Providence

Examples of Providence

Ps 21:3-5 You bless the king with good things, setting a fine gold crown upon him. He asks life, and You give it, long days forever. Because of Your salvation, he is glorious; because You have put splendor and majesty on him.
Ps 23:1-6 The LORD shepherds me, I lack nothing. He gives me rest in pleasant pastures, He takes me by quiet streams. HE restores my soul, guiding me in righteousness for His name's sake. Were He to guide me even through the valley of death, I need fear no evil, for You are with me, Your rod and Your staff are my comfort. You prepare my meal in the presence of my enemies, anointing my head with oil. The cup of my blessings overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will be with me all my days, and I will dwell in the LORD's house forever.
Ps 33:12-15 When a nation knows God as their LORD, they are blessed, for they are the people God chooses for His own inheritance. He looks down from heaven and sees every man, every inhabitant of this earth. He fashioned their hearts, every one. He understands all that they do.
Ps 34:7-10 The LORD rescues those who fear Him. Taste His provision! See that He is good. It is a blessing to take refuge in Him. Fear Him, you saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing. Young lions may go hungry, but those who seek the LORD will lack no good thing.
Ps 36:6-7 Your righteousness is like the mountains, unshakable. Your judgments are like the sea. You, Lord, preserve the life of man and beast. Your mercy is precious, O God! Children take refuge in You.
Ps 37:3 Trust in the LORD, and do good. Live in the land, and exercise faithfulness.
Ps 37:19-25 The righteous will have no cause to be ashamed in evil times. In times of famine, they shall have abundance. The wicked will surely perish, and the LORD's enemies will all be like the flowers of the field, vanishing like smoke upon the wind. The wicked man does not repay what he borrows, but the righteous man is free in giving. Whom God blesses will inherit the land, but whom He curses will be cut off. God establishes our ways, and as we follow those ways, HE delights in us. When the righteous man falls, he will not be laid flat out, because the LORD holds his hand. Through all the days of this long life, I have never seen the righteous forsaken by Him, nor have I seen His children begging for bread.
Ps 37:34 Wait for Him, keep His way, and He will exalt you in the land. When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
Ps 40:5 You have done many wonders, my God, and Your thoughts for us are great, none can compare to You. If I were to speak of all You have done for me, Your works would be beyond counting.
Ps 44:1-3 Our fathers have told us of what You did for them in the past. You drove out nations by Your own strength, and planted our fathers in the land. You afflicted nations, and spread Your own people abroad. It was not their weapons or their strength that took the land, but Your own power, the light of Your presence, for You looked with favor upon them.
Ps 65:9-13 You bring abundance to the earth, enriching it with the full waters of God's stream. You prepare grain for Your people, for it is You who prepares the earth in which it grows. You water it abundantly, and hold the seeds in their place. You soften the earth with showers, and bless the seed with growth. You have blessed the year with great bounty from Your stores. All about us is the evidence of that bounty, and the hills rejoice. The lands are covered with flocks and crops, and they shout for joy. Indeed, the land sings of Your blessings.
Ps 67:6-7 The earth yields produce because God blesses us. He blesses us so that all the earth might fear Him.
Ps 78:52-55 He led His people through the wilderness to safety like a flock of sheep. They knew no fear, but their enemies were swallowed by the sea. He brought them to the holy land, a land His own power had gained for them, and He drove out nations before them. He determined the inheritance of each tribe, and caused them to be tent dwellers.
Ps 81:13-16 Would that My people would listen and do as I tell them! Then I would quickly defeat their enemies, turning My hand against them. Even those who hate the LORD would pretend to obey Him, yet their punishment would be eternal. You, though, I would feed only the finest grains, and I would cause honey to come from the rocks to satisfy you.
Ps 85:12 The LORD will give good things to us, and our land will be productive.
Ps 87:5 It will be known to all people who is born of Zion, for God Himself will establish Zion.
Ps 100:3 The LORD is God. He made us, we didn't make ourselves. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.
Ps 103:3-5 He pardons our sins and heals our diseases. He redeems us from the pit and crowns us with love and mercy. He satisfies us with good things all our days, so that we feel our youth renewed like the eagle.

New Thoughts

Indeed, You have done many wonders, my God. With David, I must declare that the things You have done for me are beyond counting! You created me, You designed me for Your specific purposes. You have chosen me as a vessel of honor before You. You have preserved me through times of trial and foolishness, You have redeemed me from the prisons of my sin. You have shown patience with this stubborn and stiff-necked man, quietly working until I should come to my senses.

