Our God is the God of many generations.
Scripture makes that clear. It’s even found in one of the names He uses for Himself:
“I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Exodus 3:6
God loves the generations and prefers to work within its framework.
This passage is a mandate to generational interaction. The generation that is going off is to pour into the generation that is coming up. Likewise, the rising generation is to follow the example of the older generation. In this manner things are to continue — until the end of time as we know it.
A perfect design — for the good of all people and for His glory.
“…commend…declare…meditate…speak…declare…pour forth…sing aloud…”
Read through the passage again and notice. It is packed with vivid verbs calling us to action as we interact with the generations He so loves.
In verse four, we see that we are to offer public praise for the “things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us” (Psalm 73:8). In completeness and in detail, we are to proclaim His great works.
Verse five beckons us to private meditation. We are to spend time alone thinking on the gloriousness of His majesty and reflecting on His works.
Just as there is a rhythm to the generational cycle — older to younger, younger to older — we find a cycle in this passage. Verse four speaks to generational interaction. Verse five quiets us with a period of personal communication with the Lord.
The cycle continues in verses six and seven where in verse six we are instructed to tell other generations of His awesome deeds, things that no person could do on their own. And in verse seven, where we are exhorted to share our praise for His abundant goodness and to sing aloud His righteousness — a goodness that can never dry up and a righteousness that is perfect and just.