Physical Providence

We come to give thanks

(ESV)

1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

2 Serve the Lord with gladness!

Come into his presence with singing!

3 Know that the Lord, he is God!

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

and his courts with praise!

Give thanks to him; bless his name!

5 For the Lord is good;

his steadfast love endures forever,

and his faithfulness to all generations.

We aim to do that tonight.

We come reflecting upon the providence of God.

We come into his gates with thanksgiving.

We come to give him praise.

We come to bless his name.

We come to celebrate our good God.

Tonight we will:

Thank God for physically providing for us.

Spiritually providing for us.

Then demonstrating His sovereignty over us.

As you hear myself and different people speak:

Personalize what you hear.

Think about how God has provided for you in each category.

Because then we will give thanks to God in these areas.

We first will talk about the Physical Providence of God.

This is the most basic of things to thank God for, yet at the same time perhaps one of the most neglected.

God’s physical providence is ordinary.

It’s all around us.

It’s a demonstration that He cares for his creation and He cares for all of His creation.

The flowers of the field experience the providence of God.

He gives them all that they need.

“And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”

It’s ordinary because plants are provided for by God.

And yet, we are not plants.

We are so much more.

We are created in the image of God.

Yet, we experience God’s providence as the flowers of the field do.

, Jesus says of God, “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

We still depend upon God for the most basic of necessities.

Food.

Clothing.

Shelter.

These are ordinary.

Humans have received and experienced these blessings for 10,000 years.

Just because all humans have needed these things doesn’t remove God from the equation.

In fact, it reminds us that we continue to need His providence.

Because all these are from Him.

We may think that we have earned money by our own might, or built a home by our own effort, but ultimately, it all belongs to Him and whatever we have is a gift of God.

“Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

“Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

So tonight, when you think about how God has physically provided.

Think about the ordinary blessings of life.

Look at your family.

Look at your homes.

Look at your clothes and be reminded of the providence of God.