One generation to another

Reading Psalm 145:4-7

"One generation will commend your works to another;
they will tell of your mighty acts.
They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
They will tell of the power of your awesome works,
and I will proclaim your great deeds.
They will celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness."

The Psalmist reminds us that the greatness of God is revealed to every generation. Every generation has a story to tell to the next. The further we travel in life the more we have to tell and the greater the obligation to tell it. The obligation is both collective ("they") and personal ("I"). No one else is going to discharge my obligation to seek to pass on the stories of the mighty acts of God that I have witnessed. In the Psalm there is a back and forth interplay between the witness of the congregation and the witness of the individual believer. If I think I have nothing to tell it means that I have probably been living my life with my eyes shut or have been looking only at my own feet. If I have cared to see it I have been a witness to the mighty power of God.

The Psalmist is clear that we are not simply witnesses to ancient history, to something that happened in the dark ages of the past. We are not witnesses to theories that picture God as an unseen force, an ultimate cause. We must give witness to God's "works," to his "mighty acts," and to what this means for us as it reveals "the glorious splendor of your majesty."

If we have an obligation to speak about these things then we have an equal obligation to listen. What have we learned of God from the generation that has come before us? Surely this portion of the Psalm is a testimony to the importance of the work of Church History in preserving a memory of God's action in the world throughout all generations.

It is important both to listen and to tell. If all we do is tell our own stories then we begin to lose perspective and God is diminished. If all we does is listen then we fail to bear witness to what God has done in our own life and the story ends with us.

"They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds."