"Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD."
Psalms 34:11
“Come, ye children,”
In this psalm, David addresses “people” as a whole (v. 8). Then he speaks specifically to “the saints” (v. 9). And now he is speaking to young people. These are the ones who are inexperienced with life. David uses the term “children” the way Solomon uses “my son” in Proverbs. He is concerned that these “children” learn the how’s and the why’s of fearing the LORD.
“Hearken unto me:”
To “harken” means “to hear, listen to, obey.”1 It’s the idea of paying attention to or really listening to and thinking about what has been said, with a heart toward obedience. David has “been around the block” a few times, and he has had a wealth of experience with His God, he has something to teach the next generation, and they need to listen to him. David is telling the young people to listen to him, think about what he is saying, and do something about it—obey, fear the LORD.
“I will teach you the fear of the LORD.”
I will teach you why to fear Him, how to fear Him, and what it means to fear the LORD. The goal of educating the children is to help them learn how to fear the LORD themselves so that they can learn from the LORD.
“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye,” (Psalm 32:8).
A word of challenge to parents.
We need to remember the Word of God places the responsibility of teaching our children on us. There is no one better able to teach your children about God than you. You are naturally your child’s best teacher. Yes, we enlist the help of other teachers to help us explain things that they are well versed in. But you should be teaching your child about the LORD and how to have a right relationship with Him. Your child will learn by seeing you model the Christian life.
“Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons,” (Deuteronomy 4:9).
“And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up,” (Deuteronomy 6:7).
“And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way when thou liest down, and when thou risest up,” (Deuteronomy 11:19).
“If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore,” (Psalm 132:12).
Dear parents, let’s each pray that the LORD will make us effective teachers of our children. Let’s be faithful to point the way to Him!
1. Brown, Driver, Briggs. Brown-Driver-Briggs’ Hebrew Definitions, the electronic version in eSword.