Let us begin our service turning
in our Bibles to Proverbs chapter 8. Proverbs the 8th chapter. As I'm sure all of you are aware
by this point, our very dear friend Bob Coffey had a stroke
on Sunday morning and he is recovering. He is moving to a rehab facility
as we speak. He has a pretty significant weakness
on his right side, but the therapist thinks that he will respond very
well to intensive therapy, is the way they put it, intensive
therapy. So we want to remember him in
prayer. You also may have heard Brother
Tim James had a heart attack this weekend. While his wife
Debbie is miles away out west with their daughter who's being
treated for leukemia, I understand Tim is doing pretty well for
a fellow that just had a heart attack. And so let's remember
them in prayer. All right. Proverbs chapter 8.
We'll begin our reading in verse 23. Verse 22. The Lord possessed
me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was
set up from everlasting, from the beginning, wherever the earth
was. When there are no depths, I was
brought forth. when there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills was I brought forth, while as yet he had not made
the earth or the fields or the highest part of the dust of the
world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there. When he set a compass
upon the face of the dead, when he established the clouds above,
when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when he gave to
the sea his decree that the waters should not pass his command.
when he appointed the foundations of the earth. Then I was by him,
as one brought up with him, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing
always before him, rejoicing in the habitable part of his
earth, and my delights were with the sons of men. Now therefore
hearken unto me, O ye children, for blessed are they that keep
my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and refuse it not. Blessed
is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at
the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me, findeth
life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord. But he that sinneth
against me wrongeth his own soul. All they that hate me love death. We'll turn to page 39, page 39.
This is my father's world and to my listening All nature sings and round me
rings the music of the spheres. This is my father's world, I
rest me in the Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas, His and the
wonders wrought. This is my Father's world, The
birds, their carols raise, The lily white declare their
maker's praise. In the rustling grass, I hear
Him pass. He speaks to me everywhere. That though the wrong seems all
so strong, God is the ruler yet. This is my father's world. The battle is not done. Jesus who died shall be satisfied
and earth and heaven be one. Let's turn over to 296. 296. All the way my Savior leads me,
What have I to ask beside Him? And I doubt His tender mercy,
Who through life has been my guide. Heavenly peace, divinest
comfort, Here by faith in Him to dwell. What e'er befall me, Jesus doeth
all things well. For I know what e'er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well. All the way my Savior leads me,
Tears each winding that I tread, Gives me grace for every trial,
Leads me with the living bread. Though my weary steps may falter,
Gushing from the rock before me, Lo, a spring of joy I see. Gushing from the rock before
me, Lo, a spring of joy I see. All the way my Savior leads me,
O the fullness of His love. Perfect rest to me is promised
in my Father's house above. When my spirit, though immortal,
Wings its flight to realms of day. This my song to endless
ages, Jesus led me all the way. This my song Through endless
ages, Jesus led me all the way. Alright, let's open our Bibles
now to Psalm 104. Psalm 104. Bless the Lord, O my soul. O
Lord, my God, thou art very great. Thou art clothed with honor and
majesty. Thou cover'st thyself with light as with a garment.
You stretchest out the heavens like a curtain. You lay at the
beams of his chambers in the waters. You make at the clouds
his chariot. You walketh upon the wings of
the wind. You make at his angel spirits,
his ministers a flaming fire. who laid the foundations of the
earth, that it should not be removed forever. Thou cover'st
it with the deep as with a garment. The water stood above the mountains.
At thy rebuke, they fled. At the voice of thy thunder,
they hasted away. They go up by the mountains.
They go down by the valleys, under the place which thou hast
founded for them. Thou hast set a bound that they
may not pass over. that they turn not again to cover
the earth. He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among
the hills. They give drink to every beast
of the field. The wild asses quench their thirst. By them
shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which
sing among the branches. He watereth the hills from his
chambers. The earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.
He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle. and herb for
the service of man, that he may bring forth food out of the earth,
and wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make
his face shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart. The
trees of the Lord are full of sap, the cedars of Lebanon, which
he hath planted, where the birds make their nests. As for the
stork, the fir trees are her house. The high hills are refuge
for the wild goats, and the rocks for the conies. He appointed
the moon for seasons. The sun knoweth his going down.
