What does Psalm 127:3 mean?

Children are depicted as a heritage from the Lord and as His reward. The Hebrew terms nachalah and sakar both imply something valuable. One refers to something passed down from one generation to the next, the other to wages or rewards. Just as a father leaves an inheritance to his children, the Lord gives parents the precious possession of children.

Children should be considered blessings and not burdens. The unborn child is a reward from the Lord and not simply unwanted tissue to be cast aside. In Genesis 30:2 Jacob referred to children as "the fruit of the womb." When Leah gave birth to her fifth son, she called him Issachar, meaning, there is reward (Genesis 30:18). When she gave birth to a sixth son, she announced: "God has endowed me with a good endowment" (Genesis 30:20). Jesus treated children as those who belonged to the kingdom of God. He blessed them and said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 19:14).

As the prior verses noted, how we "build" into the lives of children makes a difference (Psalm 127:1–2). Raising children to understand godliness and godly wisdom gives them a better chance of success (Proverbs 22:6). A humorous quip notes that children in the play pen, viewed as special gifts from the Lord and reared in His truth (Ephesians 6:4), are much less likely to become adults in the state pen—a reference to prison.