Sunday, 19 April 2020 Psalm 78:1-32
We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD, about His power and His mighty wonders. -Psalm 78:4
This Psalm is the history of Israel from the time they came out of the captivity in Egypt, through the time of the Judges until the leadership of David. It gives warnings to the present generation not to follow the past pattern of sins as seen in their ancestors (Psalm 78:1-4). Israel's rebellion against God through their murmuring and unbelief is one long succession of miracles of mercy, met with continuous ingratitude, which led to punishment by national calamities. What we declare to ourselves and those around us are very important as it can affect our lives and theirs. James dedicates the whole of Chapter 3 on the evil that our unbridled tongues can lead us to. We should be like the Psalmist who cried out in Psalm 137:6: “If I do not remember You, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth-” The Lord knows even before we speak what is going to come forth-for it is out of the fullness of the heart that the mouth speaks. “For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.” (Ps.139:4) The Lord knows the heart of every human being: “He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works.” (Psalm 33:15) God knew that if the Israelites wanted the promised victory over Jericho (Joshua 6:2) they needed to keep their mouth from voicing out negative declarations. So He spoke through Joshua and commanded them to walk around the wall of Jericho in complete silence with the only sound coming from the trumpet that went before the Ark of the Covenant. The blowing of the trumpet was to remind them of the promise God had given them, recorded in Numbers 10:9: "When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the Lord your God, and you will be saved from your enemies.” By the seventh day their faith in the promise of God would have filled them so that when they shouted as instructed, the walls of Jericho came down. Remember this was not an ordinary wall and Rahab’s house was on it. For this generation to know about the significance of the blowing of the trumpet the previous generation would have taught them. Even today God expects us to speak about Him not only to the unsaved but to our children so that they will speak to their children. One of the reasons God chose Abraham to be the father of the nations is given in Genesis 18:19, "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him." For the love of God to pass from generation to generation as He promised, we parents have to instruct our children in the way to go so that they will do the same to their children. When we recount the mighty deeds of deliverance that He has done in our lives they will also learn to hide under the shadow of the Almighty while waiting for the troubles to pass. Psalm 91:1[NLT]: “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High, will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Remember as you go about your day that you may be the only radiance of God that your children are watching closely as you teach and admonish.
Prayer: "LORD Almighty, may my life and words reflect the truths of Your Word to my generation that they too will learn of You and declare them to the next.” Amen.