Thou makest darkness, and it is night, wherein all the beasts
of the forest do creep forth. The young lions roar after their
prey and seek their meat from God. The sun ariseth. They gather themselves together
and lay them down in their dens. Man goeth forth unto his work
and to his labor until the evening. O Lord, How manifold are thy
works! In wisdom hast thou made them
all. The earth is full of thy riches.
So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable,
both small and great beasts. There go the ships. There is
that Leviathan whom thou hast made to play therein. These wait
all upon thee, that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.
That thou givest them, they gather. Thou openest thine hand, they
are filled with good. Thou hidest thy face, they are
troubled. Thou takest away their breath,
they die and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy
spirit, they are created. And thou renewest the face of
the earth. The glory of the Lord shall endure forever. The Lord
shall rejoice in his works. He looketh on the earth and it
trembleth. He toucheth the hills and they
smoke. I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live. I will sing
praise to my God while I have my being. My meditation of him
shall be sweet. I will be glad in the Lord. Let
the sinners be consumed out of the earth and let the wicked
be no more. Bless thou the Lord, O my soul.
Praise ye the Lord. And God for his word. Let's bow
together. Our Father, humbly bow before
your awesome throne of grace, so thankful that we can come
into your presence accepted in the person of our Lord Jesus
Christ, pleading his obedience as our only righteousness, pleading
his blood that cleanses us from all sin. Father, we thank you
that you've given us one more opportunity to meet together
with your people and to worship you. Father, I pray that you
would enable us to do that this evening, to worship you. Give
us an hour where we can worship you in spirit and in truth. And let us leave here rejoicing
in Christ our Savior, rejoicing in his dominion over all, rejoicing
in his providence for his people that gives us an expected end.
Father, how we thank you. And I thank you, Father, for
this place that you've raised up, a place that you've raised
up and preserved where your gospels preached, where your people meet
together in unity and care one for another and love for our
Savior, love for his gospel. And I pray that you bless each
one, that you bless each home, each person. Father, bless us,
we pray. Don't leave us alone. Continue
to go with us and bless us. Continue to bless your words
as it's preached here. Father, for your glory, all would
you get glory to your name through the preaching of the gospel here.
Call out your people. Call them to repentance and faith
in our Lord Jesus Christ. Reveal yourself to us and in
us. Father, for your glory, we pray. And for those who are sick and
afflicted and difficult, difficult times. Father, we pray for them.
We're thankful to know these difficulties, these trials have
not come by accident, but according to your divine will and purpose.
And Father, we pray for them. We pray a special blessing for
our brother Bob, that you strengthen his body, that you touch him,
that you be with him and his dear family. Raise him up, Father,
we pray. For our brother Tim, we pray
that you touch him and and be with him and his family at this
very, very difficult time. And others who need you especially. Father, you know the need of
each one of your children. There are no hidden cases from
thee. Bless according to the riches of your mercy and grace.
Bless as a loving, caring, wise father. All these things we ask
and give thanks in that name which is above every name, the
name of Christ our Savior. All things together work for
good. By God's all-wise design, To
those who love their sovereign Lord, The called by grace divine. My God, before the world was
made, predestinated all. And nothing happens in this world
beyond my God's control. He chose me in eternal love,
Redeemed me by His blood. He called me and He gave me life,
and He will do me good. My God, I trust Your promise. Your will, not mine, be done. Nontent I wait to see your grace,
And bow before your throne. My life, my all, I now resign
to you, my Lord and God. Nothing I ask or seek except
The glory of my God The glory of my God All right, open your Bibles again
to Psalm 104. The title of the message this
evening, God's providence for his people. You may wonder, what
does God's providence have in store for me? If you're one of
God's own, I believe I can tell you in the next few minutes.
