Week 11: A family legacy

Devotional readings focused on Psalm 17 and 78 for the third week of March.

Meditation

Skip to the Bible readings and reflection questions

My family has a standing joke that comes up nearly every time we are together. Please don’t be offended, because our collectively warped sense of family humor finds this funny, but the kids always tease us about needing to be frugal so that they can inherit our vast wealth. “Vast wealth” is in itself laughable, but we always respond with, “We have a plan to spend every last penny and enjoy ourselves in our old age! There will be nothing left for you, so you had better plan ahead!”

While we may have a little something to bless the kids with when we go, there is another treasure trove of vast wealth that we would like to bequeath to our children and grandchildren. It is not a hoard of material wealth; it is a spiritual heritage.

Psalm 17 may not be the obvious passage to choose when discussing a spiritual heritage, but as I read through it, a contrast emerges between two types of people and the legacy they leave their children and grandchildren. David begins (verses 1-5) with a statement about his own integrity and walk with God in which he declares that, although not without sin, he was led a life of faithfulness and virtue before God, and he calls on God to attest to that fact:

Though you probe my heart,

though you examine me at night and test me,

you will find that I have planned no evil;

my mouth has not transgressed.

Though people tried to bribe me,

I have kept myself from the ways of the violent

through what your lips have commanded.

My steps have held to your paths;

my feet have not stumbled.

(Psalm 17:3-5, NIV)

Just to be able to say what David says—and have your children agree—is an incredible spiritual heritage. A life like that creates ripples of goodness down through the generations to come. My own grandparents’ stories served that purpose in my life. In their eighties, my father’s parents wrote out their life stories, printed and bound them, and gave them to their grandchildren to serve as reminders of God’s faithfulness. Can I do the same for my children and grandchildren someday? If I hold fast to Jesus, I can!

But if I don’t, if I wander off and live only for my own pleasures, there is no spiritual heritage in store for my descendants. David discusses this in verse 14, one of those difficult passages for translators to put into English. According to Warren Wiersbe in his commentary on the Psalms, this verse might be better translated “‘May they have their punishment in full. May their children inherit more of the same, and may the judgment continue to their children’s children.’” In other words, the effects of sin can trickle down through the generations as a legacy of negative stories and consequences.

This idea of generational sin can be found in Exodus 34:7 and Numbers 14:18 as well. The idea isn’t that God punishes children and grandchildren for their ancestors’ misdeeds, but that personal decisions always create by-products. Even if I think that a particular decision only impacts me, the wrong decision sets a spiritual butterfly effect in motion for those around me. Of course, the opposite is true as well: if I choose to follow God faithfully in one small thing, the trickle down effects of that decision can bless my family for generations to come.

In fact, in Psalm 17 David doesn’t claim that his greatest achievements are his most valuable legacy for his descendants. He could have mentioned his forty year reign, his restoration of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, his unification of Israel as a nation, or God’s promise that his descendants would always reign on David’s throne. What is David’s most important accomplishment in Psalm 17? He tells us in the final verse:

As for me, I will behold Your face in righteousness;

when I awake, I will be satisfied in Your presence.

(Psalm 17:15, BSB)

David’s legacy is simply this: that when he dies, he will enjoy being in the presence of God forevermore. What better inheritance could we leave our own families than a relationship with God and the hope of an eternity with Him?

As we read through this week’s passages, let me encourage you not to think of big accomplishments that you can point to in your own life. Most of us have few of those. Instead think small, think gentle, like the brush of butterfly wings. God Himself speaks to us in a still, small voice, and we can follow His example as we speak or model His truths to our family members. Who knows what multitudes of blessings a life of consistent small obediences can generate for our children and our children’s children?

Readings and Reflection Questions

Monday's reading: Psalm 17

Reflection Questions: Take a moment to evaluate your walk with the Lord in this midlife season. Are the effects of your daily decisions passing down good things to your children and grandchildren? Verses 1-5 offer us a good list of categories for this evaluation.

Tuesday's reading: Deuteronomy 6

Reflection Questions: Read through this passage, God’s instructions to the people of Israel on how to stay faithful to God down through their generations. Which warnings might apply to you? In what ways are you teaching the words of God to your children and grandchildren? Take a moment to brainstorm a few creative ideas for sharing more of God’s word with your family members.

Wednesday's reading: Psalm 78:1-39

Reflection Questions: This Psalm extols the blessings of passing our faith along to the next generation, by telling the story of God’s people, Israel. Verses 6-8 list the benefits of generational transmission of faith. List out the benefits, then mark the ones that your family needs most right now. Write out a prayer asking for God to bless and develop your family in those areas.

Thursday's reading: Psalm 78:40-64

Reflection Questions: These verses describe God’s judgement against Israel when they forgot about Him and how He had miraculously saved them from Egypt. How have you seen the hand of God work in your family to bring family members back to Himself? Write out a prayer for those family members who need to turn to the God who loves them.

Friday's reading: Psalm 78:65-72

Reflection Questions: In this last section of the Psalm, Asaph describes the golden age of Israel under the rule of David. What characteristics of family leadership did David display? How could those characteristics apply to your role in your family?

Weekend reading: 2 Timothy 1:1-14

Reflection Questions: Paul opens this chapter with a discussion of Timothy’s spiritual heritage. Who does Paul mention in Timothy’s spiritual family line? Who is in your spiritual family line? Paul instructs Timothy in passing on the faith to his own spiritual descendants in verses 6-14. Which of Paul’s instructions resonate with you and the needs of your family members?