Thank you for listening to this message from Treasuring Christ Church in Athens, Georgia. Feel free to make copies of this message to give to others, but please do not alter the content in any way without permission. Treasuring Christ Church exists to spread a passion for the fame of Christ's name in Athens and around the world. We invite you to visit Treasuring Christ Church online at tccathens.org. There you'll find other resources available to you and information about our upcoming gatherings. America is a nation fascinated with history, especially family history. In fact, the rise of interest in the field of genealogy has grown by such a large degree that in recent years it was reported as the second most popular hobby in the U.S. As a country of immigrants, it's easy to understand why this research has always interested us. We want to know the answers to questions, like where did our ancestors come from and what accomplishments and failures marked their lives. We look to the past for answers, but tragically the lessons it teaches us are often quickly forgotten. Just as one 19th century philosopher has rightly noted, the one thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history. But much more important than studying our own family history is to study the history of the family of God. And when we read our Bible or a book on church history, it doesn't take long to discover that God's people have frequently made this same mistake as throughout each generation. History has often repeated itself. The psalmist Asaph was also a student of history. And as he studied the history of his people, Israel, he saw a sad account. One marked by a repeated cycle of forgetfulness, faithlessness, and failure. And as he sought out the Lord to understand what it all meant, God graciously gave him inspired insight into the lesson that's to be learned from the history of Israel. This psalm, Psalm 78, is that lesson. It's what we call a history psalm. One written not only to record the deeds of the people of God in the past, but to instruct the people of God in the present. 1 Corinthians 10-11 says, referring to the judgment of Israel for their disobedience in their wilderness wanderings, that these things happen to them as an example, but they are written down for our instruction. So when approaching Psalm 78, we need to first understand, this is not simply Old Testament history or a recording of it. This is not just historical accounts. This is living instruction written for our benefit today. To begin with, notice the psalm's title, Amaskel of Asaph. This phrase is what's known as the superscription and we consider it part of the inspired text and included in the canon of scripture. This superscription or title is important because it helps us to understand both why the psalm was written and who wrote it. We see first this is Amaskel. A maskul is a word that appears in 13 different psalms and it essentially means an enlightened or a wise saying. In other words, it's designed to impart wisdom to the listener. This song would have been sung as a form of teaching in the tabernacle and temple. And the primary purpose of this teaching was both to tell the history of Israel, the span of the several hundred years between the time of the Exodus when God brought His people out of Egypt and the time of King David, and to remind them of how gracious God had been to them despite their constant disobedience and stubborn rebellion. The title also tells us of the Psalms author. We find it is of Asaph. And 1 Chronicles tells us that Asaph was a gifted individual. Born of the tribe of Levi, he was chosen by King David to serve as one of the worship leaders in the tabernacle. In fact, he was such a skillful musician and so greatly gifted in his abilities to lead the people of God in worship that he was even appointed as one of the three chief musicians. And not only was Asaph a musician, but as 2 Chronicles 29 30 tells us, he was also a seer or a prophet. So here was a man who understood where his gift came from and faithfully used it to bring glory to God while communicating God's word to his people. He serves as a great role model for all worship leaders today. So what is the lesson the Lord revealed to Asaph? What is it that he wants us to learn from the history of Israel? Well, let's read together in verses 1 to 8 to find out together. I'm Askel of Asaph. 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. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children. so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments, and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God." In these opening verses, Asaph answers the question of the meaning of Israel's history by giving us three reasons we are to tell the coming generation. We see first, because of the past lesson, we must tell the coming generation. Because of the past lesson, we must tell the coming generation. This is found in verses 1-4. But before Asaph would reveal this past lesson to us, He first calls us to listen in closely to what He has to say. He calls us as listeners to pay careful attention to His words. This is an important principle for anyone who would speak wisdom to others. If you would reach your listener, you must first gain their undivided attention. And we see this principle perhaps best demonstrated in the book of Proverbs. For example, Proverbs 1.8. Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching. Or Proverbs 4, 1, Hear, O sons, and be attentive that you may gain insight. And Proverbs 8, 32, O sons, listen to me. Hear instruction and be wise. So just as King Solomon calls attention to his wise words, So does Asaph first call us to pay careful attention. As he says in verse 1, give ear, O my people, to my teaching. