a beautiful and terrible story

 

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.

Psalm 78:4

God's works are often most known in the stories of the lives of people who give testimony faithfully to others of God's love, care, forgiveness, and justice as known in His Word and in their lives. It is a story we should keep telling. It is a story that should be passed down in families and circles of relationships, particularly from one generation to another, lest we forget. These real life connections forge meaningful memories of the faithfulness and forgiveness of our God.

In the 78th psalm this opening reminder focuses on how God gave Israel the Law to draw them to Him. And the responsibility rested on each generation to pass on the Law to succeeding generations so that they would not forget God and would keep His commands.

The bulk of this psalm then turns to describing the horrible messes that came when the people did not do this, broke the covenant, and forgot God, turning instead to idols. The intervening judgments of God were necessary parts of the covenant story that the Lord used to draw His people back to repentance and obedience. God was faithful to forgive and heal as well as to judge sin. That was the story that needed to be passed on to each generation so that the people of God would faithfully guard their hearts, believe and obey God, and hold His Word dear.

So the story that I must pass on is both beautiful with God's grace and terrible with my sin. It is about life that I only have because of Christ, and joy that I find in His forgiving grace. It is about respecting God by fearing His Word's warnings, repenting of my sin, receiving His discipline, and trusting not in my actions but in the redemption I have through Christ's death and resurrection. And may the prayer of a favorite hymn of mine be my commitment to the story: "redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be til I die."