Q. 18. What are God's works of providence?
A. God's works of providence are his most holy,[w] wise,[x] and powerful preserving[y] and governing[z] all his creatures; ordering them, and all their actions,[a] to his own glory.[b]
[w] Psalm 145:17. The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
[x] Psalm 104:24. O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
Isaiah 28:29. This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.
[y] Hebrews 1:3. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.
[z] Psalm 103:19. The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
[a] Matthew 10:29-31. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
Genesis 45:7. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
[b] Romans 11:36. For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Isaiah 63:14. As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.
I. God the great Creator of all things does uphold,[a] direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things,[b] from the greatest even to the least,[c] by His most wise and holy providence,[d] according to His infallible foreknowledge,[e] and the free and immutable counsel of His own will,[f] to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.[g]
[a] Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.
[b] Daniel 4:34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: ver.35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
Psalm 135:6 Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.
Acts 17:25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; ver.26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
ver.28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
Job 38-41.
[c] Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. ver.30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
[d] Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
Psalm 104:24 O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
Psalm 145:17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
[e] Acts 15:18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.
Psalm 94:8 Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise? ver.9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see? ver.10 He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know? ver.11 The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.
[f] Ephesians 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.
Psalm 33:10 The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. ver.11 The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
[g] Isaiah 63:14 As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.
Ephesians 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.
Romans 9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Genesis 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Psalm 145:7 They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.
II. Although, in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the first Cause, all things come to pass immutably, and infallibly;[h] yet, by the same providence, He orders them to fall out, according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently.[i]
[h] Acts 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.
[i] Genesis 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
Jeremiah 31:35 Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name:
Exodus 21:13 And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.
with Deuteronomy 19:5 As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live:
1 Kings 22:28 And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you. ver.34 And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.
Isaiah 10:6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. ver.7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.
End Lesson, Day 13
For Further Study:
God's Providence, Man's Coercion
Gordon Clark Commentary on the Confession, Chapter 5
The Story of Joseph in Egypt
Capitalism and the Division of Labor: "The Invisible Hand"
By What Standard An Analysis of the Book of Job
Baalism vs. Providence
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