Now this Psalm, Psalm 104, has been called the Psalm of nature. And it does talk about God's
works of providence. It's amazing, you read this,
Tom, how God supplies for all of his creation, all the different
forms of life in his creation, God supplies for them. He provides
for all different kinds of animals and man too. He provides many
different kinds of landscape that are fit just right for different
kinds of creatures to live in. God's the one that changes the
time from day to night, from season to season. It really is
a wonder to behold. I mean, it really is. Jan and
I were driving the other day, and I told her, you know, if
we knew we were dying, we knew we were dying soon, we would
want a day just like today. And we want to stop and we want
to soak it in. I said, look, this is the skies.
Brilliant blue, just a few puffy white clouds floating through.
The trees with leaves on them were nice and green, but they're
just starting to change color. It was the perfect temperature. Low humidity, just as wonderful. You see birds just soaring in
the sky. From where we were, there were
mountains off in the distance. Off to the left, there was a
little valley, like a little stream going through it. lush
green grass. I mean, what a beautiful day.
This is God's creation. And if you knew you're leaving
it soon, you just want to soak that in one more time. Oh, I
love this stuff. Beautiful. And believe me, I'm
not shortchanging that beauty in any way. But if that is all
we get out of this song, we've missed the blessing. The blessing
in this song is the picture that the psalmist gives us of how
God in his providence supplies and directs his people. He makes
his people new creatures in Christ. And in his providence for his
people, he richly provides for them. No doubt creation is a
great miracle, but God's redemption of his people is a greater miracle.
Now, if we're going to look at God's providence for his people,
we have to start with who God is. I mean, his providence only
means something if God is God. Look here how he's described,
verse one. Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord, my God, thou art
very great. Thou art clothed with honor and
majesty. Thou cover'st thyself with light as with a garment,
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, who layeth the
beams of his chambers in the waters, who maketh the clouds
his chariot, who walketh upon the wings of the wind. The psalmist begins just like
he did Psalm 103. Bless the Lord, O my soul. You know, when we think about
who the Lord truly is, if he will reveal himself to us as
he truly is, all we can do is kneel in silent adoration. Bless the Lord, O my soul. And
the psalmist tries to describe something of God's greatness,
but he is too great to be described with human languages. The psalmist
says the Lord is very great. And he doesn't just have honor
and majesty. He has clothed himself, covered
himself with honor and majesty. He's wrapped himself in light
so that no mortal man can look on him and live. God's glory
would consume us if we would look on him as he is in this
flesh. And God dwells where no mortal
can go, where no mortal can see. God is so great, He's stretched
out to heavens, the outer space, the stars, the galaxy. God stretched
that out just like we reach and pull the curtains across the
window. God just stretched out something we can't measure. And
nobody can see past those curtains of heaven. Nobody can get past
them to see where God dwells. God is so great, He puts beams
in the waters. in the waters that are above
the firmament and holds up His heavens. No man can go there. God is so great, yet He walks
on the clouds. He walks on the winds as monarch
of His creation. And no mere man can understand
what God is doing or why He's doing it. He's too great for
us to understand. Adam used to walk with God in
the cool of the day, didn't he? But all that ended when Adam
sinned. God is hidden from men of the flesh. He's hidden in
His greatness and His awesomeness. That's who God is. Now let's
learn something about His providence for His people. If that's who
God is, I believe He's going to carry out His providence.
It's going to happen just the way He purposed, don't you reckon?
Here's the second thing. This great God, who's hidden
from man's view, has seen fit in His providence to make Himself
known to His people through the preaching of the gospel. Verse
4, who maketh his angels spirits, his ministers a flaming fire.
God in his providence has seen to make some men to be his angels.
And that word angels there is messengers. It's God's preachers.
And it's a good thing God in his providence sends preachers
to his people, isn't it? Because nobody would know God
unless God was pleased to reveal himself to his people. And he's
pleased to do it through the preaching of his word. Now you
think how wonderful that is, that God in his mercy and his
grace would reveal himself to his people through the preaching
of the gospel. That is gracious providence. That's what God has in store
for all of his people. And God's providence for his
people, it's eternal. You know, God's providence, what
God is doing, he's, God's not reacting to men in times old.
