Great Things

I glanced at our keyboard this morning and the title of a piano duet book jumped out at me: “Great Things He Has Done.” This, of course, is a phrase from the song, “To God Be the Glory,” lyrics by Fanny Crosby. How many times have we sung these words? “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let the earth hear His voice! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let the people rejoice! O come to the Father thro’ Jesus the Son, And give Him the glory – great things He has done!”

The Psalmist said this also: “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad” (Psalm 126:3). He was referring to all of the wondrous things that God had done for the people of Israel. The Old Testament saints looked forward to a coming Messiah, but they didn’t know Jesus yet. How fortunate we are to not only know about Him, but to know Him by faith.

We can look back on all of the miracles that God did for His children in the Old and New Testaments and say, “Great things He has done!” And we should be able to look at our lives and be able to enumerate the wonderful things He has done for us. Here are a few:

*He loved us. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16.

*He chose us to be His children. “…you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…” (I Peter 2:9). 

*He saved us. “…according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit…” (Titus 3:5).

*He has preserved us. “To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ: Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you” (Jude 1:1-2).

And all of that is just the beginning of the great things still to come. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (I Peter 1:3-4). 

Wow! What else can we say but “Praise the Lord! Great things He has done!”?