Psalms 78 - Psalm 78 / Until I Proclaim Your Might to Another Generation

Turn with me to Psalm 78 as we continue in our mini-series in the Psalms. Today, I want to take one of my favorite psalms and use it to make a passionate plea to The Well Community Church concerning an investment—future investments that must continue to be made in the next generation. This psalm is an incredibly inspiring call toward that end.

Now, some might say, “Wait a minute. Of all the psalms you could pick, you’re going to preach on investing in the next generation to a church whose average age for the last eight years has been in its mid-to-late twenties?” It might seem that if any church were close to capturing and investing in the next generation, it would be this one. So why the need for a message on investing in the future generations to come?

To that, I would answer that sometimes when you are at your strongest, when you are in your greatest stride and have the most momentum, that is probably the time you need to be reminded more than any other of how quickly we can fall. We are only one generation away from losing everything we have strived and served so hard for to exalt the name of Christ in this church.

The Dropped Baton

I remember getting a very real picture of that a couple of years ago during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. America has always done relatively well in track and field, producing some exceptionally fast sprinters and relay teams. Back in 2008, the men’s 4x100 relay team was supposed to be one of the best we had seen in a long time. They were heavily favored to take the crown. They had trained hard, they were the fastest men on the circuit, and they had put in all the work to reach that pinnacle.

Yet, with all that amazing talent, speed, and work ethic, it all ended in a split second because of a miscue in the handoff of the baton. You might remember Tyson Gay reaching back for that baton, and it simply wasn’t there. It had been dropped. In one single moment, everything those men had worked for, everything they had poured time and energy into, was completely lost because of a missed handoff. They were disqualified.

As I watched that, I thought, “How amazing—and tragic—that everything can be dashed simply because the handoff wasn’t made from one runner to the next.”

In Psalm 78, the author, a man named Asaph—one of David’s chief musicians—was not ignorant of the devastating consequences of a missed handoff within the nation of Israel. He had seen it happen all too well: one generation failing to pass God’s truth to the next.

God’s Strategy: Generation to Generation

As we jump into the psalm, look at verses 5 through 8. Asaph shows us exactly what God expected from the nation of Israel and what He commanded regarding their role toward the next generation.

Psalms 78:5-8 (NASB)

For He established a testimony in Jacob And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers That they should teach them to their children, That the generation to come might know, [even] the children [yet] to be born, [That] they may arise and tell [them] to their children, That they should put their confidence in God And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments, And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Asaph tells the nation right there: this is what God has done for us, and this is what He has commanded of us. Notice how this whole passage begins in verse 5: God established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel.

The very first time in Scripture that we see God give instructions to humanity was back in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 1 and 2, He creates mankind and gives them instructions on how to live in response to His creation. We all know how that went: man sinned, judgment ensued, humanity was cut off from relationship with God, and for the first time, man was unable to live in a way pleasing to God.

After thousands of years and failed attempt after failed attempt, God starts over following the flood, and shortly thereafter calls out a nation for Himself. He gives them promises: to bless them, to provide for them, to bring them to a promised land, and even promises a future divine King who will reign over them. Yet, even with all these promises, God’s people still disobey.

Eventually, God moves to teach His people in a way that leaves an indelible imprint for generations to come. That is what verse 5 refers to when it mentions establishing a testimony. You remember the story from the Exodus: God’s people enslaved in Egypt, the plagues sent in judgment, Moses raised up to lead them out, and the parting of the Red Sea. God splits that massive body of water in half, the Israelites walk through on dry ground, and the waters collapse to destroy the Egyptian army.

In doing so, God established a testimony of what He did to bring them out of slavery into freedom. Immediately after the Exodus, God declared that this testimony must never be forgotten. To this day, the Passover is celebrated in remembrance of that miraculous deliverance.

God also knew that a memorial alone wasn’t enough. Right after the Exodus, He called Moses up to the top of Mount Sinai and inscribed on tablets of stone the law for His people to obey. These were clear expectations of what it meant to live in relationship with a holy God. He gave them a testimony to remember and a law to live by.

