We continue reading from the book of Psalms, Psalm 78. It's a lengthy chapter, but a helpful chapter as we approach the Word of God this morning. Masculine of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and his strength and his wonderful works that he has done. For he hath established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers that they should make them known to their children, that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born, who should arise and declare them to their children, that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments, and might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that set not their heart aright and whose spirit was not steadfast with God. The children of Ephraim being armed and carrying bows turned back in the day of battle. They kept not the covenant of God and refused to walk in his law and forgot his works and his wonders that he had showed them. Marvelous things did he in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan, He divided the sea and caused them to pass through, and He made the waters to stand as a heap. In the daytime also He led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire. He claved the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as out of the great depths. He brought streams also out of the rock and caused waters to run down like rivers. And they sinned yet more against Him by provoking the Most High in the wilderness. And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust. Yea, they spake against God. They said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Behold, he smote the rock that the waters gushed out and the streams overflowed. Can he give bread also? Can he provide flesh for his people? Therefore, the Lord heard this and was wrath. So a fire was kindled against Jacob and anger also came up against Israel because they believe not in God and trusted not in his salvation. Though he had commanded the clouds from above and opened the doors of heaven and had rained down manna upon them to eat and had given them of the corn of heaven, man did eat angels food. He sent them meat to the full. He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven and by his power he brought in the south wind. He rained flesh also upon them as dust and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea and he let it fall in the midst of their camp round about their habitations. So they did eat and were well filled for he gave them their own desire. They were not estranged from their lust, but While their meat was yet in their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them and slew the fattest of them and smote down the chosen men of Israel. For all this, they sinned still and believed not for his wondrous works. Therefore, their days did he consume in vanity and their years in trouble. When he slew them, then they sought him and they returned and inquired early after God. And they remembered that God was their rock and the high God, their redeemer. Nevertheless, they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues, for their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his covenant. But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not. Yea, many a time turned he his anger away and did not stir up all his wrath, for he remembered that they were but flesh. a wind that passeth away and cometh not again. How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness and grieve him in the desert. Yea, they turned back and tempted God and limited the Holy One of Israel. They remember not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy. How he had wrought his signs in Egypt and his wonders in the field of Zoan and had turned their rivers into blood and their floods that they could not drink. He sent diverse sorts of flies among them which devoured them and frogs which destroyed them. He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar and their labor unto the locust. He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore trees with frost. He gave up their cattle also to the hail and their flocks to hot thunderbolts. He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath and indignation and trouble by sending evil angels among them. He made a way to his anger. He spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence and smote all the firstborn in Egypt. the chief of their strength and the tabernacles of Ham, but made his own people to go forth like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. And he led them on safely so that they feared not, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased. He cast out the heathen also before them and divided them in inheritance by line and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. Yet they tempted and provoked the Most High God and kept not His testimonies, but turned back and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers. They were turned aside like a deceitful bow, for they provoked Him to anger with their high places and moved Him to jealousy with their graven images. When God heard this, he was wrath and greatly abhorred Israel, so that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men, and delivered his strength into captivity and his glory into the enemy's hand. He gave his people over also unto the sword and was wrath with his inheritance. The fire consumed their young men, and their maidens were not given to marriage. Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation. And the Lord awaked as one out of sleep and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine. And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts. He put them to a perpetual reproach. Moreover, he refused the tabernacle of Joseph and chose not the tribe of Ephraim, but chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion, which he loved. And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established forever. He chose David, also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds, from following the youths great with young. He brought him to feed Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance. So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands. May God bless this convicting as well as comforting word to our hearts this morning. We turn now to the form for the administration of baptism. You can find that on page 126 in the back of the Psalters. The principal parts of the doctrine of holy baptism are these three. First, that we with our children are conceived and born in sin, and therefore our children of wrath, insomuch that we cannot enter into the kingdom of God, except we are born again. This, the dipping in or sprinkling with water, teaches us whereby the impurity of our souls is signified, and we admonished to loathe and humble ourselves before God, and seek for our purification and salvation without ourselves, or outside of ourselves. Secondly, holy baptism witnesses and seals unto us the washing away of our sins through Jesus Christ. Therefore, we are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. For when we are baptized in the name of the Father, God the Father witnesses and seals unto us that he doth make an eternal covenant of grace with us and adopts us