September is a significant month for children and parents alike, for it marks the beginning of a new school year at the kindergarten as well as the college level. Once again parents are entrusting their children to the various educational institutions, with the hope that the education provided there may assist them in training their children in the way they must go.

We know that our land abounds with educational institutions which hinder, and quite frequently, oppose parents in training their children in a manner which is consistent with their principles. What a blessing of inestimable value it is therefore, that our parents may now have the privilege to send their children to our own Christian schools, in which the training provided at home may be re-enforced on a daily basis. The Lord truly has done great things for us in the last ten years, for during this decade the Christian education movement within our denomination has flourished. For His Name and covenant sake the Lord has opened many closed doors and made it possible for schools to come into existence throughout our denomination, so that children from nearly all our congregations may daily be instructed on the basis of His precious Word. Many of our parents are deeply grateful for this as it greatly assists them in bringing up their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

However, at the beginning of this new school year, it is of great impor­tance to emphasize that, even though our schools are a great blessing in the midst of our congregations and we must support them to the utmost of our ability, the ultimate responsibility of training children in accordance with God's Word remains a parental one! Christian education may never become an end in itself, may never become a surrogate for parental instruction. The Christian school is merely an extension of the home, where teachers, as substitute parents, assist the parents in being faithful to the vow they have made at the baptism of their children, namely to bring up and instruct their children in the "aforesaid doctrine" to the utmost of their power. This solemn, parental obligation is made abundantly clear in the first seven verses of Psalm 78. Especially in verse 5, Asaph, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wishes to remind the children of Israel that the instruction of their children is not merely an option they may exercise if they so desire, but a specific command which God gave them when He established a national covenant with Israel. Israelite parents were under Divine obligation to make their children, who by virtue of circumcision were members of the visible revelation of the Old Testament church, thoroughly acquainted with Jehovah's laws and testimony.

This task was especially delegated to the fathers, who as the heads of their families were called to be prophets, priests and kings in their homes. As prophets they were called to instruct their children out of Jehovah's laws, as priests they were called to beseech Jehovah to bless their families, and as kings they were called to rule their families on the basis of Jehovah's laws. Psalm 78:5 especially emphasizes the prophetic responsibility of every father in Israel. He is commanded to make them known to his children. Verse 4 makes it abundantly clear what he must make known to his children, namely, the praises of Jehovah, the strength of Jehovah, and the wonderful works of Jehovah. How very obvious it is that within their homes the fathers were commanded to provide their children with a God-centered education! (It is therefore only logical that Christian education, which is an exten­sion of the home, must of necessity be God-centered as well!)

I believe it needs no proof here that we as parents have the identical obligation as the parents in Israel. Also we are obliged to give our children, who by virtue of baptism are members of the visible revelation of the New Testament church, a God-centered instruction in our homes. This is in the first place our responsibility, and not the school's! We have sworn an oath that we, and this is especially true for the fathers, would make known to our children the praises, the strength and the wonderful works of Jehovah. This means that we are obligated to speak to our children about the praises of Jehovah, i.e., about His superior qualities, for this is the meaning of the word here. As young as they are, we must seek to focus the attention of our children on God, their Creator, and His glorious attributes. Against this background we must then confront them with the dreadful reality of our fall by which we have broken the wondrous relationship with our glorious Creator, a breach which we can never repair again, a breach which has made us the objects of the just wrath of our Maker. However, then we must also speak to them about Jehovah's strength, about His almighty power whereby He restores rebellious sons and daughters of Adam into His favor, because He has laid help upon One that is Mighty, the Lord Jesus Christ. Subsequently, we must also speak to them about Jehovah's wonderful works, about the wonderful way in which Jehovah applies that salvation, by the irresistible working of His Holy Spirit, to the hearts of lost sinners – the wonderful way in which our offended Maker can be a gracious God for Jesus' sake.

And so we are called to instruct our children about the wondrous redeeming love of a Triune Jehovah, which was signified and sealed at their baptism, where a Triune God has sworn by His own Name, that He is willing also to be their God, that on the basis of the mediatorial work of Christ, it is also possible for them to be reconciled to their Maker! At the baptism of our children we have vowed that we would instruct them about this glorious truth. How very plain it is from verse 7 that this must be the very reason why we show our children the praises, the strength, and the wonderful works of Jehovah, namely, "that they might set their hope in God!" We must tell our children that they must seek God, their Maker, that it is God, Who by His strength is able to make them a new creature, that it is God Who by His wonderful works can deliver them from sin and guilt, and restore them into His favor! This, parents and Christian school educators, is what God commands us to do.

If we, therefore, seek to induce our children to serve the Lord only by threatening them with hell, we act most seriously in contradiction to the specific Divine command given to us in this Psalm.

If we raise our children in this manner we must not be surprised if they view God as a tyrant rather than a loving and gracious God, Who has sworn an oath that He does not desire the death of sinners. If this is the religious education we give our children, then we must also not be surprised if they will display a rebellious attitude towards religion and will break with it as soon as the opportunity pre­sents itself.

We may not tell our children that they must seek the Lord primarily in order to escape hell. No, we must tell them that they must seek the Lord because as their Creator He is so worthy to be served by them; and therefore they must seek to be reconciled with Him! That is the very reason why Scripture says, "Remember now Thy Creator in the days of thy youth" (Eccl. 12:1). We must explain to our children that hell will be the just reward for those who will not serve their Creator!

Parents and teachers, God has given us a most solemn command, a command if we take it seriously, we cannot obey in our own strength. However, our inability to obey does not absolve us from our obligation to obey. Eli discovered this by most bitter experience. Rather than excusing ourselves, may this Divine requirement and our inability to meet this requirement drive us out to the throne of grace, to the God Who graciously invites us in His Word, "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it!" (Ps. 81:10) May the Lord grant that our feeble efforts to instruct our children in a Biblical manner may be graciously blessed to the salvation of our children by Jehovah, Whose truth shall stand forever, and Who will remember His covenant from generation to generation!