Psalm 78:8

Psalm 78:8

A stubborn and rebellious generation

Well, this is quite a turn-up isn’t it. The writer is effectively saying that if we relate to our children, the stories of God’s dealings in our lives, they will believe us and will not be like their predecessors who did not believe. And why not? Children generally believe everything their parents tell them, of course they question us as they get older and start to make their own decisions, but most children inherit a great deal of knowledge and commons sense from mum and dad. Thus, the endless accounts of the workings of God in our lives is a wonderful heritage to pass on. Please don’t tell me that you have no such accounts to relate? Surely, our lives of faith and trust are full of accounts of answered prayer and divine intervention, or have we never bothered to pray and seek God’s will to be done in the first place?

The converse to raising children of faith is to produce offspring that are stubborn and rebellious, who have no loyalty to the Lord God and whose spirits are not faithful to Him. (Not my words, they come from Asaph!) It’s not my place to judge these things but there are clear indications of what has gone on in Christian families when you look at the lives of the children. In general, the Psalm is suggesting that, where prayer and faith and storytelling abound, the children will follow in their parents’ footsteps. Where the faith journey of parents is lacking or non-existent, the children lack faith too. Food for thought!

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