What does it mean that God is a God of wonders?
The phrase "Thou art the God that doest wonders" comes from Psalm 77:14, and it captures something central about the character of God — that He is not merely a God who did wonders in the past, but one who does wonders continually.
The Present Tense of Faith
F. B. Hole devoted an entire article to this phrase, titling it "The God That Doest Wonders" (from Psalms 73 and 77). He draws out a key distinction — it is easy to believe God has done great things and will do great things, but genuine faith treats God as a present reality:
F. B. HoleOur title shows that God was a present reality to Asaph. He quite recognized that God had wrought great wonders in the past, as the succeeding verses of the Psalm show. Still in saying, "Thou art the God that doest wonders," he laid the stress upon the present, and that is the great test of faith. It is comparatively easy to believe that God has done great wonders in the past, and that He will do them in the future. To genuine faith God is a present reality: He is a God that is doing wonders today.
Hole shows that the turning point in Psalm 77 is when the psalmist Asaph moved from self-occupation to God-occupation. The first half of the Psalm is saturated with "my" — my trouble, my sore, my soul — and the result was only deeper misery. When Asaph recognized that this brooding was not piety but infirmity, his gaze lifted:
In verses 2 to 6, it was all, "my" — my this, that and the other. In verses 10 to 20, it is all, "Thy" — "Thy years … Thy wonders … Thy work … Thy doings … Thy way … Thy strength … Thine arm … Thine arrows … Thy thunder … Thy path … Thy footsteps." What deliverance, what blessing, what strength there is in looking at God's things, after the weakness and humiliation of looking at our own.
Wonders in the Hearts of His People
Hole goes further: the wonders of God are not confined to the spectacular miracles of Israel's history. God works inward wonders in the souls of His saints — lifting them out of weakness and failure into His own greatness:
We know this, and have the benefit of that knowledge, just as Asaph; but we also know what wonders He works today. What wonders does He not accomplish in the hearts and minds of His saints? — lifting them out of themselves, in their littleness and feebleness, into the greatness and strength and love which is found in Himself. It is by faith that His people are enabled to endure, and out of weakness are made strong, for Hebrews 11 tells us this plainly. Still it is God who does it, and faith on our side simply lays hold on His strength. And what wonders will He not accomplish in the days to come!
And in a particularly encouraging conclusion:
Our Apostle and High Priest has become "the Captain of our salvation," and He is leading us as many sons to glory. Every one of us is going to get there! This great wonder is going to be added to the many other wonders He has wrought.
God's Settled Way
Hamilton Smith, commenting on the same Psalm, emphasizes that God's wonders are bound up with His settled "way" — a way that can only be understood in the sanctuary, that is, in His presence:
Hamilton SmithThere he learns that God has a settled way that governs His acts; that God is great and does wonders. In accordance with His way God makes known His strength among the peoples in order to redeem His own.
Smith traces how Israel forgot God's wonders in Psalm 78 — His wonders in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert — yet their unbelief could not thwart God's purposes:
In the midst of much failure the devil might seek to tempt the believer to think that God is indifferent to the trials of His people, and has cast them off. Nevertheless faith knows that no amount of failure can thwart the purposes of God's grace. Moreover in the presence of God we learn that God has a way in accordance with which He is acting for His own glory and the blessing of His people.
The Supreme Wonder: Pardoning Grace
Perhaps the deepest application of God being a God of wonders is found in the great hymn by Samuel Davies (1723–1761), "Great God of Wonders" (Hymn 353 in Spiritual Songs). Davies locates the supreme wonder not in creation or in the miracles of Israel's history, but in the pardoning grace of God:
Samuel DaviesGreat God of wonders, all Thy ways Are righteous, matchless and divine; But the blest triumphs of Thy grace Most marvellous, unrivalled, shine; Who is a pardoning God like Thee? Or who has grace so rich and free?
Crimes of such horror to forgive, Such guilty, daring worms to spare; This is Thy grand prerogative, And none can in that honour share: Pardon, O God, is only Thine; Mercy and grace are all divine.
In wonder lost, with trembling joy, We hail the pardon of our God, Pardon for crimes of deepest dye, A pardon traced in Jesus' blood. To pardon thus is Thine alone; Mercy and grace are both Thine own.
H. F. G. Snell quotes the same hymn in his meditation on the blood of Christ, after setting forth the cross as the sole ground of forgiveness. The blood of Christ is what makes pardoning grace possible — and this grace "beyond Thine other wonders shines":
H. F. G. Snell"Great God of wonders! all Thy ways Display Thine attributes Divine But the fair glories of Thy grace Beyond Thine other wonders shine. Who is a pardoning God like Thee? Or who has grace so rich and free?"
To say that God is a "God of wonders" is to say something about His very nature, not merely about isolated events in history. His wonders span the full range of His dealings — from the grandeur of creation, to the miracles of Israel's deliverance, to the daily inward work He accomplishes in His people's hearts. But the supreme wonder — "most marvellous, unrivalled" — is the wonder of pardoning grace: that God should freely forgive sins of the deepest dye, on the ground of the blood of Jesus Christ. This is His "grand prerogative," shared by no other. And this God is not merely a God who did wonders, but one who does them — a present, living reality to faith. As Hole concludes: "Who is so great a God as our God!"