He Hath Dealt Wondrously With Us
And praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you.
-Joel 2:26 (KJV)
–––
Beloved, we shall, in the better land, wonder more than we do here, for we shall there understand far more than we do now, and shall have clearer views and wider prospects. Our present capacities are narrow, there is scant room within our mind for great things; but in yon bright world the veil shall be taken off, and we shall know even as we are known, seeing no more in part and through a glass darkly: in the heavenly mansions our growing knowledge will excite in us increasing wonder, and we shall sing there the praise of Him who hath dealt wondrously with us.
I believe the poet was right when he said - ‘And song with wonder and surprise; Thy lovingkindness in the skies.’
In the abodes of endless bliss we shall see what we escaped; we shall look down from Abraham’s bosom and see the sinner afar off in torment! It will be a dreadful sight, but O, with what hearts of gratitude shall we bless redeeming love, knowing each one of us that were it not for grace divine that fate so desperate had been ours.
In the heaven of perfect holiness, we shall know the true character of sin. When we shall see the brightness of God’s glory, and the splendor of His holiness, sin will appear in all its hideousness, and we shall adore that matchless mercy which pardoned us, and bless the precious blood that cleansed us though we had been defiled with such pollution...
Up in heaven, too, we shall see our life as a whole, and we shall see God’s dealings with us on earth as a whole. A great many matters which now appear mysterious and complex, concerning which we can only walk by faith, for our reason is baffled, will be so clear to us as to excite our joyous songs in heaven. ‘Now I see why I was laid aside when I wanted to be busy in God’s work: now I see why that dear child, whom I hoped to have spared to me as a stay for my old age, was taken away; now I understand why my business was suffered to fail; now I comprehend why that foul mouth was allowed to be opened against me; now I comprehend why I was assailed with inward fears, and was suffered to go tremblingly all of my days.’ Such will be our confessions when the Day dawns and the shadows flee away.
Then we shall say and sing: ‘He hath dealt wondrously with us.’ We shall feel that the best was done for us that even Eternal Wisdom could devise, and we shall bless the name of the Lord.
- ‘Wonders’ - The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Vol. 19 pg. 119 (C.H. Spurgeon)
O, beloved! Can you imagine with me for a moment, please? What it will be like when we cross over into the better land?
The scales will fall from our eyes! The veil will be lifted! The lamp, full to the brim with the oil of gladness, will be lit! And O, what Beauty we will see there, sweet one! What knowledge we shall gain! It will all make sense Then and There, beloved - it will!
Now, we see through a pin hole; Then, we will see through a sweeping, panoramic lens! Now, our brain capacity is the size of a mustard seed; Then, we will be able to take in information and truth in stride, effortlessly, limitlessly - all our senses heightened and magnified and glorified! Now, our hearts grow faint and they wander - O how they wander, beloved; Then, they will be most joyfully bound to our Beloved King and will never stray from Him again! O what grace there will be, in such a sinless, perfect kingdom, beloved! We anticipate His coming with such great longing, do we not?
There, we will see clearly how sin disguised itself and nearly did us in. We will come to know just how close we were to the precipice, the cavern of death, that once threatened to swallow us whole, and the gratitude we have for Christ, our Deliverer, will only grow more and more sincere. We will come to worship Him with greater humility and delight, with a magnified sense of awe and wonder, as we understand what it is that He actually saved us from - the very pit of hell.
We will sing Together There, beloved! We will sing of His wondrous works, of how He weaved these lives, these identical hearts, this story, into the most beautiful fabric - a glorious covering for us - to mask our nakedness and shame, to clothe us in His righteousness. We will sing of how He tenderly gathered every tear that fell from these tired eyes in our brief sojourn upon the earth and turned each one into a good gift for us There, a fruitful harvest of delight and abundant blessing for His beloved children.
O beloved! My imagination fails me, as do my words, but O sweet one, do you know that as happy as we could ever imagine ourselves to be - on that Day, when we see the face of our Beloved, we will be infinitely happier than all we now hope and long for!
The better land is in view even now, beloved. Do you see it, there in the distance? ‘Tis not a far journey, not really. ‘Twill it be hard? Aye, beloved. But we do not traverse alone. We have One who supplies the bread and water for our adventure, quenching our thirst and filling our bellies with pleasant foods; the same One also supplies shelter when we are weary, and warmth when we are cold, and medicine when we are sick. He listens when our hearts ache. He gently prods us on when we stubbornly tell Him we don’t want to take even one more step. He tenderly guides us and points us in the right direction when we wander blindly from the path. And He gives us one another - fellow, same-hearted travelers, to share in the burden, to walk side by side, to swap ponderings and encouragement along the way.
All of this is worth it, isn’t it, beloved? To know that we will One Day arrive at the better land, Together? It’s worth every ache and pain, worth every desire denied, every bit of self subdued? Aye, beloved. We give it all up, willingly, gladly, out of love for our Good God. He will not disappoint. For He has dealt wondrously with us, now and always. We trust Him Together.