When I was growing up there was a boy in my class in elementary school who stuttered. His name was Johnny. His stuttering was to such a degree that he rarely was able to express his thoughts, ideas and feelings. His frustration was palpable, you could see it and feel it in the air. I see Johnny’s face to this day, the frustration, the sadness  and shame that he could not share his ideas and his heart with us. I wish I could have helped him.

In my quest to learn how to magnify God and to praise Him, I can experience a similar frustration as Johnny did. I stutter to magnify God – to make Him big; to tell of Him in a way that brings His value and His glory to light.

What kinds of words do we use that are capable of showing how great and wonderful God is? What can I say that can enlarge God to others in such  a way that they see His nature, His power and His love in a very real way?

I was reading in Psalm 66 the other day and I realized that God actually tells us how to do this. In Psalm 66:3, the Spirit says: “Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! How great is your power that your enemies cringe before you.”

The Spirit is telling us what to say in order to magnify God to others, and what to say as we praise God in our private and public worship.

I could not help Johnny in elementary school to express himself, but today through the word of God, the Spirit helps me express praise to God and magnify Him.

Say It! Again!
When I recount or re-tell the awesome deeds of God, I am magnifying Him to others and praising Him. This thought is presented over and over again in the scriptures. Here are a few references to this way of magnifying God.

• “Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power. They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty— and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They tell of the power of your awesome works— and I will proclaim your great deeds.” Psalm 145:4-6
  (We magnify God to our children by recounting His wonderful deeds, in so doing they know God and learn to trust Him).
• “Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.” Psalm 107:21
• I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High

What are the wonderful deeds of God?
They are many, we can’t recount them all. We do not know them all. But when you are meditating on the wonderful deeds of God think about what is written in the Word. Think of how he planned, even before the creation of the world, to save us through the redemptive work of His Son, Jesus, (Ephesians 1:4-7)

Think about how God created the world out of nothing, just from the power of His thoughts and words. (Genesis 1-2; Hebrews 11:3)

Think about the wonderful deeds God performed to deliver Israel from slavery in Egypt, and to deeds God performed to establish His King, our Messiah in this world.

Think of the wonderful deeds Jesus did that reveal the character and heart of God. Think of how Jesus gave sight to the blind; showed compassion and healed the lepers; straightened crooked limbs; gave life to withered hands; healed the body and the souls by forgiving sins; raised the dead, and many more.

We cannot magnify God to others, or worship and praise Him without recounting His wondrous deeds, because God is these deeds.

Remembering + Recounting = Revival
Recounting the wondrous deeds of God is a way we praise God, but in so doing it also can revive our faith in Him and restore in our hearts a sense of awe for God.

This idea of recounting and reviving is described very specifically in Psalm 77. The psalmist is  experiencing hard times. He talks  about groaning, sleepless nights, and an inability to express his struggle in words.

In his personal agony he questions God’s love and care of him. He accuses God of rejecting  and forgetting him, Psalm 77:7-8. He doubts God’s love for him, and questions if there ever was love from God for him, Psalm 77:8. He feels that he cannot trust God’s promises and wonders if God has any sense of compassion for him, Ps. 77:8b-9.

I have felt some of those things at times; forgotten and pushed aside by God, and questioned God’s trustworthiness. The psalmist searches his memory and what he knows of God. As he does this he reviews the wondrous deeds of God.

So, he remembers and recounts the wondrous deeds of God, and as he does his faith is revived and he concludes:

“ I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds. Your ways, God, are holy. What God is as great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. “ Psalm 77:11-14

Remembering and recounting or re-telling the wondrous deeds of God, revives my faith!

God’s Ultimate Wondrous Deed
We may never be able to recount all the wondrous deeds of God, because we do not know all of them. However, the greatest of the wondrous deeds has been revealed to us and that is God was sending His Son into this world in the form of a man to become the ultimate sin offering to atone for our sins that we might come into God’s presence, into a right relationship with God. And, that through His Spirit, God would live inside of us. Let’s read a little about this wondrous deed.

• “… all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.” Romans 3:24-25a
• “Brothers and sisters, because of the blood of Jesus we can now confidently go into the holy place (the presence of God).” Hebrews 10:19 (GWT)
• “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Cor. 3:18

This short article cannot adequately express the wondrous deeds of God, so let’s end with this prayer.

Father God, teach us about you, how magnificent and wonderful you are. Teach us how to magnify you to others by knowing and  recounting your wondrous deeds. Help us to see and understand the wondrous salvation you provided for us through the atoning blood of Jesus, through his resurrection; and the breathtaking truth that Your Spirit lives in us and transforms us to be like you.

      “Magnify the LORD with me; let us exalt His name together.” Psalm 34:3