Send to Kindle

by Robin McKinley

In the message of Psalm 78, the Lord commanded His people to share the truths of the past and the miracles that He performed. He said that is how each generation would come to know the Lord. In the same way we can also reach our next generations for God.

Each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands.  Psalms 78:7

This Psalm begins with O my people, listen to my instructions. Open your ears to what I am saying. He goes on to say that God will teach us hidden lessons from our past. Then look at what the next verse says.

We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders. Psalm 78:4

Each generation needs to pay attention to what God wants them to know. We must listen to His instructions and open our ears to what He is saying. This must happen for two reasons.

The first is obvious. We must have and maintain a relationship with the Lord. That’s done by reading His Word and allowing it to speak to us as we live in obedience to it. The second one has to do with other generations. Verses 5 and 6 tells us:

He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, so the next generation might know them— even the children not yet born— and they in turn will teach their own children.  Psalm 78:5-6

Our mandate is to pass God’s message on to each generation. Are we taking that command seriously? Sometimes I think we give up on passing the truths of the gospel to other generations.

We feel that they don’t care, that they are rebellious, and they refuse to believe in God. In other words we make up their minds for them without ever sharing the gospel with them. 

Move a Generation to Set It’s Hope Anew 

The Psalmist listed things that the people were guilty of. Things like: “they rebelled against the Lord”, “they did their own thing”, “they refused to trust him”, along with other downfalls.

But God never gave up on them. It said in verse 38, He was merciful and forgave their sins and did not destroy them.  

He went on to say this in verse 71. He took David from tending the ewes and lambs and made him the shepherd of Jacob’s descendants—God’s own people.

Now, what does that have to do with us? That is a good question and here’s the answer. Jesus is our Savior and he was born in the linage of David.

• David was a shepherd, Jesus is our Good Shepherd.  
• David was a man after God’s own heart, Jesus is the heart of God. 

• David was the king of Israel, Jesus is the King of kings.

When you accept Jesus into your life then you become a child of the Lord. These are the things we are being told to pass on to the next generations. When each generation sets its hope anew on God, then listen to what the next verse says.

Then they will not be like their ancestors—stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful, refusing to give their hearts to God. Psalm 78:8

That sounds like it is worth reaching the next generation or for that matter any generation.

Lord, help us to obey your commands and never forget your miracles. Continue to remind us of the importance and urgency of passing your truths on to other generations. 

About the Author: 

Robin, with his wife Cindy, became children’s evangelists early in their ministry. They ministered to children full time for 8 years. During that time they developed several children’s stories which were told with visuals and puppets.

Robin recently turned two of those stories into children’s books. One is called “The Contest,” a book about the Fruit of the Spirit, and the other is called “Twas the Night of Christmas”.  He has also authored 5 volumes of devotional books called, 3 Minutes Alone with God. Each entry is a product of his personal biblical Journaling.

These and his other writings are available on his website called Christian Perspectives at www.ramckinley.com. When you visit this site, you can sign-up for newly written devotions as they come out which will be emailed to you.

Presently Robin is the pastor of Calvary Christian Center in Pottstown, PA. He is an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God. He and his wife make their home in Birdsboro, Pa. He also serves as the president of the local ministerium. He and Cindy have two married sons and four grandchildren.