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. The phrases give ear and incline your ear are essentially a call to bend them towards what he's about to say. To stretch them out in hearing. This is much more than just an ordinary call to pay attention. It's to listen. earnestly as a servant listens to the words of his Master, with all submission and reverence, ready not only to hear, but to do." And Asaph draws such serious attention to his words, because they're not merely his words. Remember, Asaph wasn't only a worship leader, but a prophet. And so we're to listen closely to his words as they are the Word of God. For as Spurgeon says, shall God speak and His children refuse to hear? His teaching has the force of law. Let us yield both ear and heart to it. Incline your ears to the words of His mouth. Give earnest attention. Bow your stiff necks. Lean forward to catch every syllable. That's what he's getting at with this call to listen. And the reason we're to listen so carefully is that what He has to tell us is not easily discerned. It's something puzzling. Something only the thoughtful will be able to perceive. Something that will be missed if we don't pay close attention. Notice in verse 2 where Asaph uses two phrases to describe his teaching. He says, I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings from of old. Both descriptions of a parable and a dark saying speaks to the puzzling nature of this psalm. Parables we are, of course, familiar with from their frequent appearances in the New Testament. Of all the teaching devices of Jesus, He's probably best known for His use of parables. In fact, it's interesting to note that one of the reasons our Lord taught in parables was to fulfill this prophecy of Psalm 78 verse 2. We read over in Matthew 13, 34, all these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables. Indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, referring to the psalmist Asaph. I will open my mouth in parables. I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world. Now, if we were to take the time in looking at all 72 verses of this psalm, we wouldn't find anything what we would ordinarily think of as a parable. So why then does Matthew quote from this verse? Well, the reason isn't to compare the form of the parables of Jesus to the form of the parable of Asaph. Rather, we're to understand that both function as parables in a more broad and general sense. By that I mean parables have the power to both reveal and conceal the truth. To the unbelieving, they hide the truth. To them, parables are just silly stories or just a meaningless history lesson. And so the truth is hidden from them. But to the believing, they reveal deep spiritual truths. And for us who have ears to hear and eyes to see, we understand that while we are not Israel, Israel's history, in a sense, is also our history. It's the history of the world. Just as Israel had a history of unfaithfulness, remembering God, and then forgetting His commandments, and then remembering again, so do we. And Asaph wants us to understand that this psalm is a kind of living parable that applies to any time in history. In other words, the truth it reveals is true for every generation. That's how this teaching is a parable. And the other description used in verse 2 is what he says is a dark sayings from of old. And the word for dark sayings is found mostly in the wisdom books of the Bible. And it basically means a riddle. For example, Psalm 49 verse 4 says, I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will solve my riddle. Same word. To the music of the lyre. Or Proverbs 1.5, let the wise hear the words of the wise and their riddles. And the reason Asaph says his lesson is a dark saying or riddle is because there's two great questions that are left unanswered about the history of his people. The first is, how could Israel have been so constantly stubborn, so rebellious, after God had so richly blessed them time and time again? Why didn't they learn to trust and obey God? This mystery is put forth in verses 40 through 41. How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert. Why were they so stubborn? And the second is, like it. Why was God so patient? So merciful to such an ungrateful and disobedient people? This mystery is put forth in verse 38. Yet He, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them. He restrained His anger often and did not stir up all His wrath. Why was God so patient? Yet while these questions are left suspended in Asaph's mind with no answer given, the lesson we're to take away from this puzzling history is given. And it comes next in verses 3 and 4. He says that the 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. Asaph's lesson to us is this, if history is to stop repeating itself, the people of God must never again forget the Lord. And in order for that to happen, we must pass down our faith to our children. We must tell the coming generation. We must make the Lord known to those behind us. We must pass on the faith. Are you a parent? This is your greatest responsibility. Tell your children. Are you a grandparent? This is your highest calling. Tell your grandchildren. Are you a Christian? This is your solemn duty. Tell the family of God. This is your calling, whether you have children or not. Notice, Asaph doesn't say we will tell our children, but instead their children. He's acknowledging his children aren't merely his own. They're his father's children, his God's children. They're the children of the family of