The Message, November 9, 2025: "Marvelous Things!" Psalm 98

Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
November 11, 2025

 

“Marvelous Things!”
A Meditation by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
Psalm 98

            Have you ever read a book that was more than a book? Have you ever read a book that spoke to you in some powerful way? Have you ever read a book that told your story, that tapped into some deep and meaningful place within you?

            Have you ever read or heard a poem that was astonishing in its complexity or breathtaking in its simplicity? Have you heard or read a poem that you could actually feel. Have you ever read a poem and wondered, “how did she … or he ... ever think to combine those ordinary words into such incredibly poignant or powerful verse?

            Have you ever watched a movie … or a play … that touched you in the same powerful way? Are there movie scenes that you cannot watch without tearing up or even full-blown ugly cry? Are there movies that inspire you to get up and take action? Are there movies or plays that make you feel like you are in the warmest, safest, most comfortable place on earth?

            Are there songs, or hymns, that make you weep because of their beauty … or because of their deep and profound meaning? Are there pieces of music that are a balm for your broken or wounded souls? Are there songs that lift your spirits to the rafters … or to heaven? Are there hymns that speak to you so powerfully that you cannot keep from singing?

            There is something about the arts that speaks to us, that touches us, that moves us in a special and unique way. Literature and poetry and drama and music find ways to reach into the deepest recesses of our hearts and souls and minds to comfort us, or inspire us, or to elevate us to a different place or plane. They are more than strings of words on a page, or people moving on stage or on screen without meaning, or music notes without purpose.

            Certainly, there are plenty of books or poems that are … interesting. There are plenty of movies or plays that are … ehh ... okay. There are plenty of songs that are … just notes without purpose, notes that entertain, but not much more. But that is not the case with our psalm this morning.

            What we just considered about books, and poems, and drama, and music can also be said of worship. There are plenty of worship services that can leave us feeling empty, or hollow. There are plenty of worship services that are plain awful and hurtful or meaningless. There are plenty of worship experiences that make us uncomfortable … or do not speak to us at all. Again, that is not what our psalm this morning was.

            Psalm 98 was written for a very special time in the life of the ancient Hebrew people. It was written after they had been set free from their exile and servitude in Babylon. It was written as they were finally able to return to their homeland, the home of their heritage. It was written after they had rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem that had been destroyed by the conquering army. This was a song of celebration.

            But it was so much more than that. This was more than a community gathering to sing, “For He’s a Jolly Good fellow!” This was more than Kool & the Gang’s “Celebrate good times! Come on!” Although … the song does capture the spirit.

            Psalm 98 was … and IS … a song that celebrates the marvelous things that God has done! The word “marvelous” in the ancient Hebrew was a word that was reserved for God and God alone. The scope and meaning of the word extended far beyond any of the great or noble acts that human beings might be capable of performing. For us, these words are a nice piece of poetry; nine verses of celebration and praise. But for those who gathered in that rebuilt Temple complex, this psalm spoke to their collective history.

            This psalm reached all the way back to God’s marvelous gift of love in Creation.
            This psalm reached back and spoke to the exodus from Egypt and the generations of their ancestors that experienced nothing but slavery.
            This psalm reached into their hearts and spoke to their parents, or grandparents that were lost. It spoke to the land and the heritage that was stolen from them. It spoke to their own pain and suffering in their own servitude.
            This psalm recalled the words of the prophet Isaiah when he said that God would deliver them, that God would set them free.
            And this psalm celebrated that God was indeed steadfast and faithful! This psalm celebrated that God DID indeed set them free!

            This psalm was sung in worship in the new Temple. This psalm was sung accompanied by a full orchestra. Can you imagine what that must have been like for those worshippers gathered there? Drums and horns, cymbals and lyres all lifting their souls toward the vaulted ceiling of that sacred space. Can you possibly imagine the energy and the emotion that filled that space as they sang?!

            Can you imagine how the word ‘marvelous’ spoke to them? Can you imagine what it meant to sing that word? Did they sing with tears of joy and thanksgiving streaming down their cheeks?

            Twenty-five hundred years later the word ‘marvelous’ does not have the same meaning for us. In fact, most superlatives have lost their impact. Let us reclaim marvelous.

            What marvelous things has God done for you? What marvelous things has done in your life? In the life of your family? In the life of your community? What marvelous things has God done in our community? How has God’s powerful right hand been at work?
            What difficulties has God brought you through?
            What challenges did God help you overcome?
            When did God cradle you … and console you … and comfort you?
            When did God bless you with unimaginable joy?
            When did God bless you with an overwhelming sense of peace?

            We all have a song to sing. It is a song that emerges from a place of deep, deep gratitude. It can also be a song that emerges from the pain of darkness and chaos and sorrow. But the songs that we sing to God are songs rooted in love.

            Our faith assures us that God is loving and gracious. God’s love and mercy are deeper and more expansive than we can possibly imagine. God has done marvelous things, and God will continue to do marvelous things. God’s love is steadfast and true. God’s love is forever!

            God has done marvelous things. Let us sing. Let us sing.
            Amen.

BACK