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Psalm 78:8

and might not be as their fathers— a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that didn’t make their hearts loyal, whose spirit was not steadfast with God.

6that the generation to come might know, even the children who should be born; who should arise and tell their children,
7that they might set their hope in God, and not forget God’s deeds, but keep his commandments,
8and might not be as their fathers— a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that didn’t make their hearts loyal, whose spirit was not steadfast with God.
9The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.
10They didn’t keep God’s covenant, and refused to walk in his law.
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← Psalm 78:7Psalm 78:9 →
Notice

The fathers’ rebellion exposes a painful possibility within God’s people: a generation can pass on its history while failing to remain steadfast with God.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What have you received from earlier generations that helps you remain steadfast with God?

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Where, if anywhere, do you see a difference between inherited habits and loyalty to God?

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What would you want the next generation to learn from this warning about their fathers?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 51:10Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.Both passages concern the heart and spirit before God; Psalm 51 asks God for the inward renewal Psalm 78’s fathers lacked.
1 Corinthians 15:58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.Psalm 78 names a failure to remain steadfast with God, while Paul urges steadfastness in the Lord’s work.
Luke 1:17He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to …Both passages speak of fathers and children, linking the generations with a concern for hearts and obedience to God.
Isaiah 48:4Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow bronze;Both texts confront stubbornness, with Isaiah’s iron neck and bronze brow depicting the resistance Psalm 78 names.
Psalm 78:37For their heart was not right with him, neither were they faithful in his covenant.Both verses identify the heart’s failure toward God, joining inward disloyalty with a lack of steadfast faithfulness.
Exodus 32:9The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people.God’s description of the people as stiff-necked matches Psalm 78’s account of a stubborn and rebellious generation.
Job 11:13“If you set your heart aright, stretch out your hands toward him.Zophar speaks of setting the heart aright toward God, while Psalm 78 describes fathers who failed to make their hearts loyal.
2 Kings 17:14Notwithstanding, they would not listen, but hardened their neck like the neck of their fathers who didn’t believe in the LORD their God.Both texts connect resistance to God with the fathers’ example, describing stubbornness that persists across generations.
Zechariah 1:4Don’t you be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying: The LORD of Armies says, ‘Return now from your evil ways and from your evil …Both passages warn against being like the fathers, whose refusal to heed God becomes a lesson for their descendants.
Ezekiel 20:18I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Don’t walk in the statutes of your fathers. Don’t observe their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols.Both passages distinguish faithfulness to God from copying the fathers, warning children against repeating the previous generation’s disobedience.
Deuteronomy 31:27For I know your rebellion and your stiff neck. Behold, while I am yet alive with you today, you have been rebellious against the LORD. How much more after my …Moses names rebellion against God among the people, the same resistance Psalm 78 recounts as a warning for another generation.
Acts 7:51“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do.Both passages name stubborn resistance to God and connect it with the fathers’ example.
Where this verse fits

Parenting. family conflict. sermon or Bible study notes.

What the Bible says about parenting →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read Psalm 78:6–8 and underline its hopes for children

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Encouragement

The warning has a purpose: children are taught to hope in God and keep his commands, even when their fathers have refused that path.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 78:8. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 78 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).