“Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.” Psalm 111:2 ESV.
Reflection: how can you tell if some event was the work of the Lord God?
You have probably heard many, especially those who reject God, say “How can God, who is good, allow bad things to happen?” And, even for us who are Christians, believers and followers of Jesus Christ, might at times be tempting to ponder why God allows difficult things and hardships in our lives. A chronic illness, loss of a job and income, relationship issues, even loss of a loved one. We all know of the struggles of this life. But, perhaps we are looking at this completely backwards, asking the wrong question. Meaning, we are looking at what the evil one is doing, wondering why God doesn’t stop all works of evil, right?. But if we turn the question on its head, it becomes something like “Have you considered at all the good, the miracles God is doing, even in this evil and fallen world?” So, I am wondering,
Are we pondering the good works of God?
Psalm 111 is another “alphabet” psalm, (meaning, each stanza has an associated Hebrew letter, from beginning to end to help memorize it), and our verse today touches on exactly this idea of ponding the good works of God. “Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.” Psalm 111:2 ESV. This idea of seeking God, of looking for and studying the great works of God, goes way back before this psalm was written. We read “But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Deuteronomy 4:29 ESV.
So how can we study and ponder His great works?
Perhaps a starting point is to just read the Bible, to learn about some of the great works He has done since the beginning of time. As Christians, we certainly study and remind each other about the greatest works of all, as our Lord Jesus Christ entered into this world to redeem us and set us free by His atoning death for our sins. And we can also look throughout the church history, at all the great works He has done, spreading the gospel across the earth from which you and I are recipients. As we really study and ponder this, it leads us to worship of God.
But, I think we there is so much more here. While it is very good to read about what He has done in the past, we can also look at our present day. What He is doing now, in other people’s lives through listening to testimonies and sermons, talking with fellow believers, etc.. But let’s not minimize and forget what He is doing directly in our own lives, and also share that with others. A few years ago, I decided to start writing down some of the things in my own life, that I knew had to be the hand of God. And, as I was preparing for this study today, I had to go back through these notes, to study and remind myself of some of these good works of God. And, they are absolutely amazing. They immediately led me to worship, giving God all the praise and glory.
We have to remember that we are still living in an evil world, still run by “the prince of the power of the air”, as Paul called our enemy. Which is why we still see so much wickedness around us. But we have been set free from the domain of darkness and death. Paul reminds us “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”Ephesians 2:1-7 ESV.
Jesus also reminded us of His victory over the power of this world, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”” John 16:33 ESV. And we also know that the world will eventually pass away. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” 1 John 2:15-17 ESV
I have found it to be a good habit to write down “good” things as they happen, things I know were not random events but the hand of God. But I need to look for and ponder those things, even expect God to still do great works. And if I don’t write them down, I know that I will soon forget them. Then later, I can read and study His great works and be reminded of who He is, which leads me to worship of Him as the psalmist did. “Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.” Psalm 111:1 ESV