Introduction

Psalm 75 begins with an expression of gratitude to God. It is a public profession of God and His works. It reminds us that we should not rely on our own strengths and abilities alone. The psalmist proclaims that God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and a righteous judge. God’s marvellous deeds and works awaken a feeling of reverence and bear witness to His presence and His nearness.

Being grateful for the miracles of God

When the psalmist talks about the wondrous works of God, he is primarily referring to the material creation: the earth with its plants and animals, man, who is to tend it all, and finally, the heavenly bodies that divide the day from the night and define the seasons. All of these are wondrous works of God, which can be seen by anyone and for which everyone should give thanks to God. But greater still is the incar­nation of God in Jesus Christ and in the sacraments and in the faith that we are filled with. All of these provide us with good reason to give thanks.

Declaring God’s wondrous works

The believer not only has a duty to give thanks, but also to talk about—or declare, as our Bible text says—the wondrous works of God. We do this by pointing them out so that others can understand them under the light of the gospel.

If one were to ask which of the wondrous works one can be thankful for and which should be spoken of, then the first would be the visible world, which did not come into being on its own but owes its existence to the creative will of God. The one who understands the earth as God’s creation is grateful for it and will also want to preserve it.

Another wondrous work which we can be thankful for, and which needs to be declared, is that God became man in Jesus Christ. We declare this wondrous work when we explain that this is an expression of the love and nearness of God to the world. In Jesus Christ we can experience that God is with us!