for his children and heirs and therefore will provide us with every good thing and avert all evil or turn it to our profit. And when we are baptized in the name of the Son, the Son seals unto us that he doth wash us in his blood from all our sins, incorporating us into the fellowship of his death and resurrection, so that we are freed from all our sins and accounted righteous before God. In like manner, when we are baptized in the name of the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost assures us by this holy sacrament that he will dwell in us and sanctify us to be members of Christ, applying unto us that which we have in Christ, namely the washing away of our sins and the daily renewing of our lives, till we shall finally be presented without spot or wrinkle among the assembly of the elect in life eternal. Thirdly, whereas in all covenants there are contained two parts, therefore are we by God through baptism admonished of and obliged unto new obedience. Namely, that we cleave to this one God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, that we trust in Him and love Him with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our mind, and with all our strength. That we forsake the world, crucify our old nature, and walk in a new and holy life. And if we sometimes, through weakness, fall into sin, we must not therefore despair of God's mercy, nor continue in sin, since baptism is a seal and undoubted testimony that we have an eternal covenant of grace with God. And although our young children do not understand these things, we may not therefore exclude them from baptism, for as they are without their knowledge partakers of the condemnation in Adam, so they again so are they again received unto grace in Christ. As God speaketh unto Abraham, the father of all the faithful, and therefore unto us and our children, saying, I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. This also the apostle Peter testifieth with these words, for the promises unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call," Acts 2.39. Therefore, God formerly commanded them to be circumcised, which was a seal of the covenant and of the righteousness of faith. And therefore, Christ also embraced them, laid his hands upon them, and blessed them, Mark 10. Since then, baptism has come in the place of circumcision. Therefore, infants are to be baptized as heirs of the kingdom of God and of his covenant. and parents are in duty bound further to instruct their children herein when they shall arrive to years of discretion. Therefore, this holy ordinance of God may be administered to his glory, to our comfort, and to the edification of his church. Let us call upon his holy name. Almighty and eternal God, Thou who hast, according to thy severe judgment, punished the unbelieving and unrepentant world with the flood, and hast, according to thy great mercy, saved and protected believing Noah and his family. Thou who hast drowned the obstinate Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, and hast led thy people Israel through the midst of the sea upon dry ground, by which baptism was signified, we beseech thee that thou wilt be pleased of thy infinite mercy graciously to look upon these children and incorporate them by thy Holy Spirit into thy Son Jesus Christ. that they may be buried with him into his death and be raised with him in newness of life, that they may daily follow him, joyfully bearing their cross and cleave unto him in true faith, firm hope and ardent love, that they may with a comfortable sense of thy favor leave this life, which is nothing but a continual death, that the last day may appear without terror before the judgment seat of Christ thy Son, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Ghost, one only God, lives and reigns forever. Amen. I now ask the parents to arise and answer the following questions. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, you have heard that baptism is an ordinance of God to seal unto us and to our seed his covenant. Therefore, it must be used for that end and not out of custom or superstition. But it may be then manifest that you are thus minded. You are to answer sincerely to these questions. First, Whether you acknowledge that although our children are conceived and born in sin and therefore are subject to all misery, to condemnation itself, yet that they are sanctified in Christ and therefore as members of his church ought to be baptized. Secondly, whether you acknowledge the doctrine which is contained in the Old and New Testaments and in the articles of the Christian faith and which is taught here in this Christian church, to be the true and perfect or complete doctrine of salvation. Thirdly, whether you promise and intend to see these children when come to the years of discretion, wherever you are parents, instructed and brought up in the aforesaid doctrine, or help or cause them to be instructed therein, to the utmost of your power. What is your answer, Calvin and Laura Beeke? Tim and Nicole DeVries. Martijn and Abigail Haibour, Micah and Kim Kelderman, John and Anna Timmer, and Ruben and Heather Van Der Zwaag. This morning, I just want to speak a few words to you as parents, to the entire congregation and in particular to the children this morning. From Zechariah 13 verse 1, in that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. And children, as you look this morning at what happens at baptism, baptism is a picture It's a picture that's pointing us to a gospel reality. We sometimes hear the expression that a picture is worth a thousand words. The picture that's presented here this morning in baptism is worth far more than a thousand words. This picture that's presented here is worth eternal life, life for your soul in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It points out doesn't it? The problem that you and I have as parents, as children, as a congregation. We have sin and uncleanness that needs to be dealt with. Let's not ever think that we are better than what Zechariah describes here, that somehow we are beyond the blood of Jesus Christ. Even these babies, as beautiful and innocent as they look, have inherited a sin nature from us. They are already unclean. They are already sinful. Sometimes we wrestle with that question, what qualifies us to come to Jesus? It's this very thing that Zechariah is describing here. Our sin and uncleanness is exactly what qualifies us to come to the blood of Jesus. Because if we did not have sin, if we did not have uncleanness, we would not need the cleansing blood of Christ. And so we don't need any other qualification than what's described here, to recognize our sin and our uncleanness. And some of you are wrestling with that question, how much of this do I need to see? Well, let me tell you this morning, it's not a question of how much you need to see. It matters more that you see your sin for what it is, an offense against a holy God and that which qualifies you for the cleansing blood of Jesus. Zechariah encourages us this morning. There is a fountain opened. It's not a closed fountain. It's not a fountain that's been turned off. You go into any public building today, all the public drinking fountains have been