God. So whether you have children or not, you must tell the coming generation. You must pass down your faith. When my wife Stephanie and I first attended Treasuring Christ Church about eight years ago now, we were meeting at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education and Hotel at the time, and one of the things that had the biggest impact on me was observing a young family in the row in front of us. It wasn't anything that they said that stood out to me, but rather what I observed. As the worship began and we all stood to sing, I noticed their youngest daughter, probably only around four or five years old at the time, was having a hard time seeing over the rows of people in front of her. And I watched as her father noticed this also, and he smiled at her and he lifted his daughter out of her seat and he placed her into the aisle so she could see to the words on the screen. And then I was amazed as I heard her singing with greater confidence and joy and volume than many of the adults in the room. And as I witnessed this brief, yet impactful moment, I remember that it struck me that this young girl loved to worship the Lord because of the things that she had seen and heard from her parents. Because of what they had taught her. Because of what had been passed down to her. And though this family has since moved out of the area, the culture they helped to build at TCC has remained to this day. Ever since the very beginning, our church has always sought to treasure children and tell them all about the Lord. It's often one of the first things I hear from visitors. They notice not only how many children we have in this church, praise God, but also the care that exists for them here. And I believe this to be a strength of our church. But brothers and sisters, the church cannot be the only place that our children are being taught about the Lord. One day a week isn't enough. And while the church certainly plays a role, this isn't primarily your pastor's job or your Sunday school teacher's job. This is your job. This is your responsibility. So we must all seize each moment as an opportunity to teach our children about the Lord and His commandments. We must do as Moses says in Deuteronomy 6-7, you shall teach them diligently to your children, 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. We must have a mission mindset for the next generation. Like King David, who even in his old age, wrote in Psalm 71, 17, O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me until I proclaim your might to another generation. We must invite our children to come and ask us questions, to sit and learn from us, just as the Lord Jesus did in His day, telling the disciples in Luke 18, 16, to let the children come to Me and do not hinder them, for such belongs the kingdom of God. We must prioritize the passing down to our children what has been deposited in us, knowing it is the most valuable treasure and the greatest inheritance we have to give them. Just as the Apostle Paul did when he wrote to his spiritual children in 1 Corinthians 15 saying, for I deliver to you as of first importance what I also received. If we're to be different from the stubborn Israelites that Asaph writes about, if history is to not repeat itself, then we must take our place in the long line of believers throughout every generation who have concerned themselves in making the Lord known to the next. This ought to be our highest priority in life because it is God's plan for the advancement and spread of the gospel. Just as Psalm 145 says, one generation shall commend your works to another. Like a runner in a relay race, handing off a spiritual baton. So one generation is to hand to the next what they themselves have been entrusted with. And then the Lord's wisdom. This is how He has ordained the truth to primarily be passed down. And this has been His call to the people of God since the very beginning. when He brought them out of Egypt and told them in Deuteronomy 4.9 to take care not to forget what they had seen and heard and known, so they would make them known to their children and their children's children. So when Asaph says in verse 3, that the 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. He's not saying anything new. He's not giving His people some new instruction, but rather reminding them of what they are to be doing all along. The very reason they were in this cycle of remembering the Lord and then forgetting His commandments over and over again is because they had not all been faithful to tell their children. Some, either through forgetfulness or negligence, had hidden away what they had seen and heard and known, which is why Asaph commits in verse 4 that we will not hide them from their children. Church, hear our brother's exhortation to us today. Will you join him in committing to the Lord that you will not hide what has been passed down to you, but to tell it? to make it known, to pass it on to your children. As I said earlier, this is a call for all of us. But fathers, this especially starts with you. Your children need you to lead in this way. Your wives need you to lead in this way. Asaph's use of the word for hide here reminds us of just what's at stake. The word can have a couple of different meanings. The first being what we would normally think of to cover or conceal, to keep something a secret. But it can also mean to be destroyed or cut off. For example, in Exodus 9.15, the Lord is speaking to Moses about how he is to warn Pharaoh to let his people go. And he says to tell him, for by now I could have put up my hand and you would have been cut off from the earth. Or in 1 Kings 