Psalms For The Summer - 2023

My people, hear my teaching;

   listen to the words of my mouth.

I will open my mouth with a parable;

   I will utter hidden things, things from of old—

things we have heard and known,

   things our ancestors have told us.

We will not hide them from their descendants;

   we will tell the next generation

the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,

   his power, and the wonders he has done.

- Asaph, Psalm 78:1-4

Today begins our journey into Psalms for the Summer.

Actually, we are picking up where we left off last summer. Through the end of July, we will glean insights from the Psalms and how they apply to our lives today.

Today’s Psalm is Psalm 78, written by Asaph. Asaph was commissioned by King David as a temple singer, and his songs have become some of the Psalms we read today.

In the first four verses of Psalm 78, Asaph reminds the children of Israel, as he now reminds us, of the things we have been taught by our ancestors and the very things we are to tell the generations to come. Then, for the next 68 verses, he proceeds to lay out a history of the works of God from Moses to David.  

Today, we not only have the stories of Moses to David, but the rest of the Old Testament of how God brought His people out of exile. Then the Gospels record the life of Jesus, how He loved God and loved people. In the Acts and the Epistles, we read how the Christian church began and how it spread and flourished across the known world.  

We have the riches of the Word of God and the testimonies of those who have gone before us, who tell of the praiseworthy deeds of our God, of His power, and all the wonders He has done.

Both Pam and I were blessed by grandparents and parents who taught us how to love God, cherish His Word, spend time with Him in prayer, how to serve Him, and how to love people the way Jesus modeled and taught us how to love.

We, now, get to pass those down to our children, and to our children’s children, so that they, too, will know how great and good our God is.

Everyone of us has a role to play, whether speaking into the lives of our own children and grandchildren, giving generously to God’s church to support the ministry to the next generation, or actually serving in children’s or youth ministry, investing in the future of God’s church.

May we, like Asaph, open our mouths and utter the things we have heard and known, and not hide them, that the next generation will have their stories to tell, and the future of God’s church will be in good hands.

Pastor Ken

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