Much of this article is adapted from Alicia’s newest book, Wonder: Rediscovering Our Awe of God and Reclaiming a Childlike Faith. If you’d like to go deeper and explore how to cultivate wonder through the Psalms, you can find it here:
Wonder: Rediscovering Our Awe of God and Reclaiming a Childlike Faith
This devotional is for anyone longing to trade complacency for delight, to find rest and wonder in the Word of God, and to reclaim a childlike faith. These pages are an immersion into the Psalms, into wonder itself, and into the very presence of God. What better place to be?
On a green and leafy September day, God taught me to wonder.
I was eleven, sitting on a massive rock, a ship sailing on a sea of tiny pine needles in the deep forest. His presence in the stillness was striking. I looked at the life around me—squirrels tossing themselves through the trees, birds calling deep within the woods, the slow growth of ancient oaks, and me—God caring for it all, his power and creativity on display in the woods of New Hampshire. I felt the Holy Spirit speaking to me through my Bible splayed open on my knees. I saw God’s invisible attributes made visible through the natural world.
We are natural wonderers when we are small. Four-year-olds never stop asking, “Why?” The first snow of December is thrilling. The waxing and waning of the moon is magical. The smell of spring is invigorating.
But over time, we stop wondering. We’re running too late to notice the natural world around us. We’re too stressed and caught up in our schedules to ask the woman on the bus about her life. Our necks are bent, our faces lit not by wonder, but by the blue light of a screen. We lose our wonder. We forget. We tend toward a small view of God, and it is silently destroying our lives.
We are so busy building our own sandcastle kingdoms that we forget to live in the kingdom of heaven. We are so busy ruling our own lives that we forget we have a Ruler—a God who calls us to come under his loving authority as his beloved children.
When we live with a lack of awe of God, we become self-absorbed, scared, and lonely, focusing on our own perceived greatness to make ourselves feel better about life. We do not run to God in our need. We miss his grandeur.
But when we live with awe, everything aligns. Awe of God washes the sand away from our already crumbling castles, and we find ourselves standing on solid bedrock. Seeing God’s holiness—seeing him for who he really is—affects how we view and engage with the world, culture, work, relationships, church, and ourselves. Awe of God settles us by upending everything we thought we knew. It leaves us changed, energized, and ready to live in the kingdom of heaven with reverence and gusto.
When we live in awe of God, we discover afresh that he is powerful, mighty, and in charge. Even in the darkest of seasons, we are set free to find our rest, comfort, and joy in him.
We need the awe of God, the purity of childlike faith, and the warmth of wonder. We need to be taught how to wonder anew.
We need the Psalms.
Why the Psalms?
I can’t wonder at the stars until I really see them. I can talk, learn, and think about the stars, which conjures up a little bit of wonder in me. But if I really want to be awed, I go outside on a night with no moon and just look up. It is then that I am actually blown away. This is the same with God.
Our wonder of God begins when we see him. He has revealed himself to us—clearly and beautifully—in the Bible, his own Word. Many psalms clearly describe who God is and what he does. In other words, they help us to see God. They help us to wonder.
The more time we spend with God and read about his glory, the more we will be in awe of him. Many psalms illustrate God’s character and works, reminding us of who he is and showing us how the psalmists stood in awe of him—and how we can do the same.
Psalms that inspire awe have heavy application for both daily surrender to God and seasons of dryness. Worship can be a catalyst for spiritual health, because living with awe naturally helps us come under God’s loving authority. Correct understanding of who God is and how we relate to him will keep his costly love for us in the forefront of our minds, fostering love for him and increasing our desire to live for his kingdom.
Where Do I Begin?
It can be as simple as cracking your Bible open down the middle to the book of Psalms and reminding yourself who God is.
- Pick a psalm. If that feels too overwhelming, choose the first one you see or read one of my favorites:
- Psalm 18
- Psalm 23
- Psalm 46
- Psalm 86
- Pray, asking God to refresh your wonder and help you truly see him in his Word.
- Read the psalm all the way through, slowly.
- Notice what this psalm says about God. What does he do? What is he like?
- Pray these truths back to God. Praise him in prayer for who he is! Tell him how wonderful he is! And ask him to help you really believe and live out of that.
- Reflect on the way these truths about God are wonderful. You might put them into a poem or song, talk it out with a friend, journal, etc.
Don’t despair if it feels flat, or if you don’t really feel awed by your Creator. We know our hearts are broken, but trying to mend them on our own never works. Instead, take it to Jesus, whose righteousness covers us. Ask the Holy Spirit to transform your heart—that is his job! Be honest with the Father about it, asking him to help you. As you steep your heart in Scripture over time, you will begin to see God with fresh eyes. The longer we take in his beauty the more we will see it and delight in it.
My Prayer for You
My family visits the same small town in Maine every summer, returning to the same cabins along the coast to dwell among the pines for a while. We’ve gone every July since the summer I turned four, so I have memories from every corner of the property. I know the smell of the sea, the clusters of beach roses, and the rocky coastline by heart. But every year, when we arrive, it’s as if I’m seeing it for the first time.
Our car crests the hill. We turn into the drive. Trees fall away behind us as we descend, and I see it—the ocean. I always know it’s going to be beautiful, but my soul still leaps. The beauty still feels like a surprise.
My prayer is that, whether this is your first day with Jesus or you have seen God’s majesty a million times, you would see our Savior with fresh eyes as we open the Word of God. May you be delighted all over again by his glory. May your soul leap as you behold his beauty.
We are cresting the hill. The trees are falling away behind us. Do you see him? Isn’t he wonderful?
Photo credit: Michael Marcagi
Alicia Hamilton and her husband, Jack, are planted in beautiful New Hampshire where she spends her days ministering to college, high school, and middle school students. She gets excited about nature, good literature, and people. She is passionate about biblical literacy and helping people "taste and see that the LORD is good" (Psalm 34:8 NIV).
