God’s
One thing I love to do when I study God’s Word is to observe how God works in the background to bring about his will and protection for his people. The ISEB defines God providence this way.
The
doctrine of divine providence, therefore, has reference to that preservation
care and government which God exercises over all things that He has created in
order they may accomplish the ends for which they were created. (ISEB)
Simply put God has always been and always will be
involved in our lives as he is in control over his creation. The reason why he
can do this is because he is all powerful Gen. 17:1 all knowing, Heb. 4:13 and
always present Jer. 23:24. These divine characteristics of God show us that he
has the ability to direct the destiny of his creation.
However, I want to make it clear God’s never
violates our free will because he always given us the choice to choose our
destiny. Lets, begin our study by reading the first 7 verses of Psalm 105.
Psalm 105:1 Oh, give thanks to the LORD! Call
upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples! 2 Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
Talk of all His wondrous works! 3
Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD! 4 Seek the LORD and His strength;
Seek His face evermore! 5
Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments
of His mouth, 6 O seed of
Abraham His servant, You children of Jacob, His chosen ones! 7 He is the LORD our God;
His judgments are in all the earth.
Here we see that children of
This is a great introduction to this Psalm and I
hope that you and I can learn just how important it is for us to stand back and
reflect in our own lives what God had done for us. We have all been touched by
the hand of God and have seen him working in our lives. We can certainly count
our blessing because we can go to our Bibles at anytime and we can read and see
how God providence brought about our salvation through his son. Its very
important that we share with one another the blessing we have received that way
we can rejoice for one another and be lifted up by one another.
Anytime we can recognize that God is working in
our lives through his providence it should be a time of great rejoicing and
singing and giving thanks to God almighty. It should thrill us to death that we
have God that loves us and cares for us and is always there for us. Just as
verse 7 said he is the Lord our God.
Now after the children of
Psalm 105:8 He remembers His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations, 9 The covenant which He
made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac,
10 And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an
everlasting covenant, 11
Saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan As the allotment of your
inheritance,"
If there is one thing that you and I can count on, its the fact that God remembers his covenant and he never fails to keep his promises. The covenant he made with Abraham included more than just the land promise. Notice what God tells Abraham in,
Genesis 12:1 Now the
LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And
from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great
nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a
blessing. 3 I will bless
those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the
families of the earth shall be blessed."
All these promises that God made to Abraham he reaffirmed them to Isaac and to Jacob and today we have the privilege and honor of being able to read and see all that God did to bring about all these promises. In fact, we have benefited from these promises because these promise caused all nations to be blessed because they led to Jesus coming to the earth to die for our sins so that both Jew and Gentile can enjoy the wonderful blessing of salvation.
When we look at these OT events and see the promises of God come about it, should give us great hope and confidence in our God. This is why its so important that we study the OT and learn as much as we can about the nature of God as Paul says in, ‘
Romans 15:4 For
whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we
through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
Now lets get back to our
text starting in,
Psalm 105:12 When
they were few in number, Indeed very few, and strangers in it. 13 When they went from one nation
to another, From one kingdom to another people, 14 He permitted no one to do them
wrong; Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes,
15 Saying, "Do not touch My anointed ones, And do
My prophets no harm."
We need to remember when
God made his covenant with Abraham he was very small in number, but not even
kingdoms made up of thousands of men were allowed to do harm to Abrahams seed.
God was always there in background watching and jumping into action making sure
that his chosen people would survive and thrive. When we read about how God protected
John 10:28
"And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall
anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 "My Father, who has
given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them
out of My Father's hand. 30
"I and My Father are one."
No one on this earth has
the power to take us out of God hands because He is all powerful and He is in
full control. Since he is full control we have no reason to fear those around
us as Jesus says,
Matthew 10:28 "And
do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear
Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Its important that we
always realize how powerful our God really is and that there nothing on this
earth that has the power separate us from His love. We are the only ones that
have the ability not to choose to accept His love and protection. I also like
what Paul says in,
1 Corinthians 10:13 No
temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful,
who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the
temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
Friends
Paul is letting us know that God is working in our lives every single day
because that is the only way this statement could be true. Every day you and I
face temptation but God working through his providence makes sure that we are
not tempted beyond what we can handle. He knows our hearts and he knows that
some temptations are very challenging to us but we should use these moments to
grow stronger by learning to turn away from sin no matter how tempting it may
be.