Man did this, so I better do this. God's providence for his
people is eternal. God purposed everything that
was going to happen in time. He purposed it before he created
anything. And all human time is, all it
is, is men carrying out in time everything God purposed for his
people in eternity. Look here at verse five. Who
laid the foundations of the earth that it should not be removed
forever. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
And God did lay the foundation of the earth at that time in
it so that it should not be moved. But we know this, this creation
is going to pass away someday. Foundations of this creation
is going to be removed someday. God's going to fold it up as
a vesture when he's done with it. And he's going to create
a new heaven and new earth So the foundation that the psalmist
is talking about here is not the foundation of this first
creation. The foundation that will not be removed forever is
a spiritual foundation that God and His providence has laid for
His people. And that foundation is none other than our Lord Jesus
Christ. Christ is the eternal foundation
of salvation for God's elect. He's the eternal foundation of
everything we believe Everything we hope for, everything we'll
ever have. Other foundation, Paul said, can no man lay than
that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. And that's the foundation
God laid that cannot be removed forever. All of God's purpose
for his people is eternal. His providence for his people
is eternal. That means salvation in Christ is eternal. God's elect
have always been saved in Christ. the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. God's elect have always been
redeemed in Christ. Always. They've always been righteous. They've always been justified.
They've always been accepted. You know, people love to talk
about eternal justification. When was a man justified? When
God chose them? When Christ died for them? Or
when they believed? Yes. Yes. But it's eternal. It's eternal. It had to be, it
has to be, because God can never change. The foundation of that
salvation can never change. God's people have always been
justified in Christ. Now, without a doubt, that salvation
must be accomplished, must be purchased in time. That is why
2,000 years ago, God in his providence sent his son to accomplish the
salvation of his people. Christ came because that was
God's providence for His people, that the Savior come to be their
righteousness, that He come to justify them from all their sin.
And it's true, that salvation still must be applied to the
hearts of God's people. And do you know that's what God's
doing right now? Right now, I can tell you what God's providence
is for His people, is that they hear the gospel and they believe
it. That's what God's doing right now. That's why he hasn't wrapped
this thing up right now. Because there's still somebody
he's chosen. He hasn't brought the faith in
Christ yet. There's still somebody. Today's the day of grace. I know
that so because God is still having his gospel be preached
in this world. And God's elect shall hear it. They shall believe it and they
shall be saved by it. Because that's God's providence
for his people. And it shall not fail. God will
see to it. And God will see to it that his
people be born again, a brand new creature. God's providence
for his people is that they be new creatures in Christ. Verse
six, who covers it with the deep as with a garment. The water
stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke, they fled. At
the voice of thy thunder, they hasted away. They go up by the
mountains. They go down by the valleys under
the place which thou has founded for them. Thou hast set abound
that they may not pass over, that they turn not again to cover
the earth. Now this is talking about before
creation, in the beginning. The earth was without form. It
was with void and darkness and water that covered the face of
the deep. Water covered all the earth.
And God's voice thundered out of heaven and said, let there
be light. And there was light. Christ,
the light of the world, appeared. The sun wasn't created until
a few days later. This is Christ when he appeared. And then God
said, let the dry land appear. And it was so. And at that time,
God gave to the sea his decree. They should not pass his commandment.
And right there, the sea has stayed ever since. Now, there
was a time God did send a flood to cover the earth. He destroyed
the earth with a flood, but he promised he'd never do that again.
He'd never destroy the earth with water again. And God in
his providence for his people has preserved a physical place,
this planet, where his people can live and serve God for his
glory. See, all of this, this story
of creation, Go back and read that sometime at your leisure
in Genesis chapter 1. That whole story of creation
is a picture of God creating His people anew, making them
new creatures in Christ. See, we became without form and
void when Adam fell. When Adam fell, we died. Darkness
covered us. But God and His providence for
His people. At His appointed time appears
to them and His voice thunders through His Word and says, let
there be light. And suddenly the lights turned
on. Or there was no light before. There was darkness. You could
not believe. You could not see. You could
not understand. And suddenly you believe. You
can't help it. You don't know what happened.
You just do. Suddenly you see. Suddenly you understand what
happened. God said, let there be light. And there was light.
