Jehovah-jireh: a treatise on providence

CHAPTER II. Providence defined 12

CHAPTER in.

God's Providence results from his nature — it is holt, just, benevolent, wise, supreme and sovereign, sure and stable, powerful and irresistible. 16

CHAPTER IY.

God's works of providence are vast 35

CHAPTER V.

Practical Remarks on Chapters III and IV 38

CHAPTER VI.

God's providence is retributive 45

CHAPTER VII.

Some explanation of the delays of providence in punishing the wicked. How divine forbearance should be regarded ; and how it mat be abused. 59

CHAPTER VIII.

Several principles of the doctrine of providence over bad men, illustrated in the life and end of Judas Iscariot 74

CHAPTER IX.

God's providence is often mysterious 106

4 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER X.

PACT

Mysteries of Providence.— Continued 121

CHAPTER XI.

Practical Remarks on Chapters IX and X 131

CHAPTER XII.

The special kindness of providence towards good men , 137

CHAPTER XIII.

The special kindness of providence towards good men.— Continued 151

CHAPTER XIV.

Practical Remarks on Chapters XII and XIII 161

CHAPTER XV.

Alternate light and darkness in providence, illustrated in the case of

THE GREAT MAN OF Uz 167

CHAPTER XVI.

God's Providence towards his church renders unnecessary all tormenting fears respecting her safety and final triumph 186

CHAPTER XVII.

God's providence over nations 202

CHAPTER XVni.

Providence punishes nations for their sins, 217

JEHOVAH-JIREH.

CHAPTER I.

PROVIDENCE ASSERTED.

A ND Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh; as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

Behold the fowls of the air: they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns: yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? . . . Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

Jesus Christ.

In the hand of the Lord is the soul of every living

thing, and the heart of all mankind. Job.

] * 5 b JEHOYAH-JIKEH.

God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither but God. Joseph.

As thy days, so shall thy strength be. Moses.

The Lord is King for ever and ever. David.

O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. Hezekiah.

It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: that bringeth the princes to nothing: he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Isaiah.

The Lord is the true God, he is the living God and an everlasting King. . . . O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself. Jeremiah.

In him we live and move and have our being.

Paul.

Ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. James.

The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished. Peter.

Alleluia; for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

Much People in Heaven.

He who ruleth the raging of the sea, knows also how to check the designs of the ungodly. — I submit myself with reverence to his Holy will. Racine.

God's power as well as his wisdom gives him a right to govern the world: nothing can equal him, therefore nothing can share the command with him. . . . He can hold all things in the world together, and preserve them in those functions wherein he settled them, and conduct them to those ends, for which he designed them. Charnock.

A sense of the divine care and favour has been in all ages the support of the church and the consolation of good men. No thought can enter into the mind of man, better adapted to promote its piety and peace than this — -that the world is under the government of God, and all the events of our lives under the direction of his providence. Orton.

The belief in providence is the necessary supplement to the belief in inspiration. Westcott.

From all the acts of God as recorded in the Scriptures, we are taught that he alone is God; that he is present everywhere to sustain and govern all things: that his wisdom is infinite, his counsel settled, and his power irresistible; that he is holy, just, and good; the Lord and the Judge — but the Father and the Friend of man. Watson's Institutes.

I adore and kiss the providence of my Lord, who knoweth well what is most expedient for me, and for you, and your children. Rutherford.

A God without dominion, without providence and final causes is nothing but fate and nature.

Sir Isaac Newton.

To infer from that passage of holy Scripture, wherein God is said to have rested from his works, that there is no longer a continual production of them, would be to make a very ill use of that text.

Leibnitz.

There is an immediate and constant superintendence exercised over the whole creation, and what we term laws of nature are but the operations of divine power in a regular and uniform manner. Dr. Godwin.

The philosopher, who overlooks the traces of an allgoverning Deity in nature, contenting himself with the appearances of the material universe only, and the mechanical laws of motion, neglects what is most excellent; and prefers what is imperfect to what is

PROVIDENCE ASSERTED.

supremely perfect, finitude to infinity, what is narrow and weak to what is unlimited and almighty, and what is perishing to what endures for ever.

