Psalm 44:1-3 "We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old. (2) How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out. (3) For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them."
"We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told
us..." Many of you that are my age can identify with the account of
our parents walking barefoot to school. Many of us have told it as though it
was a joke, but the older I get the more I understand what they were
saying. I regret that I do not now have the opportunity to tell our
father how grateful I am that he did that. They grew up in the times of
depression. Daddy always said they were poor, but didn't know it because
everyone else was poor also. They learned to work for what they received.
They learned that God, faith, and family were the most important things in
life. They were taught and they understood the importance of the Lord
making provision for them. "We have heard with our ears, O God, our
fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of
old." Thank you Lord. Thank you Daddy for sharing that with us.
David is speaking of the manner in which the Lord brought the children of
Israel out of the bondage of Egypt. He is remembering how his ancestors were
promised a land where they could raise their families. He was taught how
the Lord afflicted the people when they turned away from Him. He was
taught that his ancestors did not earn the land. They did not obtain the land
by their own power and ability; rather the Lord had "a favour unto
them". Therefore the land of Israel was a very important gift from
God and should be cherished.
I can understand the importance of children having activities that help them
with friends and teaching them the importance of depending on one another, or
having team mates. I understand and appreciate those who give their time
to teach these things. But this morning, I am reminded that the most important
matter in our children's lives is to be taught the importance of giving unto
the Lord that which is due Him, especially on the Lord's Day.
As we look at the life of Jesus, we find that He was circumcised when He was
eight days old to be in accordance with the law. He was taken to the
temple when He was 50 days old to be presented unto the Lord, according to the
law. The next time we read about His life was when He was 12 years old. Where
was He? He was in the temple talking and questioning the doctors of the
law. We can know that Joseph and Mary took Jesus regularly to the
synagogue to worship and then to Jerusalem during the times of the feasts unto
the Lord. Then we read as He began His public ministry at the age of 30,
"And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom
was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to
read." (Luke 4:16)
I close this devotion by asking this question, "What is the most important
thing we can do for our children?" We cannot make them to become
children of God, but we can teach them "what work" He has done in our
days. We can share our experience with the Lord and impress the importance of
God in our own lives. We can take them (not send them) to Church on the Lord's
Day where they can learn the utmost lesson of God's faithfulness. They can
learn that they are able to depend upon other children of God. They can learn
the importance of having them pray for us and for us to pray for them. We can
teach them the importance of giving unto the Lord that which is due His name
"because thou hadst a favour unto" us.