Psalm 78:1-11 NKJV
78 Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
3 Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
5 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;
6 That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,
7 That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;
8 And may not be like their fathers,
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that did not set its heart aright,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,
Turned back in the day of battle.
10 They did not keep the covenant of God;
They refused to walk in His law,
11 And forgot His works
And His wonders that He had shown them.
Psalm 78 is one of the longer Psalms, with the very simple theme of God’s faithfulness contrasted with Israel’s unfaithfulness. But the Psalmist’s purpose in making this contrast is neither to shame nor to berate, but to teach.
“I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old.” Matthew tells us that this saying was fulfilled by Christ in the many parables He told. If we consider His parables, we realize that they didn’t teach anything new. Jesus spoke old truths—truths expressed throughout the Old Testament—in new and sometimes hidden ways, which forced the hearers to ponder and dig deeper into the things He taught. For those who take the time to do so, seeking the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, we learn invaluable lessons from Jesus’ parables about God, about His kingdom, and about ourselves.
The Psalmist’s concern is to pass on the same old truths to Israel, that parents may pass them on to their children, and so on, and so on, throughout the generations. The things to pass on are the wondrous works of God and the commandments of God, or to put it another way, Bible history and Bible doctrine.
The importance of passing on these two aspects of the Christian faith cannot be overestimated. This is how God forms and preserves His Church, with both parents and pastors playing a vital role in training up children in the way they should go (cf. Prov. 22:6), “that they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.”
Because, what happens when people forget? Israel’s own history provides the answer, over and over again, starting with their many rebellions in the wilderness with Moses. The people forget the Lord, turn away from His Word, and come to ruin, both physical and spiritual, every single time. But as St. Paul says, “All these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition” (1 Cor. 10:11). And again, “Whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). Let us pray: O Lord, we will tell Your praises to the generation to come, and Your strength and Your wonderful works that You have done. Amen.