turned off. You cannot go to those fountains to drink. But here is a fountain that is always opened. Nothing will close this fountain this morning. because that fountain has been opened in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a fountain that will surely cleanse from all our sin, the sin we've passed on to our children, the sin that you have, children, because it's connected to the work of Jesus. If you go back through Zechariah 12, you will see that this fountain being opened is connected to the piercing of the Messiah, the piercing of Jesus on the cross. That's where his blood flowed, and so that's why now there is a fountain opened. That's what baptism is pushing us towards, is pointing us to the blood of Jesus as the fountain that is opened. I wonder if this was what the Apostle John was thinking about as he wrote 1 John 1 verse 7. It's the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses from all sin. Not just the big sins, not just the little sins, but all sin can be brought to the fountain of the blood of Jesus and be cleansed and washed away so that we are cleansed and new before the sight of God. Zechariah writes that this fountain shall be opened in that day. The work of Jesus guarantees that this fountain is open now. It stands ready to receive sinners. And so it's in that light, in that vein, that parents, you are encouraged to bring your children to baptism. Not because of who we are, but because this fountain is open. It's because of who God is. It speaks to the invitation to come and be cleansed. It's open for old sinners. It's open for young sinners. It's open for baby sinners. It's open for any kind of sinner, any kind of uncleanness. Let's not close what God has opened in His tender mercy. Do you know what God honors most this morning? Or what honors God the most this morning? It's when we come confessing our sin, opening up our hearts before God and bringing our hearts to this open fountain that is opened for all sin and uncleanness. That is what honors God the most. Not when we close our hearts, not when we claim that this fountain is closed, And when we pull back the veneer that we've put over our hearts, we see what lives within. It's all ugliness. It's all sin. It's all uncleanness. And we bring it to this fountain, the blood of Jesus. Come then to this fountain this morning, children, parents. It's a never failing fountain. It's one that will never be closed until the day when Christ will return again. It's open now. That's what baptism points us to this morning. That's the picture that God wants you and me to understand. And so he says, come, come to this fountain, come with your children, come with yourself, come one, come all who are full of sin and uncleanness and be cleansed in the blood of Jesus. Hendrick John, I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Ezekiel Henry, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Jamie Allen, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Haley May, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Claire Emmeline, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Jackson Levi, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. As we turn to prayer this morning, just a reminder that Dr. Beeke will pray for all the needs of the flock this evening. And so let's see God's face in prayer now. Almighty God and merciful Father, we thank and praise Thee that Thou hast forgiven us and our children all our sins through the blood of Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and received us through Thy Holy Spirit as members of Thy only begotten Son, and adopted us to be Thy children, and sealed and confirmed the same unto us by holy baptism. We beseech Thee through the same Son of Thy love that Thou wilt be pleased always to govern these baptized children by Thy Holy Spirit, that they may be piously and religiously educated, increase and grow up in the Lord Jesus Christ, that they then may acknowledge thy fatherly goodness and mercy, which thou has shown to them and us and live in all righteousness under our only teacher, King and high priest, Jesus Christ. Manfully fight against and overcome sin the devil and his whole dominion To the end that they may eternally praise and magnify thee and thy son Jesus Christ together with the Holy Ghost the one only true God Lord we thank thee so much for this sacrament that I was that was given this gospel picture of that testifies to us of our sin, of our need to be cleansed, but also testifies to us of the fountain that is open for all uncleanness. And Lord, as we have received this visible picture of the gospel, a picture that is worth eternal life. We thank Thee, Lord, that Thou dost stoop so low to teach us, to remind us, to strengthen our faith, those who are Thine, to strengthen our faith in the blood of Christ, knowing that it will surely cleanse us again and again. But it's a fountain that will never fail. It speaks to those who are outside of Christ to come and to be cleansed and to be washed. Lord, as we turn now from this visible presentation of the Gospel, and we turn now to the audible presentation of the Gospel, where we hear Thy Word expounded and applied, we pray that Thou wilt use Thy Word also to convict sinners, those who are perhaps in church for the first time, or are visiting with us and do not know Christ, or those who have been with us a long time and still do not know Christ, would come to know Him through Thee, the God of redemption, the God of history, the God who works from one generation to another. And Lord, we pray that Thou would work powerfully in our midst this morning, that Thy name would be glorified, that sinners would be saved, that we'd be reminded of our duty as parents to teach the generation that is to come. And Lord, we thank Thee that we could witness the fact that Thou art a God who works from generation to generation in a very unique way this morning, with grandfathers baptizing their their grandbabies, Lord, we thank Thee for this reminder. Thou art a God faithful from one generation to another. So continue that work, Lord, unabated, but help us also to see that it doesn't happen simply by osmosis, but help us to see this morning that it happens by parents and grandparents taking up our duties to teach our children from one generation to another. Encourage us, then, Lord, in that work. Help us to see that it is grounded in the gospel and what Thou has done for us and for Thy people Israel so many thousands of years ago. Let's continue to do generation by generation. We thank Thee, Lord, for those visitors with us who have come from afar. We pray that Thou wilt bless them with us, together with their family. We pray, Lord, that Thou wilt bless us now as we turn to Thy Word. Graciously forgive our sins, receive our worship, cleanse us, we pray, in the blood of Jesus. For it's in His name alone that we do pray. Amen. Our text for this morning, Beloved, is from Psalm 78. We'll pause at verses 1 through 8, consider them within the context of the entire psalm. We'll spend most of our time on verses 1 through 8 in the first two points and consider in broad strokes the rest of the psalm. Together with that, though, we also wish to consider Lord's Day 