Psalm 78:1-72 Pass It On
“Don’t forget the stories of old” calls Asaph to the people. “Pass it on! Tell of the wonders God has done for His people and share the warnings of disobedience.”
The ONLY way for the children to learn is from their elders. If we don’t tell them of the past, where will they hear it from? And will it be the truth? They NEED the truth so that they will not repeat the mistakes of the previous generations.
Asaph is recounting only a few of the most important events from Israel’s past. He calls for the people to pass these stories on to their children. To help the children learn of their God and why following His laws is so critical.
I find it interesting that he didn’t follow a timeline but skipped back and forth in Israel’s history. The most significant skip was when he moved from the wilderness back to Egypt. It took me by surprise because Asaph didn’t explain the shift either before or after it happened. We just had to follow along and figure it out. I was only able to ‘figure it out’ because we have already covered the history. We knew of the events he referenced. All except for the one concerning Ephraim. We didn’t encounter this story earlier. I have NO doubt it happened but we didn’t learn of it at the time it occurred.
Regardless of the fact that Asaph skipped around, his message is CLEAR. Pass the stories of God along so our children don’t forget and fall back into the patterns of those of long ago. The patterns of rebellion and stubbornness. The sins of always being dissatisfied. The disaster of provoking God’s anger.
Asaph didn’t pull any punches. He told how Israel had angered God and received punishment just as Egypt had. But he also told how God had “awoke as from sleep” (verse 65a) and once again moved on behalf of the people of Israel. How God once again occupied the hearts of His people.
“Don’t forget and be like those of old who walked away! Learn the lessons WELL and keep God front and center in your lives. Tell your children and your children’s children of His love. Never forget the cost of turning your backs on Him or the blessings of following Him.”
Asaph’s words are just as important today as they were in the time of David. We have even more evidence of the cost/benefit analysis that we can share. We also have another ‘benefit’ that Asaph’s people didn’t at the time. We have Jesus and His substitution work on the cross. The Law was leading them to this place but it was incomplete until Jesus.
There are still consequences for rejecting Him and benefits for surrendering your life to Him. And it is still CRITICAL that we teach these truths to our children and children’s children. The stakes are ETERNAL!
Father God, thank You for putting down Your stories so I too can learn of You. Thank You for ALL the evidence to inform my choice to surrender to You and Your will. I choose YOU with ALL my heart! And I choose to continue to tell my children and grandchildren about you.
