We turn to the Word of God this afternoon to Psalm 78. Psalm 78, a lengthy psalm. We won't be reading the entire psalm. We'll read though through verse 32. And the text consists of the first eight verses, which I will not reread, so give special attention to these first eight verses of Psalm 78. Let's begin at verse 1. Give ear, O my people, to my law. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and his strength and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers that they should make them known to their children. that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born, who should arise and declare them to their children, that they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments. and might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that set not their heart aright and whose spirit was not steadfast with God. The children of Ephraim being armed and carrying bows turned back in the day of battle. They kept not the covenant of God and refused to walk in his law and forget his works and his wonders that he had shown them. Marvelous things did he in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt in the field of Zoan. He divided the sea and caused them to pass through, and he made the waters to stand as in heap. In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire. He claimed the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as out of the great depths. He brought streams also out of the rock and caused waters to run down like rivers. And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most high in the wilderness. And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust. Yea, they spake against God. They said, can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Behold, he smote the rock that the waters gushed out and the streams overflowed. Can he give bread also? Can he provide flesh for his people? Therefore the Lord heard this and was wroth. So a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel, because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation, though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, and had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. Man did eat angels' food, He sent them meat to the full. He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven, and by his power he brought in the south wind. He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea. And he let it fall in the midst of their camp round about their habitations. So they did eat and were well filled for he gave them their own desire. They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them and slew the fattest of them and smoked down the chosen men of Israel. For all this they sinned still and believed not for his wondrous works. Thus far, we read God's holy and inspired word, and the text this afternoon consists of verses 1 through 8. Beloved congregation in our Lord Jesus Christ, you see from the title of this psalm that this was a psalm written by Asaph. Asaph was a Levite. He was in charge of music in the court of David and there were times when the Holy Spirit rested upon Asaph. Not all the time, but sometimes, that the Holy Spirit rested upon Asaph so that the words that Asaph wrote down became holy, inspired scripture. And such is Psalm 78. Psalm 78 is all about instruction. Instruction for us as adults. Instruction for our children. We only read the first 32 verses, not quite half of this entire psalm, but you get a sampling of the instruction that Asaph gives. He's giving instruction concerning church history. the history of the Israelites. And that's good for us to be knowledgeable in church history. And the history Asaph gives begins with Israel's exodus out of Egypt following them through the wilderness, that's where we cut off reading there at verse 32, and brings them into the promised land, recounting that history and the history all the way up leading to David, so that we have at the end of this chapter, Psalm 78 and verse 70, way at the end, he chose David also his servant and took him from the sheepfolds. But as you read through Psalm 78, and we can get a feel for it, even reading the first 32 verses, it's almost a depressing recounting of the history of the Israelites, isn't it? Because so often we read of the disobedience and the stubbornness on the part of the Israelites. The Lord had done so many wonders delivered them out of Egypt, parted the Red Sea, gave them manna, gave them quails, and gave them water from the rocks, so many wonderful works, and yet for all of that, we read over and over again in Psalm 78, they transgressed his covenant, they refused to walk in his law, they forgot his works. And depressing, too, because then we read of the judgments that God sends upon the people for their unbelief. But this isn't simply a depressing psalm. It's depressing when we read of the sins of the Israelites. But this is also a very spiritually uplifting psalm. Because Psalm 78, it isn't simply about the sins of the Israelites. But this is a Psalm that recounts the mercies of Jehovah God to his undeserving people. It points us to the mercy of Jehovah God, which is always stronger than the weakness of his people. And God will bless, and God will prosper, and God will remember his promises always. So that the people were unfaithful, but Jehovah is faithful. And in His unfailing mercy and faithfulness, He forgives the sins of His people and blesses them with the sure mercies of David. Asaph tells us one more thing about this Psalm in verses 1 and 2. He says, I will open my mouth in a parable Usually we think of parables as being associated with the New Testament. Jesus spoke in parables. A parable is a earthly story with a heavenly meaning. A parable is a story about human events and things of this earth that we are very familiar with so that in those events and in those things there is spiritual meaning. And that's what this psalm is. It's a parable. The spiritual meaning has to do with the covenant faithfulness of God, not only to the Israelites back then, but also to us. as a church of Jesus