And the dead received life. When Christ the light appears,
God sees it was very good. It was very good. And God in
his providence for his people says, let the dry land appear. Let that new man appear and let
him be fruitful and never let him be covered with darkness
again. Never let him fall into darkness again. God will never
allow that new man to be destroyed. He'll never be without form and
void again because this is God's providence for his people. to
preserve and protect those people, to found them upon Christ, the
solid rock, according to his commandment, and there they'll
stay forever. That's God's providence for his
people. Then God in his providence for his people gives them the
water of life. Verse 10. He sendeth the springs
into the valleys, which run among the hills. They give drink to
every beast of the field, the wild asses, those who are mighty,
in thirst, they quench their thirst there. By the image of
the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing
among the branches. He watered the hills from his
chambers. The earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.
And in creation, God sends water to the beast of the field. All
different kinds of wild animals, insects, birds, just how many
different kinds of animals are there? God finds a way to get
water to all of them. Isn't that something? Well, that's
what God in His providence does for His people. He sends Christ
the water of life to His people. And they're all different sorts
of people from all over the world, yet they're all watered, every
last one of them, wherever they're found. Only God could do that. But I want you to notice something
particularly here. This will be, I believe, a help
to many of us right now. right this very second. God puts
the springs of the waters in the valleys. You know, the valleys
are always the most lush places, aren't they? All the water runs
down there. You don't find a river on top
of a mountain. It's all, any water that's on that mountain,
it's running down. It's all running down. It's going
down to the valley. God in his providence, At times,
he brings his people up to the mountaintop, doesn't he? Doesn't
seem like we stay there very long. Kind of like the water,
we're going down. God in his providence at times brings his
people into the dark valley of trouble and trial, and it's tough
business. God does that. He's not punishing
his people. And remember what I'm telling
you. When God brings his people into the valley, he's not punishing
He's not doing something to hurt His people. You know what He's
doing? He's bringing them into the valley that they be nearer
to Christ, the living water, the spring of living water. As
painful as the valley of trial is, that is where God blesses
His people. God and His providence for His
people. God's providence for His people
is to bless His people. He brings them into the valley
to give them a nearness to Christ that they couldn't have otherwise. Water from the springs. That's
where the water tastes the sweetest, in the springs of the valleys.
Stop by on your way home, and every convenience store has a
door, maybe two doors, in their cooler, walk-in cooler, full
of water. Look how many of those labels
say spring water. You know why they say that? It's
the best water. It's the sweetest water. God
in His providence for His people, He brings them into the valley
where Christ is sweeter than ever was before, where the water
is the sweetest, where it's more precious to you than ever before.
And God's got to do this in His providence for His people, because
left us, we'd never go into the valley, would we? I mean, I wouldn't,
would you? Never, ever, ever would I do
that. But God in His providence for His people brings His people
into the valley for our own good to give us a blessing from the
water there that we couldn't find anywhere else. All right, next, God in his providence
feeds his sheep with the green grass of Christ. Verse 14. He
causes the grass to grow for the cattle and the herb for the
service of man that he may bring forth food out of the earth.
God causes grass to grow all over the earth. And not in every
single spot of the earth, but all over the earth. There are
spots on this planet where grass doesn't grow. Deserts and waste
places or, you know, whatever. But grass is all over this earth. Well, that's Christ. He's everywhere,
isn't he? He's omnipresent in this earth. But Christ is not
preached everywhere. He's not worshipped everywhere.
There's places the gospel is not preached. There's places
where God is not worshipped. But God has scattered oases all
over the sea, scattered them all over this planet, where His
sheep can come and feed on Christ, the green grass, where His sheep
can come and be strengthened by feeding on the bread of life.
Those oases are scattered everywhere. But this is what we're prone
to think. This is what God's sheep will think. Well, I'm just
an ignorant, weak sheep. How am I going to find one of
those oases? How am I going to get there?
Well, God and his providence will do it. God and his providence
for his people. He sends Christ, the great shepherd
of the sheep, and he comes and he leads his sheep beside the
still waters. He comes and he makes his sheep
lie down in those green pastures where they can feed on Christ.
