Walk Of Life – Day 26, October 2022 – Thoughts From The Book Of Psalms

Psalm 78 – Teach Your Future Generation To Know God

This psalm is about the history of Israel and was composed by Asaph who was a great singer and musician and was prophetic in David and Solomon’s era. Asaph starts this psalm with a very important issue at hand, teaching children about their God. When God gave law to Prophet Moses, He said, “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:6-9. God wanted himself to be known not only to the father and son but also to the next generation and to the children yet to be born.

His intentions by doing this was that the children should learn:

• To Fear God – We are privileged to call God ‘Abba Father’ and as his children we can certainly approach him with confidence to receive grace and mercy but having his fear in our hearts gives us various benefits. Teaching children to fear God will make them humble and wise enough to make the right decisions. It will give them the self – confidence to face any situation and will help them to resist any temptations. It will keep them from all harm and bless them to live life to the fullest. (Job 28:28, Proverbs 10:27; 14:26, 27; 15:16,33, Psalms 19:9 )
• To Obey God – When God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, He commanded them not to have any other God apart from him. Exodus 20:2, 3. But they disobeyed him by following foreign gods and did evil in eyes of the Lord and were punished. Asaph, through this psalm tells us that one can prevent this mistake by sharing testimonies to your next generation so that they learn from the mistakes made by our predecessors.
• To Remember his Power – To free the Israelites, God had to do several miracles that never happened in human history. He stuck Egypt with ten plagues for which no magician, sorcerer or wise men could give any solution. He parted the Red Sea by sending strong winds so that his chosen people could be safe. It is important that children know these events to understand that no matter what situation they are in, God is at work and He alone can lead and deliver from all troubles.
• To seek Guidance from God – In the wilderness, God guided them with the cloud at day and by light from the fire at night so that they were never lost. We need to teach children to include God in all their decisions. Training them to pray and seek guidance from the word of God is the need of the hour today to protect children from being mislead by the attractive things world has to offer.
• To not put God to Test – In the desert, the Israelites became hungry and grumbled against Moses and put the God who showed them so many miracles to test. Although God provided them manna, quail and water in the desert, He made them wander in the desert for forty years to humble them. Train your children to wait patiently for God to fulfill his promises. Trusting the LORD to fulfill his purposes for them is vital to be strengthened in times of failure. Psalm 138: 8
• To Honor his Servants – Asaph finally ends the psalm by telling us that it is God and not man who appoints servants to do his will. Among all the valiant sons of Jesse, God choose David, a young shepherd boy to serve Israel as a king. God sees the heart of a man before He appoints his elect for his service. Nothing else is important for God other than selfless attitude and commitment in a man to do his will. As children bought by the precious blood of Christ, you need to set an example to teach the future generation to submit to the elders, parents and authorities God has put above us.

This is the longest historical psalm which teaches us not to repeat mistakes of our ancestors and never to be like their unbelieving generation. Including frequent small talks with your children about the Word of God while doing any activity is more than enough to make them into a generation pleasing to God.