PARENTS, WAKE UP!

THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT SPIRITUALLY LEADING YOUR FAMILY

Psalm 78:9-11

The Ephraimites, armed with the bow,

turned back on the day of battle.

They did not keep God's covenant,

but refused to walk according to his law.

They forgot his works

and the wonders that he had shown them.

How can this be?! Israel had watched God perform miracles, defeat enemies, provide in miraculous ways, and yet they ignored their God. The evidence for the answer comes as a clear testimony from God, Himself: they ‘refused’ to obey His law and they ‘forgot’ His works for them!

The psalmist began this psalm by commanding the fathers to teach and transmit to the children the truth about their God. This instruction cannot be done one time for all, but needs to be repeated consistently within the family. We tend to forget easily. God knows this, and commands us to remember and remind others continually.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

       

The command was very clear. The children of Israel needed to love their God completely and love His words. As they submitted in heart and action to this command, they needed to do all that was necessary to teach their children His words and lead their families in attitudes of love and submission to their God.

Dear fathers and mothers, is this a priority in your lives? Have you taken personal responsibility to teach and guide your families in these vital areas? Obviously, you cannot teach what you have not learned, and you cannot model attitudes that your behavior does not show!

So many parents believe that their major responsibility is to provide financially for their children. The Lord does command them to provide for the family, but that provision was for their needs, not necessarily their desires for particular wants. Parents today are, many times, overwhelmed by working to provide for their children far beyond their necessities. Much effort is placed in providing extracurricular activities like music and sports, for example. They are certainly good and useful, but are they crowding out the even more valuable aspect of life, the eternal matters?

At this point, it is necessary to stop and assess our own lives.

1 – Are we taking the time to grow spiritually so that we can instruct our children in the things of God?

This is not a job that we should relegate to a youth pastor or a Christian school. Although we are grateful for these provisions, it remains our responsibility. We must take time to grow, for we can only teach what we learn and live. It must be fresh, the result of an ongoing personal growth.

2 – Are we living a life that is an example for our family? The use of our time speaks loudly about what is important to us! Our attitudes expose what is really in our hearts. Our priorities preach what we love.

As parents, we learn on the job! It is important to find others who have done a good job in caring spiritually for their children and ask them to give us advice. And God’s Word is full of His principles for teaching our children His ways!

3 – Is there a need to change? True change can only come through the help of the Lord. We must repent and truly ask God to reset our ways and priorities.

Changes in our families’ dynamics might not be received well at first; we must take the time to explain why we are making the changes and confess our shortcomings to those involved. We need to understand that our neglect has had consequences; but we must trust God to help us.

Overall, the psalmist reminds us that God was faithful to His people. Yes, He expected their obedience, but He always showed grace to them when they repented and turned to Him for help.

We are so blessed by the fact that God has given us His Word. Reading this psalm is a powerful and loving reminder to all of us.

God is the One who changes lives. We cannot change hearts; but what we can do is be obedient, ask for God’s help continually, and trust Him for the results! Men, you must remember that you are the ones to whom God has given the responsibility to lead in this way! We certainly don’t want our families to forget God!

LEARN FROM PAST MISTAKES!

TEACH OTHERS ABOUT THE GRACE OF GOD

READ PSALM 78

Psalm 78:1-4

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;

incline your ears to the words of my mouth!

I will open my mouth in a parable;

I will utter dark sayings from of old,

things that we have heard and known,

that our fathers have told us.

We will not hide them from their children,

but tell to the coming generation

the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,

and the wonders that he has done.

The author, under the inspiration of God, is commanding the children of Israel to be careful to listen and learn from his teaching. His story will be based on the history of Israel and their necessary response is to learn from the mistakes of the past.

Not only it is necessary for the people to listen and learn, but also to teach these lessons to their children, to then be passed on to the future generations.

At the center of the whole teaching is the kind providence of God in doing great works for Israel and graciously forgiving them.

We, too, should ask ourselves if we are learning from our past mistakes so that we will not fall again. When one does not recognize his mistakes, the tendency will always be to feel more like a victim than a person to whom God has shown grace. We should always be alarmed when we begin to feel like victims, for God is always gracious to His own; we have no cause for complaint or dejection.

Psalm 78:5-8

He established a testimony in Jacob

and appointed a law in Israel,

which he commanded our fathers

to teach to their children,

that the next generation might know them,

the children yet unborn,

and arise and tell them to their children,

so that they should set their hope in God

and not forget the works of God,

but keep his commandments;

and that they should not be like their fathers,

a stubborn and rebellious generation,

a generation whose heart was not steadfast,

whose spirit was not faithful to God.

The concern was that the rebellion and sin of the fathers would not be repeated by their children. Parents have always had the responsibility to teach their children about God and model for them true submission and worship. The responsibility of the children was to set their hope in God, remember His works, and keep His commandments.

God had commanded their obedience through Moses.

Deuteronomy 4:1-2

“And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you.

        

The instructions were clear to not deviate in any way from the commands they had received, and to teach their children to do the same.

