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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Psalms CXXVII].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>P S A L M S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>PSALM CXXVII.</FONT>
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<P>
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This is a family-psalm, as divers before were state-poems and
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church-poems. It is entitled (as we read it) "for Solomon," dedicated
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to him by his father. He having a house to build, a city to keep, and
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seed to raise up to his father, David directs him to look up to God,
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and to depend upon his providence, without which all his wisdom, care,
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and industry, would not serve. Some take it to have been penned by
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Solomon himself, and it may as well be read, "a song of Solomon," who
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wrote a great many; and they compare it with the Ecclesiastes, the
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scope of both being the same, to show the vanity of worldly care and
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how necessary it is that we keep in favour with God. On him we must
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depend,
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I. For wealth,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+127:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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II. For heirs to leave it to,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+127:3-5">ver. 3-5</A>.
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In singing this psalm we must have our eye up unto God for success in
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all our undertakings and a blessing upon all our comforts and
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enjoyments, because every creature is that to us which he makes it to
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be and no more.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps127_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps127_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps127_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps127_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps127_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Dependence on Providence; God the Giver of Prosperity.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<CENTER>
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<P>A song of degrees for Solomon.</P>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Except the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> build the
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house, they labour in vain that build it: except the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> keep
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the city, the watchman waketh <I>but</I> in vain.
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2 <I>It is</I> vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat
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the bread of sorrows: <I>for</I> so he giveth his beloved sleep.
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3 Lo, children <I>are</I> a heritage of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: <I>and</I> the fruit
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of the womb <I>is his</I> reward.
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4 As arrows <I>are</I> in the hand of a mighty man; so <I>are</I>
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children of the youth.
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5 Happy <I>is</I> the man that hath his quiver full of them: they
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shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in
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the gate.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We are here taught to have a continual regard to the divine Providence
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in all the concerns of this life. Solomon was cried up for a wise man,
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and would be apt to lean to his own understanding and forecast, and
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therefore his father teaches him to look higher, and to take God along
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with him in his undertakings. He was to be a man of business, and
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therefore David instructed him how to manage his business under the
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direction of his religion. Parents, in teaching their children, should
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suit their exhortations to their condition and occasions. We must have
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an eye to God,</P>
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<P>
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I. In all the affairs and business of the family, even of the royal
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family, for kings' houses are no longer safe than while God protects
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them. We must depend upon God's blessing and not our own contrivance,
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1. For the raising of a family: <I>Except the Lord build the house,</I>
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by his providence and blessing, <I>those labour in vain,</I> though
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ever so ingenious, <I>that build it.</I> We may understand it of the
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material house: except the Lord bless the building it is to no purpose
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for men to build, any more than for the builders of Babel, who
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attempted in defiance of heaven, or Hiel, who built Jericho under a
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curse. If the model and design be laid in pride and vanity, or if the
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foundations be laid in oppression and injustice
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+2:11,12">Hab. ii. 11, 12</A>),
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God certainly does not build there; nay, if God be not acknowledged, we
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have no reason to expect his blessing, and without his blessing all is
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nothing. Or, rather, it is to be understood of the making of a family
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considerable that was mean; men labour to do this by advantageous
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matches, offices, employments, purchases; but all in vain, unless God
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build up the family, and <I>raise the poor out of the dust.</I> The
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best-laid project fails unless God crown it with success. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+1:4">Mal. i. 4</A>.
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2. For the securing of a family or a city (for this is what the
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psalmist particularly mentions): if the guards of the city cannot
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secure it without God, much less can the good man of the house save his
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house from being broken up. <I>Except the Lord keep the city</I> from
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fire, from enemies, <I>the watchmen,</I> who <I>go about the city,</I>
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or patrol upon the walls of it, though they neither slumber nor sleep,
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<I>wake but in vain,</I> for a raging fire may break out, the mischief
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of which the timeliest discoveries may not be able to prevent. The
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guards may be slain, or the city betrayed and lost, by a thousand
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accidents, which the most watchful sentinel or most cautious governor
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could not obviate.
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3. For the enriching of a family; this is a work of time and thought,
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but cannot be effected without the favour of Providence any more than
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that which is the product of one happy turn: "<I>It is vain for you to
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rise up early and sit up late,</I> and so to deny yourselves your
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bodily refreshments, in the eager pursuit of the wealth of the world."
