Glimpses of Providence - Part Three
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Introduction
Introduction
London Baptist Confession 1689
God the good Creator of all things, in His infinite power and wisdom does uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures and things, from the greatest even to the least, by His most wise and holy providence, to the end for the which they were created, according unto His infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of His own will; to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, infinite goodness, and mercy.
John Piper
The providence of God is his purposeful sovereignty by which he will be completely successful in the achievement of his ultimate goal for the universe. God's providence carries his plans into action, guides all things toward his ultimate goal, and leads to the final consummation.
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. 1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. 7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. 13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. 19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! 20 They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain. 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 22 I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
PRAYER
God’s providence is the manifestation of that attributes of God through his activity and work in and among all things, people and places.
In Providence, God is All-Knowing
In Providence, God is All-Knowing
He knows all we do.
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.
Yahweh, the LORD. God is knows the all men exhaustively, however he is especially intimated with the ways of his people. There is nothing hidden from God in all of our movements upon the earth. It is amazing that God’s knowledge of our movements include what we would consider unimportant, our sitting, standing, walking and resting. These are included without any reference as to their significance to man.
Matthew Henry, “He know what rule we walk, what end we walk towards, and what company we walk with.”
He knows are we think.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
God knows what is passing through our minds. He knows the passing considerations and the constant meditations. All that is hidden away from other humans, is fully known to God.
He knows all we say.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.
Why does God know all we say? He does because he knows all we are about to say. Before a word is being formed by various movements of the tongue, God possesses a complete, total and exhaustive knowledge of it. As men, we need others to speak in order to know what they are thinking, but God is not dependent upon words or any form of communication. He just knows all the hearts of all men at all times in all places.
3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
I cannot attain it. David confesses he cannot understand or express this truth in any absolute or comprehensive manner.
In Providence, God is Everywhere Present
In Providence, God is Everywhere Present
God is in all places as all he is.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?
David realizes God is as present as he is knowledgeable. He calls attention to the Spirit of God as his presence manifested. All of God abides in all places by the presence of the Spirit.
14 If he should set his heart to it and gather to himself his spirit and his breath, 15 all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.
God dwells in everyplace there is something that has been made, because he inhabits all.
15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
God is in the highest and lowest of places
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
Descending into the lowest imaginable depths among the dead, there should we find the Lord. THOU! says the Psalmist, as if he felt that God was the one great Existence in all places. Whatever Hades may be, or whoever may be there, one thing is certain, Thou, O Jehovah, art there. Two regions, the one of glory and the other of darkness, are set in contrast, and this one fact is asserted of both—“thou art there.” Whether we rise up or lie down, take our wing or make our bed, we shall find God near us. A “behold” is added to the second clause, since it seems more a wonder to meet with God in hell than in heaven, in Hades than in Paradise. Of course the presence of God produces very different effects in these places, but it is unquestionably in each; the bliss of one, the terror of the other.
God is where the days begin
9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Where is it that morning begins? To be where the morning begins, you would have to be faster than light.
Light travels at a constant speed of 670,616,629 mph (miles per hour). To put that in perspective, if you could travel at the speed of light, you would be able to circumnavigate the globe approximately seven and a half times in one second. The circumference of the Earth is 24,902 miles. California to New York is about 2900 miles.
God is in the depths of the sea
9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
The Mariana Trench in the South Pacific Ocean is 36,161′ deep or about 7 miles.
God is in the darkness
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
When we hide in the dark, we should know we hide in the presence of almighty God
Darkness and light in this agree;Great God, they’re both alike to thee. Thine hand can pierce thy foes as soon Through midnight shades as blazing noon.
In Providence, God is All-Powerful
In Providence, God is All-Powerful
God makes us in the womb
13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Barnes, “God has put our parts together as one who weaves a cloth, or who makes a basket.”
Facts about the skeletal system
Your skeleton is made up of more than 200 bones - Your skeletal system is made up of 206 bones. Each bone plays a very important role in making all the mechanics of your body function properly. However, if a bone is broken, all the bones around it can’t perform their duty properly.
The body has two types of bones - Hard bone is called cortical bone and they are primarily the structure bones. Soft and spongy bones are called trabecular bones. They are found inside large bones and in your pelvis, ribs, and skull. It is still quite hard and protective.
Bones are filled with spongy tissue - Bone marrow is found inside large bones like your hips, pelvis, and femur. Bone marrow houses stem cells. Stem cells are responsible for producing many of your body’s most important cells, including blood, brain, heart, and bone cells.
Babies are born with 300 bones - Babies are born with almost 100 more bones than what adults end up with. These bones don’t disappear but rather the tiny bones fuse together to form the larger bones of the skeletal system.
The smallest bone in the body is in your ear - The stapes, a bone in your inner ear, is the smallest of all your bones. It is Y shaped and sometimes referred to as the stirrup. Together with the anvil and hammer bones, the stapes helps translate sounds you hear into waves your brain can understand.
The longest bone is in your leg - Running from your hip to your knee, the femur is the longest, largest, and strongest bone in your body.
More than half your bones are in your hands and feet - You have 206 bones in total and 106 of them are in your hands and feet.
Every bone is connected to another with one exception - The hyoid bone, which is situated between the chin and the thyroid cartilage, is the only bone that isn’t connected to another bone. The hyoid is responsible for holding your tongue in place.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
God orders days of our existence
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
The story of our lives was written by God before we begin living it. Joseph Caryl, “A skilful architect before he builds draws a model, or gives a draught of the building in his book, or upon a table; there he will show you every room and contrivance: in his book are all the parts of the building written, while as yet there are none of them, or before any of them are framed and set up.”
God’s thoughts of his people are innumerable
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.
David speaks of the all-powerful, wonderful care of God toward him.
Matthew Henry, God’s omniscience, which might justly have watched over us to do us hurt, has been employed for us, and has watched over us to do us good.
God’s good care of his people. His thoughts to do his people good are more in number than the sand.
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.
God possesses power over the wicked
19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! 20 They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain. 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 22 I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies.
David has opposition in his life that is more powerful than he is. Nevertheless, he knows a God he is more powerful than the opposition in his life. As a result, he call upon God to rescue him and put away all his enemies.
1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” 7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” 10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
God tests the hearts of all, especially his people.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
God’s attributes do not cause David to seek to escape, run away or hide. They do not cause him to despair, growth apathetic or uncaring. They move him to desire purity and holiness in God’s presence. He wants to be tested. He wants sin to be reveals. This reminds us of the verses in Hebrews.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
He longs for the eternal way.
Practical Application
Practical Application
To those who are not Christians this morning. Stop trying to hide. You can’t. You need an advocate and a covering.
Christians, all of God’s attributes are working through Providence to do us good. This is most difficult in trial.
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
Thy wings shall my petition bear
To Him whose truth and faithfulness
Engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since He bids me seek His face,
Believe His Word and trust His grace,
I’ll cast on Him my every care,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
Believers, we have God, let us have God.
14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” 1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.