Once
again lets get back to our text,
Psalm 105:16
Moreover He called for a famine in the land; He destroyed all the provision of
bread. 17 He sent a man
before them -- Joseph -- who was sold as a slave. 18 They hurt his feet with
fetters, He was laid in irons. 19
Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the LORD tested
him. 20 The king sent and
released him, The ruler of the people let him go free. 21 He made him lord of his house,
And ruler of all his possessions, 22
To bind his princes at his pleasure, And teach his elders wisdom. 23
The is a brief summary of what happened to Joseph and how
God used him to save the children of
Genesis 50:20
"But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for
good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people
alive.
Now lets get back to our Psalm,
Psalm 105:24 He
increased His people greatly, And made them stronger than their enemies. 25 He turned their heart to hate
His people, To deal craftily with His servants.
26 He sent Moses His servant, And Aaron whom He had
chosen. 27 They performed His
signs among them, And wonders in the
Now the Psalmist
continues on to remind the children of
His brother Aaron joins
with Moses and goes and speaks to the Pharaoh but the he will not let his
people go because his heart was harden. We are told 3 different things about
the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart.
First the Bible says that
Pharaoh hardened his own heart and did not take heed to God instruction (Exod.
8:15, 32 9:34). Sometimes it simply says
that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened (Exod 8:19, 9:35) and other times it says
that God hardened his heart (Exod. 9:12, 10:20, 27; 11:10; 14:8). Please
remember that God providence does not take away
from a person free will so when it says that God hardened his heart it
was against his free will it was by his own choosing. Since the Pharaoh didn’t
like the message from God to let his people go this is what caused his heart to
be harden. So God uses the Pharaoh to show his people and the Egyptians that he
is the only true God.
Notice we can see this in
very clearly in,
Exodus 9:13 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Rise early
in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD
God of the Hebrews: "Let My people go, that they may serve Me, 14 "for at this time I will send all My
plagues to your very heart, and on your servants and on your people, that you
may know that there is none like Me in all the earth. 15 "Now if I had stretched out My hand
and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut
off from the earth. 16 "But indeed
for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and
that My name may be declared in all the earth.
So we have God working
through the Pharaoh and through Moses and Aaron to bring about the deliverance
of the children of
Psalm 105:39 He
spread a cloud for a covering, And fire to give light in the night. 40 The people asked, and He
brought quail, And satisfied them with the bread of heaven. 41 He opened the rock, and water
gushed out; It ran in the dry places like a river. 42 For He remembered His holy
promise, And Abraham His servant.
Again the Psalmist gives another brief
account of how God took care of the children of
He was always there for them, guiding them in they way they
should go. He continually supplied water and food for them and even made it to
where there clothes never wore out during this journey. This whole journey was
leading up to them coming into the
Psalm 105:43 He brought
out His people with joy, His chosen ones with gladness. 44 He gave them the lands of the
Gentiles, And they inherited the labor of the nations, 45 That they might observe His
statutes And keep His laws. Praise the LORD!
I cant emphasize enough the
same God that took care and provided for the children of
If you are living your
life for God and striving to do your best at obeying his command then you can
have all the confidence in the world that God is watching out for you and there
is home for you in heaven. But, order for us to truly reap the benefits of
God’s providence we must be obedient to his will. Paul makes this statement in,
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for
good to those who love God, to those who are the called according
to His purpose.
Notice there are two elements required in reaping the benefits of God’s providential care. First we are to love God and to love God means that we are going to obey his commands.
John
14:15 " If you love Me, keep My commandments.
Second element is being
called by God. Now some use this expression freely and say God called me to do
this or that but those statements are based on speculation. The called out that
Paul is speaking of are Christian who have be called by the word of God. Notice
2 Thessalonians 2:13
But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the
Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through
sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by
our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast
and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.
So
if a person wants God working in their life making things work out for the Good
they must be a Christian who has obeyed the gospel and who love the Lord and
shows their love by living faithfully according to God’s commands.
We
have learned several things from this lesson the morning.
1.
The will of God will always be accomplished.
2.
The providence of God will never violate our free will.
3.
God never fails His people and He always keeps His promises
4.
God can work through obedient men such a Moses or Aaron and He can work through
wicked men such as the Pharaoh.
5.
In order to reap the benefits of God’s providence we must be obedient to His
commands.
6.
Finally, we have learned that God loves us and He is always there for us as He
works is our lives daily.
So,
the next time you start feeling bad about how your life is going remind
yourself about the providence of God and how he will make things work out for
the good in the end.