They can be strengthened for the journey. This is God's providence
for his people. Christ, the shepherd of the sheep,
is going to have every last one of his sheep, and he's never
going to leave one of his sheep out there in the wilderness to
starve to death or die first. He's not going to do it. He's
going to bring them all to himself. That's God's providence for his
people. Starting to like the sound of this? I am. Then God
in his providence for his people gives his spirit to his people.
Verse 15, wine and make a glad the heart of man and oil to make
his face to shine and bread was strengthened at man's heart.
The trees of the Lord are full of SAP, the cedars of Lebanon,
which he had planted. The God sends his spirit to his
people. His spirit is often described in scripture as oil and wine,
oil to sue, oil to make the face shine and wine to make the heart
happy. Well, I'll tell you, nothing
soothes God's people more than the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit
coming and showing us Christ. Remember, that's what the Savior
said. The Holy Spirit's going to come and take the things of mine
and show them to you. You who believe. Nothing soothes
your heart more than that, than the Spirit showing you Christ.
And wine to make the heart happy? Nothing will make you happier
than the Spirit showing you the things of Christ. And God sends
his spirit to his people and fills them up. The trees that
God plants in his providence are full of sap. They're full
of life. And that's a picture of the Holy Spirit. And God's
trees don't produce less and less and less fruit as they grow
older. By God's providence, they produce more. And I'll show you
that. Look back a few pages. Psalm 92. Here are these same
trees talked about in Psalm 92. Verse 12, the righteous shall
flourish like the palm tree. He should grow like a cedar in
Lebanon. And these are not wild trees.
They're planted in the house of the Lord. They shall flourish
in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth
fruit in old age. They should be fat and flourishing
to show that the Lord is upright. He is my rock and there is no
unrighteousness in him. God sends his spirit to his people
and they're full of satan. They produce fruit more the older
that they get. Then God in his providence for
his people provides his people refuge in Christ. Verse 17, where
the birds make their nests. As for the stork, the fir trees
are her house. The high hills are a refuge for
the wild goats and the rocks for the conies. You know, God
provides a specific refuge for all different kinds of animals.
Birds have nests up in trees. Goats, they live up there in
the rocks. You think, how in the world can
they be comfortable up there? But they are. They just spring
from rock to rock. They're fine. That's the habitation
God prepared for them. Prairie dogs live down in a tunnel.
Foxes have their dens. And that's a habitation God made
specifically for them. A prairie dog, Couldn't live
in a nest, could he? And the bird couldn't live in
his tunnel. But each one thrives in the one that God's made for
them. Well, God in his providence provides a refuge for his people,
too. God didn't provide a home for prairie dogs and birds and
goats and leave his people to fend for themselves. God provides
a refuge for his people, too. And it's his son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's our refuge. And God's people
come from different ages in history. different times, different countries,
different backgrounds. But Christ is perfectly suited
to all of God's people. All of God's people find their
refuge in him. Christ is the refuge that cannot
be shaken and he cannot be destroyed. So God's people are safe in him. And then God in his providence,
he saves He blesses, he calls, he does everything he's got in
store for his people at an appointed time. Appointed time. Verse 19. He appointed the moon for seasons.
The sun knoweth his going down. God maketh darkness in his night,
wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth. The young
lions roar after their prey and seek their meat from God. The
sun ariseth. They gather themselves together.
and lay them down in their dens. And man goeth forth unto his
work and to his labor until the evening. Now God is a God of
order. I've always been very glad of
that, but reading these verses, I sure am glad. God appoints
the sun to come up so we can go out to work. And God appoints
the sun to go down so we can go home and get some rest. If
the sun never went down, that old foreman out there at Salt
Mine would keep you there forever, wouldn't he? but the sun goes
down. It's marking time. It's time
to go get some rest. And when the sun goes down, men
go to bed. And right about that same time,
the lion gets out and starts to hunt. And that lion hunts,
and he quits hunting and goes to sleep right about the time
the sun comes up when man is getting ready to get up and go
out to work. I sure am glad God's done it that way, aren't you?
So you don't get up in the morning and go out and meet a lion. God's
a God of order, and His wisdom in doing this is astounding.
