Telling of the Marvelous Works of God

“As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds, of your saving acts all day long—though I know not how to relate them all.

I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign Lord; I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone. Since my youth, God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.” (Psalm 71:14-18 NIV)

Recently, I was asked what the Lord had been doing in my life of late. The first thing that came to my mind was my open-heart surgery, which occurred nearly six months ago. I hesitated to share this at first because it seemed like “old news,” but the more I thought about it, I realized it continues to impact me daily and, thus, was worthy to be shared.

We live in such a world where new things become old very quickly. My iPhone 6, which appeared on the market a mere four years ago, is now considered practically a relic. Songs of worship rise to the point most churches are singing them, but within several years, people are looking for new ones to sing because the old ones are beginning to grow stale.  

So it is easy to see why we often feel the need to come up with something new for which to praise God. Like the old uncle whom we can always count on to tell the same story every Thanksgiving, we fear we will be objects of the eye roll when we open our mouths and spout the same thing.

Yet, the Psalmist seems to be encouraging us to be repetitive with our praise.  “Since my youth, God, you have taught me and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.” Are they only the most recent ones he is declaring? I don’t think so. Instead, I think he is declaring his experiences of God over a lifetime, both the new and the old.  They are equal in value because they involve the Lord who is “the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) The only way the old stories grow stale is if they are no longer relevant nor have impact.  But the God who never changes is always relevant and what He did years ago is the same as what He does currently. He is timeless and so are His works.

I can tell my conversion story, though it is quite old, because it continues to impact me today. It is the foundation upon which the Lord continues to build. It is a marvelous story because of the marvelous work He did in my life decades ago. And the story of my open-heart surgery is worth telling because, again, it involves His marvelous work. Whether the stories of God’s work in my life are decades old, six months old, or merely hours, they are worth telling and repeating because His works are marvelous.

Today, what stories can you tell of the Lord’s marvelous work in your life? Know that whether they are decades old, a few months, or merely days old, they are worth repeating often.  Stories of the marvelous works of God never get old.

© Jim Musser 2017