Lord’s Day 10
Q27. What do you understand by the providence of God?
Providence is the almighty and ever-present power of God by which he upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty—all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but from his fatherly hand.
Scripture Proofs — King James Version
Jeremiah 23:23–24
“I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.”
Acts 17:24–28
“God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 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; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 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.”
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.”
Jeremiah 5:24
“Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.”
Acts 14:15–17
“And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.”
John 9:3
“Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”
Proverbs 22:2
“The rich and poor meet together: the LORD the maker of them all.”
Matthew 10:29
“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.”
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.”
Modernized Commentary — Zacharias Ursinus (1616)
The doctrine of divine providence is inseparably linked to the doctrine of creation, because providence is, in essence, creation continued. The government of the world is simply the ongoing preservation of everything God has made. We should not think of creation the way we think of a shipbuilder who, once the vessel is finished, hands it over to a pilot and walks away. Instead, we must hold firmly to this truth: just as nothing could ever have come into existence apart from God's creative power, so nothing can continue to exist, even for a moment, without His ongoing government and preservation. This is why Scripture so often pairs the preservation and continual administration of all things with their original creation. It follows, then, that we cannot have a full and accurate understanding of creation unless we also embrace the doctrine of divine providence, which deserves careful examination on three points.
I. Is there any providence of God?
II. What is it?