And the point of all this here, though, is this. God does not
leave the salvation of His people up to chance. God doesn't leave
the blessing of His people up to chance. God is a God of order. His covenant, His covenant of
grace is ordered in all things, and it's sure. God's already
arranged all the events of time. God has arranged every movement,
every action of every man, woman, boy, and girl to ever live on
God's planet. He's ordered them all to work
together to bring about the salvation of His people because that's
God's providence for His people. We already saw God's providence
for His people. He sent the Savior, His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who accomplished God's purpose. God's providence
for His people is to raise up preachers to tell them about
Christ. God's providence for His people is, He's not going
to leave this to chance. He's going to cross the path
of His people with that preacher. He's going to give them faith
to believe what they hear. See, all those events have already
been ordained in God's providence for His people. And this providence
shall not fail. It cannot fail. because God is
controlling every event of time to bring his purpose to pass.
It cannot fail. Then God in his providence for
his people provides for all, great and small. Verse 24. O
Lord, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom thou hast made them
all. The earth is full of thy riches. So is this great and
wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable. both small
and great beasts. There go the ships. There is
that Leviathan whom thou hast made to play therein. These wait
all upon thee, that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.
That thou, that thou givest them, they gather. Thou openest thy
hand, they are filled with good. Now every creature, no matter
how small or great, they're all dependent upon God. And God is
so great He provides all of them just what they need. God provides
for the ant as well as the elephant. He provides for the minnow as
well as the whale. And that's how God in His providence
provides for His people. God's people, they'd all perish,
but God provides salvation for them, for them all, whether they're
great or small. Well, we're all small, aren't
we? I mean, sometimes we think, oh, there's some great and some
small. We're all small. We're all insignificant. Yet
God provides for his people. All his people would perish.
Every one of them would. But God, in his providence for
his people, he opens his hand to them. And they're filled with
good. They're filled with every spiritual
good. God provides for all of his people.
He provides for them all the same blessing. The Lord Jesus
Christ. Salvation, redemption, righteousness,
justification, peace in the end. God opens his hand and they're
filled with good. Then God in his providence for
his people directs every event of their lives. Verse 29. Thou
hidest thy face, they are troubled. Thou takest away their breath,
they die and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy
spirit, they are created. And thou renewest the face of
the earth. You know, not one event of our
lives is an accident. Not one event of our lives is
some sort of random event. But every event of our lives,
of all of us, has been purposed by God in His providence for
His people from before time began. The day of our conception was
a day purposed by God. The day of our birth was a day
purposed by God. Those are days we're generally
thankful for, aren't they? But God has ordained the events
of all the days of our lives. Our days of trial, when the Lord
brings us down to the valley we talked about earlier, that
day has been purposed by God in His providence for His people.
And generally, we're not right thankful for that first, are
we? We don't like the pain of that.
But tell you what, if we could see the end of God's providence
in us, we'd be thankful. We really would. Now, we may
not see what God's providence is in some specific trial for
us in this life. We may never see it. I don't
know. I tend to think most times we
won't. I used to think when I was young,
I thought, well, you know, God will show us what he was doing.
We'll see God's purpose in this eventually. I'm not sure. Not so sure. But does it really
matter? What's the comfort of your heart?
Is the comfort of your heart known in the end? Or is the comfort
of your heart known who's directing the end? Well, if our Father's directing,
I believe it'll be alright, don't you? He hadn't made a mistake. And then the day of our death,
the day of our conception, all the days in between to the day
of our death, has been appointed by God in His providence for
His people. And when that day comes, our
loved ones will sorrow. But that child, whom the Father
has seen fit now to bring home in His providence, is going to
rejoice. That's going to be graduation
day. That child is going to say, this
is the day. This is the day. I finally receive
everything. God's purpose for me and His
providence for me. That's God's providence to his
people. I always like to kind of draw a conclusion to what
we've seen. What conclusion can we draw from
God's providence to his people? Let me give you two or three.
