Each Generation Should Set Its Hope Anew On God

He issued his laws to Jacob;

he gave his instructions to Israel.

He commanded our ancestors

to teach them to their children,

so the next generation might know them —

even the children not yet born —

and they in turn will teach their own children.

So each generation should set its hope anew on God,

not forgetting his glorious miracles

and obeying his commands.

Then they will not be like their ancestors —

stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful,

refusing to give their hearts to God. Psalm 78:5-8

GOD HAS GIVEN HIS WORD to his people, and his intention is that every generation would teach his Word to the next. There is no new revelation for the next generation. The ancient Word from God remains what the next generation and the generation after needs to know.

Parents have a responsibility to teach their children what God has said. The Bible must be the central, all-permeating book in our homes. But it is also clear that our children have the responsibility to set their hope on God in a new and fresh way. Their faith has to become their own. Children must not forget what God has done as revealed in the Scriptures and must determine for themselves that they will pursue a life of obedience to God.

But while we can make ourselves teach, we can’t make our children know. While maybe we can convince them to memorize or recite, we can’t create in them a receptivity and responsiveness to the truth. There is a distance between our teaching and their knowing, between us having our hope set on God and our children setting their hope on him. What we need is for God to do what only he can do so that our children will give their hearts to him.

Lord, we know that our confidence in you, our love for you, and our obedience to you is our own. As we teach your Word to ________, would you cause ________ to truly know who you are and what you’ve done? Would you cause ________ to believe that obedience to you brings real joy? Would you cause ________ to set his hope anew on you?