How Awesome are Your Deeds!

Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!” (Psalm 66:3)

The Psalmist is calling God's people to worship God by focusing their thoughts on what God has done. The people of Israel were a chosen nation who witnessed things that God did which no other nation on earth has ever witnessed. And they were never supposed to forget what God had done for them. Indeed, most of the Law was given just so Israel could not forget God and His covenant with them. Unfortunately, the people of Israel did forget God and turned from the living God to worship the idols of the nations around them. Even at the foot of Mount Sinai, where God Himself appeared to them and spoke His commandments directly to them, the people made themselves a golden calf to worship. This illustrates the fact that it is human nature to forget about God and what He has done. The Law could not change the hearts of the people and cause them to retain God in their thoughts or to love God. Even though the Israelites were a chosen People belonging to God, their hearts were still basically wayward.

The New Covenant addresses the state of the human heart in a way the Law never could. Believers in Christ are born again of the Spirit of God and regenerated, or made new, and given new hearts that love God. Believers in Christ have received the Spirit of Adoption and are sons of the living God. The New Covenant promises that the Law will be written on the hearts of the people and put in their minds. New Covenant believers in Christ are also called a holy nation, a People belonging to God. We have also been told of God's mighty works for us in the Gospel. What God has done in Christ is a greater revelation and glory than what God did for Israel. We are remembering what God has done whenever we preach the Gospel of Christ. Believers are to remember the awesome deeds of God in Christ, who reconciled the world to Himself. We are not told to remember because our hearts are wayward, like Israel under the Law, but because there is great spiritual power in remembering what God has done in Christ. The Gospel is about what God has done and this is the power of God unto salvation. We are not saved by what we do but by the awesome deeds of God in Christ!

God's deeds reveal who He is. When the Scriptures speak of God's glory, it means that some aspect of God's nature has been revealed. God has not only told us what He is like, He has demonstrated certain aspects of His nature through what He has done. God is a Redeemer. So He revealed that aspect of His nature by redeeming His people Israel from slavery in Egypt. This was a picture of the ultimate redemption of sinners through the death of Christ. God is love. And His love for us has been demonstrated in the death of Jesus. There are certain aspects of God's nature that must be revealed through deeds and not just through words. Love is like that. It is fine to tell someone that you love them. However, love is something that must be seen to be believed. How would we have known that God is love if not for His demonstration of it in Christ and His sacrificial death? The Creation is also a work of God that declares His glory. Creation still speaks about the existence and the power of God, so that men are without excuse for not seeking after their Creator. Creation speaks of the glory of God, yet can seem rather remote and impersonal. It is only through Redemption in Christ that we see the love of God and that He is for us. Redemption is a greater revelation of God’s glory than the creation. This is important to remember in a time when people have a tendency to worship the creation rather than the Creator.

God works for His people. God's works are always for the benefit of His Elect and for their salvation. The creation of the world itself is a reminder that God wants to bless. He has made all things for our enjoyment and so that we would be drawn to Him who is the Giver of all good gifts. One of the great tragedies of the sinfulness of the world is that they do not acknowledge God as the source from whence all blessings flow. They worship the gift, but not the Giver. God's people are thankful for the gifts, and we enjoy what God has made to be enjoyed, but behind it all we see the hands of God, held open, calling us to come to Him and enjoy Him for who He is. The whole purpose of Man is to know God and enjoy Him forever, which is the very essence of Eternal Life. Ultimately the greatest gift of God is the gift of Himself – revealed to us in the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us. We know God is for us because He has not withheld Himself from us.

We praise and worship God because of what He has done. Worship is simply our response to God's amazing deeds in our behalf. The Church exists for the very purpose of declaring the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness and into light. The awesome deeds of the Lord are declared by His people who have been saved by grace. The people of God are themselves the evidence of God’s awesome deeds. We praise Him because we have seen His goodness demonstrated over and over again, not only in the examples of the Scriptures, and not only in the richness of Creation, but in how He has worked in each of us to save, sustain, and sanctify us. And if you are amazed at what God has already done, just wait! The best is still ahead when in the Ages to come we see more and more of His grace.