The Psalmist writes:
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. (Psalm 78:1-4)
The great preacher of London, Charles Spurgeon, writes:
It is the duty of the church of God to maintain, in fullest vigor, every agency intended for the religious education of the young; to them we must look for the church of the future, and as we sow towards them so shall we reap. Children are to be taught to magnify the Lord; they ought to be well informed as to his wonderful doings in ages past, and should be made to know his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. The best education is education in the best things. The first lesson for a child should be concerning his mother’s God. Teach him what you will, if he learn not the fear of the Lord, he will perish for lack of knowledge. Grammar is poor food for the soul if it be not flavored with grace. Every satchel should have a Bible in it. The world may teach secular knowledge alone, ‘tis all she has a heart to know, but the church must not deal so with her offspring; she should look well to every Timothy, and see to it that from a child he knows the Scriptures. Around the fire-side fathers should repeat not on the Bible records, but the deeds of the martyrs and reformers, and moreover the dealings of the Lord with themselves both in providence and grace … Reader, if you have children, mind you do not fail in this duty.*
With Psalm 78 and this quote in mind, I encourage you to do the following:
- Thank the Lord for your fathers and forefathers.
- Repent of your — sometimes or ofttimes — hiding the truth from your children.
- Live the Gospel before your family today; pass on the faith by your actions.
- Speak of the Lord and the Gospel today.
- Read the Word of God with your family today.
- Bring them to church tomorrow; do not deprive them of congregational worship, Sunday school, or other discipleship opportunities.
- Realize your responsibility, not only for your children, but towards all those who comprise your congregation. For the Psalmist does not say, “We will not hide them from OUR children”, but “We will not hide them from THEIR children.”
The great rabbi, Jesus Christ, says:
Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea … Let the little children come to me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:6; 19:14)
* Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Psalm 78, 331
Unfathomable Grace 