(The following is the June 28 devotional from my Next Step Devotions book. Before reading it, I suggest you read Romans 11 and pay close attention to verses 33-36.)

The Holy Spirit led biblical writers to break out into hymns of praise several times, such as in Romans 11. Paul cannot contain his worship as he writes, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and untraceable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? And who has ever given to God, that he should be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever” (vv. 33-36).

This hymn incorporates Job 41:11, Isaiah 40:13, and Jeremiah 23:18. The truths were centuries old, but their meaning was as fresh and exciting to Paul as if God had revealed it for the first time.

Regarding verse 36, Spurgeon says, “All things come from God. They are from him as their source; they are through him as their means; they are to him as their end. They are from him in the plan, through him in the working, and to him in the glory they produce.” *

We serve a God so wise and profound that we cannot fully comprehend him. If we spend a lifetime mining the depths of God’s wisdom (which we should), we will only understand a fraction of it this side of Heaven. We are not his counselors. He lacks nothing that we must supply. We, his creatures, are blessed to have a personal relationship with our Creator because he revealed himself to us through his Word. God’s initiative toward us makes this relationship possible – not any merit on our part.

How can we not join Paul in bursting into praise at the magnificence of our God? He is worthy of our joyful song every day.

Next Step:
When did you last spontaneously praise God in song? Sing to him joyfully, praising him for who he is. Praise him for his mighty acts throughout history and how he has worked in your life and for others.

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* CSB Spurgeon Study Bible, ed. Alistair Begg (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1529.