Psalm 78.1-4

This is a Psalm that desires to teach. Specifically, it desires to teach the next generation. And that isn't all that surprising. A key goal of any society is pass certain things on to coming generations. And it's something that you do daily, often without even thinking about it. This Psalm will give us some insight into how to do that. And I'll tell you now that before we come to the end of our study of this part of the Psalm we'll be talking about Thanksgiving Day. So, let's take a look at this text and see what the Spirit has to teach us this morning from this part of His Word.

Let me quickly remind you of something that you already know. It is the responsibility of one generation of Christians to pass on a love for God to the next generations. This comes through clearly in a place like Deuteronomy 6. 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.' [Deuteronomy 6:4-7] Please understand that this is not limited to parent-child relationships. We of the older generation are all called on to teach the younger generations. I doubt that any of this is news so I'll move on to what's next.

Next question: according to the Psalm, what are we to pass on? Our Psalm is specific. 'We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of Yahweh, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.' [Psalm 78:4] First, before we even get to the content, did you catch the tone? The Psalmist talks about 'glorious deeds' and 'wonders'. He is talking about things that amaze him. It's important that you see this because it affects how you will understand the point of the Psalm. The Psalmist is excited. And so, he is not just passing on some facts, as important as they may be. He is also passing on his amazement at the God of these facts. There is a huge difference between a lecture filled with facts about Jesus, and an impassioned appeal with Him as the focus of those passions. A lecture will result in people who know their theology. A passionate appeal, however, will result in faithful disciples of Jesus. We all know people who learned the Bible stories, people who are aware of some Bible facts and yet their lives are dull. There is no passion for the things of God. Their lives do not show any amazement at Jesus. And if they are not amazed at Him, why would others be, the next generation included? The goal is not just to produce a generation of knowledgeable people. What we want to see is a generation of people who are better disciples than we are. If that is going to happen we must be passionate about the wonders that Jesus has done.

How do we do that? How do we develop this growing passion for these things, a passion that we can pass on? Listen to another Psalm. 'Come and hear, all you who fear God,and I will tell what he has done for my soul.' [Psalm 66:16] If you would have a growing passion, you need to see yourself in the picture. As you tell those Bible stories, as you recount the wonders of our God from the Scriptures, relate them to yourself. When you tell the coming generations about the mighty deeds of Jesus, you must do two things. First, point them to the text. 'Look at what Jesus is doing here.' But then, secondly, you need to relate it to your own life. Let me read the verses that come after the one I just quoted. 'I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!' [Psalm 66:17-20] When you teach this Psalm you, first, tell them that our God is the God who always hears the prayers of His people. But then, you tell them about the times when Jesus heard your cry and how He answered your prayer. That is nothing like some dry lecture on theology. How could anyone do what I have described and not be passionate about it?

Now, there is an assumption at work here in our text. Three people pass by a field. The first is so focused on getting to the next thing on his 'to do' list that he doesn't even notice the field. The second person sees the field and the flowers there. If you were next to him, he'd tell you, 'Oh look. Hemerocallis fulva. Not native to America, but it thrives here nonetheless. Six stamens, one pistil...' But the third person stops at the field and, seeing the day lilies, remembers Jesus' words. 'Consider the lilies of the field...' He is then reminded of the many times that Jesus has kept His word and always provided what was needed. This one continued on his way with a thankful heart. This gets us to the assumption in our text. The author of the Psalm is in the habit of reflecting on the wonders of Jesus. If you would pass the faith on to the coming generations as he is doing, you must also ponder the glorious deeds of Jesus. Yes, it is something that will take time, but less than what you might think. It is, however, a habit that pays rich dividends. And only one of those dividends is a passion that enables you to be effective in passing on to the next generation a sense of the wonder of Jesus.

Now, the last question. How do you do this? Here, I'm thinking about the mechanics of doing something like this. This is where we get to talking about celebrations like Thanksgiving Day. But before I do that I need to squeeze something in here. I want to impress upon you the critical importance of daily reading of the Scriptures as a family, especially as it relates to the concerns of our text. This isn't anything terribly involved. You fathers read a portion of Scripture to your family. After a brief comment on what you've read, you then lead the family in prayer. Usually, there won't be anything dramatic, but what an opportunity to pass on deep Gospel truths to the next generation. And, especially as the children get older, there will be questions and other opportunities to convey some of your passion for Jesus. I hope that each family here has this as one of its traditions. Let this be an encouragement to you who do. It can be difficult to keep at it. But it really is important.

Now, let's talk about the place of celebrations in passing on the faith. The Church of the Old Testament was given several annual celebrations. The prime example of this was the Passover. This was a celebration that was filled with meaning and symbols. You'll see how it ties in with our Psalm as I read from Exodus. 'And when your children say to you, "What do you mean by this service?" you shall say, "It is the sacrifice of Yahweh's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses."' [Exodus 12:26-27] One key part of the Passover celebration was recounting the wonders of Yahweh when He rescued Israel from Egypt. This points us to one key aspect of all of those Old Testament celebrations. They were a time to stop and recall what Jesus had done for them. These celebrations became opportunities to pass on to the children something of the wonder of Jesus. The Church since the cross has picked up on this biblical pattern of celebrations as opportunities to pass on the glorious truths of the Gospel to the coming generations, and it has handed that tradition down to us. And so, we have the celebrations of the Advent and Resurrection of Jesus, and more. These are opportunities for us to pass the faith on to the children, a tradition with its roots in the Old Testament Scriptures. Seeing things this way, then, defines our celebrations. We live during a time when special days have been twisted and corrupted. Take the civic holiday of Memorial Day. What was it originally? A day to remember those who had sacrificed their lives for the sake of the freedoms that we enjoy. But what is it today? The unofficial signal that the summer fun season has begun, only to end on another civic holiday, Labor Day. And what has Christmas become? Instead of a choice time of rejoicing in the coming of the Savior, it is now a time when people focus either on how many gifts they are going to get or on how many they need to buy to save face. And the same sort of thing applies to Thanksgiving Day. Originally, it was a day set aside to give thanks to God for the many ways in which He had been so good. But now, it's 'turkey day', when folk stuff their bellies and watch football. What is the next generation learning from this? We need to redeem these times of celebration so that we can take full advantage of them. We need to redeem them so that we can use them as divinely endorsed means of passing on to the next generations the amazing deeds of our God. I know that many of you are working at this. Let me encourage you to continue your efforts so that the coming generations will know the glorious deeds of our God.