Maclaubin.

We cannot conceive of any reasons that can influence the Deity to exercise any providence over the world, which are not likewise reasons for extending it to all that happens in the world. Price.

Though troubles assail,

And dangers affright, Though friends should all fail,

And foes all unite ; Yet one thing secures us,

Whatever betide, The Scripture assures us

The Lord will provide. Newton.

Yes, Thou art ever present, Power Supreme !

Not circumscribed by Time, nor fixed to Space,

Confined to altars, nor to temples bound,

In Wealth, in Want, in Freedom or in Chains,

In Dungeons or on Thrones, the faithful find thee !

Hannah More.

We believe that all things, both in heaven and in earth, and in all creatures, are sustained and governed by the providence of this wise, eternal, and omnipotent God. Latter Confession of Helvetia.

We believe that this most gracious and mighty God, after he had made all things left them nut to be

A* ruled after the will of chance or fortune, but himself doth so continually rule and govern them, according to the prescript rule of his holy will, that nothing can happen in this world without his decree or ordinance.

Confession of Belgta.

We believe, that God made all things by his everlasting Word, that is, by his only begotten Son; and that he upholdeth and worketh all things by his Spirit, that is by his own power: and therefore that God as he hath created, so he foreseeth and governeth all things. Confession of Basle.

When men bring themselves to think that Jehovah is too great a being to interfere in the affairs of this lower world, they are prepared, by this infidel sentiment, to adopt any evil course which may suggest itself to the depraved inclinations of the human heart.

Morison.

God reigns is a logical sequence from God is. To deny God's providence is as atheistical as to deny his existence. A God, who neither sees, nor hears, nor knows, nor cares, nor helps, nor saves, is a vanity, and can never claim homage from intelligent men. Such a god should be derided, not worshipped. He might suit the mythology of Paganism, or meet the demands of an infidel heart, but could never command the allegiance, or win the confidence of an enlightened and pious man. Yet there have been and still are those, who deny Providence. They "encourage themselves in an evil matter; they commune of laying snares privily ; they say, Who shall see them ?" Ps. Ixiv. 5. Some say outright, "God hath forgotten, he hideth his face, he will never see it." Ps. x. 11. Nothing more derogatory to the character of God can possibly be said, than that he does not rule the world. To bring into existence and then forsake a race of beings, and care no more for them would argue a total want of the moral attributes of divinity. Such conduct may well comport with the character of false gods, but is wholly abhorrent to the nature of Jehovah. The world may as well be without a God, as have one who is incompetent to rule it, or, who, wrapping himself in a mantle of infinite indifference, abandons creation to the governance of puny mortals, to the rule of devils, or to the .sway of a blind fortuity. "The ostrich leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust, and forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them. She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers." Job xxxix. 14-1 6. Thus this bird fulfils the instincts of her nature. Yet in so doing she proves that she is one of the lowest orders of irrational animals. But God's tender mercies are over all his works. His kingdom ruleth over all.

CHAPTER II.

PROVIDENCE DEFINED.

PROVIDENCE is the care of God over created being; divine superintendence. Johnson.

Providence is the care and superintendence which God exercises over his creatures. Webster.

Providence is the divine superintendence over all created beings; the care of God over his creatures.

Worcester.

Providence is that by which anything is foreseen before it takes place. Cicero.

The doctrine of divine Providence is, that all things are sustained, directed, and controlled by God.

Dr. Leonard Woods.

By the law of providence, I intend God's sovereign disposal of all the concernments of men in this world, in the variety, order, and manner, which he pleaseth, according to the rule and infinite reason of his own goodness, wisdom, righteousness, and truth.

John Owen.

PROVIDENCE DEFINED. 13

The word providence is taken from the Latin, and by its etymology means foresight, not merely in the sense of seeing before but in the sense of taking care for the future, or rather an ordering of things and events after a pre-determined and intelligent plan; it supposes wisdom to devise and power to execute.

Bethtjne.

Providence is the superintendence and care which God exercises over creation. Buck.

