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Influencing Generations
Influencing Generations
I do not need to tell you about all that is going on in the world today. Why is all this happening?
The easy answer is sin
The deeper answer is poor influence for generations. Generation after generation have steered farther from God’s truth and love. I am not sure we can stop the wheel in motion, but we can influence those whom are in our circles of influence. Where we live, work, or play.
Pay attention, my people, to my instruction!
Listen to the words I speak!
Asaph is making a statement and one that is not to be missed. “Pay Attention.” “Listen.” We do this today when we instruct our children or others in matters of importance. The word listen, also rendered “incline” means to stretch your listening.
I will sing a song that imparts wisdom;
I will make insightful observations about the past.
Listen! Asaph says, he has wisdom to offer and insightful observations about the past.
Wisdom shouts in the street,
She lifts her voice in the square;
At the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings:
“How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded?
And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing
And fools hate knowledge?
God’s wisdom is always shouting in our lives. Yet, we often choose our own way and then regret our decisions or ask for help when our way does not work out.
Read Psalm 78 this week and you will see how Asaph made insightful observations about the past. How Israel constantly ignored and forgot all that God had done for them. Look at what Asaph says further down in
Yet he is compassionate.
He forgives sin and does not destroy.
He often holds back his anger,
and does not stir up his fury.
He remembered that they were made of flesh,
and were like a wind that blows past and does not return.
How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness,
and insulted him in the desert!
He is compassionate and forgives sins. He is the same God today. His message has never changed. It us who have turned away from God, who have forgotten our past and all the amazing things He has done.
You have all heard the saying, “Those who do not learn from their past, are doomed to repeat it.”
This saying is about learning from our mistakes. However, it lacks some truth. If no one is teaching future generations about the past, they are just repeating the same mistakes past generations have made, without knowing they have been made. Additionally, if we are not influencing future generations about the truth, then we are not living how God has called us to live.
Asaph is singing about this very thing. Look at verse 3 and 4.
What we have heard and learned—
that which our ancestors have told us—
we will not hide from their descendants.
We will tell the next generation
about the Lord’s praiseworthy acts,
about his strength and the amazing things he has done.
They will not hide the truth about God, about His amazing acts. Consider Paul’s words in his letter to the church in Rome.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing to be wise, they became fools,
and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
Since the creation of the world. From the beginning His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen. Notice the word “clearly.” In the Greek, it is derived from a word meaning “become visible.” God’s works have been seen, clearly. “There is no excuse.
In verse 5, Asaph notes three things God has done.
He established a rule in Jacob;
he set up a law in Israel.
He commanded our ancestors
to make his deeds known to their descendants,
These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up. You should tie them as a reminder on your forearm and fasten them as symbols on your forehead. Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and gates.
I do not need to say much more than what God has already spoken. You are to teach them to your descendants. Verses 6 & 7, point to the reasoning.
so that the next generation, children yet to be born,
might know about them.
They will grow up and tell their descendants about them.
Then they will place their confidence in God.
They will not forget the works of God,
and they will obey his commands.
In his commentary, Derek Kidner notes the “threefold cord of faith.”
They will place their confidence in God
Personal Trust
They will not forget the works of God
Informed humble thinking
They will obey His commands
An obedient will
Kidner also notes, “Scripture has no room for parental neutrality.”
If you are a parent you are commanded to teach and guide your children to the truth of God, of what He has done for them. How He sent His Son to die for them. How He created the world. How He gave us commands to follow. Like loving Him and one another.
One of the greatest faults of the modern church today is that people believe it is the churches responsibility to teach their children Scripture and to spiritually feed them. It is a partnership, but the parent is the sole responsible party for their child’s spiritual upbringing. One hour a week is not going to raise spiritually mature children unless parents are modeling it in the home and teaching them about God and His amazing works.
Train a child in the way that he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.
The way he should go is in the way of the Lord. Following His commands.
If we teach our children, then they will teach the next generation. What we are seeing today is the result of generations upon generations not following in the way of the Lord.
Then they will not be like their ancestors,
who were a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation that was not committed
and faithful to God.
There is hope. Start now. Begin building habits now that teach your children about the amazing works of God. What He has done, what He is doing, and what He will do. Faith in Him is the most important thing your children and their children can have. This is done through your time with them. Living out the example in and out of your homes.
As I close, I want to share a story of Noah and Shem, the great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, grandfathers of Abram.
Noah had the privilege of being alive when Abram was born , he was about 890 years old. Shem, the son of Noah, was also alive and was 388 years old. Noah died when Abram was about 60 years old.
Shem was alive when Abram received the covenant of circumcision, the birth of Ishmael and Isaac, Isaac marrying Rebekah, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the death of Sarai and Abraham, and the birth of Jacob and Esau. Shem died when Jacob and Esau were about 15 years old.
Why is this important?
Noah had 350 years of influence into the following generations, telling them about all the great works of God. Shem, had the opportunity to influence 12 generations over the course of 600 years.
When Abraham was born, Shem was about 390 years old. That would be like someone born in 1630 still living today, but teaching and sharing about all that has happened in their life and what is actually important. Obviously, they had the wonderful blessing of living a long time back then. Perhaps they did not write things down and needed to live to share all that God had been doing and pass on the truth of faith in the Creator of the world?
The next generation after Shem was Jacob’s family, which included Joseph. So, the amazing works of God were carried on. Once Joseph died, the stories must have been kept, because it would not be for almost 300-400 years until Moses would be born, then at least 80-120 years when he wrote the Torah, the first 5 books of the Bible.
You will learn from Pastor Scott that Abraham came from a very pagan culture and without the truth of who God is and the amazing works He has done, he may have been lost as many had been before him. Was it the influence of Noah or Shem? We do not know for 100% certainty. But, if nothing else, remember the words of Asaph in Psalm 78 and teach your children the wonderful deeds of God and how He sacrificed His only Son so that you may have life eternal.
Now is the time to grow in your walk with Christ. Spend time with Him, read His Word, get involved by serving and helping others, give back generously to Him. You can do this, you build a relationship by spending time loving Him and getting to know Him and by loving others. Stop making excuses not to share about the wonderful God we serve. Do not ever think you are not good enough to share His Word and truth. If you have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, share! Share with your family what God has done in your life, share who He is, share to influence future generations.
Paul said to the church in Rome.,
For I will not dare to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in order to bring about the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed,
Paul shared what how Christ used Him and it has influenced millions. In closing, if you teach your children,
Then they will place their confidence in God.
They will not forget the works of God,
and they will obey his commands.
Pray.