Christ in the New Testament, so that as you read Psalm 78, you don't point the finger and simply say, those Israelites, those Israelites, but you point the finger at yourself and you say, but this is me, this is me. God has done such wonderful things in my life and I'm pictured in those Israelites That's complaining and grumbling and murmuring but God is full of compassion and has forgiven me all my sins. And that's Psalm 78 and that's what we must teach our children. Let us not hide this wonderful truth from the children but declare it unto them so that the generation to come also might know the praises of Jehovah. The theme for the sermon, showing Jehovah's praises to the children. Let's note first what the praises of God are. Secondly, let's learn of the pitfalls to avoid. And finally, the threefold purpose, showing Jehovah's praises to the children. Verse four of Psalm 78 states, showing the generation to come the praises of the Lord and his strength and his wonderful works which he hath done. So what exactly does that consist of? God's praises and strength and wonderful works. Verse five helps us to start off with that answer. It gives us the specifics. for he established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel. So that even before we get into the specifics of all of these wonderful works and might and strength of God, let's note first that God has revealed his will, God has given a testimony, God has given a law, and we begin here because this is absolutely basic. If God hadn't spoken it, if Jehovah God hadn't revealed His will, then we would be absolutely adrift and we would be out there in a sea of confusion because everybody's got an idea of what's right and wrong. Everybody has their own idea of what's good and not good. And if God hadn't revealed his will, then nobody will know what truly is good for me and for my children. If God hadn't spoken, then we are left adrift like a little boat in the middle of the ocean. If God hasn't spoken, then there's no root and there's no foundation. And so let's not neglect the subject of verse five, God. God has appointed. He has established a testimony and a law. But then we ask, well, what is that testimony? And what is that law? And the answer to that is earlier in the Old Testament in Exodus chapter 31, verse 18. In Exodus 31, verse 18, the Bible says that God gave unto Moses two tables of testimony, which is the same word that's used here in Psalm 78, God gave two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God. And what's on those two tables of testimony? But the law of God. And those 10 commandments are not simply a list of do's and don'ts. We must never simply minimize the commandments to such a list of do's and don'ts, but remember how those commandments begin. God says, I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. The 10 commandments don't begin with a thou shalt not, I am. This is what I have done. So that the very first thing of the testimony on the tables of God's law, God says, by my mighty hand and by my outstretched arm, I have saved you, my people, Israel. And now because I am this kind of a God, behold how you should walk before me in all love and faithfulness. Thou shalt have no other gods, no graven images. Remember the Sabbath day and all the rest. And it all flows out of the grace of God shown in the Exodus. And this is what Asaph recounts in Psalm 78. The wonderful works, the might and strength of God as God delivered his people out of the land of Egypt. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt. They had no strength. They had no might. They couldn't deliver themselves. They were helpless. They were miserable in that wretched bondage. And if God had not delivered them, surely they all would have died. But God determined to do a great work. And that great work began when God raised up Moses to be the God-ordained mediator to lead his people out of the bondage of Egypt. That great work continued when God said to Moses to go say to Pharaoh, Let my people go. And that great work of God continued when he sent all of those judgments upon the Egyptians, all the ten plagues. That's part of the wonderful work of God. But then perhaps the greatest work of God in the history of Egypt when Pharaoh would not let the people go, and his heart was hardened, and Israel stood by the Red Sea, and when God parted the waters of the Red Sea, and the Israelites, as recorded in Psalm 78, passed through the midst of that sea, the waters were standing like in heap, and afterwards, the Israelites passed through, and looking behind, there is Pharaoh and his hosts charging after them. And the waves and the water comes crashing down upon Pharaoh and the enemy is destroyed. But what a great work. What a display of strength and power. on the part of God, such a powerful thing to witness that it compelled Moses to respond. And Moses responded in Exodus 18, he's saying, praise unto God. Moses praises God for God's power and God's strength in delivering the Israelites out of Egypt and by destroying the enemy. But the wonderful works of God and his praises are not limited to the Exodus. That's where Asaph begins. We could go back further in time and in history. We can go back to the very creation of the worlds, of the heavens and the earth. God spoke and it was done. by the power of his word, calling that which did not exist into existence so that the things we see around us in creation do not come from things that do appear, but were called forth by the word of God. Every time we see something in creation, we are reminded of the power of God to call that thing forth. And then even a little bit later, the salvation of God's church through the flood. When God gathered his church into that ark that Noah had built and the windows of heaven were opened and the water comes flowing down and the fountains of the deep were broken up and that water comes gushing up. The present world was all but destroyed and then God saved his people through the ark and through the flood. And many other great and mighty works of God, Asaph knows the mighty deeds of God." Now, those are the mighty deeds of God. We've only listed a few, so many more, and we'll list a few more in the course of the sermon. What did Asaph do with that knowledge, the mighty works of God, the strength of Jehovah? Look at Psalm 78, verses 1 through 4. Give ear, O my people, to my law. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old, which we've heard and known and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children. And now this is what Asaph's gonna do with all that knowledge of the mighty works of God. Showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and his strength. and his wonderful works that he hath done. And that word that's translated showing to the generations to come, showing, that's a word that means to rehearse. It's a word that means to recount. So when you rehearse something, you recount something, you go over it, over and over again. And to rehearse something accurately, to recount it truthfully, that's what Asaph did. And what a very tender picture that sets forth of Asaph. You can see Asaph with all his children and his grandchildren round about him as he declares God's power to a new generation. The things he was taught, he now relates to them. And he not only reads it out of the scriptures, Asaph, here in the Old Testament, he would have had the first five books of the Bible, but Asaph would have recounted how his father and his grandfather rehearsed it unto them and unto him. And he tells, Asaph does, he tells his children about the frogs and the locusts in Egypt. He tells his children about the Red Sea being parted and of all of the wilderness wanderings, of the lightning and thunder at Mount Sinai. He tells his children of the power of God in giving to the Israelites a law there at Mount Sinai. But Asaph impresses upon his children who this mighty God is. who has called them to honor their parents, to keep themselves sexually pure, to not covet what belongs to the neighbor. Asaph rehearses and recounts in a very accurate and truthful way all the praises of God, his strength, and his wonderful works. Now that becomes our calling. And that becomes the calling of Ian and Elena, who presented their third child now for baptism, to show the generations to come the wonderful works of God. So that for Ian and Elena, for all of us as parents, to teach children the history of the church, to show to the children the very same thing that Asaph declared to his children, so that we teach the children of creation, and we speak to them of the fall into sin, of God's mercy in delivering his people out of this world through the flood, and then later on, delivering them from the bondage of Egypt, make known unto the children how God brought his promised people through the wilderness into the land of Canaan and gave them the promised land where the temple would be built and where God would promise to David a son that would sit on his throne. but then where Asaph leaves off in Psalm 78, he only gets to the point of David, then that's where you and I must continue to show to your children the glory of God in the Temple of Solomon. to show to your children the faithfulness of God, that though he will bring and chastise his people in the land of captivity for 70 years, yet in his faithfulness, he will bring them back to the land of Canaan, all so that he may remain faithful to his promise that in the fullness of time, the Messiah would come and be born of a virgin there in Bethlehem, Ephrata. And then that gets to the heart of the instruction that we give our children, rehearsing to them the Lord Jesus Christ, recounting to our children the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and his value and his worth, and not simply the facts of the gospels during Jesus' ministry, yes, but to declare to the generations to come the power and might of Jesus as he has manifest that in my heart. So that, for example, you would say to your children, this is the wonderful work of Jesus Christ in my heart, and I know it to be true. He's forgiven all my sins, and I don't deserve it. But God gave me to Jesus Christ. And though I am stubborn and rebellious by nature and deserving of nothing but his wrath, God has had compassion on me and put all my sins upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And there on the cross, Jesus paid for every last one of my sins. And now Christ gives me the power of his spirit so that I walk according to all the precepts of his law. And so don't be afraid, parents, don't be afraid to tell your children of everything that the Lord Jesus Christ has done for you. And is that really any different from what we read in Psalm 78? It really isn't. Why is Israel so recalcitrant and rebellious? Why didn't they believe and obey? Why is Israel like that? But then another question, why is God so patient with His people? Why is He so long-suffering after all that complaining and grumbling? Why doesn't God just end it and say, I'm done with you miserable Israelites? And then Psalm 78, a little bit later in the Psalm in verse 38, it gives the answer why God doesn't leave off His people in verse 38. But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not. Yea, many a time turned he his anger away and did not stir up all his wrath. So that we wind up no longer saying, Why are we like that? Or why are they like that, those Israelites? But we say, but why am I like that? That's me. I'm the rebellious one. I'm the stubborn one. But God has shown compassion to me. He's forgiven all my inequities. He gave me Jesus Christ. But what power, what grace, show that. to your children. And this is an urgent work. It's urgent because that word showing in verse four, it has that idea to it. It expresses an urgency and a certain forcefulness and a certain resolve on the part of the parents This is what we must do. And that we must not linger. We must be urgent in showing the generations to come the wonderful works of God. And from a very practical point of view, that's so true. Urgent because we all know how fast children grow