You have provided me with a family and a home, with a wife who increases in blessing each day, with a daughter growing strong in Your own ways. You have given me the gift of song, and the opportunity to put that gift into operation in Your service. You have given me wisdom and understanding to accomplish jobs beyond my natural ability. You have taught me to serve in Your courts. You have taught me how to delve in to Your word.

You have blessed me with times such as this, when I can simply draw close to You, sense the awesome wonder of Your presence; when I can begin to pour out all my thanks to You, all my joy in knowing You. You have blessed me with understanding beyond my years. You have given me a passion for these morning times. You have made me a teacher, and You have honed my skills so that I can even teach my own family, often the hardest of students.

What is there that You cannot do? What is there that You will not do for Your children! You, oh Lord, are my Rock, my Salvation. Whom shall I fear? With Your hand upon me, who could stand against me? In this time of shaking, You are my constant and firm foundation, and I shall not be afraid. Your children have never been found begging for sustenance. You have provided for my future just as You have provided for my past and present. I will praise You then, and I will praise You now, for You do not change. My outward circumstance may change, but by Your power, my inward circumstance remains. All glory and honor to You, my God, my Lord. All power and majesty be unto Your name!

We live in a society largely devoid of purpose. Modern man has become clueless as to why he is on this planet. This problem has only been made worse as man has lost sight of his Creator. Few there are that understand that He made us. We really have reached a place where we think we make ourselves. The procreative sciences can generate that illusion, as men manipulate the birth process to bring children to the childless. Genetic engineering can generate that illusion, as men manipulate the shape of the creature to come.

Yet, this is illusion. First and foremost, creation involves the process of bringing something from nothing, and this feat remains unique to God. He alone has created from the void. We may play around with the things He created, we may change genetic sequences, or graft different life forms together, but we still haven't created, we've only manipulated. I wonder, in the long run, how many of our attempts to improve on God's design will actually turn out to be improvements. I suspect that number will be dangerously low.

God is Wisdom. He makes the best plans, and uses the best means to accomplish them. We, on the other hand, tend to rush forth with our plans, not having fully understood the consequences. This is how sin and death got a hold on creation to begin with, because man started playing with God's order, thinking to improve the picture, only to find out he had broken things rather completely. Over and over again, it has fallen to God to repair the things we have broken. Thankfully, He is patient and kind to do so.

The LORD God made us, Psalm 100:3 reminds us. Not only did He make us, we are to Him like the sheep of His pasture. This is quite an image for us to see of ourselves. What do we think of when we think of sheep? We might think of something cute, or we might only see something dirty from being in the fields all day. A merchant might see no more than a source of food and clothing. But, one who raises sheep most likely sees something profitable, although requiring an awful lot of work.

We are the sheep of His pasture. This puts God in the position of Shepherd. Surely, He looks upon us as profitable. Whether we are cute or filthy rather depends on what we've been doing in His fold. How much effort will be required from God to bring us to that profitable state is going to vary from sheep to sheep, and from day to day. But, He looks upon us as profitable. Will He not do everything in His power to protect that which will be profitable to Himself? Will He not do whatever He must to make us the more profitable?

Shepherds take good care of their sheep, because their livelihood depends on it. They may come to have a degree of love towards their flock, or they may not, yet they will take good care of the flock. God is the great Shepherd. His care for His flock is unparalleled, and His love for them is unshakable. He who will leave the ninety-nine in safety to bring back the one that was lost will surely allow nothing to disturb any sheep in His fold. He will surely shower His flock with blessings, even as Psalm 23 tells us: pleasant pastures, quiet waters, and plentiful food - even when dangers surround us.

Yet, God is not a purposeless God. He does not do things in an arbitrary fashion. He has created us for a purpose: to go forth and make disciples of the nations. He blesses us for a purpose: so that all the earth might fear Him (Ps 67:7). Does my lifestyle lead those who know me to fear my God? Sadly, I'd have to say no, I'm all too much like them, I'm entirely too comfortable with their ways.

Lord, I pray at this moment that You would renew this creation of Yours to serve You more fully, to be more profitable. I pray that You would mold this clay in a form that will, indeed, cause those who see me to honor You, my Creator. I pray for boldness to live this Christian life actively. I pray that, as You have blessed me, as You continue to bless me, You would find in me a sheep worth continuing to attend to. Make me, oh Lord, a fruitful tree in Your courts.