In Psalm 78, the writer Asaph assumes the role of a father to his people as he describes what the role of a father, the role of a father being that, being commanded by God to make known the deeds of the Lord that have happened in previous generations. And so we see Asaph as a wise father taking up that role and making known throughout the rest of Psalm 78 what God has done through the history of Israel and ending actually with a wonderful picture of the Messiah to come as He talks of King David and God raising Him up. And the reason that the Father is supposed to talk to the next generation is so that they would set their hope in God, that they would remember all of His ways, that they would not do as some of the fathers did in the past. We read of a sad situation at the beginning of the book of Judges. After Joshua passes away, we read that another generation rose up that did not know the ways of the Lord, did not know what he had done.

Even though there had been stones set up at the crossing of the river and they were to tell their children why these stones were there, what they were for, a memorial to what God had done. But a generation arose that did not know God. And what do we read of that time because of that very thing? Every man did what was right in his own eyes. And so Asaph here is an example of what a father should be.