I told a friend that my wife and I were expecting our first child, and he responded with these verses:

  1. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
  2. Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.
  3. Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed When they speak with their enemies in the gate.

I am not a Bible scholar. Its been many years since I “studied” the Bible, but here goes:

  1. I think the first one means that if one is a righteous person, your children will be blessed and will never go hungry.
  2. I think the second one means that if you have faith in God, God will be good to you.
  3. I think the third one means that children are like “arrows”, and if you have a lot of children or arrows, your children will defend you when you are old.

I’m taking this to mean (unless the Lord or someone tells me otherwise) in a nutshell:

  1. Be a good and righteous parent and love your children because your children are a gift from God.
  2. If you do #1, then God will take care of you and all of the rest of the small stuff.

The cites are Psalms 37:25; 55:22; 127:3-5 if you are interested.