the Kingdom of God might be established. A key weapon in this warfare is the child.
We are used to thinking of children in personal terms, in terms of our satisfaction, carrying on the family name and work, and being a joy to us in our old age. All that is good, but here God tells us that children are above all the means whereby God’s Kingdom is furthered. They are weapons of war for the Kingdom of God.
Third, we are told that men who rear godly children shall prosper. “[T]hey shall speak with [or shall subdue, give judgments to] the enemies in the gate.” The city gate was the location of the market in those days, and also the city council and court; all decisions and trials had to be open and public. When parents rear godly children, they dominate and govern both commerce and civil government in due time.
In brief, we are told that godly homes and children are the best form of national defense. How strong are we as a people?
Topics: Biblical Commentary, Biblical Law, Christian Reconstruction, Church, The, Culture , Dominion, Family & Marriage, Old Testament History, Reformed Thought