        

Deuteronomy 4:9

“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children.

Dear friends, are we so distracted by our daily lives or, worse, blinded by our sin, that we are neglecting our responsibilities to set our hope, worship, and obedience on God and to teach our families to do the same?

This is not a small task nor easy, but it is our responsibility. Is it time to stop and evaluate our lives and ask ourselves what we are teaching, not only with our words, but also by our behavior.

Dear friends, is our God worthy of our trust? Is He worthy of our worship? Is he worthy of our obedience? The warning we have here must include the thought that it is possible to lose sight of God and neglect our responsibility to our descendants.

There is no better use of our time than investing it in our children and grandchildren. Even if we have none, we can find others to encourage toward awareness of the grace of God.

What a privilege we have, to worship the only true God and invite others to do the same!

DEPRESSION DOES NOT SCARE GOD! THERE IS A WAY OUT

WHAT SHOULD WE DO WHEN WE ARE FEELING HOPELESS?

Psalm 77:1-3

I cry aloud to God,

aloud to God, and he will hear me.

In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;

in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;

my soul refuses to be comforted.

When I remember God, I moan;

when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah

Are you discouraged? Does everything look bleak? Are you wondering if you are becoming depressed? Are there situations in your life that seem hopeless? Do you feel like you cannot shake the sadness in your heart?

The writer of this psalm is surely overwhelmed by his troubles. God is inspiring him to write these words for our benefit, and we can learn from them how to deal with our own ‘days of trouble’. They can also help us not to be superficial when dealing with those who are struggling to find peace in their spirits.

The writer has come to the place where thinking of God causes pain. When he stops to think about God, his fainting spirit becomes even more discouraged

Psalm 77:4-6

You hold my eyelids open;

I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

I consider the days of old,

the years long ago.

I said, “Let me remember my song in the night;

let me meditate in my heart.”

Then my spirit made a diligent search:

Can a person become so discouraged that he loses the desire to live? The writer cannot sleep; he has lost his desire to talk. He tries to remember his joyful times with God and to meditate in his heart. He wonders about what God is doing. God allowed these verses to be in Scripture so that we would be aware that this can happen to us, too.

Psalm 77:7-9

“Will the Lord spurn forever,

and never again be favorable?

Has his steadfast love forever ceased?

Are his promises at an end for all time?

Has God forgotten to be gracious?

Has he angrily shut up his compassion?” Selah

Has God changed? Is He going to be angry forever? Is His love truly steadfast? Could His love change or be directed to someone else? Has His grace ended? Will God ever change in His disposition towards me? These thoughts can be entertained even by those who know God.

At this point the writer must make a choice about what is going to rule his thinking. He can make his situation and plight his own focal point, or he can think about who God is. He must choose to either retreat into himself, or to push himself to the direction of his God.

Psalm 77:10

Then I said, “I will appeal to this,

to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”

He chooses to hold on to his God, the Most High. By using that description, he is reminded of God’s power, His character, His position. There is no one like Him. Although his personal situation has not changed, and he still sees no light at the end of his tunnel, he concentrates on what he knows about his God. This is where we must direct our thoughts, if this is the way we feel and this is how we can help those who are depressed.

Psalm 77:11-15

I will remember the deeds of the LORD;

yes, I will remember your wonders of old.

I will ponder all your work,

and meditate on your mighty deeds.

Your way, O God, is holy.

What god is great like our God?

You are the God who works wonders;

you have made known your might among the peoples.

You with your arm redeemed your people,

the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

The writer chooses to think about what the Lord has done and Who He is. He stops thinking about himself and concentrates instead upon what he has seen to be true about God.

He remembers what the Creator and sustainer of the universe has done for him in the past, for He has watched Him do mighty deeds. He meditates on God’s holiness. He is like no one else. He has revealed Himself to His people and redeemed them.

When we find ourselves slipping into depression, we must not lose sight of God’s character and His care for us in the past. We cannot forget that He chose us, He reached down to us and has redeemed us at a great price. His love has never been something we attracted or deserved, but in His wonderful grace, He chose to love us. God continues to be as powerful as He has ever been.

Psalm 77:16-20

When the waters saw you, O God,

when the waters saw you, they were afraid;

indeed, the deep trembled.

The clouds poured out water;

the skies gave forth thunder;

your arrows flashed on every side.

The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;

your lightnings lighted up the world;

the earth trembled and shook.

Your way was through the sea,

your path through the great waters;

yet your footprints were unseen.

You led your people like a flock

by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

God has proven His power to lead the children of Israel through desperate situations He cared for them as a shepherd tends his flock. Yes, the situation is hard. Yes, there is no end in sight. Things might continue to be overwhelming for a long time, but the author will not allow his present trouble to darken what he knows to be true about his God.

Dear friends, through this psalm, God is inviting all of us to keep our thought life under control during difficult times. We must continue to saturate our minds with what we know is true about God.

May God teach us to be patient with those who are struggling in their difficulties, even when they are tempted to question God’s love and care. We must, like the psalmist, gently remind them of God’s character, His power, and His provision.