Psalm 78: Teach Your Children to Trust in God

Introduction

This Sunday evening, the ADI evangelical church in Messina, Italy, opens a new Sunday school year. The pastor, who has the flu, insisted on being there anyway. For him, Sunday school is "the foundation of the life of the Church": it is where the spiritual life and character of children are shaped, the future dads and moms, church members and perhaps servants called to ministry.

He makes it clear from the start: the whole Church is involved. "The children are watching us." They do not only watch the teacher or the pastor, they see everything that happens in the Church, right down to the oldest brothers and sisters. And the generation growing up today lives in an especially difficult time, when the attractions of the world and the schemes of the enemy have become so subtle that a parent has trouble discerning what is taking shape in the mind and heart of their child.

The chosen text is Psalm 78, verses 1 to 7. The key verse is the seventh: passing on God's deeds to the children "that they might set their hope in God" (verse 7). This, says the preacher, is the goal of all teaching.

Outline of the Message

1. A Law Given to the Fathers

The psalm opens with a call from God: "Hear my law, my people. Turn your ears to the words of my mouth." The preacher hears God himself speaking to the Church, just as he spoke to Israel thousands of years ago.
God established a testimony in Jacob and set a law in Israel. That law commanded the fathers to make known to their children the praises of the Lord, his power and his wonders, so that the children yet to be born would in turn tell them to their own children.
This duty is still ours, and it is also an honor: making known to new generations God's faithfulness, his love and his eternal plan of redemption and salvation.
The Church's mandate is not limited to preaching the gospel to every creature. Jesus also says: teach them to observe all that I have commanded you.

2. The Goal: That They Put Their Trust in God

The version the preacher read speaks of setting their hope in God; another version translates it: "that they might put their trust in God." This is the goal of Sunday school, and it is also the goal of every parent's and every family's work.
"You can know many Bible stories without ever having learned to trust in the Lord." The goal is not to hand on information, or to have children recite the lesson or the memory verse, but for children to come to know the Lord personally.
You can grow up in a family of believers, but each person must personally choose to follow Christ.
So the year begins with gratitude, but also with great responsibility. Before the Church are hearts like fields in which to sow the Word, and children and young people who have grown up in the community without yet having a personal experience with the Lord.
The pastor's prayer: "Lord, make this seed sprout in every heart that receives it."

3. A Testimony to Pass On

What the Church passes on is not empty baggage or personal opinions. It is about presenting the God who created heaven and earth, and Jesus, his Son, the Savior of the world and the redeemer of our souls.
Every Bible story should help the child get to know the Lord. David's life shows the trust he had in the living God: "Like David, me too; like David, you too."
The story of the calming of the storm reveals Jesus' authority and divinity: one word is enough, and the elements obey him. "Why not entrust my life to the one who speaks with authority?" Why listen to other philosophies that have no history and no future behind them?
The question that should accompany every lesson: what will they learn about the Lord today? That he is faithful, that he hears prayer, that no one is pushed away, set aside or mocked, that Jesus died and rose again to save us.
Children listen to our words, but they also watch our behavior. When they see us pray sincerely in hardship, ask forgiveness and forgive, they understand that the Word applies to them too. "Our life gives a concrete face to the truths we teach."
To parents he says: tell your children how the Lord has sustained you, saved you, provided for you. Many have found themselves with their backs against the wall, not knowing how to pay for bread, clothes or school fees, then prayed, and the Lord opened doors.
A simple sentence can teach a great deal: "This situation worries us, but let's bring it before the Lord." That is how you teach a child to trust in God. Reciting Psalm 23 by heart is of little use if you do not learn to trust in your shepherd.

4. A Responsibility to Share

Someone announced the Word to us; in turn, we are called to pass it on. The pastor thanks the teachers who study, pray, prepare and give their time to the children.
But the spiritual care of children must continue at home. In Sunday school, the child hears a lesson on forgiveness; in the family, he learns how forgiveness is actually practiced. At church, he learns the importance of prayer; at home, he discovers that prayer is part of daily life.
"The lesson continues in our words, but also in our choices, and sometimes in our reactions." He invites parents to ask: "What touched you today?" and to look together for how to put it into practice.
Many parents will weep tomorrow if they do not give their time to their children today. "We have opened doors and windows to the whole world, but there is no room left for the Word of God." We need to repent and turn back.
To the teachers: behind a child's distraction there may be a worry. Before judging, ask yourself how they live and what is going on in their family. Behind a question, there is a heart trying to understand. And if you do not have the answer, do not invent one: "I'll find out," or "We'll pray together and the Lord will enlighten us."
The whole community is involved. These are not separate departments: children must find in the Church a welcome, good examples, and people who pray for them and receive them with love.

