We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.
Psalm 78 is a long poem written by a man named Asaph, one of the musicians appointed by King David to lead worship in ancient Israel. The entire psalm is essentially a retelling of Israel's history — God's remarkable faithfulness alongside Israel's repeated failures to trust him. These opening verses establish the purpose: the story must be told so the next generation doesn't forget. The phrase "we will not hide them" is significant — it frames silence as an active choice, like deliberately concealing something you're holding. The "praiseworthy deeds" refer to the full sweep of God's acts in Israel's story: rescuing them from slavery in Egypt, parting the Red Sea, providing food and water in the wilderness when there was none.
Father, remind me that silence isn't neutral — that every untold story of your faithfulness is a story someone else needed to hear. Give me the courage to speak what I know, not polished but true. Let the next generation encounter you through the honest testimony of my ordinary life. Amen.
Nobody decides to hide the faith. It happens gradually. You stop mentioning God at dinner. The stories of what he's done in your life get filed under "private." The kids grow up knowing your values, your work ethic, maybe even your church attendance — but not your actual experience of God. Silence isn't neutral. The psalmist knew this: "we will not hide them." The decision to speak is deliberate, because the pressure not to is real. What would it look like to actually tell it? Not a theological lecture — the real story. The time you didn't know how the bills would get paid and they did. The 3 AM prayer you barely believed when you prayed it. The moment something shifted and you knew it wasn't just coincidence. These aren't embarrassing stories; they're the inheritance you carry. Someone younger is watching you, waiting to find out whether God is real in ordinary life. Your honest telling might be the thing that anchors their faith through something you'll never see.
The psalmist says "we will not hide them" — framing silence as active concealment rather than just passivity. What does that framing reveal about the weight of staying quiet about what God has done?
What stories of God's faithfulness in your own life have you kept mostly private — and honestly, what has held you back from sharing them?
Is there a real tension between humility and boldly declaring what God has done? Where do you think that line is, and how do you navigate it?
How might your honest, specific stories of God at work affect the faith of someone younger or newer to belief who is watching your life right now?
Who is one person — a child, a younger friend, someone exploring faith — to whom you could tell a real and specific story of what God has done in your life this week?
Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;
Deuteronomy 4:9
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Deuteronomy 6:7
And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Ephesians 6:4
BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
Psalms 119:9
Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psalms 107:8
And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Deuteronomy 11:19
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
John 15:16
Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
Joel 1:3
We will not hide them from their children, But [we will] tell to the generation to come the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, And [tell of] His great might and power and the wonderful works that He has done.
AMP
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.
ESV
We will not conceal them from their children, But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.
NASB
We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.
NIV
We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
NKJV
We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD, about his power and his mighty wonders.
NLT
We're not keeping this to ourselves, we're passing it along to the next generation— God's fame and fortune, the marvelous things he has done.
MSG