Great And Marvelous Things

Mike Spaulding

And they sang the song of Moses the bond-servant of God and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are Thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Thy ways, Thou King of the nations. Revelation 15:3

My wife Kathy and I have a habit of asking one another a question during our morning devotional time together. Sometimes I will think to ask it and other times she will ask me, but it is always the same question. That question is this: what is God going to do today? By that we mean, what will God do in, through, or around us today that we will see Him once again at work to bring about His plans. Without fail each of us always answers that question in the same way: God is going to do great and marvelous things!

What started out as a challenge to one another to remember that God is in control of His creation regardless of what our circumstances might suggest, has turned into an encouragement to see and appreciate God’s goodness toward us specifically, as He chooses to reveal Himself in the circumstances of everyday life.

Over the years I have come to realize that God is always at work around us, but we often fail to see Him at work. Perhaps we are too busy to notice, too caught up in our daily routines, too involved in managing our lives for what we believe are important purposes.

When was the last time you considered how majestic, wonderful, beautiful, and marvelous God is? Have you considered the promises fulfilled in the power God wields everyday for the benefit of His creation?

The very first book in the Bible tells us that: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1), and that He determined His creation to be good.

I often find myself considering the words of the King David as he related them in Psalm 8:1, 3-4:

O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth,
Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?

What are we indeed, compared to the splendor and majesty of our Creator! The Prophet Isaiah gives us a glimpse of the awe-inspiring God we call Father and LORD in Isaiah 6:1-5:

In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.
Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said,

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,
The whole earth is full of His glory.”

And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said,

“Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

What a marvelous thought Isaiah introduces to us. Our eyes can see the King, the LORD! In our case we see His mighty works all around us, in events, in people, in conversations, and sometimes when we aren’t expecting it.

The Apostle Paul informed the believers residing in Corinth that the magnificence of God, the greatness and holiness of the One who made us all is observable to those who have the Spirit of God dwelling in them. In 1 Corinthians 2:6-13 we read:

Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written,

“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

This does not mean as some suppose, that those who refuse to believe in the one true God, Yahweh of the Bible, are somehow excused for their unbelief. The Apostle Paul answers that claim in his letter to the believers residing in Rome. Thus we read in Romans 1:18-20:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

My point here is that the creation itself gives testimony of the God Who is and as Francis Schaeffer informed us, He is not silent. He has left His imprint on the universe and His sons and daughters by faith give testimony to this truth. But those who deny God’s responsibility for the creation of the universe or even His existence, cannot deny the complexity of creation, the uniformity and intricacy by which all things work together to sustain life here on the earth. This clearly speaks of purposeful design.

Frank Turek and the late Norm Geisler wrote a book I often refer people to titled, “I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist.” One of the key points upon which the book rests is this: the truth about reality can be known. Truth is not dependent upon our feelings or emotions, in fact, truth is independent of what we might think of it. Arguments to the contrary turn out to be self-refuting.

Employing accepted principles related to several truths that the scientific method employs, provides convincing proofs to the reality that what the Bible says concerning the creation of the universe corresponds to what is observed. Even devoted atheists admit that the universe shows signs of intelligent design. For example, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, the expansion of the universe, cosmic background radiation, Great Galaxy Seeds, and Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity all support the Bible’s claims of a starting point for the universe.

God has already done great and marvelous things as witnessed in the creation. However, He has not left us alone to fend for ourselves. He is intimately involved moment by moment in the affairs of mankind. He gives us minds to think, analyze, and logically deduce the evidence before us and arrive at the only conclusion that satisfies: He is the Creator, our Maker and Great God. He is Yahweh, and He is worthy of our praise, worship, and obedience.

These thoughts are captured beautifully in the cherished hymn, How Great Thou Art. Created as a poem by Carl Boberg in 1885, it was eventually translated into German, Russian, and finally into English by Stuart Hines in 1949. This hymn speaks to the wonder and majesty of our God in Creation and of His mercy and grace in sending a Savior, Jesus Christ.

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Chorus:

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Chorus

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on a Cross, my burdens gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Chorus

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: “My God, how great Thou art!”

As you begin each new day, pause to thank God for the gift of life and ask Him to show you what He is doing all around you. When you do this, be prepared to witness things you never noticed before. That is His invitation to you to join Him in His work of redemption. What a great and marvelous God we serve!

Lyrics found here – https://www.godtube.com/popular-hymns/how-great-thou-art/ Carl Boberg first published “O Store Gud” in the Mönsterås Tidningen (Mönsterås News) on 13 March 1886. The version utilized here is from Stuart Hines’s translation published in 1949. Information is here – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Great_Thou_Art

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com
E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg