Kids Need a Christ-Centered Example to Follow More Than They Need Stuff to Show Off

Series Title: What Our Kids Need More Than New Shoes

Lesson 1: Kids need a Christ-centered example to follow more than they need stuff to show off. Lesson 2: Kids need the unshakable truth of God’s Word in their hearts more than they need the shifting trends of the world. Lesson 3: Kids need a God-glorifying mission to live for more than they need the safe, small life our culture sells them.

Text: Psalm 78:1–11

Opening Illustration – Do you remember the first shoe you wanted?

Last week when I introduced this title I could not tell if any of you related to this. When I sat down, Selah said, “Dad shoes aren’t hard to buy. You just go and get them.”

JUST SAVE IT!

Voit, the maker of professional athletic equipment for over 68 years, believes that outfitting your feet shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg. With the dollars you save on your shoes you could buy an extra pair, a Voit gym bag, Voit sweats and still have money left over.

Psalm 78 opens with this message — the most important thing you pass down isn’t “the newest shoes” but an example of godly living.

Background on Psalm 78:1–11

Author and Purpose

1. Who was Asaph and why his voice matters

Asaph wasn’t just a choir leader—he was one of King David’s chief worship leaders (1 Chron 6:39; 15:17–19), and was entrusted with leading the nation in public praise and spiritual instruction.

In the ancient Near Eastern world, music wasn’t entertainment—it was theology set to melody. A worship leader was shaping the nation’s memory and faith.

2. Why Psalm 78 is more than a song

A maskil meant it was instructional—designed to shape thinking and behavior. The form blends worship with warning.

This psalm is the second-longest in the Bible, covering roughly 500 years of Israel’s history—from the Exodus to the reign of David—through the lens of God’s faithfulness and Israel’s forgetfulness.

Asaph’s aim: to make sure God’s mighty acts didn’t fade from memory, because in Israel’s history, forgetting God was the first step toward forsaking God.

3. The generational setting

Israel was a tribal society. The faith was transmitted at home first, then reinforced in community worship. Deuteronomy 6:6–9 wasn’t a slogan—it was a survival strategy for a covenant people surrounded by pagan nations.

This psalm may have been composed or compiled during a national season of repentance or reflection—possibly after military defeat—when the need to “break the cycle” was urgent.

The ancient “cycle” they kept repeating This psalm intentionally reminds hearers of Israel’s tragic pattern:

God blesses His people.

They forget His works.

They rebel.

God disciplines them.

They cry out to Him.

He delivers them.

They forget again.

Key Theme for tonight’s Lesson

Verses 1–11 focus on the responsibility of one generation to model and teach faithfulness to the next — not just through words, but through living examples.

Overview

A godly example begins with hearing from God (vv. 1–3)

A godly example leads with obedience to God (vv. 4–8)

A godly example warns by learning from failure (vv. 9–11)

1. A Godly Example Begins with Hearing from God (vv. 1–3)

Psalm 78:1–3 “1 Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: 3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.”

A. If you’re not hearing God’s voice, you’re just sharing your opinion

Without His Word, you’re passing on preference, not truth.

God calls His people to listen — “Give ear” is a command, not a suggestion.

Our kids are hearing countless voices — friends, social media, celebrities — but the one voice they need most is God’s.

Without God’s Word as the source, we’re just passing along personal preference, not divine truth.

B. Leaders are listeners first.

You can’t model what you haven’t received, and you can’t pass on what isn’t in your heart.

“Incline your ears” — listening takes intentional effort; it’s leaning in, not tuning out.

Leaders are listeners first — if we don’t spend time hearing from God, our example will be hollow.

Deuteronomy 6:6 — God’s commands must be “in your heart” before you can pass them to your children. Deuteronomy 6:6 “6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:”

C. Each generation has the responsibility to hand off the truth of God.

If we don’t pass it on, the next generation pays the price.

“Our fathers have told us” — look at what they told them.

South Africa they have a ceremony of sharing info from one generation to the next. We arent passing urban legends or secret handshakes.

Timothy’s example in faith came from his grandmother Lois and mother Eunice (2 Timothy 1:5).