Providence is the care which God takes of all things, to uphold them in being and to direct them to the ends which he has determined to accomplish by them, so that nothing takes place in which he is not concerned in a manner worthy of his infinite perfections, and which is not in unison with the counsels of his will. Dick.

God's conserving all things means his actual operation and government in preserving and continuing the being, powers, dispositions, and motions of all things. Clarke.

The providence of God is his almighty and everywhere present power, whereby as it were by hand, he upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all creatures; so that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, and all things come, not by chance, but by his fatherly hand.

Heidelberg Catechism.

God's works of providence are his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures and all their actions.

Westminster Assembly.

According to preceding views and to the Scriptures, God's providence consists,

1. In his preserving all that he has made. He upholds all things by the word of his power. Heb. i. 3. " The eyes of all wait upon thee, and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing." Ps. cxlv. 15, 16. This dependence of creatures is universal and perpetual. Could one link in the chain thereof be broken, the least evil that would follow would be annihilation.

2. In governing all that he has made. First, he restrains the creature. By the law of gravitation he keeps solid worlds in their places. By the power of his hand he withholds free agents from evil both natural and moral. Secondly, he guides his creatures. It is his voice that rolls the stars along, and marshals all the host of heaven, and works wonders among the

PROVIDENCE DEFINED. 15

inhabitants of the earth. Without him atoms and planets, angels and devils, saints and sinners can do nothing. John xix. 11; 2 Chron. xxxii. 31; Acts xiv. 16; Ps. lxxvi. 10.

Chapter III

God's providence results from his nature — it is holy, just, benevolent, wise, supreme and sovereign, sure and stable, powerful and irresistible.

r|lHE world over, the unrenewed heart is pagan in -*- its inclinations. It does not like to retain God in its thoughts. The Epicurean doctrine, that God is too exalted to notice the affairs of men, naturally flows from the ignorance and enmity of the carnal mind. But " shall I not do as I please with mine own ?" is the challenge of the Almighty. To manage the affairs of the universe cannot disturb the divine tranquility. To him, that made all things by the word of his power, the care of them cannot be burdensome. God is not like man. He never grows weary. That he has a right to establish an all-pervading government over his creatures is as certain as that he has any rights at all. Were our hearts not wrong, we should glory in his providence ; and were our minds not feeble and our faculties not limited, we should see that all objec-

PROPERTIES OF PROVIDENCE. 17.

tion to God's care of the world was worse than frivolous.

In this age it is commonly admitted that the Lord liveth and ruleth in the kingdoms of men. This is the avowed theory. The practical belief of many is quite diverse. There are not a few whose prevailing plans and fears and hopes would hardly be more practically atheistic if they should avow disbelief of God's existence and of the divine government over human affairs. Were God, in open day, before their eyes, miraculously to suspend the laws of nature, they might for a time, perhaps, be impressed and confess that here was the finger of God. It is probable, however, that this impression would not be lasting. For in his ceaseless support and maintenance of the course of nature, such men perceive nothing to admire, nothing to adore. Were the hand that moves all worlds to arrest the sun in the heavens and cause him to stand still for even an hour, they might say, This is the Lord. But the sun may rise, and run his race, and duly set three hundred and sixty-five times in the year, and nothing is said or thought of him, at whose rebuke the pillars of heaven tremble, and by whose ordinance the everlasting mountains and the order of universal nature have their stability. "A brutish man knoweth not, neither doth a fool understand." Ps. xoii. 6. Such men virtually or actually say: "The

2*

Lord doth not see, nor doth the God of Jacob regard." Ps. xciv. 7. To correct such errors is one object of revelation. Scripture puts the stamp of profaneness on all such thoughts as allow men to believe that they may act independently of God.

God is above all law, being himself absolutely independent and supreme. His own infinitely excellent nature is the law of his being and of his action. This very nature fits him in all respects to be the ruler of the world.