5. A Goal to Keep in Sight: The Lesson of King Joash

The goal is not to know the list of the books of the Bible by heart or to be able to repeat every story. It is that children remember God's deeds, keep his commandments and learn to depend on him personally, without being pushed by their parents or showing up out of mere fear of their family.
"Tomorrow the parent will no longer be there, but this child will go on, because he will have learned to put his trust in God."
The preacher recalls the story of King Joash (2 Chronicles 24). Joash did what was right all the days of the priest Jehoiada, his adviser and teacher. The spiritual life of the kingdom was running, and sacrifices were offered to the Lord.
After Jehoiada's death, Joash listened to other advisers, abandoned the Lord and even had Zechariah killed, the son of the man who had taught and protected him. He had received precious teaching and examples, but his conduct had not become a persevering faithfulness toward God.
When the teacher, the pastor or the parent disappears, you see whether the child has become a true disciple. A child may behave well out of respect for his teacher, a teenager may avoid certain choices so as not to displease his parents. The Church's desire is that the Word take root in the heart, so that they choose what is good out of love for the Lord.
A person who is born again and filled with the Holy Spirit no longer serves the Lord to please their father or their teacher. The day those people are no longer there, they will in turn become a teacher who helps others trust in God.
"If we attach people to ourselves, we are deceiving ourselves. We produce idolaters who put their trust in man."

6. Teenagers Facing Other Voices

The pastor thinks especially of teenagers. They are searching for their identity, want to be accepted, and feel strongly the judgment of others and the need to be like them.
Around them, many voices offer values far from the Word. Some find themselves in conflict with themselves: on one side the biblical teaching, on the other the ideas of their peers.
Through friendships, social media and models of success, they constantly receive the same message: what matters is looking good, being approved, doing what everyone else does.
"When a personal experience with Jesus is missing, what the world says can seem more convincing than what they heard at church or at home."
But a young person who has had an experience with the Lord will become a pillar. He will have a backbone and the words to answer his friends. Let us pray that they come to know Jesus as Savior and follow his Word even when it means going against the current.

7. A Prayer That Continues in Every Home

This prayer must not stay in the place of worship. It must continue in every family, in the lives of the teachers, and in the pastor's own life: "Lord, make them put their trust in you."
Concretely: that they would trust in him, depend on him, believe in him with all their heart, and that they would no longer be only children of believers but become children of God.
It will be lovely to hear them learn verses and sing. But the prayer is that all of this bears fruit: that they learn to pray, to ask forgiveness, to love the truth and to follow Jesus for themselves. The Church keeps sowing faithfully and entrusts to the Lord what only he can accomplish in hearts.
The call is also for anyone who knows the teachings of the faith without having entrusted their life to Christ: Jesus died for our sins and rose again. Go to him, repent and choose to follow him with all your heart.
In the closing prayer, the pastor asks for wisdom for every parent, "so that the first Sunday school can begin at home," and for the anointing of the Holy Spirit so that the Word comes alive during the lessons.

Key Takeaways

Passing God's deeds on to children is a duty and an honor that God entrusted to the fathers, from generation to generation.
The goal of teaching is not memory but trust: that children put their trust in God.
Children watch our lives. Our prayers in hardship, our forgiveness and our testimonies give a concrete face to what we teach.
Sunday school is not enough: the lesson continues at home and throughout the whole community.
As Joash shows, a faith that rests on a person collapses when that person disappears. We need a personal faith, rooted in the heart.

Personal Application

What are the children around you learning about God by watching you live, pray and react?
When did you last tell your children or grandchildren how the Lord sustained you or provided for your needs?
How much room is left for the Word of God in your home, next to the doors and windows open to the world?
Would your own faith hold if those who guided you were no longer there, or are you like Joash?
Is there a child or teenager in your church you can pray for regularly this year?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the goal of the Bible teaching given to children according to Psalm 78?

Verse 7 says it: that they might set their hope in God, not forget God's deeds, and keep his commandments. The preacher insists: the goal is not to have children memorize stories, the order of the books of the Bible or the memory verse, but to teach them to trust personally in the Lord.

Why does the story of King Joash serve as a warning?

Joash did what was right all the days of the priest Jehoiada, his adviser and teacher (2 Chronicles 24). After Jehoiada's death, he listened to other advisers, abandoned the Lord and had Zechariah, Jehoiada's son, killed. He probably obeyed out of respect for a man, without having learned to put his own trust in God.

How can parents pass on faith at home?

By telling their children how the Lord has sustained them, saved them and provided for their needs, by opening the Bible and praying with them, by simply saying "this situation worries us, let's bring it before the Lord." The preacher also encourages asking the child what touched them at Sunday school and looking together at how to put it into practice.