Psa 113:9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.

The content of Psalm 113 is simple. The psalmist calls on all people to praise the LORD (verses 1-3), because He is great (verses 4-6), and because He cares for the poor and needy (verses 7-9). One group of people will certainly praise the LORD – the barren women whom God has caused to conceive: “He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD” (v.9). In ancient time, motherhood was considered a crowning achievement of any woman. A barren woman was a social outcast; she was a disappointment to her husband, especially to her husband’s family, to other women, and to herself. We recall the ungrateful Hagar despising her mistress as soon as she became pregnant with child by Abraham (Genesis 16:4). Probably she considered herself superior to Sarai because she could conceive while her mistress could not. A woman that could not conceive was considered less a woman. God’s covenant to Abraham that he would be a father of multitude depended on the women able to conceive. But God gave him a barren wife, a barren daughter-in-law, and a barren grand-daughter-in-law; all the women of his household were barren (Genesis 21:2; 25:21; 29:31). Rachel was despised by her own sister, Leah, when she could not conceive. How happy she was when God finally opened her womb and she gave birth to Joseph. She said: “God hath taken away my reproach” (Genesis 30:23). Indeed, it was a general reproach in those times for a woman to be barren. Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel were in the line of Christ, but they were initially unable to conceive. In those days, they did not have today’s technology to help women conceive; everything was natural conception – a man and a woman coming together. Those women were taught to trust in God. One example was Hannah. Hannah was barren. Her heart literally ached inside of her, as many women even today feel, from the pain of not being able to have a child. The Scripture says she was in bitterness of soul, and as she prayed to God, she was weeping bitterly (1 Samuel 1:10). That was how earnest she asked for a child. God answered her prayer. She became a joyful mother of children. I will never know what it’s like to be pregnant with child. But looking at the women of the Bible who were rejoicing when they knew they had become successful mothers, I believe motherhood is a joy. But the journey to become a mother is hard. I recall my daughter-in-law had a terrible time during the early stage of her pregnancy. I jokingly said to her that when the baby comes out, the first thing she should do is to give him two tight slaps for making her suffer. Of course she didn’t (I won’t allow it either). My grandson is super adorable; it was love at first sight! Our Lord says: “A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world” (John 16:21). Raising children is a bitter-sweet experience; you will never know it until you have children of your own! The psalmist asks: “Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high?” (v.5). No one! He creates parenthood so that we can understand how much He loves us. He creates children so that we can understand how much we are depending on Him. Let us praise the Lord for His goodness to men: “The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works” (Psalm 145:8. 9).