up. And you who are grandparents here present, you remember just like it was yesterday when your children were very little and toddlers, and now they're all grown up and adults. And even Ian and Elena can remember is only a few weeks ago when their child was born and others in the congregation besides. And now so many weeks have already passed by. And we say, where has the time gone? Well, beloved, the time is short and therefore the call is urgent. And you don't want to miss the opportunity. And your children have all but grown up. And as you lay on your bed at night, suddenly it dawns upon you, my children have all grown up and I haven't shown them the wonderful praises and strength and might of God. And I say it's urgent because I do believe that God will ask you on the judgment day whether you delivered that word to your children. And God will not ask first the Christian school teacher. if they delivered the words to the, God will not ask first anybody else associated with the education of your children, but God will come to the fathers first, because they are the heads in the home. Did you show your children my strength and my power? Did you teach them concerning their sins? Did you lead them to the greatest display of my power, which is in that manger of Bethlehem? and the work that my son would do on the cross of Calvary? And did you direct them to find all the forgiveness of their sins in Jesus Christ and in him to find life everlasting? And if there's been any failure on our part, then God will hold you and me accountable. But we need not fear because we know that our weaknesses too with regard to the instruction of our children will be covered in the blood of Jesus Christ. But nevertheless, this highlights the urgency. Show them and teach them while the day is still here, the wonderful works of Jehovah God. And there are pitfalls that we need to avoid. There are obstacles that would prevent us and hinder us from carrying out this sacred duty, and we need to be aware of this as well. That's what the Word of God teaches us here in Psalm 78 in verse 4, when it says, we will not hide them from their children. That's something that can happen. Sometimes that can happen intentionally and deliberately on the part of their parents when they refuse to obey God's word in showing the generations to come the mighty works of Jehovah God. Sometimes that's done not intentionally, but nevertheless by the lazy action of the parents. They, at the end of the day, hide this instruction from their children. And you see that in the nominal church world today, when entertainment in the church is substituted for the truth, when cartoons and videos are substituted for the children in the place of the lively preaching of the gospel, so that the children don't know the works of the Lord and don't know the Bible to the degree that they ought to know it and that every child should know it. And what's happening? It's being hid from the children. And that's a danger for us too. How would we hide the truth of God's praises from the children? Well, maybe we don't do that intentionally, but we need to be aware of it. There's the danger that we as parents and grandparents and members of this congregation, that we don't know for ourselves in the first place the mighty works and the wonderful praises and strength of Jehovah God. And then how are we expected to teach our children if we don't first know them for ourselves? So that it's one thing when in our family devotions, and we've all had those very difficult passages of the Bible, we're reading through Leviticus or Deuteronomy and all of those ceremonial laws, or we're reading through one of the minor prophets and one of the children might ask you, mom and dad, a question, and if we as parents don't know the answer, we ought not to dismiss the question, But to say, you know what, I need to look into that. I need to study that and do my best to find an answer. But it's an altogether different thing when a child asks, how did God create the heavens and the earth? Why did God send the flood? And when a child asks some question concerning the principles of the Christian faith, But what a shameful thing it would be for us as parents to say, well, that's an interesting question. Maybe you should ask your teacher. Maybe when you have time, you ask the minister or ask somebody else, but I don't know. And to tell you the truth, I frankly don't have the time of day to care and bother myself with such a question. That would be hiding the works of God from the children. And so it's your duty as parents first to be partakers of the riches of the knowledge of God and of the principles of the word of God and to take hold of them and to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ and to deliver that to your children. And further, as every parent knows, it's hard, hard work teaching the children. And if we do not persevere in that work, then we are hiding the truth from the children. But it's true that For us as parents and older people that when we were younger, it's true for the children even now who are young, that little children are like the rebellious Israelites. And we all know where they get that rebellious nature from. They get that from you and me as parents. And there are going to be days when our patience runs thin and when it appears that our children are not at all receptive to our instruction Sometimes we let out a sigh and we go on to other things and we lose hope. And then we run the risk of hiding these things from the children. But then we remember what patience our parents had on us, the patience and long-suffering also of God, displayed to us in forgiving us all our sins. And then we remember that simply to ignore our children, to dismiss their questions is not an option. We must and commanded to nurture and raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord even when it means, and it does mean, hard, hard work on the part of you fathers and mothers. But perhaps the greatest danger and pitfall there is by which we would hide God's work from our