If the chain breaks because one generation fails to listen, the next will have nothing to inherit.

Transition: But listening is only the first step. A godly example is proven in obedience.

2. A Godly Example Leads with Obedience to God (vv. 4–8)

Psalm 78:4–8 “4 We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. 5 For he 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: 6 That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: 7 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: 8 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 stedfast with God.”

A. Our kids hear our lives louder than our lips.

What you skip for, sacrifice for, and celebrate tells them who your real God is.

“We will not hide them” — what we truly value will be obvious to our kids.

Our lives preach a sermon every day — either God is worthy of our obedience, or something else is.

B. Hope in God is caught before it’s taught.

When they see you pray before you plan and obey before you understand, it rewires where they place their trust.

Verse 7 — The goal is that “they might set their hope in God.”

Hope isn’t taught well by words alone; it’s taught by watching someone trust God when life is uncertain.

When kids see us pray before we plan, give before we get, and obey before we understand, it shapes where they place their hope.

C. Obedience breaks the family cycle of rebellion.

Every act of obedience builds a fence that keeps the next generation from walking the same destructive road.

Verse 8 — warning against becoming “a stubborn and rebellious generation.”

Example from Judges — After Joshua died, “another generation arose who did not know the Lord” (Judges 2:10). They did what was right in their own eyes, and it led to moral chaos.

Obedience is how they break the cycle.

God blesses His people.

They forget His works.

They disobey.

They fall into trouble.

Transition: But the psalm also reminds us that a godly example doesn’t just model success — it learns from past failures.

3. A Godly Example Warns by Learning from Failure (vv. 9–11)

Psalm 78:9–11 “9 The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. 10 They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law; 11 And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them.”

Ephraim was a tribe known for strength. Their warriors carried polished bows, their quivers full, their skills unmatched. When the call to battle came, all eyes turned to them—they were the leaders, the ones people expected to stand firm. But when the clash began, they turned and fled.

It wasn’t fear of arrows or swords that drove them back; it was a heart far from God. Long before the battle, they had broken His covenant, refusing to walk in His law. The God who had split the sea, fed their fathers with bread from heaven, and led them by a pillar of fire had been pushed to the back of their memory. They forgot His wonders—and in forgetting, they lost the courage that faith brings.

The prophets would later echo this tragedy: “The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD” (Proverbs 21:31). Without covenant loyalty, no amount of training or armor could save them. Like the generation warned in Deuteronomy 8 not to forget the Lord after blessing, Ephraim had let comfort and self-reliance dull their trust. And as Hosea would one day lament, “Ephraim is like a silly dove without sense,” chasing after alliances instead of returning to God.

Their retreat became more than a moment in war—it was a living parable. God’s people may have every outward resource, but without a heart anchored in His Word and His works, they will turn back in the day of testing.

A. Failure only helps you if you face it and remember it.

Ephraim had the gear but no grit—because they had faith in their bows, not their God.

The tribe of Ephraim had the weapons, but they retreated — courage failed because faith was absent.

Many scholars think this refers to a battle against the Philistines where they fled rather than trust God.

We need to tell the next generation where we’ve failed so they can see the cost of forgetting God.

B. Forget God and you forfeit the win.

They didn’t lose because the enemy was stronger; they lost because their hearts were somewhere else.

Verse 10 — “They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law.”

This wasn’t about losing military skill; it was about losing spiritual focus.

Jeremiah 2:13 — Forsaking the fountain of living waters to dig broken cisterns that hold no water.

C. Remembering God’s past faithfulness fuels courage for today.

Forget His works, and you’ll fold when the pressure comes.

Verse 11 — “They forgot his works, and his wonders that he had showed them.”

Israel forgot the Red Sea, the manna, the victories — and it eroded their courage.

Remembering God’s past faithfulness fuels future faithfulness.

Gospel Connection

We can’t model Christ without Christ in us (Galatians 2:20). Galatians 2:20 “20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

Jesus is the perfect model: He listened to the Father (John 8:28), obeyed fully (Philippians 2:8), and learned through suffering (Hebrews 5:8).

We don’t just point kids to our example — we point them through us to Him.