Let me understand the teaching of your precepts*;
then I will meditate on your wonders.

Psalm 119:27

One of the ways I want to grow, Father, is by meditating on Your wonders. Your great deeds tell me about who You are. I can see how You’ve responded to the cry of Your children in times past. And since You are unchanging, what I learn about you from the past is who You are today.

Your wonders are marvelous

When I meditate on your wonders, I most often reflect on the universe. I picture seemingly infinite space. I see planets, comets, stars, galaxies. Such beauty as one could only imagine. You are the God who created such beauty as could never be replicated by another.

This is one aspect of who You are.

I confess that I have a little trouble with Your immutability (never changing), because You also commanded the Israelites to kill man, woman, and child in the cities of the promised land. It’s hard to say and fully believe You are the same God who would do this, yet who later says He wills that none should perish.

I’ve heard speculation as to Your motives. I don’t know exactly what I believe. Some things I just don’t understand. I’m not throwing out the baby with the bath water. I’m not discarding my faith in You because of a paradox. But I would benefit from deeper comprehension. Teach me of Your ways, O Lord.

You called yourself my Father. You see me as Your son. It is one thing to ponder Your creation, but there is so much more to Your wonders. So much more. Show me Your wonders, Father. Cause them to pass before my focused attention so that I may perceive Your nature and Your character.

Demonstrations of Power

But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.

And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed.

Exodus 3:19-21

Father, You performed such wonders before Egypt’s pharaoh and the Your people in the days of Moses. You demonstrated Your power – Your supremacy over any gods the Egyptians worshipped. You gave testimony to Your own omnipotence.

Show us throughout Scripture other great examples of Your wonders. Remind us of Your wonders in our own lives. That we may see you with new eyes. With fresh understanding. With renewed hope and trust.

*Precept – a commandment or direction given as a rule of action or conduct; an injunction as to moral conduct; maxim; a procedural directive or rule, as for the performance of some technical operation.

Hear my prayer, oh Lord! Listen to my plea! Answer me because you are faithful and righteous.

That cry tells my heart something new. It tells me to expect God to answer because he is faithful and because he is righteous. In other words, God’s character is such that I can expect Him to answer. He is near to me even now, and will not ignore me. Tell me more about a God like that!

I’ve heard several takes on this one. Everything from name it and claim it to God will tell your heart what to desire. The former is an abuse of greed. The latter a rewording based on fear of misuse and misunderstanding.

I have to stick with the given translation here. Because if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. He says elsewhere that he gives good gifts to his children, even better gifts than we fathers give our children. So why wouldn’t he give you or me the desires of our hearts? Because our hearts are desperately wicked? Okay. I’ll even give you that. But there’s more to it than getting your heart’s desires.

How many people could legitimately delight themselves in the Lord and still lust after another man’s wife? How many people could delight themselves in the Lord and still ask him for something wretched? What we fail to realize is that God fashioned and formed each one of us to be unique, and part of that uniqueness comes in the form of what we desire, enjoy, and find fulfillment in.

I just recently heard of a man who is well respected for his maturity and prophetic gifting. He gets all these amazing business ideas and gives them away to people because he has had no method of executing them on his own. He’s an excellent golfer, and has been for decades. He could have gone pro, but he felt like he was supposed to enter full-time ministry. He’s helped dozens of people with business ideas, and helped them pursue their passions with excellence, but he’s not doing it himself. Some people who love him started encouraging him to pursue his passions. He’d been delighting in the Lord more and more, and God began opening the door for him to play golf!

It may sound silly, but he does it with excellence, he receives fulfillment from playing well, and he has excellent avenues of ministry opportunity with other golfers and members of resorts and country clubs around the country. God has some amazing things planned for this guy who delights himself in the Lord!

Take me, for example. I have wanted to write a few books for awhile now, but have yet to seriously take a stab at it. Writing is a desire of my heart. I am passionate about expressing my thoughts and ideas on paper or the web. But I am also limited, and I think part of it may revolve around the fact that I have tried to make my heart’s desires happen on my own – apart from delighting in God.

Delighting in God is such an enjoyable activity, it is really its own reward. A person is NEVER more fulfilled than when he or she delights himself/herself in the Lord. And I think that’s the point. God releases the grace, ability, and resources to those who delight in him because he can trust them. A person who delights in the Lord won’t turn their other heart’s desires into idols. Our Father wants to be Numero Uno. Do that, and he will entrust you with more than you can imagine. You will finally be trustworthy enough to receive it.