Out of the Mouths of Babes

"Out of the mouthes of babes." We've all heard that phrase. Did you know that it comes from Scripture? Even more astounding is exactly what it is that comes "out of the mouths of babes."

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and infants, You have established strength because of Your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger (Psa. 8:1-2).

What did David mean? There are various opinions. Some say that God demonstrates His strength in the simple fact that children are born and grow up. They argue that God's provision of a mother's breast for a baby is demonstration of His provision for all of His own and serves to silence God's enemies. Others argue that it is a prophetic reference to the "babes in Christ," the first Apostles who turned the world upside down with the power of the Gospel. Jesus applied it to the children who were praising Him in the temple when the Pharisees protested (Matt. 21:16). And I suppose that it is a little of each of these: God's providence for His own, His portrayal of Himself in the glory of Nature, and the fact that little children often seem to have the least problem with trusting God.

"Out of the mouths of babes," then, is a reference to God establishing His glory and strength sufficient to silence His enemies. May we be the "mouths of babes" as we praise Him with all the saints.