Set Your Hope In God

Psalms 78:1-7 (NKJV)

“Set Your Hope in God”

March 2, 2025

I. A Word - "our fathers have told us" Psalm 78 is a Maschil (a teaching psalm). The Minister of Music, Asaph, reminds us to teach our children, to teach the next generation. The responsibility of each parent is that our kids and grandchildren know God’s Word, that they understand that the key to success is to know the Lord, to love Him, and to be obedient to Him. The Psalm begins by encouraging us to continue the tradition of passing on the record of God’s marvelous works from one generation to another. “I will utter dark sayings of old.” One purpose of the psalm is to clarify the riddle of the past so that it becomes a lesson for the present and the future. In the Gospels Matthew (13:34) says All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. Note what the Psalmist is calling us to tell the next generation: First is what we have heard, i.e. what has been passed down to us through the Scriptures and the teachings of our fathers and mothers of the faith. We are to teach the Scriptures so that they grow up knowing their stories, memorizing their passages, and understanding the Gospel in their pages. We are to teach the doctrines of our faith passed down by our spiritual ancestors. And so, we teach them the hymns of our faith that they may know both truth and passion for that truth. We are to tell them the stories and testimonies of believers throughout the ages, of young and old, of people around the world so that they understand the depth and breadth of the gospel, that it is ancient and worldwide. These things we have heard, we are not to hide but pass on. And then (and this is so very important) we are to tell them what we have known, what we know for ourselves. We are to tell them our stories, what God has done in our lives; we are to tell them of Christ’s redemption for us. When we tell our children what Christ has done for them, we need to say, “This is what he has done for me.” When we explain to them that God is sovereign and thus takes care of us, we need to say, “Let me tell you how he has taken care of me.” And our children need to see real faith, real desire. The strongest argument against having children in worship is that they don’t understand the preaching and find the worship boring. Let me tell you: no one understands it all in the beginning. They don’t need to understand it all at once (though they understand more than we think), nor do they even need to find worship exciting. What they need to witness is the desire of their parents and grandparents to worship their God and to be fed with his Word. They need to see living faith in the generations before them who believe in what they teach. They need to see passionate love in us for the God we claim to believe in.

II. A Work - "He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel" That is the point of this psalm, that we will not hide the glorious deeds of the Lord from our children and their children yet unborn. We all have the duty to pass on these things we have heard and known. Follow verses 5 and 6: There are Biblical truths the parables, the hidden sayings from of old, found in the testimony established in Jacob. These are the truths imbedded in the law appointed in Israel. 1 Corinthians 10:11 says “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” God gave us the testimony and the truths Israel for our caution, for our understanding. Listen to His words given through Moses when they received His commandments: “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). Listen to His words given through Joshua when they crossed over the river: “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?' Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever." (Joshua 4:5) It reminds me of the lyrics from Elevation Worship’s “Blessing” inspired by Exodus 20:6, Deuteronomy 7:9 & Psalm 103:17. May His favor be upon you For a thousand generations Your family and your children And their children, and their children. May His presence go before you and behind you and beside you, all around you and within you. He is with you, He is with you. In the morning, in the evening In your coming, and your going In your weeping, and rejoicing He is for you, He is for you.