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Usually, those that rise early do not care for sitting up late, nor can
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those that sit up late easily persuade themselves to rise early; but
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there are some so hot upon the world that they will do both, will rob
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their sleep to pay their cares. And they have as little comfort in
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their meals as in their rest; they <I>eat the bread of sorrows.</I> It
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is part of our sentence that we eat our bread in the sweat of our face;
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but those go further: <I>all their days they eat in darkness,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:17">Eccl. v. 17</A>.
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They are continually fell of care, which embitters their comforts, and
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makes their lives a burden to them. All this is to get money, and all
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in vain except God prosper them, for <I>riches are</I> not always <I>to
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men of understanding,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:11">Eccl. ix. 11</A>.
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Those that love God, and are beloved of him, have their minds easy and
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live very comfortably without this ado. Solomon was called
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<I>Jedidiah--Beloved of the Lord</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+12:25">2 Sam. xii. 25</A>);
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to him the kingdom was promised, and then it was in vain for Absalom to
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rise up early, to wheedle the people, and for Adonijah to make such a
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stir, and to say, <I>I will be king.</I> Solomon sits still, and, being
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<I>beloved of the Lord,</I> to him he gives sleep and the kingdom too.
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Note,
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(1.) Inordinate excessive care about the things of this world is a vain
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a d fruitless thing. We weary ourselves for vanity if we have it, and
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often weary ourselves in vain for it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:6,9">Hag. i. 6, 9</A>.
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(2.) Bodily sleep is God's gift to his beloved. We owe it to his
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goodness that our sleep is safe
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+4:8">Ps. iv. 8</A>),
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that it is sweet,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+31:25,26">Jer. xxxi. 25, 26</A>.
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God gives us sleep as he gives it to his beloved when with it he gives
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us grace to lie down in his fear (our souls returning to him and
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reposing in him as our rest), and when we awake to be still with him
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and to use the refreshment we have by sleep in his service. <I>He
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gives his beloved sleep,</I> that is, quietness and contentment of
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mind, and comfortable enjoyment of what is present and a comfortable
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expectation of what is to come. Our care must be to <I>keep ourselves
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in the love of God,</I> and then we may be easy whether we have little
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or much of this world.</P>
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<P>
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II. In the increase of the family. He shows,
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1. That children are <I>God's gift,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+127:2"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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If children are withheld it is God that withholds them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:2">Gen. xxx. 2</A>);
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if they are given, it is God that gives them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+33:5">Gen. xxxiii. 5</A>);
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and they are to us what he makes them, comforts or crosses. Solomon
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multiplied wives, contrary to the law, but we never read of more than
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one son that he had; for those that desire children as a heritage from
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the Lord must receive them in the way that he is pleased to give them,
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by lawful marriage to one wife.
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+2:15">Mal. ii. 15</A>,
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<I>therefore one, that he might seek a seed of God.</I> But <I>they
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shall commit whoredom and shall not increase. Children are a
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heritage,</I> and a <I>reward,</I> and are so to be accounted,
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blessings and not burdens; for he that sends mouths will send meat if
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we trust in him. Obed-edom had eight sons, for the Lord blessed him
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because he had entertained the ark,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+26:5">1 Chron. xxvi. 5</A>.
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Children are a heritage for the Lord, as well as from him; they are
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<I>my children</I> (says God) <I>which thou hast borne unto me</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+16:20">Ezek. xvi. 20</A>);
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and they are most our honour and comfort when they are accounted to him
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for a generation.
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2. That they are a good gift, and a great support and defence to a
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family: <I>As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man,</I> who knows how
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to use them for his own safety and advantage, so are children of the
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youth, that is, children born to their parents when they are young,
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which are the strongest and most healthful children, and are grown up
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to serve them by the time they need their service; or, rather, children
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who are themselves young; they are instruments of much good to their
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parents and families, which may fortify themselves with them against
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their enemies. The family that has a large stock of children is like a
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quiver full of arrows, of different sizes we may suppose, but all of
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use one time or other; children of different capacities and
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inclinations may be several ways serviceable to the family. He that has
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a numerous issue may boldly <I>speak with his enemy in the gate</I> in
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judgment; in battle he needs not fear, having so many good seconds, so
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zealous, so faithful, and in the vigour of youth,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:4,5">1 Sam. ii. 4, 5</A>.
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Observe here, <I>Children of the youth</I> are <I>arrows in the
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hand,</I> which, with prudence, may be directed aright to the mark,
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God's glory and the service of their generation; but afterwards, when
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they have gone abroad into the world, they are arrows out of the hand;
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it is too late to bend them then. But these arrows in the hand too
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often prove arrows in the heart, a constant grief to their godly
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parents, whose gray hairs they bring with sorrow to the grave.</P>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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