God's providence for his people is glorious. Verse 31, the glory
of the Lord shall endure forever. The Lord shall rejoice in his
works. I don't know what all God has
in store for his people. I know this, it's going to be
glorious. I mean, it's going to be so glorious,
God will rejoice in it. It's glorious. Somehow, both
what we call the sunny days of blessing and the dark days of
trial are going to work together to reveal the glory of God somehow. That's glorious. Next, God's
providence for his people shall be done. Verse 32, He looketh
on the earth, it trembleth. He touches the hills and they
smoke. Now, I don't know what all God
has in store for His people, but I do know this. Whatever
it is that happens to me and mine, whatever it is, that's
God's providence for me. I know that. The devil didn't
do it. The devil didn't interrupt God's
purpose. No, God's accomplishing his purpose. Man's sin and rebellion
is not going to make some unforeseen tragedy happen. God looks down
from heaven and his will is done. I mean, all it takes for the
earth to tremble is God to look at it. All it takes for the earth
to smoke is God just to reach out and touch it. Oh, Well, then
I know God's will is going to be done because there's no rival
to that kind of power. Whatever it is God's purpose
is for his people, it shall be done. And I know this, God's
people are going to rejoice in God's providence for them. Verse
33, I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live. I'll sing
praise to my God while I have my being. My meditation of hymns
should be sweet. I will be glad. in the Lord.
And we talked about the beauty of nature earlier. And I find
I can get enough of that really pretty quick. But I can't get
over the gospel of salvation in Christ. I cannot get over
the gospel of how God saves a sinner. I just I can't get over that.
But I can get enough of nature. You know, the temperature goes
up just a little bit, and I start sweating. Or the temperature
goes down a little bit, and I start sharing, I have enough of nature.
I'm done with that, you know. Bugs come out, mosquitoes. Jan
and I were out earlier this summer. I got a couple mosquito bites.
I said, well, it's been nice knowing you. You know, I've probably
got some dread disease now. Mosquitoes start biting me. I've
got enough of nature. Don't look all that pretty anymore. The
sun gets down just right in my eyes. I've got to have enough.
I'm going to go in. But by God's grace, as long as
I live, I can't ever get tired of the gospel. I get enough of
creation, the weather turns bad. And I just don't, I don't like
it too much. But I find I love thinking on
the Lord, thinking on his gospel, my meditation of him should be
sweet. It'll always be sweet. I mean,
what's sweeter than thinking how God would choose to save
a sinner like me? Anything sweeter than that? What's
sweeter than God sending His only Son to redeem my soul, my
sinful, wretched soul, by sacrificing His Son for me? You heard a sweeter
story than that? What's sweeter than God the Holy
Spirit coming and giving a dead sinner like me life and faith
in Christ? What's sweeter to a child of
God than God's word? The children's bread that he's
prepared just for his children. What's sweeter than knowing my
father rules everything in his creation for good. This thing's
not going off the rails. My father is ruling this. What's sweeter than knowing that
real soon real soon. My father's coming to take me
from this place. And when he does, I'm going to
see him face to face. Oh, I love to think about that.
That's a sweet, what a sweet day to see him face to face. God's providence for his people
will take them to an eternal home where no more sin, no more
sorrow, no more death. Verse 35, let the sinners be
consumed out of the earth and let the wicked be no more. Blessed
thou the Lord, O my soul. Praise ye the Lord. Surely we can rejoice in God's
providence for his people. Let's bow together. Our Father, how we thank you
for your word. How we thank you for this revelation
of your providence. for your people. Father, how
can we begin to thank you for your purpose of the redemption
of your people and your son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank
you. And Father, I pray that in your
providence for your people, that tonight is the night that you
take your word and apply it to the hearts of one of your children,
that you give faith and that you'd call one of your children
to the Lord Jesus Christ to find rest and hope and peace and salvation
in him. And Father, I pray that this
would be the night in your providence for your people, that you take
your word, apply it to the heart of one of your weary, sore, troubled
children and give us comfort, give us hope. Give us peace,
give us rest, give us strength in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
let us find satisfaction in knowing that you're the one who's controlling
this thing. It's all going to work out according
to your eternal will and purpose. And give us peace and grace to
rest right there. It's in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, we pray and give thanks.