I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
Psalm 77:11-15
yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
I will ponder all your work,
and meditate on your mighty deeds.
Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is great like our God?
You are the God who works wonders;
you have made known your might among the peoples.
You with your arm redeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
When we think of the Passover, one of the big pieces that usually comes to mind is the ten plagues God brought upon Egypt. While we describe them as plagues, God describes them differently when he introduces Moses to his plan: “So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go” (Exodus 3:20). God does not call them plagues. He calls them “wonders”.
What is a wonder? The Hebrew root (פלא, pala) carries the idea of wonder, marvel, something difficult, or extraordinary. These are things that make you exclaim, “Whoa! I can’t believe that just happened!” There’s what you would expect to happen and then there are those things that are better than you can imagine, and all you can do is marvel.
When the Lord brought the people of Israel out of Egypt, he did something wonderful. After crossing the Red Sea, the people sang
Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods?
Exodus 15:11
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
His wonders continued as he guided the people through the desert for forty years (Exodus 34:10, Psalm 78:12ff). He amazed the people again by drying up the Jordan River to allow the people to cross (Joshua 3:5). He alone works wonders (Psalm 72:18, 136:4).
God thunders wondrously with his voice;
Job 37:5
he does great things that we cannot comprehend.
Wonderful Savior
Did God’s wonders stop? Jesus worked wonders among the people. He quoted the Psalms to describe what was going on:
The stone that the builders rejected
Psalm 118:22-23
has become the cornerstone.
This is the LORD’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
As we ponder Jesus’ death and resurrection, let us marvel at God’s great love for us. He endured the cross and conquered death! If that is not extraordinary, I don’t know what is.
To Ponder…
Take time to marvel at Jesus’ love and what he did at the cross and empty tomb. We serve an extraordinary God. Nothing is too difficult for him (Genesis 18:14)!
How have you seen God at work in your life? Is he still a wonder worker? Praise him for his extraordinary deeds and expect him to work in wonderful ways in the future.