GOD’S WONDROUS WORKS

“O God, You have taught me from my youth; and to this day I declare YOUR WONDROUS WORKS” – Psalm 71:17

We can never exhaust declaring GOD’S WONDROUS WORKS: “O God, You have taught me from my youth; and to this day I declare YOUR WONDROUS WORKS” (Psa.71:17). These are unique displays of Divine Power that go far beyond human ability and comprehension. God’s wonders are supernatural acts beyond human understanding. Through extraordinary signs, the God of wonders demonstrates His limitless power, manifest presence, divine protection, and sovereign purposes. The one true God is the God of wonders. He is the God who executes miraculous works. His wonders declare His absolute control over events, people, and powers, and reveal His Presence among His people. Both the Old and New Testaments are replete with accounts of the great acts and wondrous works God performed for His people.

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew words translated “wonder” mean: “a splendid or remarkable work,” “marvellous deeds,” or “miracle.” God performed wonders through Moses during the exodus from Egypt: “So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with SIGNS and WONDERS” (Deut.26:8). The New Testament also attests to the God of wonders. The miracles of Jesus are called “wonderful things” (Mt.21:15). Acts 5:12 speaks of many “signs and wonders” performed. The marks of a true apostle include “signs, wonders, and miracles” (2Cor.12:12).

David in this psalm remembered what God taught him from childhood, which had stuck in his mind throughout his entire life (v.17). From the biblical accounts of the lives of the Patriarchs, the plagues of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and the provisions in the desert, he came to know the Lord as a strong refuge and fortress for His people. He therefore pleaded: “Be my strong refuge, to which I may resort continually…” (v.3a). He also recalled God’s wondrous works to him personally: “For You are my hope, O Lord God; You are my trust from my youth. By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise shall be continually of You” (vv.5-6).

David pleaded further: “Let my mouth be filled with Your praise and with Your glory all the day. Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails” (vv.8-9). In like manner, our knowledge of God needs to be developed and nurtured from youth and throughout life, so that the praise of God flavours our conversations, conduct, and outlook on life. To our dying day God’s praise is to be on our lips. The more we come to know His wonderful works, the more we become a Wonder to our world: “I have become as a wonder to many, but You are my strong refuge” (vv.7-8).

Elihu, Job’s friend, counselled him to: “stand still and consider the WONDROUS WORKS of GOD” (Job 37:14). We also should stand still and consider God’s Wondrous Works! We can never give thanks enough for His Wondrous Works: “We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks! For Your WONDROUS WORKS declare that Your name is near” (Psa.75:1). When we learn to pause and thankfully consider God’s wondrous works, then, we can declare like David, believing: “Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come… You shall increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side” (v.18).

Among God’s most wondrous deeds is the act of redemption. The God of wonders entered human history in the Person of the incarnate Son – Jesus Christ, the Greatest Wonder of all. Through His ministry, accompanied by mighty miracles, He confirmed the Presence of God and the reality of His Kingdom; and through His death and resurrection, the reality of redemption. Ultimately, God’s wondrous works are designed to draw people to Himself. Through the most stunning of all wonders, God revealed Himself in Christ, overcame the power of sin and death, and redeemed His people for all eternity.