CENTRAL THOUGHT
Remembering God’s wonders of old gives us fresh courage to face each new day.
HYMN: O LORD, MY GOD, WHEN I IN AWESOME WONDER
Text: Psalm 77:1-20, Exodus 14:22
Introduction:
Remembering is to bring back to the mind through an act of memory, to become aware of or think again, to recall to the mind with effect or determination to retain in the mind: keep carefully in memory and to keep in mind as worthy of affection, reward or recognition. To remember therefore is to recall, recite or reproduce past experience. You therefore cannot remember what you have not known. It is what you have acquired through the senses that is seen, heard, felt, tasted and smelt that is memorable. Hence, we must have studied the word of God in some details to remember God’s wonders of old. “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth: but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Joshua 1:8).
To have good success in this world full of evil, we must call to memory the great wonders of our God as this will give us the enduring faith to believe God for similar wonders in our lives.
God wants us to remember His great works and be inspired, comforted an assured of His goodness. Our duty does not just end in remembering God’s wonders of old, we must teach it to our children, our children’s children and all others that come in contact with us. Gideon in, Judges 6:13, remembered the great miracles of God which their fathers taught or told them about.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this study are:
- To highlight some of the great wonders of God in the past.
- To appreciate why we should remember these great wonders of old.
- To understand the benefits of remembering God’s wonders of old.
- To examine the dangers of forgetting these great wonders.
Q1. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE GREAT WONDERS OF GOD IN TIMES PAST?
The great wonders of God of old are recorded in the Holy Bible. A few of them are:
The Creation: Genesis 1:1-31, 2:1-25
Out of the state of formlessness, void-ness and darkness upon the face of the deep, God created all things. John 1:3 says “all things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made”. God’s ability to create something out of nothing still beats the imagination of science today, as all their theories about creation have one after another become obsolete. The works the hands of the Lord has made: the stars, wind, rain, valleys, mountains, lightening, thunder, oceans, the moon and the sun etc. all show the awesomeness of God.
Noah’s Flood: Genesis 7
For rain to fall continuously till the waters covered the highest mountain peak can only be an act of God. The purpose was to bring judgement upon evil men on the face of the earth at that time. God is still God; He has not changed!
The Birth of Isaac: Genesis 21:2-5
Abraham and Sarah his wife had passed the age of child bearing yet they believed God against all hope that they will have a child as promised. Surely God blessed them with Isaac. What are you believing God for? Like Abraham and Sarah, you will get it.
The Passover: Exodus 12:13
Israel had been enslaved in Egypt until God called Moses to lead the people to the promised land. Pharaoh was not going to let it be. God then with a mighty hand plagued Egypt to submission: the last straw being the death of their first born. In all, Israel was spared of all the plagues and got their ticket to leave Egypt.
Crossing of the Red Sea: Exodus 14:21-22
Having been permitted to leave Egypt, the people met head on with the Red sea. Again, in support of His people, God demonstrated a wonderful event that has never been repeated: the parting of the Red Sea to create a high way across the sea for Israel to cross.
Manna in the wilderness: Exodus 16:15, Psalms 78:24
To provide food for an estimated three million people for years is a task that will wear out all the caterers in the world under normal circumstances, where the food stuff and utensils are available. Our God moves in mysterious ways. His wonders to perform neither needs caterers nor food stuff/cooking utensils, to accomplish this. Will this same God not provide food for you today?
Q2. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF REMEMBERING GOD’S WONDERS OF OLD?
Remembering God’s wonders of old will enable us to do the will of God and as such the reward or benefit of obedience will be derived. However, the underlisted are additional benefits.
• Remembering the wonders of God inspires us “to possess our possessions”. Our faith is increased as faith comes by hearing the word of God.
• Remembering the wonders of God reveals an aspect of the character of God to man, i.e. There is nothing He cannot do. If He promised, He will never fail. He is not a man that He should lie.
• The memory of the great wonders of God humbles us, as we see His immeasurable abilities and limitlessness. Our inadequacies are brought to focus to humble us before Him and like the Psalmist we can say, “what is man, that thou are mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him?” Psalm 8:4
• The memory of the great wonders of God will cause us to sing His praises and give Him thanks because what he did for one He will do for all.
• The knowledge of the great wonders of God of old is needed if we must teach or transfer some to posterity by teaching them to our children.
Summarily, remembering the wonders of God of old builds up our faith/trust in God, gives us our assurance of peace and that He has not abandoned us. It assures us that here is no circumstance or situation we are passing through that God cannot resolve. He will certainly provide for us. In God our future is guaranteed.
Q3. WHAT ARE THE DANGERS IN FORGETTING THE GREAT WONDERS OF GOD?
A man or a people that forgets the great wonders of God will be like a sailor that sets sail without a compass. He is doomed to miss his way. His faith in God will be shallow trusting in himself/men and may display pride. He will live a fearful life and may go through life murmuring and grumbling, not expressing gratitude to God. Peace will be far from him. His children may not know God. He will lack the joy and grace of doing the things that are pleasing to God.
Daily Living Application
The great wonders of God adorn the universe and our daily existence is the greatest wonder of them all. We must remember what God has done for us and give Him thanks. The natural tendency is to quickly forget pleasant experiences while bad experiences are hard to forget. We must implore the Holy Spirit to help us call to memory the wonderful works of God in our lives, past and present. Count your blessings name them one by one and it will surprise you what God has done. As we do that, we put ourselves in the position to receive again from Him.
Memory Verse:
Psalm 111:4
“He has made His wonderful works to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion”.
Daily Devotional Guide:
Monday: The opening of the Red Sea.
Exodus 14:1-31
Tuesday: Feeding of Elijah by the ravens and the widow.
1 Kings 17:2-16
Wednesday: Feeding of the 5,000 and the walking on the Sea.
Matthew 14:13-33
Thursday: God appears to Moses in a burning bush.
Exodus 3:1-22
Friday: Conversion of Saul.
Acts 9:1-25
Saturday: The salvation of Zacchaeus.
Luke 19:1-9