13.34, we're referring to the wicked king Jeroboam and his appointing priest outside the tribe of Levi to serve the high places. It says, and this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam so as to cut it off and destroy it from the face of the earth. The point I'm making is this. To hide what you know about the Lord from your children isn't merely to keep it a secret from them. but it is to cut them off from the blessings of God and to seek their destruction. If we as parents allow our children to grow up without knowing about the Lord and the mighty works that He has done, no matter how successful they may go on to be or what else they may accomplish in life, we will have not only failed them, we'll have actually assisted them in their ignorance, assisted them in their unbelief, and ultimately assisted them in their destruction if they don't otherwise come to saving faith. And perhaps the following generation too. We're ever only one generation away from the Word of God from becoming, I won't say non-existent because Scripture tells us it can never be that, but certainly from becoming disregarded, abandoned, treated as irrelevant, We must tell the coming generation, for the consequences of failing to do so are too great. Well, now that we've established what our responsibility is to the coming generation, the next question that naturally comes to our mind is, what exactly are we to tell them? And Asaph anticipates this question. Look with me again at verse four for his answer. He says, we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord and His might and the wonders that He has done. And notice he lists God's deeds, God's power, and God's wonders. Or put another way, we are to declare to our children all the praiseworthy works of God and how mightily He's worked them in His great power and how sovereignly and wonderfully He's worked them for the good of His people throughout history. If you were to go on and read all of Psalm 78, you would hear of how God divided the Red Sea, making the waters to stand like a heap. How He led His people out of Egypt with a cloud by day and a fiery light by night. How He split rocks so that water gushed out. How He opened the doors of heaven and rained down on them manna to eat. How He caused the east wind to blow and meet like the sand of the seas. how He worked His great wonders in Egypt with the ten plagues, how He led His people like sheep, guiding them and protecting them in the wilderness, and how He brought them safely to His holy land and drove out the nations before them. 49 times the word He is found in this psalm. He performed wonders. He divided the sea. He led them out with a cloud. He split rocks in the wilderness. The whole psalm reads like that. Asaph tells his generation all about what the Lord had done for them. He owes nothing back. And so should we. Listen, if Israel, who only had the types and the shadows of the glory to come, If they had reason to pass down what they had seen and heard and known, how much more do we, who have seen the fullness of the glory of God in the Lord Jesus Christ as revealed on the pages of Scripture, if they had reason to tell, church, we have more. So don't just tell them, your children, about the that the mighty works done in Israel. But tell them about the One who is the true Israel, the faithful Israel. Tell them about the One that embodied everything God called Israel to be. The One who came up out of Egypt and was tested in the wilderness without sin. Tell them about the mighty deeds of the Lord Jesus Christ who died on a cross to save them and rose back to life and is one day coming back. Tell them. If they repent of their sins and put their trust in the finished work of the Savior, He promises He will save them. This is what we are to declare to our children. Tell them of all the works of the Lord. It's because of Israel's past failures to do this very thing that Asaph first exhorts us to heed the lesson of history. So first, because of the past lesson, we must tell the coming generation. Second, because of the present command, we must tell the coming generation. Because of the present command, we must tell the coming generation. Look with me at verse 5. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children. And we see here we must not only teach them the works of God, but also the Word of God. We're to teach them not only what God has done, but what God has said. Notice this past lesson of Asaph to tell the coming generation is a present command from God. He says He commanded our fathers to teach. This command, by the way, is also given in the New Testament. Ephesians 6-4 likewise says, Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. So both the Old and the New Testaments clearly command us to teach our children. If you fail to do so, you just disobey. This is our ultimate motivation for proclamation to the coming generation. Fathers, it's not in order to please your wife. Mothers, it's not in order that your kids have a well-rounded education. We don't even teach primarily because we love our children. We do first and foremost for the glory of God. We tell our children out of an overwhelmed response to God's works and God's words. We act in obedience to make disciples, not only of all nations, but all generations. We see from this psalm that God desires not only a people from every nation to worship before His throne, but a people from every generation. And so He's commanded us to teach our children. It's interesting to note that before God gave Moses the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, also known as the law and the testimony that Asaph