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Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, 3 things that we have heard and known, that our ancestors have told us. 4 We will not hide them from their children; we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might and the wonders that he has done. In the sight of their ancestors he worked marvels in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan. 13 He divided the sea and let them pass through it and made the waters stand like a heap. 14 In the daytime he led them with a cloud and all night long with a fiery light. 15 He split rocks open in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. 16 He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers. (Psalm 78:1-4, 12-18 NRSV)
Every family has that one story. You know the one. It gets told at every holiday, the details grow a little more dramatic each year, and by now the fish was definitely bigger than it was originally. Someone always groans, “Not this again,” and yet somehow everyone leans in when it starts. Our stories were rare and not always shared with all the family at the same time; but I loved hearing them. I loved hearing how my Dad, who struggled with showing affectiuons to a strong grandmother, found himself having to visit her while she was in the hospital, and while on that forced visit, a young, attractive nurse came in to check on his grandma and that was all it took for my Dad to fall madly in love with my Mom. The rest was history.
Psalm 78 opens with a storyteller clearing his throat. “Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.” He says he will open his mouth in a parable and utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our ancestors have told us.
Then comes the heart of it: we will not hide them from their children. We will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and His might, and the wonders that He has done.
Notice the verbs here. Not “we will debate,” not “we will hope they figure it out.” We will tell. Faith, it turns out, is rarely caught by accident. It is passed along at kitchen tables, in car rides, and in bedtime conversations that were supposed to be about brushing teeth. Somebody told you. Now somebody is waiting for you to tell them.
And what exactly is worth retelling? The psalmist gets specific. In the sight of their ancestors God worked marvels in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan. He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap. Think about that for a moment. Water, standing up like a pile of laundry, so that frightened people could walk through on dry ground.
Then, in the wilderness, He led them with a cloud by day and with a fiery light all night. He split rocks open and gave them drink abundant as the deep. He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers. A people who had every reason to worry about their next sip were given a drink straight from stone.
Here’s what strikes me. Every one of those stories is about a God who showed up when His people had nothing to offer but need. Nobody in that wilderness earned a river. They were simply thirsty, and God was generous.
So here is a gentle question: what is your rock-and-river story? When has God made a way where you saw a wall, or poured out water where you saw dust? Maybe it was a job that appeared just in time, a healing you didn’t expect, or a peace that made no sense on a hard night. Those stories are not meant to stay in your journal. Someone younger, newer, or more weary than you needs to hear them.
You don’t need a polished sermon. You just need to say, “Let me tell you what God did.” Then, yes, tell it again next year. The fish may grow, but the faithfulness is already enormous.
PRAYER: Faithful God, thank You for the wonders You have done in my life and in the lives of those before me, and give me the courage and joy to tell the next generation of Your goodness, in Christ Jesus’ strong name we pray, amen.
Have a grerat and blessed day in the Lord! OUR CALL TO ACTION: Today, share one story of God’s faithfulness with a child, a friend, or a family member.
I love you and I thank God for you! You matter to God and you matter to me! Share your story to all those whom you love!
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
