Wondrous Things

Wondrous Things

God has blessed my husband and I with travel all over the world. We are often asked, “What is your favorite place you’ve been to?” My husband will quickly answer, “Kenya.” He loved all the animals we saw in the wild, some close enough to touch. I hesitate. Each country has its own unique and wonderful things to see. The alps in Switzerland and Southern Germany are breathtaking. Scotland has glassy lochs that reflect the hills and sky. Paris was beautiful in the fall. Australia boasted kangaroos and koalas. New Zealand’s fjords showcased beautiful waterfalls. China’s great wall stretched further than we could hike or travel. Japan’s snow-capped Mt. Fuji towered above us. Honduras has a jungle retreat with colorful birds and a soothing quietness. In Israel we traveled from mountains to desert to the Jordan and the Sea of Galilee to the shining Mediterranean. Jordan boasted Petra. Italy and Greece held incredible ruins. The United Arab Emirates had camels freely roaming the dessert dunes. Egypt had the pyramids, Sphinx and Nile River. For me, every country is home to something wonderful. I’ve left countries out, but you can see why it might be difficult for me to pick one favorite. God’s creativity and beauty are everywhere.

But there are infinitely more wondrous things than these. Our church has an app for a Bible reading and Scripture memory plan. One of our memory verses is Psalm 119:18.

Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law.

Last week we studied how we are made complete, equipped for every good work by God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Psalm 119:18 gives us another picture of the goodness of God’s Word. It is a single sentence, but I think each part teaches us more about God and His Word.

Open my eyes – I notice two elements in these words. First, the Psalmist recognizes that the problem lies with him. God’s Word IS wondrous. It always has been. It always will be. God does not need to do anything to enhance or make it wondrous to us. The problem is us. Our eyes. Our ability and willingness to behold. Second, the Psalmist asks God to open his eyes. He understands that he needs help and the help he needs comes from God. The Holy Spirit graciously opens our eyes to behold and understand God’s Word. Apart from the Holy Spirit, God’s Word would be foolishness to us (1 Corinthians 2:10b-14).

That I may behold – There is a purpose to the Psalmist’s request to have his eyes open. He wants to beholdwondrous things in God’s Word. The word behold reminded me of several uses in the New Testament.

The next day he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

John 1:29

So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”

John 19:5

26 When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!”

John 19:26-27a

In each of these, the use of the word behold is to draw attention to something or someone, specifically Jesus. The speaker wants those around to consider Jesus. It is more than just the physical seeing. It is knowing the impact of what you are physically seeing. John the Baptist wanted people to know that Jesus was the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. He was the Messiah. Pilate, despite finding no fault with Jesus, had Him flogged. The soldiers put the crown of thorns and purple robe on Jesus, mocked Him and struck Him. Pilate then presented Jesus to the chief priests and officers and called them to behold Jesus. He wanted them to consider their actions against Jesus. Jesus on the cross wanted His mother to behold her new son, and John to behold his new mother. Jesus was charging His mother and John with a new familial responsibility.

So, when the Psalmist desires to behold wondrous things in God’s Word, he isn’t requesting an ability to read the words or even to have God’s Word available to him. His desire is to really consider, meditate on, be transformed by the wondrous things in God’s Word.

Wondrous things out of Your law –Marvelous. Extraordinary. Surpassing. These are translations of the Hebrew word for wondrous. God’s Word is worth beholding. It isn’t just a bunch of Sunday School stories or cumbersome rules. It is wondrous, and it reveals a wondrous God. Too many times I have approached God’s Word with drudgery or sense of duty. I read, but my mind wanders. I close my Bible and walk away already on to other things. I am not beholding wondrous things, and the fault is mine alone.

When we took trains and cable cars to the Schilthorn in Switzerland, all we could do was behold the alps with their snowy peaks and green, flower covered lower slopes. At the top of the Schilthorn is a revolving restaurant. We had three hundred sixty-degree views of mountain peak after mountain peak. We spent hours taking it all in. But God’s Word is infinitely more wondrous and lasting.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

Isaiah 40:8

What a wondrous thing that God is eternal. His Word is eternal. “Every word of God proves true” (Proverbs 30:5). We can trust God and His Word. They will never change or cease to be.

Your law – The Hebrew word for law is tôrâ, perhaps better translated as instruction or teaching. No matter how many times I read through the Bible, the Holy Spirit reveals new things to me. It contains the life-altering Gospel. It reveals who God is and what He has done. It tells me who I am in Christ, and who I was apart from God. It teaches me how to live a life that glorifies God. It describes the eternal life we look forward to, and God’s amazing grace now. God’s law, God’s instruction is always for our best. It transforms us. It conforms us to the image of Jesus. As we saw last week, it teaches, reproves, corrects, and trains us in righteousness, so we are complete, equipped for every good work. God’s Word is something to love and delight in. Nothing is more wondrous than God and His Word.

Open our eyes, Lord, that we may behold wondrous things out of Your law.

Reflection

1. What on earth do you consider wondrous? What have you beheld in God’s Word that is wondrous? Share it with someone today. It has been a blessing for my husband and I to share with each other something wondrous we’ve read that day from the Bible reading plan. I get to hear what was wondrous to my husband, and I can share why something was wondrous to me.

2. Before you read Scripture, pray, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law.” Then take time to really behold what you read.