God's Providence

 

The sovereignty of God is His Lordship over all that He has created.    Because God is sovereign all things that occur in the universe do so ultimately by  His direction or permission. He works all things after the counsel of his will.   God’s sovereignty includes his eternal plan or counsel – what may be called his decrees and His work.  He carries out his plan through his works of creation, miracles and providence.

God’s sovereignty means he is both outside of, above and over all that He has created and remains self-sufficient and independent from all that He has created.  As the omnipotent and exalted (transcendent) Lord he has the inherent authority to govern the universe and the power to exert governing control over the universe.  Yet he is also intimately near and with all that He has made.  His authoritative and controlling presence is engaged in preserving and governing what he has created and this is what the Bible teaches concerning God’s providence. 

The Providence of God is God's personal involvement with his creation, whereby he sustains and preserves all that he has made, as well as, oversees (governs) the flow of history, guaranteeing that all events, including the free choices of human beings result in the ends that he has appointed.  Providence includes God's sustaining and preserving of what he has created.   He is separate from but involved in and with his creation.

You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.  Nehemiah 9:6

My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:8

For in him we live and move and have our being.  Acts 17:28

He is before all things, and in him (Christ) all things hold together. Colossians 1:17

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. Hebrews 1:3

The Reformed theologian Louis Berkhof identified various ways in which God's providence is exercised:

1. His providence is exercised over the universe as a whole.

The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.  Psalm 103:19

        

God works out EVERYTHING in conformity with the purpose of his will...Epehesians 1:11

2. His providence is exercised over the physical world.

The order we experience in nature is not simply the result of natural laws established at creation and left to run on automatic. The order in nature is the result of God's superintendence of what he has made.

God’s providence is seen in his control over inanimate creation.  God causes such things as the wind, hail, snow and frost – even natural disasters as hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and ice storms and he is the one who causes the earth to flourish. 

He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.  He gives snow like wool; he scatters hoarfrost like ashes.  He hurls down his crystals or ice like crumbs; who can stand before his cold?  He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.  Psalm 147:15-18  (See also Psalm 148:8; Job 37:6-13; 38:22-30,32; Job 38:12 ).

He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightning for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.  Psalm 135:7

He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth, he makes grass to grow on the hills.  Psalm 147:8

He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Matthew 5:45

3. His providence is exercised over the animal kingdom.

The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. Psalm 104:21

Speaking of the creatures of the ocean: “These look to you to give them their food in due season.  When you give it to them they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.  Psalm 104:27-28

He gives the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry.  Psalm 147:9

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they? Matthew 6:26

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.  Matthew 10:29

4. His providence is exercised over a person’s birth and life including one’s free choices and plans.

Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:16

But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man. Galatians 1:15

The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. Proverbs16:9

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand. Proverbs 19:21

5. His providence is exercised over what appears to be accidental or insignificant.

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. Proverbs 16:33

And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Matthew 10:30

6. His providence is exercised in the protection of God's people.

I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8

He will not let your foot slip--he who watches over you will not slumber. Psalm 121:3

Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God?’ Have you not known?  Have you not heard?  The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He does not faint or grow weary, his understanding is unsearchable.  He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might he increases strength.  Isiah 40:27-29

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

7. His providence is exercised in providing for our needs.

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.  Deuteronomy 8:3

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

Your Father who is in heaven…makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  Matthew 5:45

You cause the grass to grow for livestock and plants for man to cultivate that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.  Psalm 104:14-15

8. God’s providence includes His sovereign rule over history seen especially in the affairs of nations. He rules over the affairs of kings, rulers and nations carrying out his plan for history.  Nations rise and fall at his command.

  

For dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.Psalm 22:26

The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. Psalm 103:19

The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will. Proverbs 21:1

He makes nations great, and destroys them; he enlarges nations, and disperses them. Job 12:23

At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.  His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing.  He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: "What have you done?" Daniel 4:34-35

He governs the nations of the earth carrying out his purposes through their rulers and policies.  See Isaiah 40, also the entire book of Esther is a subtle literary exposition of this doctrine.

Because God is sovereign and governs the earth and its nations, we should put our ultimate confidence in him and not in the power and might of nations.

From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth-- he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. Psalm 33:13

No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. Psalm 33:16-17

It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.  Psalm 118:8-9

Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no help. Psalm 146:3

The Triune God exercises His sovereign Lordship over all that He has created.  He governs all things and all people.   William Cowper who suffered from severe episodes of depression and was befriended and discipled by his pastor John Newton captured well the truth of God's providence in his hymn "God Moves In a Mysterious Way."

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.