39, which you can find on page 75 in the back of the Psalter. You may wonder what does Lord's Day 39 in the Fifth Commandment have to do with Psalm 78, and teaching the next generation will see that in a moment. Question 104, what does God require in the Fifth Commandment? that I show all honor, love, and fidelity to my father and mother and all in authority over me and submit myself to their good instruction and correction with due obedience and also patiently bear with their weaknesses and infirmities since it pleases God to govern us by their hand. When we look around us and also within us, We look at the cultural, we look at the political, we look at the social, and even the broader church landscape today. Every parent of young children, every grandparent, asks this question that's at the forefront of their minds. What kind of world will my child grow up in? What kind of world will my grandchildren grow up in? In particular, the attempts to revise and to erase history alarm us. As we look at people going about in our nation, destroying and tearing down monuments and statues, there's an attempt to rewrite, to revise, or entirely to erase history. But as human beings, we have a unique relationship with history. So on the one hand, the attempt to erase history alarms us. Sometimes as Christians, we can live with an idealized view of the past. We look back at the history of America and we say, we want our children to grow up in the America that we knew. And that's a lofty, expectation from history. But what does such a view of history do for us if we're looking back and we're longing for the good old days? It exalts the good parts of history at the expense of the negative parts of history and the lessons that we need to learn. Others look back at history and see only the negative aspects of history and how everything is devolving, is moving into chaos and into disorder. But this view is also fraught with problems because it leaves us living in pessimism and fear for our children. Psalm 78 this morning gives us a balanced perspective of history and what we are to teach our children. History is not ours to create or to revise or to erase. Psalm 78 is clear that history belongs to God. It is His story. Human beings are players in that history, but it is fundamentally God's history. That's what we need to remember this morning as we come to the Word of God as He is teaching us. History is only ours to teach from God's perspective. That's our responsibility under the fifth commandment as we read in question and answer that we read this morning from Lord's Day 39, question and answer 104. We see that in the phrase that we are to submit ourselves to the good instruction and correction of those who are in authority over us. It implies that they are teaching us something. The duty to teach falls under the fifth commandment. The Westminster larger catechism expands on this duty. Question 129, what is required of superiors to ward their inferiors? It is required of superiors to instruct, to counsel, and admonish their inferiors. And so it is God's story that we want to leave for our children. as our legacy, as a legacy that will be there no matter what lies in the future, a legacy that tells us that we have His story, that guides the generation that is coming after us. And so this psalm calls us to focus on the next generation. Even as the fifth commandment presses on us our duty to teach the next generation and for the next generation to submit to our teaching in accordance with the Word of God. And so our theme this morning is this, focusing on the next generation. First of all, we see the resolve to do so. As we read the opening verses of Psalm 78, we immediately see there is a resolve on the part of the psalmist and the part of the parents that comprise the nation of Israel to teach God's history to the next generation. That resolve is rooted in God's command in verse 1. Give ear, O my people. That's God speaking there. Give ear, O my people, to my law. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. What a helpful call that is this morning, isn't it? As we stand before this great task of parenting our children, of teaching them, as the fifth commandment is laying upon us, God calls us to consider the words that come from His mouth. We are not left hopeless and helpless in this great task. but we are to incline our ears. So here's a different perspective for us this morning. Give your ear to my law and your ears to the words of my mouth. It speaks to a whole-eared listening, to bend the ear, as it were, to what God is saying. Immediately here we see this authority structure already here. God is the supreme authority. God is speaking to us as parents what we are to speak to our children. We are to submit to what God is teaching us, and in turn the next generation is to submit to what we are teaching them from the mouth of God. And so it speaks to a whole-eared listening, an obedient listening to the Word of God. His law, that word law here, takes into account the entirety of the revelation of God, the A revelation that has taken place in history, as we will see. Here is God's interpretation of history. Young people, if you go to college, there's many different interpretations of history, isn't there? There's a Marxist reading of history. There's a queer reading of history. There's a black reading of history. There's a white reading of history. There's a colonial reading of history. There's all kinds of different interpretations of history. But here God comes this morning and says, incline your ear to my words. Pay attention to what I'm saying. This is my history. It's not up for interpretation according to the whims of sinful man. This is what I want you to hear, and this is what I want you to teach to the next generation. In verse 5 we read how this hearing becomes teaching. This resolve to teach the next generation as we focus on them, teaching what God is saying to us, is fed by the very command of God to do so. My people give ear to my words. Second, this resolve is rooted in God's wisdom, not just in God's command, but in God's wisdom that He provides for us. Notice what the psalmist says in verses two to three. Here we have that resolve. I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old which we have heard and known and our fathers have told us. It was an oral history that Israel passed on from one generation to another. We have this oral history recorded for us in the word of God. And so it becomes both an oral history and a written history. that God wants us to teach our children. Here's the resolve. I will open my mouth. In parables and dark sayings, that is, in words of wisdom passed down from the previous generation. So what we have here in this resolve is a submission to the teaching that the psalmist already had from the previous So here we see the fifth commandment already being lived out in the life of a psalmist. When we teach our children the Word of God, by the grace of God we are submitting to what we have learned from our fathers in parables, in dark sayings. In the context, these words of wisdom are the ways in which God has dealt with His people, showing His long-suffering, His kindness, His patience, His