God's providence is holy. — Because God is holy, his providence is holy in all its works. He plots no mischief, works no evil, favors no sin; but in the winding up of human affairs, he will bring a terrible overthrow on all the workers of iniquity. He hates sin with a perfect hatred. To him it is a horrible thing. Jer. v. 30. It cannot be proven that God hates anything but sin. Nor has any mortal an adequate conception of the intensity of the aversion of the divine mind to every form and species of iniquity. "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name ? for thou only art holy." Rev. XV. 4. Indeed, the bliss of the heavenly world depends upon the absolute and unqualified confidence of saints and angels in the infinite rectitude of God's nature. Isa. vi. 3. " The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works." Ps. cxlv. 17.

PROPERTIES OF PROVIDENCE. 19

God's providence is just. — From God's holiness necessarily results his justice. Dr. Woods : " The plan of providence is such that sin will be stigmatized and sinners punished, while holiness will be honored, and those who are holy rewarded." Justice is certainly an amiable attribute in any person or government. By a fiction of law under the British Constitution, " The king can do no wrong." The reason is that his ministers are responsible. But it is no fiction of law or theology that the Judge of all the earth cannot but do right. Gen. xviii. 25. In the worship of the temple not made with hands, they sing, " Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints." Rev. xv. 3.

God's providence is benevolent. — Indeed, God's tender mercies are over all his works. Ps. cxlv. 9. " The same benevolence, which prompted him to create the world, must prompt him to preserve and govern it." " When we consider the care of providence over the children of men, as it is manifested either in the works of nature or of grace, we naturally fall into the reflection, 'What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?' and we wonder to see so much done for men, who seem to have no merit or desert equal to the concern showed for them."

God's providence is wise. — In it are no gaps, no failures, no mistakes, no oversights. "The same wisdom which contrived so wonderful and glorious a system can and will direct and control it." Because God's plans embrace all causes and all effects, all facts and all contingencies, all actions and all words, it is impossible that he should be overreached. It is infinitely easy for him to take the wise in their own craftiness. The greatest monarch of his time, one whose kingdom embraced much of the wealth, learning, and civilization of the world, and who was surrounded by able men, said to his council of state: "Come on, let us deal wisely." Ex. i. 10. They formed their plans. From first to last they were encompassed with difficulties. And they were followed by terrific judgments. Go now and stand with Moses and Aaron and Miriam on the banks of the Red Sea, and behold the end of all this 'wise dealing/ Pharaoh, and his host, and his chosen captains are perished. The depths have covered them: they sank to the bottom as a stone: they sank as lead in the mighty waters. All the amazing operations of vegetation are by inspired men ascribed to the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working. Isa. xxviii. 29. "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

PROPERTIES OF PROVIDENCE. 21

wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts." Ps. civ. 24, 25.

God's providence is supreme, and therefore sovereign. — It is over all and above all. He has no divided dominion. He is sole arbiter of events and destinies. He says: "See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no God with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand." Deut. xxxii. 39. "I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God." Isa. xliv. 6. "I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me, . . . there is no God else beside me: a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me." Isa. xlv. 5, 21. So that it is as clear that God rules alone as that he rules at all, that he rules everywhere as that he rules anywhere; that he governs all agents, all causes, and all events, as that he governs any of them. To surrender in whole or in part his control of the universe would be to admit that he was not God, that another was as strong, as wise, or as good as himself. Isa. xli. 23. It would argue some defect in him, who has all perfection. An angel would be burdened with the sole charge of one man; because an angel is a finite creature, and has none but derived attributes; but the care of the universe is no burden to the Almighty because he is God. His will is the law of all worlds. He stretched out the earth above the waters. "Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places." Ps. cxxxv. 6. U A11 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?" Dan. iv. 35. "The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens." Ps. cxiii. 4.