Now consider this: if you are God, how do you ensure that future generations—those who did not witness the Red Sea or stand at Sinai—never forget?

You could decide to perform a new Red Sea miracle every ten or fifteen years. Every time a new generation comes along, you could part another sea or display something explosive so it stays fresh in their minds. But God chose a different path. At the end of verse 5, Scripture says He commanded our fathers to teach their children.

In God’s economy, the way we ensure that the next generation—and the unborn generation after that—knows who God is and what He expects, is through intentional teaching. It is the specific responsibility of parents to make sure their children understand what God has done and what He requires.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (NASB)

’Hear, O Israel! The LORD is 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. ’These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons 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 up. ’You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. ’You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Asaph is drawing directly from the great Shema in Deuteronomy 6, where parents are instructed to diligently teach God’s commands at home, on the road, when lying down, and when getting up. But notice the warning attached at the end of that passage.

Deuteronomy 6:10-12 (NASB)

’Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

The great danger in God’s economy is that He will pour out blessings, provide homes we didn’t build and vineyards we didn’t plant, and we will simply soak in the blessing, enjoy the comfort, and forget to turn around and hand off the truth to our children.

Why We Must Teach the Next Generation

In verses 6 through 8, Asaph gives three vital reasons why the next generation must be taught:

1. That They Might Know

The first reason is foundational: so the next generation might have knowledge of God. History shows that generations continually arose in Israel that did not know the Lord. There must be an intellectual foundation laid by the older generation. Fathers would sit down with their children and recount the wondrous deeds of God—Creation, the Fall, the Flood, the Exodus—magnifying who God is. They would also teach the law, explaining, “We don’t live like the nations around us because our lifestyle must reflect the holy character of our God.”

2. That They Might Set Their Hope in God

This knowledge was never meant to be mere academic trivia. Verse 7 tells us the goal: “so that they should set their hope in God.” We teach them so they don’t grow up directionless and confused, wondering why they exist or whether hope is real. We teach them so they anchor their souls to the only One who can truly satisfy.

3. That They Might Keep His Commandments

Verse 7 concludes with the third purpose: that they would keep His commandments and not repeat the mistakes of the past. We teach the next generation so they can avoid the snares and traps the previous generation fell into.

If you are in your forties, fifties, or sixties, have you ever looked back at your twenties and thought, “If I only knew then what I know now. If I had walked closely with God at a younger age, look at all the pain I could have avoided”? In God’s economy, you have the opportunity to take that hard-earned wisdom and pour it into someone in their teens or twenties today so they don’t have to walk through the same wreckage.

The Riddle of Israel’s History

How well did Israel execute this command? Verses 9 through 72 give us a comprehensive snapshot of Israel’s history. Notice how Asaph introduces this entire section in verses 1 and 2.

Psalms 78:1-2 (NASB)

A Maskil of Asaph. Listen, O my people, to my instruction; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old,

He calls this psalm a parable and a riddle. How is a historical overview a riddle? As you read verses 9 through 72, an agonizing pattern repeats: God performs a miraculous rescue, and a few verses later, the people sin all the more. God provides manna and water in the wilderness, and again, the nation rebels. Over and over, from the wilderness to the reign of David, God pours out mercy and faithfulness, and the people continually forget.

Here is the riddle: How can an amazing, loving, faithful God continually pour out His grace upon a people, and yet they repeatedly neglect and abandon Him?

The answer lies in the missed baton handoff. Generation after generation failed to instill God’s truth into the hearts of their children. Psalm 78 stands as a sobering warning of what happens when a community forgets to pass the baton.

The State of the Next Generation

My plea today is that this tragic cycle would not become the story of The Well Community Church. It is wonderful that our church is young, with an average age around 28. It feels energetic and alive. But when you are hitting on all cylinders, it is easy to grow complacent. We must not mistake high attendance numbers for actual discipleship or intentional mentoring.

There is a subtle danger for growing churches to become more committed to church culture than to the Great Commission—the call to make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to obey everything Christ commanded.