wrath. There are lessons to be learned from history of how God dealt with rebellious people, the lessons of God's character and works as He continued to persist in patience with the nation of Israel. This is the God of history. This is the God of the present who does the same with us and with our children. I will open my mouth, the psalmist says. Is that your resolve this morning as you brought your children to the Lord? As the Lord beckoned them to come to the baptismal font and you said in response to what God said to you and to your children, I will open my mouth to teach them the wisdom of God, to leave them a legacy of God's truth. You see, one of the challenges we face as sinful human beings is that we know how to open our mouths. We do have that resolve, don't we, when particular issues face us? When our children start going down a wrong path, we are quick to open our mouths. But let me ask you this question. When we open our mouths, is what follows God's wisdom? Or is it our own faulty wisdom? Is it our own foolishness? You see, our resolve to teach, our resolve to open our mouths should not be fed by our own opinions. It should be fed by the wisdom, by the revelation of God and how he has dealt with his people, Israel, how he has dealt with us. We are resolved to open our mouths. It shouldn't be our interpretation of history, but it should be God's. And thirdly, this resolve to teach is rooted in God's works. It is vital that the next generation knows who God is and how God works. In verse four, this resolve is expressed this way. We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and His strength and His wonderful works that He hath done." Here we have the resolve to express that we will not hide from our children what God has done. We will not hide from our children the things worthy of praise that God has done. We will not hide His strength and His ability to save sinners, rebellious ones. We will not hide from them the works of God in the history of redemption. We will reveal to them what God has done in Christ. We will not hide them, but resolve to teach them, to refocus our priorities on God's priorities and the lessons that we learn from His story, to submit ourselves, you see, to God's teaching, and to pray for our children's hearts to be submitted to that same teaching. It's not saying we can't refine and improve on what we've learned from the previous generation. We can, and we ought to do so. But on the whole, what we have received from God is what we are to teach our children. The point is this, God's work of redemption is not to remain hidden from our children and the generation to come after them. But they're to be spoken with boldness, with confidence, with joy, because they focus on who God is and how he works in the hearts and lives of individuals and of nations and of the world. And so this morning, there's no better resolve to have as parents and grandparents than this, to focus on the next generation and to teach them who God is and what he's done. rooted in His command, rooted in His wisdom, rooted in His works. But why? That brings us to the reason for doing so. The first reason is that there is a rising generation that is coming behind us. Children, when you hear the word generation, think of it this way. Maybe you stood on the shores of Lake Michigan or or the Gulf, or the Atlantic Ocean, or whatever ocean that you've stood at, and you see the waves coming, what happens? One wave comes, crashes onto the shore, recedes away, and then another wave, another fresh wave comes. That's like a generation. One generation comes like a wave, it goes away, and another generation comes. Your grandparents will die. They will recede and then the generation of their children comes, your parents, but then they too will die and then you are the next wave. By God's grace, the next generation comes. Another generation of human beings, another generation of impressionable souls, another generation of teachable hearts and minds. Verse 6 underscores that reality. We are to teach these things that the generation to come might know them, the next wave of human beings to learn who God is, even the children which should be born, that generation that we do not yet see. We are to be preparing to teach them who should arise and declare them to their children. What does this underscore for us this morning, beloved? Two realities. The first is that God works along generational lines. That's the great encouragement here. That's clear from Exodus 20 verses 5 and 6 that we read this morning from the law of God. For I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. So God will be displeased with those who take his name in vain to the third and fourth generation. But He will show mercy unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments." Thousands of generations. And so it's vital that we continue to teach the next generation coming after us as parents and grandparents. This is our duty under the fifth commandment. Because there is another wave of humanity coming after us. Another wave of humanity that needs guidance in this world in which we live. And so we don't throw up our hands in dismay. We turn back to the Word of God and we are encouraged. Here is another crop to be sown and watered and harvested. Another generation that God has gifted to us to teach, to instill in them the mighty works of God's grace and redemption. God's revelation is meant to be passed from one generation to another without fail. So God's work is generational. That's our encouragement. That's our hope this morning. That God is pleased to use the faithful teaching of grandparents and parents from one generation to another to instill in our children the hope of the gospel, the works of redemption, the character of God, and the glories of Jesus Christ. And so that's the first reality that it underscores for us, that God works from one generation to another. And so we don't give up. But we continue with renewed resolve because God has called us to this duty. Secondly, the second reality is that if we do not teach the next generation, the world will teach them. It's a powerful reminder of why we need to teach the next generation, to evaluate how we have taught them to this point and what we have taught them. Not simply to say, oh, we have a wonderful heritage of theology. As true as that is, we need to take those truths of theology and bring them to bear on the minds and hearts of our children, the next generation, and the issues that they face in their day, to prepare them for leadership in this generation. Because if we're not teaching them, the world will. And yes, we face great challenges. But those challenges are met by the resources, by the grace of God, isn't it? The family and the church, the family and by extension the Christian education that parents provide for their children and the church are the nurseries of young hearts and minds where they're taught God's story of redemption. Are we teaching that in a balanced way? Are we overly optimistic, looking back to history, longing for the days past? Or are we longing for a fresh work of God in the hearts of our children? Pleading with God to come through the teaching that we give to them and