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Psalm 78 - Teach Our Children History
Psalm 78 - Teach Our Children History
George Santayana (1863-1952) said: "those who don't know history are bound to repeat it". This concept was stated long before that in Psalm 78. God chose Israel, established them as a nation, given them a law, guided and protected them. God then instructed the fathers to diligently teach all of this, both the law that governed them and the history that preceded them, to their children and their children's children (Ps. 78:4-6).
The purpose was simply that "That they should put their confidence in God And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments, And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart And whose spirit was not faithful to God" (Psalm 78:7–8).
God wanted the 'present generation' to know that, in spite of all of God's gifts, blessings, and love shown to their fathers, their fathers simply were not faithful unto God. This Psalm is filled with the verbs that describe Israel's unfaithfulness: "did not keep the covenant" (10), refuse (10), forgot (11), 'continued in sin' (17) rebel against (17), spoke against (19), 'did not trust' (22), grieved and tempted Him (40-41), provoked him with high places and aroused His jealousy with their graven images (58), ETC.
Longer than this list is the listing of all that God had done for them! As Derek Kidner observed on this Psalm, "Evidently the more God gives, the less we appreciate it. This grudging response to a string of miracles is not unlike the sequel to the feeding of the five thousand: a demand for a further and better sign (John 6:26, 30f.)*
It is instructive to also note God's response in anger and judgment to those who forgot Him! Yet, there always seems to be 'a generation that knows not God'. Sometimes it is the fault of the present generation in not teaching and instructing their offspring. At other times it is simply the oft seen attitude of a generation that rejects the wisdom of their fathers and sets out to follow their own path: a path which is exactly what their fathers were warning them about.
The first covenant instructed: “You shall teach them diligently to your sons 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 up" (Deut. 6:7). Let us note first that the fathers must themselves" love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." They were then instructed: "these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart" (Deut. 6:5-6). Out of their own love of God and knowledge of God's word they were to instruct their children.
The New Covenant includes the same command: "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord" (Eph. 6:4). Such teaching and admonishing must come from a heart that is filled with the Word of Christ (cp. Eph. 5:19).
Do you realize how important this concept is in the day and time that we are living in? Hugh DeLong
Derek Kidner, Psalm 73-150 An Introduction and Commentary, Logos edition.