refers to here in verse 5, He first reminded Moses of what He had done for His people. Exodus 20 verse 1 right before the Ten Commandments are given the Lord says I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the house of slavery you shall have no other gods before me notice the order The testimony of God's grace was given before the testimony of God's law, or God's works were given before His commands, just as they are in this psalm. First, Asaph reminds us of what God has done, and then he reminds us of the command. This is significant. Because as one commentator has pointed out, Asaph doesn't just mean here that God has told us things to do. He means that God has testified about what He has done and about what our response should be in light of that. And our response should be an eager obedience to His command to tell the next generation. So not only because of the past lesson of Israel, but because of the present command of God, we must tell the coming generation. Third, because of the future aim, we must tell the coming generation. Because of the future aim, we must tell the coming generation. What's the purpose of this command? What's the end goal? What's our aim in telling our children? Asaph gives us four illuminating aims in verses six through eight. We see our first aim is that they might know God. That they might know God. Look with me at verse six. That the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children. According to this verse, The first aim we must have for the next generation is to give them the knowledge of the law of God. But this isn't merely so that God's commandments in and of themselves are known, but in order that God is known. The goal isn't simply to teach your children the Ten Commandments so they can recite them whenever called upon, but that they might know the one who wrote the Ten Commandments and know what he loves, what he hates, what he's like, what he values. We teach in order that they would not only know about God, but know God Himself. And while knowing God is certainly more than just having knowledge about Him, it's never less. We must first reach our children's minds if we're to reach their hearts. So notice, this is where our aim begins as parents and as the church. But also notice the vast extent of this aim to make God known. There's at least three or four generations mentioned here in verses five through six. Asaph says, he established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel which he commanded our fathers, that's one generation, to teach to their children, two, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, three, and arise and tell them to their children, four. Your obedience to this command impacts not only your direct children, but your grandchildren and even great-grandchildren to the third and fourth generation. Your great-grandchildren may never know anything about you, but they can know the most important thing about you as you pass down your faith to their grandparents and their parents. What an incredible privilege to be used by the Lord in such a powerful way. Second, we see our aim is not only that the next generation might know God, but that they might hope in God, that they might hope in God. Verse 7, so that they should set their hope in God. The purpose of making God known to the next generation is so that As they learned the truth, they would come to love it. And place their trust in God for themselves. That their parents' faith would become their own faith. This is the goal of Christian education. It isn't just more head knowledge, but a changed heart. A heart whose confidence is set on Christ. Whose faith is in Christ. Whose hope is in Christ. And Christ alone. Notice how after giving such a heavy emphasis on passing down the law in verses 5 and 6, here in verse 7 it doesn't say that we're to do so, so that they should set their hope in the law. Or so that they should set their hope in the testimony. No! It says so that they should set their hope in God. So teach your children not only the commandments of God, but how they leave us with no hope. because they convict us of our sin. Teach them Romans 3.20, that for by the works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight. Help them to see their sin and the holiness of God, and teach them of the hope we have, not in following the law, but in Jesus Christ, the one who perfectly kept the law on their behalf. Tell them of the Savior. who by his death on the cross satisfied the wrath of God and by grace imputed his perfect righteousness to our account. Teach them how he is their only hope of salvation. Show them how everyone places their hope in something. Some in their own good works, some in their riches, some in their own strength, but how it is only those who hope in Christ who will not be put to shame. Compel them to put their hope in the Savior. Our aim in making God known to them is so they put their hope in God. Third, we see our aim is that they might not only know God and hope in God, but they might obey God. That they might obey God. Continue in verse 7. And not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments. Our third aim is their obedience to the Lord. Children easily forget. As do we. And so we're to tell them again and again and again so they won't forget His works, but keep His commandments. Our job isn't done when our children only know rightly and believe rightly, but when they also act rightly. There's a logical progression here. We tell the coming generation so they would know the Lord, which in turn leads to hoping in the Lord, which in turn leads to obeying the Lord. Verse John helps us to understand this connection between our hope and obedience to God. We read over in 1 John 3, 3. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as he is pure. John reminds us that those whose hope is in Christ also obey Him. It's been said Christian hope and obedience are inseparable companions. True hope always gives way to true obedience. And just as Paul said that he received his apostleship in order to bring about the obedience of faith, the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations. In Romans 1.5, so likewise have we received this command to tell in order to bring about the obedience of hope and faith in the lives of our children for the sake of his name. Obedience brings blessing to our children and glory to God. Obedience is also our aim. And fourth, we see our aim is that they might remain faithful to God. That they might remain faithful to God. And verse 8, and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God. And lastly, we are to teach so they would remain faithful to God. And so we're to warn them of what will happen if they forget the Lord. We're to instruct them of the failures of the past so they're not repeated. We're to remind them about the sad consequences of disobedience and unfaithfulness. We're to tell them examples, both from Scripture and from our own lives. And this is exactly what Asaph does. Notice he closes verse 8 with a charge to his people to not be like their fathers. stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful. So we too are to tell our children so they'd avoid the failures of the past and remain faithful to God. Asaph specifically mentions two generations in this psalm. The first is a generation that rebelled and perished in the wilderness. Their failure was that they forgot the Lord. He says in verses 40 through 43, how often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert. They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember His power or the day when He redeemed them from the foe, when He performed His signs in Egypt. Now, the other generation he refers to is the generation that settled in the promised land after the death of Joshua. Now, their failure is recorded in the book of Judges in chapter 2, where it says, after the death of Joshua, there arose another generation after them that did not know the Lord or the work that He had done for Israel. This generation failed to pass the torch on to the next. And so the question put before us this morning is simply this. Will we? Will we be faithful? Or will we fail? Will we pass the baton on to the coming generation? Or will we fail to learn from history and be like the stubborn Israelites in the generations before us? Let's resolve today that we will not hide. we will tell the coming generation. Let us resolve today that we will heed the lesson of the past, obey the command of the present, and tell the future generations with the aim that they'll know God, hope in God, obey God, and remain faithful to God. Before we close, I want to quickly give you some practical ways on how to put this sermon into action. One way is to get involved with our Sunday school program, Treasuring Christ Kids. As the number of kids in our church continues to grow, we need more volunteers than ever before. So consider signing up to serve there, if you're a parent. Another way to put this Psalm into practice is to order the Generations of Grace Family Devotional Guide. It is a tremendous resource that I cannot recommend more highly. It will help support you throughout the week to reinforce what your children learn here on Sundays. Perhaps you already have a children's Bible or some other material that you're using, and that's great, but what I often hear from parents is they're unsure of where to start. So why not get this helpful guide? And a final way to put this message into action is simply for all of us as a church family to be looking for ways to pour into the lives of those behind us. Maybe you're an older woman. Perhaps offer to help hold a crying baby for a new mom or bring them a meal. Maybe you're an older man. Find a young dad. Encourage him. Share your wisdom with him. And maybe you're a college student. Get to know the names of the children of our church. How might the Lord use this church if all of us resolve to look for ways to encourage one another, exhort one another, and tell one another, not only for our own benefit, but for that of the coming generations. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this important message. Thank you for the privilege to be used by you in reaching the next generation. What a joy. What a joy it truly is. Thank you for blessing this church with so many children. Lord, they are precious to us. We love them dearly. But we know that you love them even more. And so you've given us this good command to tell them. So God, help us to be faithful, to tell them all about who you are and what you've done. Lord, forgive us for all the times we have dropped the baton and missed opportunities and failed to prioritize telling our children about you as we should. We're so grateful for your grace. Lord, for anyone here who feels discouraged, perhaps because they haven't been faithful to tell their children, Lord, encourage them that it's never too late to make a change. Remind them that your grace can overcome years of sinful habits, but it takes effort. It takes effort. So encourage them to begin today and for all of us, Lord, I pray you would give us a renewed zeal to carry out this command. Help us each day to commit along with Asaph that we will not hide. We will tell. We will tell. All for your glory and namesake. Amen.