say, Lord, here are the lessons of history. You came and you worked among your people, then come and work among us now. We need a fresh work. We need new manna, we need new food, we need new workings of the Spirit in our children. Not just to replicate the past, but to bring in new life. Neither are we to be too pessimistic and say that all is lost and there's no hope anymore. The world is going into chaos anyway, so we'll just give up. No. No. God works from one generation to another. It's our duty, beloved, our gospel duty to teach our children what God has taught us. The next wave of humanity is coming after us. What legacy will we leave them as we recede from the scene? Will we leave them with the legacy of His story? Will we leave them with a legacy that our children will say, well, my dad never taught me anything. My mom was always afraid to talk about spiritual things. And yes, we can allow for some of these things coming from our past, but let's not use them as excuses. Let's seek fresh grace from God to open our mouths. I will open my mouth. That's how we reach the next generation with the gospel, with the gospel history of God. Then two, there's the reason of providing for the next generation a stabilizing anchor of God's person. We teach because we have another generation of humanity arising behind us, but we do so so that verse seven says they might set their hope in God. There's this Christian symbol of the anchor. symbol of hope. That's the reason why we teach our children so that they might have hope in God. And hope is not something that just might be. No, hope is a certainty in the Christian's vocabulary. So often we use it with uncertainty, don't we? We say, well, I hope so. As if we're not sure of the things that God has done. No, we need to recapture the biblical language of hope. In the midst of a day and age when history is being erased and revised and changed, our hope is an anchor that keeps us, our hope in God. That is the very reason why we teach our children. Everything is pushing in the curriculum of the church, in the curriculum of the home, in the curriculum of the school. It all ought to be pushing towards this one certainty of hope in God in uncertain times. Children, that's why your parents take you to church every Sunday, so you might find your hope in God, salvation in God, certainty in God. That's why you go to catechism class. That's why your elders teach you. That's what we heard when we opened our catechism season. That's why your parents read the Bible with you every day and talk to you about your soul. At least I hope they do. That's why your parents provide Christian education for you. It's for this purpose so that you might find an anchor. a certainty for your soul in who God is, that you might find your identity in Christ. Because when you find your identity in Christ, you have a foundation upon which you can stand and face the realities of life in a fallen world. That is the hope that Scripture teaches. That is the hope that is being held before us this morning, the hope that we are pushing and driving our children towards. if we don't learn who God is and what he does. We stand in danger of being ships without a rudder. Therefore, the writer to the Hebrew says, we ought to take the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we let them slip. We become like that ship that is without an anchor, without a rope tied to the dock, tossed to and fro. We see that in our world, don't we? In our culture. A world that rejects God is like a ship without a rope and a captain without a compass. And so we teach the next generation, we focus on them so that they might set their hope in God, a firm confidence in who God is, a stabilizing anchor. There's also the reason to teach his story to the next generation so that they have an active memory of God's works. Verse 7b warns about the danger of what happens when one generation fails to teach the next. When we violate as parents and grandparents, the fifth commandment in instructing and counseling those under our authority. What happens? spiritual amnesia, we forget who God is. Time and time again, God warned the Israelites as they went into the promised land, don't forget who brought you here. Don't forget who gave you these things. Don't forget who redeemed you from Egypt. Don't forget. That's the message this morning to us, to submit under God's teaching that we ought not to forget who God is and what he's done. We ought to teach our children so that they do not forget, so that they have an active memory of who God is. So they do not forget the works of God in the words of verse 7. So all our teaching and preaching of the gospel is focused on this. To create in our children an active memory of who God is. They can tie the works of God and redemption to their own lives in a personal way. That when they hear of the children of Israel being redeemed from Egypt, they can see the spiritual parallel and say, Lord, I need redemption from my own Egypt of darkness and sin. Redeem me, O God. Why do we need to teach them this? Why do we need to teach them the works of God's redemption in the Old Testament? Why is this psalm important as it lays out for us, in short order, the entire history of Israel? Because the history of redemption in the Old Testament is pushing us towards the completion of the work of redemption and the work of Christ on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. The Old Testament is pointing us to Christ. The New Testament is looking back to Christ. Christ is the pinnacle of history. It is these works of God that activate our memories and those of the generation to come that God desires the salvation of sinners. He delights to save even in the midst of rebellion. Time and again the works of God remind us of God's faithfulness for those who break covenant. See, that's what also happened this morning. God made covenant with us and our children. The history of Israel tells us that they were covenant breakers. The sad reality is that we're not much better than Israel, but it's God's faithfulness that sustains us and our children. This is His story, the history that needs to be repeated so that God in Christ will be the focus of that history. So Christ is not only the culmination, the focal point of that history, but we also look ahead, don't we, to Christ. As He's coming, He's going to write the last page of His history book, as He comes on the clouds of heaven. We point our children to that as well, as the focus of the history that is happening, even as it's being written today. Finally, we teach the next generation so they might have an obedient heart for God's commandments. What good is a certain hope? What good is an active memory if the will has not been renewed to obey the commandments of God? The last part of verse seven. that they might keep His commandments. And so we focus on the next generation so that they might keep the commandments of God. So often our parenting is focused on external obedience. Just do the right actions and you'll be fine. Well, we learn again and again that external obedience might make good children on the outside but leaves them dead on the inside. And so when Scripture speaks in this language that