Look outside these walls—and even within them. Statistics show that young adults between 18 and 35 are walking away from the church at alarming rates. More young people come from broken homes today than in any previous generation. They are wrestling with unprecedented levels of anxiety, addiction, and identity confusion. Studies show that the majority of twenty- and thirty-somethings feel completely directionless regarding their life purpose.

Why? Because so many lack a mature, authoritative, godly presence in their lives—someone speaking truth, offering guidance, and modeling a biblical worldview. The cultural gap between old and young is widening, and an entire generation is spiritually starving.

As someone in my mid-thirties who has spent seventeen years in college ministry, sitting right between these two age groups, I see a desperate need for the older generation to intentionally turn around and invest in the younger.

It Starts in the Home

Where does this baton handoff happen? First and foremost, it must start in the home. Dads and moms, your home is your primary mission field. If you are not making spiritual deposits into the lives of your children, you have no business trying to make them anywhere else. If you are a young married couple planning for the future, you must establish this priority now.

Asaph made this firm resolution in verses 3 and 4.

Psalms 78:3-4 (NASB)

Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. We will not conceal them from their children, But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.

Asaph looked at his nation’s history and said, “Enough is enough. We will not drop the baton. It starts with me, it starts with my family, and we will declare the praises of God to the generation to come.”

A Call to the Church Family

Yet, there is an elephant in the room. Many young people walking into The Well come from broken backgrounds where no spiritual deposits were ever made. Their biological families cannot provide that guidance. They need a spiritual family—the church—to step up.

I want to speak directly to those in our congregation with gray hair, or no hair at all. You have an incredible, God-given assignment. Our culture tells anyone over sixty that their productive years are over and that the goal of retirement is to spend twenty to thirty years playing golf, buying a boat, and checking out.

That modern concept of retirement is found nowhere in Scripture. The Bible never describes reaching sixty, disengaging from the mission, and simply vacationing until you die. In fact, Scripture honors the wisdom of age and calls mature believers to leave a lasting legacy.

Psalms 71:18 (NASB)

And even when [I am] old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to [this] generation, Your power to all who are to come.

Psalm 71 is the prayer of an aging man whose strength is fading, yet he cries out: “Even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation.” He is saying, “Lord, if I have one pitch left, let me throw it for the next generation!”

To our older saints: please forgive us if the church culture has ever made you feel sidelined. We desperately need your wisdom, your stability, and your life experience poured into these young men and women.

Practical Ways to Pass the Baton

How can you step into this mission at The Well?

• Lead a Life Group: Open your home once a week to host younger adults, share your journey, and model a faithful walk with God.
• Become a Mentor: Our offices receive constant requests from young believers asking for older mentors. Reach out to our pastoral care team and let us connect you with someone eager to learn over a cup of coffee.
• Serve in Student or Kids Ministry: Invest in our youth group (WSM) or Kids Connection, shaping the hearts and minds of children and teenagers who need godly role models.
• Open Your Dinner Table: Some of the most powerful ministry is purely organic. When I was in college, I didn’t know what a Christian home looked like. I was terrified of marriage and parenting. A father in our church invited me over for a steak dinner every Thursday night for a year and a half. Watching him hold hands with his wife and pray with his children transformed my life. The rhythms I practice today with my own wife and kids were learned at that family’s table.

To our younger generation: swallow your pride. Step outside your peer bubble. Sit before older men and women, listen to their stories, and learn from their lives.

Let us not drop the baton. May The Well Community Church be a people committed to proclaiming the glorious deeds of the Lord, so that the next generation might know Him, set their hope in Him, and walk faithfully in His ways.

Closing Prayer

Father, thank You for Your Word. Thank You that You have entrusted the glorious testimony of Your grace into our hands to pass along to the next generation. I pray for The Well Community Church. Guard us against complacency. Keep us from dropping the baton. Give our parents strength and intentionality in their homes, and inspire our older men and women to pour their wisdom into the young adults among us. May we leave a legacy of faith that honors Your name for generations to come. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.