Generations

An argument for truly long-term thinking from Psalm 78:5-8.

This post is entirely inspired by a friend of mine, who posted a screenshot of a detailed breakdown he was doing of Psalm 78:5.

With his permission, I’ve copied his screenshot here:

Joel counted four generations mentioned in verses 5-6; fathers, children, the “children yet unborn,” and then their children.

That’s remarkably long-term thinking! Thinking of our children? Sure, that’s easy enough. And hey, even though my children are young, I’ve thought at least on occasion about what it might be like to have grandkids someday.

But I’ll admit I’ve never, if ever, given even a passing thought to my great-grandkids.

By doing so, the Psalmist raises the fascinating concept of living life, now, in such a way that it impacts the subsequent three generations of your family.

So let’s indulge in a bit of a mental exercise here. I’m going to start with the spiritual lesson - that’s the obvious point of departure, given the source material. But I’d like to expand the idea beyond that and consider a couple of other facets as well, in regards to family structure and financial planning.

The Spiritual Life of a Generational Man

Let’s start by taking a look at the whole psalm. Most of my readers (dozens of you! DOZENS!!) are practicing Christians, so this is nothing new, but for anyone reading this beyond the Christian faith, a quick background.

The book of Psalms is the 19th book of the Old Testament in the Bible. It’s considered “wisdom literature,” which as the name implies, is material intended to teach and instruct. The Psalms are also songs; that’s what the word means. For that reason, the psalms are also poetry - although it’s Hebrew poetry, so not every psalm looks like poetry to an English reader. If you want to see the psalms in a more poetic English form, check out something like the Scottish Psalter:

1 Attend, my people, to my law; thereto give thou an ear; The words that from my mouth proceed attentively do hear.

2 My mouth shall speak a parable, and sayings dark of old; 3 The same which we have heard and known, and us our fathers told.

4 We also will them not conceal from their posterity; Them to the generation to come declare will we:

The praises of the Lord our God, and his almighty strength, The wondrous works that he hath done, we will show forth at length.

5 His testimony and his law in Isr'el he did place, And charged our fathers it to show to their succeeding race;

6 That so the race which was to come might well them learn and know; And sons unborn, who should arise, might to their sons them show:

7 That they might set their hope in God, and suffer not to fall His mighty works out of their mind, but keep his precepts all:

So to recap: the section talking about generations is taken from a book of songs, songs of experience and wisdom.

Onto the lesson.

Simply put, God’s blessings flow downhill on the ones who follow Him. There’s a blessing on the family of God who keep His commandments. Family, in this case, clearly refers to Israel - though it’s not wrong to apply it to an individual family as well.

Want to be a generational man? Set the religious tone in your household. Specifically (and again, Joel has helpfully underlined it above), a man who thinks generationally takes the commandments of God that have been taught to him and passes them on. “He commanded our fathers,” verse five states, “to teach to their children.”

There’s a clear transmission of information here. We take what we’ve learned, and we pass it on.

What are we passing on? Obedience.

That’s an unusual idea in today’s “manosphere.” A manly man should lift weights, rule the household with a rod of iron, be properly patriarchal, etc. But a man should . . . . obey?

I imagine that’s a much less popular topic. And yet, it’s precisely true. A generational man, first and foremost, is one who obeys God and who passes on that sense of obedience to his children. A generational man teaches not only the content of the lessons taught to him (in this case, to fear God) but also the very pattern of obedience.

Only by obedience to God’s Word can we teach the same patterns of obedience to our children, and continue a chain of transmission that reaches down to those “generations yet unborn.”

The Family Life of a Generational Man

Quick point of fact; you can’t pass patterns of obedience or even generational life lessons down to your children if you don’t have any. The Psalmist assumes that the default pattern here is fathers —> children. Again, there’s a communal context; the song is given to/for Israel the nation, not an individual family.

A generational man builds for the future. He has children, because children are the future, and because through them he can pass on. . . well, everything. He can pass on his obedience to God. He can pass on his wealth. He can pass on his knowledge.

He can pass on his mistakes, as well.

Joel’s original commentary rings especially true here.

Don’t live in such a way that your descendants need to work hard at intentionally avoiding your example.

That’s the tricky bit, and I imagine it’s where most potential fathers get off the boat. Parenting is hard work, and what if I’m not good? My parents made X mistakes - what if I make the same?

Without downplaying the risks, it’s worth remembering the basic goal. Are you wanting to live a generational life? Do you want to leave something that outlasts yourself? Then build for the future, starting with your own children.

I’m not unaware that children aren’t always possible. So what about men who want to be generational, but can’t have children?

I don’t think mentoring is a complete substitute for parenting. I’m a huge fan of mentoring - I hope that this newsletter is an outlet for it, at least in a small way - but mentoring stands slightly apart from, if hopefully alongside, parenting.

Having said that, mentoring plays in to a generational mindset. Mentoring is well-recognised in the business world, in its importance for male friendships, and I think you see core elements in Scripture itself.

And perhaps that’s the best example. The default pattern is father to son, but Jesus had disciples, not sons, and yet His generations will last for ever.

The Financial Life of a Generational Man

I’ll admit that when I read Joel’s post, the first thing that popped into my mind regarding the “mistakes” bit was finances.

I’m not particularly good at personal finances. I’ve gotten better, I hope; at the very least, I’ve learned hard (and painfully) what NOT to do. I work and pray that the finances and financial awareness I pass on to my own succeeding generations isn’t just “don’t make the same mistakes Dad did!”

I rather hope I’ll leave them everything they need for a financial head start, as well as practices they need to build on that foundation.

This idea - financial planning for future generations - is probably worth its own post. I’ll leave it short for now. Of the three ideas covered today, finances is the most visible, but least important. You can’t leave finances to generations you don’t have, and while finances come and go, obedience to God is eternal.

The Takeaway

“You do not know what a day may bring,” says Proverbs 27:1. Life is unpredictable, but it’s good for men to think beyond just today. How far beyond? The Psalmist suggests as far beyond as you can conceive - to your children’s children, and still further.

Action Points

Finances - Passive Income streams. Working for someone else puts a natural cap on what you can earn; working for yourself is a different thing entirely.

Family - Less a hard-and-fast action point, more a mindset; by God’s grace, seek to have children and then don’t neglect raising them for Him. Teach obedience.

Faith - Faith isn’t an obscure, vague nothing of belief. Obedience puts faith in action.