Deut 11:19, And you shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. 
    	This morning’s reading has many encouragements and warnings to the Children of Israel by the Lord through Moses. This is a chapter that emphasized much of what the people already knew. It does so in order to make it abundantly clear what the Lord expected of His people. They can never come back to the Lord and complain that they had no clue as to His expectations for them. The varied repetition throughout the Book of Deuteronomy takes that excuse and buries it within all the manifold voicing of what God’s people needed to do as their part of His wondrous covenant with them.
	In reality, there is not much that we have in this chapter that is new information. Much has already been proclaimed earlier in the Book and much will be reemphasized again and again. The key that we need to have in our thoughts and in our hearts is the grace and the mercy and the love and the faithfulness of God. It is His great love that is to be taken from this manner of laying before the nation both the blessings and the curse that they will experience as they make their informed decisions of behavior. 
They will either honor the covenant that the Lord had set before them, or ignore it and suffer the consequences. God did not hide anything from them. He laid it all out in precise and multiple detail and encouragement. This was in order that they could make the choice with the full cognition of what would take place in accordance with the decisions that they made. 
	One of the primary considerations that is before them is the manner in which they were to choose to teach their children and their children’s children about the Lord God Jehovah. It is fully set before them as to the Lord’s heart in the value that He places upon the children being taught by the parents and grandparents as to how to honor the Lord. This is the core reality of what the familial relationship has in the heart of God. It was not some after thought, something else that was added to the mix of what they needed to do just because it seemed like a good idea. 
	No, the Lord has the teaching of the children set into the very fabric of how each generation will learn and be established in its heart after God and its service and respect and love for the Lord. Note, in this morning’s passage how much effort the Lord expects the parentage to fully incorporate into the teaching concerning Who God is and all that He has done. That instruction is set into the every day, moment by moment education of the children. 
… And you shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. There it is put to the parents that they will teach their children constantly, daily, without let up, how to live before the Lord in obedience and in reverence to Him as the source and the essence of the every day testimony that they are to be. 
This goes back to the manner in which the Lord dealt with Abraham in Gen 18:17-19, as God was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. He makes a very specific and deliberate statement as to what He expects from the heritage of Abraham and the manner in which the patriarch will be instrumental in the teaching of the rest of his family how to follow and obey and honor the Lord. 
Gen 18:17-19, And the Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? "For I have chosen him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice; in order that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him." 
    	Notice that this was not an option for Abraham. The Lord expected that he would even command his family about the need for their obedience to God. Remember that Abraham was considered a friend of God. He was a man of faith as an example to all of us of how to trust God in every situation. He did so to the very point of teaching his son, Isaac, the trust in the Lord to supply every need including the need for a sacrificial animal at the necessary and perfect time.
	Later the Lord so instructed Moses to encourage the people how they should teach their children as recorded in Ex 12:26+27. There it was made very evident to Moses that the children would be asking about the Passover feasts in the years to come. The people were to make is very clear to the next generations why they were so celebrating before the Lord as a nation and worshipping Him as their Redeemer and Lord. 
	Ex 12:26+27, And it will come about when your children will say to you, 'What does this rite mean to you?' that you shall say,' It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.' "And the people bowed low and worshiped. 
The parents were to instruct their children about the history of the Lord’s people and His dealings with them. Notice it was not a matter of how the nation had freed itself from the bonds of slavery through their own efforts and elevated intellectual and religious and social hierarchy. No, the full credit and the detailed teaching was to be of the work of the Lord as He had chosen this nation unto Himself. The children were to be taught over and over again, at each celebration of the Passover feast how God had rescued them and how God had sent the plagues that brought about their release from slavery in Egypt. God was the focal point of the every lesson with humility and praise in the hearts of His people for His so miraculous work on their behalf.
Then, in Deut 4:9+10, Moses reinforced that the people were to continually remind themselves and their posterity of all that the Lord had done from the plagues in Egypt which led to their freedom up to and including the eventual conquer and habitation of the Promised Land. That was a surety just as God had parted the Red Sea and provided the water and the manna in the wilderness and had so entered into this marvelous covenant with this nation.
Deut 4:9+10, "Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons. Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord said to me, 'Assemble the people to Me, that I may let them hear My words so they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.' 
    	Now please open to the Psalms, specifically Ps 34:8-22, as the Psalmist encourages his readers in the manner in which they are to conduct themselves as the nation of God. He highlights just how blessed they and we are as members of the very family of God. Accordingly, we are to make sure that we teach each succeeding generation of the goodness and the blessing and the dealings of the Lord. As we read it, please give special attention to the realities that we are to teach to our children. If only they would choose to see the Lord in the manner in which we are so encouraged to know Him, their lives would be filled with the splendor and the majesty and the glory of the manifested joy of the Lord even in the midst of the trials and tribulations. As they are so taught, they will know that the Lord is working effectively to bring them into the richness of His abiding presence. What more could we ever want for our children and grandchildren?
	Ps 34:8-22, O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! O fear the Lord, you His saints; For to those who fear Him, there is no want. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing. Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who desires life, And loves length of days that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil, and do good; Seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against evildoers, To cut off the memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, And saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous; But the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; Not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked; And those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The Lord redeems the soul of His servants; And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned. 