they might keep as commandments, it's focused on internal obedience. Redemptive history is not just taught to fill the mind with knowledge or to praise God for His works, but to transform the hearts and wills of our children under the gracious blessing of the Holy Spirit as He takes what we teach and opens the hearts of our children to receive that teaching and to make them obedient to that teaching in repentance and faith. And so we focus on the next generation, not just coddling them, not just affirming them, and their desires and whims, but calling them to obedience before God and His revelation of who He is and what He has done. And so we see that His story calls for a response of faith and obedience and dependence on the mercy and faithfulness of God. Because if we learn anything from Israel's history, it's that humanity is fickle. The history of Israel is not just the history of Israel back then. It's a picture of humanity in general, even those who are God's covenant people. So here are the reasons to teach them because they are the generation coming after us and it's our duty under the fifth commandment to teach them. It's so that they might set their hope in God. It's so that they might have an active memory that they do not forget the works of God. And it's so that they will obey God. That is the focus. That is the reason for teaching our children. But what do we teach them? We'll get to that in our third point. And so as we focus on the next generation, we've seen the resolve. that we ought to have in teaching the next generation. We see the reasons that God lays out for us in His Word to teach the next generation. Then finally, we see the redemption that we are to teach our children, the works of God. We focus on the next generation. to highlight God's redemption for them, to give them an accurate view of His story. It speaks to the content of what we teach them. In broad strokes, this is what the rest of the psalm does as He takes us, as it were, on tour of Israel's checkered history with God and God's patient and gracious dealings with Israel. And we need to remember that as we look at these verses, it's just a small picture of what God is doing in the big picture of human history. We see God's provision, first of all, in the midst of human rebellion and faithfulness. In verses 9 through 20, we see Ephraim or Israel's challenging God again and again in rebellion. In the wilderness, they turned back from the battle. They broke God's covenant. They tempted God. They spoke against God again and again and again. How did God respond to His people? He parted the sea. He led them with fire and with cloud. He gave them water. He gave them food. He gave them meat. God did not treat them as they deserved. He provided for them again and again. We are not any different than Ephraim. How often haven't we turned our backs in the battle, focusing on the next generation? We become discouraged. We get drawn down by the negativity of the news. We give up. Or we speak against God and we want more and more and more. We become influenced by the consumerism and the materialism of the culture in which we live. So the lessons are pertinent. This is what we must teach the next generation in an age of consumerism and materialism, in an age of complaining. that we are the complainers, that we by nature are ungrateful, that we by nature are unfaithful. But the wonder is that God provides. God does not deal with us as we deserve. That's the lesson from Israel's history. That's the hope that we have that as God dealt with them, we pray that He would also deal with us and not cast us off. Secondly, we see God's patience in the midst of unbelief and rejection of offered salvation. Verses 21 through 39, we see Israel's disobedience and unbelief on display. Their unbelief and rejection of God's salvation was met with the chastisement of God. In their trouble, they turned to God and, listen to this, they remembered that God was their rock and the high God their Redeemer. You see, the function of memory in what we teach our children and how we ourselves function As the covenant people of God, we are to remember that God was their rock. When God afflicts us, when things get hard in our individual lives, in our corporate life as a church, in our life as a nation, when God afflicts us, what do we do? We ought to remember who God is, that He is our rock and our high God, our Redeemer. Forgetfulness of God brings us into hardship, into the chastisement of God. And then remembering God creates a turning point in Israel's history. And though their hearts were not right, though they were not aligned fully with God, what did He do? Being full of compassion, He forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not. Yea, many a time He turned His anger away and did not stir up all His wrath. Verse 38, and then God also remembered His people that they were but flesh. Verse 39, vanity, like a wind that will not return. What a lesson to learn. God does not give up on His people, but shows divine patience in the face of unbelief and blatant rejection. That's the message we need for the age in which we live in a culture that has rejected God by and large, a culture that's encroaching on the church, it's encroaching on our thinking. The temptation is there in young people to reject God, to reject the teaching of your parents. Let me back up for a minute. It's not the teaching of your parents, it's the teaching of God that you're rejecting if you're being tempted to reject what you've learned. God doesn't give up on His people, but He shows patience in the face of unbelief and blatant rejection. God knows our frailty. God knows our fleshliness. So on the one side we have human sin and rebellion and disobedience and rejection of God. Because of the covenant that he made with his people, God continues to pursue them in patience, reveals his character of compassion, long-suffering. Many a time he turned his anger away, did not stir up all his wrath. There's a prayer meeting this week. Here's something we can pray for God to remember his compassion and his mercy, not to stir up all his wrath as we deserve. It's not just about the nation, it's about the church as well. Because it's the church that is the covenant people of God. And thirdly, we see God's plagues. The historical record in this psalm is not chronological, yet it shows how God, again, stands up for his people. Israel had forgotten that God had delivered them from Egypt, so the psalmist reminds them and us of what God had done by sending plagues against the Egyptians. He makes a life and death distinction between the Egyptians and his people in verse 51 and 52. He smote the firstborn in Egypt, but made his own people to go forth like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. God makes that distinction today as well. distinction that should not be lost in our minds or the way in which we live. God makes a difference where there's no difference. It's a difference of grace. He brought Israel to the promised land, fought the battles against their enemies, brought down the walls of Jericho and gave them the milk and honey of Canaan. God had done all this for them. That's a lesson that we need to teach the next