Psalm 78:1-8

Each generation stands before the awesome duty to retrieve the lessons of the past in order to promote them today so that they will be perpetuated into the future. The psalmist embraces this challenge as he opens with a call to listen and then unfolds a history lesson for the current generation with a message about the past which was designed to shape the values and commitments of the next generation. In calling all to listen and respond, the psalmist addresses all believers but particularly he lays a burden upon parents to teach their children so that they may in turn instruct their children. And the point that emerges is that parental teaching promotes the perseverance and preservation of the church. This message explores the point that the spiritual preservation of the church from one generation to the next is inseparably connected to the parental duty of instructing their children in the most holy faith.