Psalms 78:1 - Meaning and Application

These verses are the introduction to this history, and they show that the psalm matches its title. It is truly a *Maschil*, a psalm meant to give instruction. If we do not learn from it, the fault is ours.

The psalmist first asks for careful attention to what he is about to teach, “Give ear, O my people, to my law” (Psalm 78:1). Some take these as David’s words, spoken as king, or as Asaph’s words in David’s name, as a royal secretary. In that case, he is speaking to the people under his care and calling his teaching his law or command, because it has authority and demands a response. When God’s truth is received with love, it presses on the conscience like a law. If God uses great people for good by his grace, they can do much more than others, because their words carry weight with those around them.

Another way to read it is that the psalmist speaks as a prophet, as God’s messenger, and so calls them his people in the name of the Lord. Then the demand is for obedience to what God says, just as the risen Christ says, “Let anyone with ears hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 2:7). In either case, the point is clear: God’s revelation should not just reach our ears. We must listen with humility and give it our full attention.

Several reasons are given for listening closely to what follows. First, the subject is important, unusual, and worth deep thought. “I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter dark sayings of old” (Psalm 78:2). These are not called “dark” because they are impossible to understand, but because they are deep and deserve careful study. They are like the parables Jesus later spoke, which set out the truths of God’s kingdom in picture form (Matthew 13:35).

Second, these are ancient truths passed down from our fathers. They are “things that we have heard and known” (Psalm 78:3). Their truth is not in doubt. Luke speaks in the same way when he says he is writing about things “most surely believed among us” (Luke 1:1). Since our parents and ancestors handed these things down to us, we should treat them with respect when they are true and good.

Third, these truths must be passed on to the next generation. “We will not hide them from their children” (Psalm 78:4). We owe this to our children, and also to the children of others, because our concern should reach beyond our own family line. What must be handed down is not only learning, skills, freedom, and property, but especially “the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works.” Our great duty is to keep our religion, this precious trust, pure and complete for those who come after us.

There are two things whose full and clear knowledge we must preserve for our heirs. The first is God’s law. He “established a testimony,” that is, a covenant witness, and set up a law in Jacob and Israel, with commands and promises that were to be taught to their children (Psalm 78:5; Deuteronomy 6:7, 6:20). The church was never meant to be a thing of only one age. God provided a line of ministers in Levi and Aaron, and he also appointed parents to train their children in his law. When one generation passes away, another must rise and declare these things to the next (Psalm 78:6), so that God’s people may continue from age to age.

The second is God’s dealings with them in mercy and judgment. His works should be taught along with his law, because they show both his promises to the obedient and his warnings to the disobedient. These should be told to our children and grandchildren, first so they may be encouraged to obey God. If they remember God’s works, they will be led to set their hope in him and keep his commandments (Psalm 78:7). Those who truly hope for God’s salvation are the ones who take his commandments seriously. Thinking on God’s works strengthens both faith and obedience, because he is able to support us in both.

They should also learn these things so they do not copy the sins of their fathers (Psalm 78:8). Their fathers were a stubborn and rebellious generation. Though they were the descendants of Abraham and outwardly belonged to God’s covenant people, they still fought against his will. They claimed relation to him, but their hearts were not right before him. They were not sincere in their promises, not steady in worship, and so they quickly turned away from him. Hypocrisy often leads to falling away. People who do not set their hearts right with God will not remain faithful to him.

This is a warning to children of ungodly parents. If they will consider God’s word and God’s works, they will have enough reason not to follow the same path.

It will be no excuse for a worthless way of life to say that it was handed down to us by our fathers (1 Peter 1:18). What we know was evil in them should warn us. We ought to dread anything that proved so harmful to them, just as we would avoid the habits that ruined their health or their property.