generation. This God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Just as he fought the enemies of his people then, he will fight them now. That's our encouragement. When we are tempted to forget that God redeems from Egypt-like bondage, he reminds us again this morning. that He is the Redeemer of God's elect, the Redeemer of His people. He will fight our battles. Yes, we use the means, but we don't rely on those means. We rely on the God of the means, don't we? He's the one who will visit the enemy with perfect justice. But then we see God's punishment. Israel responds poorly to what God had done for them in bringing them out of Egypt and leading them into the Promised Land and fighting their battles. They dealt unfaithfully with God. They take to themselves the idols of Canaan. They provoke God to anger and moved Him to jealousy because of it. In verse 58, God comes against them in anger. He will not always chide. There comes a point where His patience has reached the full mark. The psalmist recounts how the ark was captured by the Philistines, giving his glory into the enemy's hand in verse 61. We heard about that several weeks ago, didn't we? Phinehas's widow proclaimed, Ichabod, the glory has departed. He gave his people to the sword and punished them for their sins. Are we getting what we deserve? That's a question that rises in our minds, doesn't it, as we look around us. Are we getting what our sin deserves? What God's perfect justice demands? For the sins that we've committed as a church, as individuals, as a nation, that we've tolerated for so long. Has God's patience reached, has long-suffering, has it reached the full level? Is God coming to punish us? On one level, that's discouraging. On another level, it ought to bring us to repentance. Because it's the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. And we see that goodness on display again in spite of His punishment. God awakens as a warrior. He comes. He rises up and He fights Israel's battle time and again. God intervenes and brings deliverance. But the point in this lesson is that God will punish unfaithfulness. Throughout this sad history we see a picture of humanity emerging that is not promising. And so our hope this morning should not be in humanity. Our hope on November 3rd should not be in human beings. It should not be in presidents, it should not be in senators, it should not be in representatives, it should not be in local officials. Because we see, we see what humanity can do. What humanity is capable of in turning against God, humanity will not solve our problems. Only God can and will. He punishes sin and He alone is the deliverer, the full and final deliverer. And that is lastly what we see in God's promise, the last lesson of redemption. God promises a deliverer for his people tied to the house of David. He didn't find one in Ephraim. He rejects Ephraim. He chose the tribe of Judah for his purposes of redemption. He chose David. He sets David over his people to lead and feed his people as a shepherd king of Israel. Moses is dead. The judges are dead. Eli is dead. Samuel is dead. Saul is dead. But there's hope in David. Hope for Israel in David. The redemptive history of God ends on this high note, teaching Israel and us this morning to learn from the faithlessness and rebellion of Israel to repent before the Lord with our children. But it also teaches us to hope in God because David is also dead. But there's a greater David, isn't there? A greater David who sits on the throne this morning, who is unfazed by everything that's happening in our world. And he says, teach about me to the generation that is to come. Find stability in me, find faithfulness in me. He's the fulfillment of that covenant that we saw displayed here this morning. Presidents will come and go. Politicians will come and go. Beloved, our great hope is this. Jesus is alive. One chosen from the tribe of David who sits on the throne. You see how he's the focal point of history. They need this next generation. These little ones that you held here this morning, they need to know about the greater David. You and I need to be refocused on him this morning and on God. This is our encouragement. This renews our resolve, our hope. We focus on the next generation. We teach them who God is. And yes, I can say this, we can be optimistic. We can be optimistic. Not because of who we are, but because of who God is and the fact that there's a greater David seated on the throne, and it's Christ. He will have subjects for himself. He will save from the next generation. He's a deliverer for the rebellious and the unbelieving. What will we teach? How will we teach? Beloved, let's focus on the next generation. It might sound like we're excluding the elderly or the middle-aged amongst us. That's not what we're saying. It's the elderly, the grandparents, the middle-aged, the parents who are to focus on the next generation. It's a multi-generational call this morning to submit to the instruction of God from one generation to another. As we submit to that teaching of the gospel, to focus on the next generation and to teach because He will have a seed that will serve Him, as Psalm 22 tells us. That's our great encouragement going into this task of focusing on the next generation. May God help us to give a balanced view of His story so that the next generation might know Him and might hope in Him and might obey Him. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, we thank Thee for Thy Word. We thank Thee for its power, how it transforms minds and hearts and wills. Do so again this morning, Lord, for this great task that is set before us would be a source of encouragement for us, not one that would cause us to despair, that we would see the vital necessity of teaching our children the day and age in which we live. Lord, we thank Thee for Thy story, a story which speaks to us of grace in the midst of human rebellion and rejection. Lord, we confess we're no better than Israel. We need Thy grace once more. And so go before us. Help us, we pray. Help our children and young people also to submit, not simply to the teaching of their parents, not simply to the politics of their parents, but to submit to Thy teaching, to let that change the way they think and the way they act, that if they would challenge these things, they would do so honestly before the Word of God. And at the end of the day, learn to submit their challenges to Thy sovereignty, that we would all do so, Lord. We ask that thou wilt cause our children to be born again, to have this living hope in God, a hope that is unshaken by the circumstances and the events of the world around us, that we too as parents would stand on that hope, knowing that we have none other than thee, the God of our redemption, the greater David who sits on the throne, the one who will lead us and pasture us in thy word. We thank Thee for doing so this morning. Continue to do so this evening as Dr. Beeky preaches for us. We thank Thee, Lord, for restoring him to health. Strengthen him for tonight. Thou will unleash Thy word through him once more that we would see none but Jesus, the great healer of sinful hearts. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.