children is if we would say nothing at all. And what a shame that would be, to be a hands-off parent. Let the children learn it by themselves. Experience is the best teacher, right? Let the children learn by making their own mistakes. Learn by making their own mistakes, not in simple little things, but now even in what church they might want to go to, and what God they might want to serve. Let them figure it out. They'll learn. Why do we gotta bother ourselves with it? They'll do fine, they'll do fine. Know people of God. What we need to know is that God is a God of means. God uses means to teach the children of the church. God uses means to keep you healthy. God uses the means of food. God uses the means of the sun to give us warmth. God uses ministers as means to declare unto us the word of God. And God has determined to use you as means, parents, And He will give you grace to do it. He is faithful who has called you to show to the generation to come. And so be encouraged, be motivated, and rely always upon the strength of God Almighty to faithfully perform your vows. And then finally this afternoon, the third point of the sermon, the threefold purpose of showing the generations to come the purpose. Here we answer the question, why? Why must we do this? With what purpose? To what end? First of all, verse six, that the generation to come might know them. That is, the acts of God and his strength and his might. Knowledge. We teach our children and we show them God's works so that they grow in their knowledge of God. And we may not say in this regard, well, I'm not going to get mixed up with all this knowing and all this learning, because after all, everybody knows that knowledge puffs up. And so I'm going to take a detour around all of this knowledge, and I'm just going to try to teach my children what it means to be a good person. And to that we say, what a tragedy. Because what happens? What happens when you leave out knowledge and truth and doctrine? And then all you're left with is emotionalism and feeling. And it has no root. It has no foundation. You can't do that. And therefore, the text before us is crucial. The purpose in instructing your children is that they might know. Knowledge. and that they might know not only the facts, not only the history, so that they can regurgitate it back to you, but to know in their hearts and minds and souls the love of God for them in Jesus Christ. But knowledge, what does the word of God say in John 17 verse three? Jesus says, And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. In the second place, the purpose is stated for us in verse seven. Psalm 78, verse seven, that they might set their hope in God. And that makes sense because knowledge leads to hope. And it's only when our children know their sin and depravity that by nature they are like those stubborn Israelites, and we as well. And it's against that dark backdrop that the glory of God in Jesus Christ comes shining through. And out of my crushed spirit there arises hope, hope. And that's the way to educate our children, to teach them that they have original sin and a depraved nature, and that there's only one hope for them, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our only hope and our only comfort is that we belong to him, body and soul, in life and in death. And then in the third place, the purpose of declaring to the generations to come the might of Jehovah God, verse seven, that they might set their hope in God, and now this, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments, so that instructing our youth has the purpose of making them to remember the works of God, so that they keep God's commandments. So it doesn't work if you say you know God's works and you have hope in Him, only then to go out and live as you please and to dismiss all of God's commandments as something that's not important, something that's not that big of a deal. A sanctified life is pleasing to God. A sanctified life in which we walk according to all of God's good commandments, esteeming them more precious than silver and gold. And that's the purpose in teaching our children so that they walk in all thankfulness according to all God's commandments. And so parents, God has given you the primary responsibility to rear your children with the purpose of working in them this knowledge, this hope, and this obedience. And you may have the confidence that God will use you as weak means to accomplish His purposes. And members of the Church of Jesus Christ, do not hide it. Do not be embarrassed of it, but declare to your children and to the generations to come the might and power and strength of Jehovah God. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, we thank Thee for Thy Word, may it be written upon our hearts. Use thy word to give us faith, to direct us in our walk, that we may be strengthened as parents, as members in the body of Jesus Christ, to show to the generations to come the might of God We thank Thee for not hiding Thy knowledge from us, but for revealing Thy Word and for revealing the Lord Jesus Christ, that we might know Him, that we might know Thee, and that we might receive life eternal through Him. Forgive our sins, go with us in the remainder of this Sabbath day, that we may keep it holy to the glory of Thy name. We ask this all in Jesus' name alone. Amen. We sing Psalter number 213. Psalter number 213, a versification of Psalm 78. Let's sing stanzas one through four. Stanzas one through four of Psalter number 213. ♪ My people live here ♪ ♪ A stand to my word ♪ in truth shall be heard. The wonderful story our fathers made known to children and spirit by us must be shown. The praises, the words, the might of the Lord. must turn from history's mind to hope with our young and confident sight. And I'll like their fathers, to turn from his ways. The story be told to warn and restrain, How fascinating, how mighty, how Jehovah, God of Israel! and he's in glory glad and sound. And blessed be his glorious name, long may he reign. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Amen.