Are there situations where our wonder is an inappropriate response? - Wonder - TouchPoints

Deuteronomy 18:21-22“But you may wonder, ‘How will we know whether or not a prophecy is from the Lord?’ If the prophet speaks in the Lord’s name but his prediction does not happen or come true, you will know that the Lord did not give that message. That prophet has spoken without my authority and need not be feared.”

When our wonder expresses doubt in God’s ability or willingness to make his will and ways known, we are revealing a basic lack of trust in him and diminishing his character to the people around us.

Job 23:15“No wonder I am so terrified in his presence. When I think of it, terror grips me.”

Psalm 16:9-11No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.

Psalm 57:7My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident. No wonder I can sing your praises!

Psalm 71:6Yes, you have been with me from birth; from my mother’s womb you have cared for me. No wonder I am always praising you!

Psalm 119:129Your laws are wonderful. No wonder I obey them!

The psalm writers echoed Job’s fear of the Lord with their own discovery that responding in obedience and praise to God is truly a natural and unavoidable result of encountering God’s majestic character.

Acts 2:25-31“King David said this about him: ‘I see that the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave. You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’ Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne. David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave.”

The apostle Peter could point to David as an example of an Old Testament figure who grasped God’s ability and willingness to preserve him beyond this life, in this case because God would keep his promise to preserve the ultimate heir to David’s throne by raising him from the dead. Once God’s plan is understood, wonder gives way to rejoicing.

Romans 2:24No wonder the Scriptures say, “The Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you.”

Paul used the inconsistency and even hypocrisy of his own people to point out that non-Jews could declare their wonder about God because the people God had chosen to represent him were doing it so poorly. God doesn’t require our help to convince the world about him, but once we are aligned with him, we should take seriously his desire to work in and through us to influence others.