That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:
This verse extends the vision set out at the opening of Psalm 78 — not just one generation receiving the story of God, but an unbroken chain stretching far into the future. The phrase "children yet to be born" is striking in its reach. The psalmist is thinking about people who don't yet exist, whose names haven't been given, who are unimaginable futures. The "them" refers to the praiseworthy deeds of God mentioned earlier in the psalm — the stories of his power, faithfulness, and wonders throughout Israel's history. The vision is that these stories would keep traveling forward through time, generation after generation, like a flame passed from one candle to the next, with each person bearing the responsibility of passing it on rather than letting it go out.
Lord, I'm just one link in a chain I'll never fully see, and I want to take that seriously. Help me live and speak in a way that keeps the story traveling forward — for children I'll never meet, for faith that will outlive me. Make me faithful with what I've been given. Amen.
"Children yet to be born." Read that slowly. The psalmist is thinking about your great-great-grandchildren — people who will live in a world you cannot picture, facing problems you cannot name. And the assumption built into this verse is that what you do with faith today will somehow reach them. That is either an enormous weight or an enormous gift, depending on how you hold it. Chains are made link by link, and every link is a person who decided: I will tell this. You are somewhere in the middle of this chain. Somebody told somebody who eventually told someone in your story, and you heard something true about God. Now the chain runs through you. It doesn't require a pulpit or a platform — just honesty and the willingness to say: here is what I know, here is what I've seen, here is what has held me. The unborn children won't hear from you directly. But they might hear from someone who heard from someone you loved well. The story travels. Will it travel through you?
The phrase "children yet to be born" extends the vision far beyond the immediate family. What does that kind of long-range thinking reveal about how God views time, history, and faithfulness?
When you think about what you're passing on — in your words, your habits, your faith — does the chain feel strong, weak, or broken somewhere? What does sitting with that honestly stir in you?
Is faithfulness to future generations something you actively think about, or is your faith mostly focused on your own individual relationship with God right now? Why do you think that is?
Who in your life has been a link in the chain for you — someone whose faith was passed down to you, directly or indirectly? Have you ever told them what that meant?
What is one intentional step you could take this month to strengthen the link you represent — something specific and actionable, not just a good intention?
Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people.
1 Chronicles 16:8
And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Luke 22:19
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
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
Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works.
Psalms 105:2
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
That the generation to come might know them, that the children still to be born May arise and recount them to their children,
AMP
that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children,
ESV
That the generation to come might know, [even] the children [yet] to be born, [That] they may arise and tell [them] to their children,
NASB
so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.
NIV
That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children,
NKJV
so the next generation might know them — even the children not yet born — and they in turn will teach their own children.
NLT
So the next generation would know, and all the generations to come— Know the truth and tell the stories so their children
MSG