Passing on The Faith - Psalm 78:1-8 - August 23, 2026

Psalm 78 begins with Asaph calling God’s people to listen. “Give ear, O my people,” is not just background noise for worship. Asaph is saying that the faith cannot be passed on by people who are not first hearing the word of God with faith. The word must be welcomed, received, believed, and possessed, not merely professed. It is not enough for a family to show up at church, sit through the hour, and assume the work is done. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Asaph reaches back into Israel’s history because he knows what happens when a generation forgets. Joshua stood before Israel and said, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,” while also declaring, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Judges then shows the tragedy that followed. A generation arose that “knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.” Somewhere along the line, parents failed, and the whole faith community failed, to teach the children who God is and what God had done.

Psalm 78 therefore calls God’s people not to hide the truth from the children. The text calls for telling the coming generation “the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might and the wonders that he has done.” That includes God’s mercy, holiness, wrath, and faithfulness. It also includes the hard parts of Israel’s story, the apostasy, the rebellion, the judgment, and the repeated mercy of God. The point is not to pretend the past was clean, but to let the past teach the children both what sin deserves and how merciful God has been.

The law must also be taught rightly. The law says, “Do this and live,” but sinners cannot do this. The gospel says, “Done. Finished. It is finished.” Christ has done what sinners cannot do. Christ kept the law perfectly, bore sin in his own body, shed his blood, and reconciles sinners to God by grace through faith.

Psalm 78 also speaks to the children and youth. The word “arise” means the next generation must rise up and stand in its own time. The faith is a treasure, not a casual family tradition. The warning is serious: those given much light will face greater judgment if they abandon it. The vase of faith must not be dropped by the generation that received it.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Faith must be possessed, not professed [17:12] Psalm 78 begins with hearing because inherited religion can sit on the lips while never reaching the heart. A person may gather with God’s people, hear sermons, and know the language of faith, yet still not meet God with faith. The danger is not merely ignorance, but a profession that has never become possession. [17:12]
• 2. Children do not catch faith by osmosis [25:00] Psalm 78 puts responsibility on parents and the whole faith community to teach intentionally. A child may be near worship and still never be discipled in the truth, beauty, demands, and grace of Christ. The home must become a place where God’s word is brought into ordinary life, at the table, on the road, in questions, habits, and choices. [25:00]
• 3. The law points to Christ [23:32] The law is not given so children can imagine they are able to earn acceptance with God. The law exposes the inability of sinners and points to the only One who has done what sinners cannot do. Christ answers the law’s “do this and live” with the gospel’s “done, believe.” [23:32]
• 4. Worldly hope can displace Christ [31:02] Psalm 78 says the next generation must “set their hope in God,” not in money, career, fame, power, or position. A Christian home can accidentally preach the American dream louder than Christ, even while keeping church attendance in place. Children often learn what is truly treasured by watching what receives urgency, praise, sacrifice, and delight. [31:02]
• 5. Great light brings serious responsibility [36:08] A child raised under the gospel has received a tremendous gift and privilege. Abandoning that light is not a harmless stage or a cool badge of honor, because judgment is according to the light given. The call is therefore sober and merciful: cherish the treasure, do not harden the heart, and rise to pass it on.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [02:38] - Being Intentional With the Next Generation
• [03:11] - Psalm 78 Calls God’s People to Listen
• [05:04] - Asaph’s Burden From Israel’s History
• [07:18] - Joshua’s Call to Choose the Lord
• [10:03] - A Generation That Forgot God
• [11:51] - First, Listen and Learn
• [15:14] - Hearing Must Be Joined With Faith
• [19:16] - Teach Children God’s Great Acts
• [23:09] - The Law, the Gospel, and Christ
• [25:00] - Faith Is Not Caught by Osmosis
• [27:51] - Children Must Rise and Teach
• [31:02] - Set Hope in God, Not the World
• [33:51] - The Dropped Vase Warning
• [37:25] - The Treasure of a Christian Home
• [38:17] - Parents Are Responsible to Disciple

Bible Reading

Psalm 78:1-8
“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. 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.” [03:10]

Judges 2:7-12
“And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger.” [10:03]

Joshua 24:14-15
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” [07:23]

Romans 10:16-17
“But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?’ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” [15:25]

Observation questions

1. In Psalm 78:1-8, what are God’s people told to do with what they have heard and known, and who is supposed to receive it?
2. According to Judges 2:7-12, what changed between Joshua’s generation and the generation that came after them? [10:31]
3. In Joshua 24:14-15, what specific choice does Joshua place before the people, and what does he say about his own household? [08:23]
4. In Romans 10:16-17, what connection is made between hearing and faith, and what kind of hearing is in view? [15:42]

Interpretation questions

1. Psalm 78 begins with “Give ear” before it speaks about teaching children. Why does listening come first? What does that suggest about the difference between outward religion and real faith? [13:39]
2. Psalm 78 says, “We will not hide them from their children.” Why might people be tempted to hide the harder parts of God’s dealings, including sin, rebellion, and judgment? How can telling the whole story better help the next generation know God rightly? [20:53]
3. The law says, “Do this and live,” yet sinners cannot do this. Why is it important to teach the law in a way that leads to Christ instead of moral self-confidence? [23:20]
4. Psalm 78 says the next generation should “set their hope in God.” What are some ways a home can quietly teach children to hope in success, money, or comfort instead of Christ, even while still sounding religious? [31:02]

Application questions

1. Faith must be possessed, not merely professed. In this season of life, what helps a person tell the difference between simply knowing Christian words and actually trusting Christ from the heart? [17:12]
2. Children do not catch faith by osmosis. What are some ordinary moments in a normal week when talk about God could naturally happen in the home, not in a forced way, but as part of real life? [26:43]
3. God’s mighty acts, God’s character, and God’s commands all need to be passed on. Which of those is easiest for this group to talk about, and which is easiest to neglect? Why? [22:39]
4. The law points to Christ. When sin shows up in the home or in personal life, is the first instinct usually to try harder, hide, or run to Christ? What would it look like to respond more openly with repentance and faith? [23:59]
5. The next generation is called to rise up and stand in its own time. For those who are younger, what would it look like right now to take the things of God seriously instead of treating them as background noise? For those who are older, how can younger believers be helped toward that without nagging or controlling them? [29:34]
6. Hope can drift toward the world very easily. If someone watched the use of time, money, excitement, stress, and praise in daily life, what would they conclude is most treasured? Would they see that hope is set on God? [32:08]
7. Great light brings serious responsibility. How should someone respond if they realize they have grown dull, indifferent, or careless toward the faith they have received? What would repentance look like in a concrete way this week? [36:08]