The Fruit of the Womb Is A Reward

424 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from: 2Sa 3:1-5, “Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. But David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker. 2 Sons were born to David in Hebron: His firstborn was Amnon by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; 3 his second, Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite; the third, Absalom the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; 4 the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; 5 and the sixth, Ithream, by David's wife Eglah. These were born to David in Hebron.” (2 Sam 3:1-5) Notice the link here between David's house growing stronger and the birth of all these sons. There is an undeniable link between children and strength in the Old Testament, where children were considered a blessing from God. Ps 127:3-5, says, “ Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth. 5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.” Do you see the link? The man with many children speaks from a position of strength with his enemies. 'Well, that's Old Testament stuff, it doesn't apply anymore.” But it does. A nation needs a replacement rate of 2.1 children to allow for economic security, and many nations are just now slowly waking up to that fact, including the United States which has a birth-rate below this minimum figure. This connection between children and security is further borne out in Ps 8:2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, (the word strength means security) Further, God's declaration that children (plural) are a reward and a blessing from Him, has not changed and never will, and that in itself should tell us something. He states in Mal 2:15, that one of the reasons for holy matrimony is to produce godly offspring. “But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring.” This is a topic that married couples and prospective spouses need to prayerfully explore, remembering that marriage is not so much about pleasing self, it's more about pleasing God.