So Psalm 78 is
a LONG Psalm. It has 72 verses in it. It was written by Asaph, a worship leader
in Israel. Picture a guy with spiked hair, skinny jeans, and tattoos. Well, he
probably didn’t look at all like that. But he was a good song writer. This one
is a historical psalm. Asaph wrote this as an interpretation of Israel’s
history, with a lesson for Israel to heed. He wrote it while looking back over
several hundred years of Israel’s history.
Asaph looked back over Israel’s history and
thought: If I could rewind history and change just ONE THING that would REVERSE
THE DOWNWARD SLOPE OF SOCIETY, one thing to make everything better - I know our
society would be in a better place, morality would be restored, our culture
wouldn’t be so wicked, and even politically we would be much better off. What
was the one thing he wished he could do to change culture?
For
starters, it wasn’t government programming. “We need more social reform, better
wages, less taxes, more benefits for the middle class…” Nope, Asaph’s solution
for the moral decline of his nation did not concern the government. Nor was it
the school system. We often hear things like “The more educated people are, the
less likely they are to be poor, or lazy, or violent.” That may be
statistically true, but reforming education will not alter the downward fall of
society. And surprisingly, Asaph wasn’t after changing the church! (Yes I know
there was no “church” in Asaph’s days, but for our purposes let’s call priest
and temple stuff “the church”). No, it goes deeper than that. Asaph really
believed that ONE THING could reverse the downward slope of society.
The Answer: Parents and Grandparents need to teach their faith to their kids at home.
That will do it. Mom and Dad, and Grandma and Granddad,
need to go home and teach the Bible and the Christian faith to the next
generation in their family.
Let’s all
make a pact today and decide that we are going to do this ONE THING to reverse
the downward slope of our society. Let’s agree that we’re going to stop griping
about how bad things have gotten in this world, stop complaining about how
ungodly the public school system is, stop whining about how nobody respects the
Bible anymore, and instead let’s agree that we are all going to go home tonight
and teach the Bible to our kids and grandkids and do family worship together. (Because
we all know they are the only ones who can really change anything.)
I can’t
change my country. I can’t change Texas. I can’t change Dallas or Lake
Highlands. I can’t even change my apartment complex. Sadly, I can’t even change
my floor of my apartment complex! But I can change what happens in MY apartment,
and I can change that TODAY. By God’s grace, I can raise children who are fired
up about the gospel, ready to charge Hell with a squirt gun, and maybe, just
maybe, my family and progeny can make a positive impact on this world!
Here is how Asaph puts it in Psalm 78:3-4.
“What we
have heard and known, what our fathers have told us. We will not HIDE them from
their children; we will TELL the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the
Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.”
Parents,
we unintentionally hide our faith from our kids, and then we wonder why they
don’t care about God, the Bible, or church when they grow up. When reading that
last sentence, our gut tells us “Hide God from my kids?! I take them to church
almost every week!” But that’s the problem. If we go home and the only spiritual lesson we teach our kids is a 10
second prayer before mealtime, we’ve hidden the most important thing. I don’t
know about you, but rather than “hiding” my faith, I’m sure going to “tell” my
kids what the Bible is all about (Psalm 78:4).
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