      	This is something that is our continual duty as the parentage, the grand parentage and the members of the family of God for all our children. Note, in Ps 48:11-14, that we are to see the manner of the dwelling place that we have in God and then teach it to the following generations. This is in order that they can have an even greater understanding of the work and the majesty of all that God has done and is doing. We need to spend our time searching out the beauty of the Lord in our lives and in our experiences and in our studies of His Word and in our time before Him in prayer, Then we are to share that wealth of the glory of the Lord together with them.
	Ps 48:11-14, Let Mount Zion be glad, Let the daughters of Judah rejoice, Because of Thy judgments. Walk about Zion, and go around her; Count her towers; Consider her ramparts; Go through her palaces; That you may tell it to the next generation. For such is God, Our God forever and ever; He will guide us until death. 
  	And then, in Ps 78:1-8, if you would please turn to it, we are to continue to share the tremendous testimonies of the goodness of the Lord with those who are following in our footsteps. It is not enough for us, alone, to learn of the awesomeness and the mercy of the Lord. It needs to be shared and to be taught and to be recounted over and over and over again. This is in order to encourage and to instruct and to detail to our posterity all that has happened by the grace and the mercy and the Love of the Lord, not just in our lives, but in the lives of our parents and our grand parents. The full inclusion of those who have gone before us is to be detailed to those who come behind us in terms of Who the Lord is and how He has worked so wonderfully in the past, is working manifestly in the present, and will work faithfully in the future. 
The vast story of the Lord’s tremendous testimony should not die with us. He needs to be declared as our narrative adds to the heritage and the foundational discourse of the family unit, from the greatest grandparent to the grandest grandchild. The story of each family is to be the story of the Lord’s ruling and overruling again and again and again.
	Ps 78:1-8, Listen, O my people, to my instruction; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. 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. For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should teach them to their children, That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, That they may arise and tell them to their children, That they should put their confidence in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments, And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart, And whose spirit was not faithful to God. 
    	The next passages we will look at are from Proverbs, beginning with Prov 2:1-9. The writer deals with the encouragement of teaching our children to seek the wisdom of God in their every moment by moment walk on this earth. There is the truth that the children need to be desirous and receptive of the wisdom of the Lord. That is our goal as their teachers. It is the wisest gift that can be handed down from generation to generation.
	Prov 2:1-9, My son, if you will receive my sayings, And treasure my commandments within you, Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will discern the fear of the Lord, And discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, Guarding the paths of justice, And He preserves the way of His godly ones. Then you will discern righteousness and justice And equity and every good course. 
    	Solomon shows what the heart of a father should be for his son as detailed in Proverbs 4, if you would turn to it. It is almost a pleading with the heritage of the believer for those who follow to join their hearts together for the sake of knowing the Lord in all His glory and honor and wisdom. We desire for them to seek the wise counsel of those faithful ones who have gone before. 
	Prov 4, Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father, And give attention that you may gain understanding, For I give you sound teaching; Do not abandon my instruction. When I was a son to my father, Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother, Then he taught me and said to me, "Let your heart hold fast my words; Keep my commandments and live; Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. "Do not forsake her, and she will guard you; Love her, and she will watch over you. "The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your acquiring, get understanding. "Prize her, and she will exalt you; She will honor you if you embrace her. "She will place on your head a garland of grace; She will present you with a crown of beauty." Hear, my son, and accept my sayings, And the years of your life will be many. I have directed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths. When you walk, your steps will not be impeded; And if you run, you will not stumble. Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life. Do not enter the path of the wicked, And do not proceed in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not pass by it; Turn away from it and pass on. For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble. For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence. But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they stumble. My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their whole body. Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put devious lips far from you. Let your eyes look directly ahead, And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Watch the path of your feet, And all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil. 
    	The Prophet Isaiah brings to the forefront the greatest reason that we are to teach our children of the Lord and His work of salvation in Isa 38:18-20. It is the succinct truth that we want them to be saved, to know the Lord, and to add to His worship and praise through the lives that they lead before Him.
	Isa 38:18-20, "For Sheol cannot thank Thee, Death cannot praise Thee; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Thy faithfulness. "It is the living who give thanks to Thee, as I do today; A father tells his sons about Thy faithfulness. "The Lord will surely save me; So we will play my songs on stringed instruments All the days of our life at the house of the Lord." 
Our final two points of this morning are things that we know, but which should never be overlooked or taken for granted. They are both in the writing of the Apostle Paul. The first is found in Eph 6:1-4 in the truth that both children and parents have a responsibility before the Lord as to the manner in which they treat each other. We need to keep this in mind in all our dealings in order to bring the effective power and work of the Lord into each interaction, one with the other.
Eph 6:1-4, Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth. And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. 
    	And the last one, highlighted in Col 4:6, is that we, as parents and teachers, need to keep our interactions with our younger generation in prayer before the Lord. We need to measure our words with them just as we do with every other individual unto whom we strive to share the good news of Jesus Christ. When we do so, we will be very careful as to the way we talk and interact, especially with our children, in the words and the love of Christ for them.
	Col 4:6, Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned, as it were, with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person. 
Our children and young ones, who mean so very much to us, must always be the ones for whom we pray that our words and our actions will consistently manifest the wisdom and the grace and the purity of Christ. That is how we will effectively teach them the difference that Christ makes in His true and eternal life. So be it!
And you shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. Amen.

	This morning’s benediction is Ex 34:6. Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; Amen.