God's providence is sure and stable. — Whoever wishes to walk securely needs but to conform himself to its settled provisions and principles. Prov. x. 9. Never was there a sin that did not bring misery ; never was the human being born that did not make some impression on the world ; never was there an effect without a cause; never did God change a principle of moral law; never did he abolish a physical law; never did the hand of the negligent make rich; never was it safe to make war on the natural affection even of brutes; never was there a time when the law of acquisition was not, To him that hath shall be given; never was there a time when destruction was not easy, and construction difficult; never was the general course of providence without its compensations, the Lord setting the day of adversity over against the day of prosperity, or comforting the heart of his troubled ones with the

PROPERTIES OF PROVIDENCE. 23

fact that the same afflictions are accomplished in their brethren. Greatly was the Psalmist comforted with this view of the stability of God's government: "For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. They continue this day according to thine ordinances; for all are thy servants." Ps. cxix. 89-91; compare Pr. xix. 21 and Josh, xxiii. 14.

God's providence is powerful; yea, it is irresistible. — His providence not only consults; it also executes. It not only devises ; it also puts into operation. It not only sees how evil may be prevented; it also prevents evil. It is so powerful that it even brings good out of evil; making bad men and fallen angels to serve God's designs, while they intend no such thing : giving the greatest efficiency to causes apparently the most contemptible; and infallibly securing the accomplishment of the very best ends. The author of Providence is "the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." Rev. i. 8. All the other- attributes of God would not avail us, if he had not omnipotence, whereby to enforce and execute his will. All other properties of his providence would fail to give effectual consolation, if it lacked divine power. No marvel therefore that the Scriptures so frequently celebrate the triumphs of Omnipotence. Otherwise the wicked would say, Where is their rock in whom they have trusted? As to the Assyrian, so to every foe, Jehovah says, "Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou earnest." 2 Kings xix. 28. It will be for an everlasting rejoicing to all the righteous that when God makes a covenant of peace with his people, he is able to cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land : so that his people may dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. By his almighty power he bringeth mariners out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. All conspiracies and combinations against providence are vain. Ezek. xxi. 21-23.

CHAPTEE IV.

god's works of providence are vast.

/^i OD'S providence is over all creatures ; over fixed ^* and planetary stars; over angels and devils; over saints and sinners ; over beasts, and birds, and fishes ; over globes and atoms ; over heat and cold ; over war, famine and pestilence ; over heaven, earth, and hell. Having enumerated the living creatures that God has made, the prophet says, " 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." Ps. civ. 27-29. " Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights." James i. 17. What hast thou that thou hast not received ? 1 Cor. iv. 7. It is because of this universal providence of God that his people cry, " Be not thou far from me, O Lord : O my strength, haste thee to help rue," Ps. xxii. 19. And every pious man cries, " My cup runneth over," and " He loadetli me daily with benefits." Ps. xxiii. 5; lxviii. 19. Where is the man that can number up either his sins, or what are still more numerous, God's mercies to him? Compare Dan. iv. 35.

God's providence is also over all the actions of all creatures. If any one could act independently, he would be a God. If Jehovah governs not a man for a day, that day he is a God. Independence is one of the essential attributes of Jehovah. Whoever has it is God. To put a single act of any creature beyond divine control would be an admission that besides the Most High there is some other God. Satan could do nothing against the holy man of Uz until the Almighty granted him permission. Job i. 12.

The Bible adopts two methods of teaching the universality of God's providence. In one it asserts it as a great truth. "He is a great King over all the earth." Ps. xlvii. 2. "His kingdom ruleth over all." Ps. ciii. 19. "By him all things consist." Col. i. 17. "He upholdeth all things by the word of his power." Heb. i. 3. "He hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King op Kings and Lord of Lords." Rev. xix. 16. To him death and hell have no covering. Job xxvi. 6.

Again the Scripture descends to particulars, and declares that over each being and event God exercises sovereign control. "He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see? he that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?" Ps. xciv. 9, 10. He never slumbers, nor sleeps, nor goes on a journey. He is ever awake. His ear is ever open to the cry of his people. He is never sick, never weary. He fainteth not. His eyes are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. He numbers the very hairs of our heads. Not a sparrow falleth to the ground without his notice. He looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; to make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure. He made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder. Job xxviii. 24-27. He directs journeys and makes them prosperous. 1 Thes. iii. 11; Rom. i. 10. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man. Ps. civ. 14. He suffereth not cattle to decrease. Ps. cvii. 38. He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry. Ps. cxlvii. 9.