Providence All the Way Down

Last Sunday I looked down at my watch after finishing the second of three sections in my sermon and realized time had slipped away. In that moment I knew we needed to talk about God's providence in 1 Samuel 9-10, but that we had much less time to do so. However, understanding God's providence and seeing it on display in Scripture is an important thing for us as believers, and to that end I wanted to post an expanded version of the notes I had to cut short this past Sunday.

John Piper in his book on the subject, aptly titled Providence, has a great succinct definition. He says, “in reference to God, the noun providence has come to mean ‘the act of purposefully providing for, or sustaining and governing, the world.”  In contrast to the ideas of fate or destiny, providence is a word and theological idea that conveys intention.

Providence is about God’s definite action in the world he has made. As Piper points out, “Fate is a blind thing; it is the avalanche crushing the village down below destroying thousands… Fate is this - Whatever is, must be.” The television series The Last Kingdom about the fictional Uhtred of Bebbanburg, born a Saxon noble's son, raised as the son of a Danish warlord, ends every episode re-cap with the phrase "destiny is all." ¹ 

The theme of destiny and fate run all the way through the show, with Uhtred's pagan upbringing and the Norse understanding of destiny or fate playing a major role. There is a kind of, as Piper said, "whatever is, must be," attitude mixed with the notion that though "destiny is all," perhaps enough bootstrap pulling can change one's fate after all.

In contrast to this pagan fatalism, God's providence is purposeful. It has the intention of God’s steady hand guiding and directing all things. The Westminster Confession says of providence that:


In the world that God has made he is actively (not passively) “governing all creatures, actions, and things,” and as Colossians 1:16 says, Christ is even now in him ‘holding all things together.” The Scriptures reveal that it is not "whatever is, must be," underpinning the world, but whatever God wills as he upholds, directs, and disposes. 

Where do we see providence in the text from this past Sunday? The better question would be where do we not see providence at work in the text? From front to back, top to bottom, and worked like leaven all the way through - we see the hand of God’s providence. Here are just a few examples of the way God providentially worked to bring about Saul's anointing as prince as a good for the nation of Israel.

Psalm 139 teaches us that we are "knit together" in our mother's womb by the work of God. The hand of Providence can be seen in this work, as God intended for Saul to receive the exact genetic makeup of his father and mother. For Saul to be the man that he was - and to stand out as he did among the rest of the people - there were specific factors and traits that had to be just as they were for generations in Saul's line. God had purposed Saul to be the king long before he was ever conceived, yet began ordering his lineage to bring about his very existence.

Why did the donkey's of Kish, Saul's father get lost? What drove them from the pasture long enough to cause a stir among Kish and his servants so that Saul is sent after them? We know from Numbers 22-24 that God can make a donkey speak, and we know that fate is not consistent with a Christian worldview. The donkeys were moved to get lost exactly when they did because God had decided that is when it would happen. 

There was no less the hand of Providence at work in the searching for the donkeys than in their wandering. God had not only ordained their departure, but He is the one who ordained that Saul would conduct the search and that as he searched they would evade him, return home, and that Saul would seek out the counsel of Samuel.

Here we have no need for inference, because the text tells us of God's hand working directly - in his Providence providing that there would be a sacrifice and Samuel would be there to bless it. Giving Samuel detailed instructions about the man he would meet, what he would be searching for, and how to prepare for his arrival. God then providentially placed Samuel and Saul in one another's path as Saul entered Ramah, and revealed to Samuel exactly who this young man was. 

Providence is the way by which God divinely ordered every sign that Saul received upon his return to Gibeah after being anointed as prince of God's people. Providence led to the meeting at the tomb of Rachel, the encounter with the worshipers at the Oak of Tabor, and the joining in with the prophets coming down from Gibeah-elohim. 

Finally, it was by God's hand of providence that the lots were cast and landed as they did. Though Saul and Samuel knew God's decision, it was the providence of God on visible display for the people that confirmed what had been spoken in the sight of them all. 

The doctrine of Divine Providence should produce at least three things in us: comfort, hope, and confidence. Let me unpack each of those briefly. 

I’m grateful for passages like 1 Samuel 9-10 in Scripture that put God’s providential work on display. God is sovereign, and when we see that his sovereignty - rule and reign - is not a passive sovereignty, but active in every detail of the cosmos its quite comforting. Knowing that God is not just sitting back hoping things go according to his best intentions, but is actively involved in the workings of the world is comforting. Nothing happens in the world or to you that goes outside the scope of God’s power and will.

Consider Paul’s words in Romans 8, “For God works all things together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose." Active, not passive, bringing about all things for the good of his people. Just a quick glance back at the life of Joseph and we can see this kind of comfort he experiences from knowing that every evil deed done to him was ultimately meant for the good of his people and his adoptive nation. When his brothers discover he isn’t dead but alive he tells them, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. To bring about the salvation of many.” 

Providence should also give us a sense of immense hopefulness. Everywhere we turn right now there is an immense sense of worry about the future. Fear and anxiety about the future seem to always be on high alert during an election year, but we shouldn't brush aside the social and political chaos bubbling up all around us. The fact is, it's easy to look at what is happening in the world right now and despair. However, when we understand that God is working through His providence in the world even now - in small and large details alike it - should breed hope in our hearts.

God hasn’t set the world spinning, turned around and kicked His feet up at the beach. He does - as the Westminster Confession says, "uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least," all through His holy providence.

When we know what God can do because he is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, it gives us hope because we know the His character. He is good and just. Holy and righteous. He delights in His people and He is for his people. As the Psalmist says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains move into the heart of the sea.” It would be rather reasonable to be afraid if we saw mountains being pick up and thrown into the sea, but we know that our God is the God who has made and upheld the mountains. If they are being moved, then we can have confidence that He is moving them for a reason.

Or consider Job when he starts to get in his feels after everything that has happened to him, and he starts to question God. The Lord answers Job from the whirlwind, and in Job 38-39 God hits him again and again with "tell me, do you know," until finally in chapter 40 Job says, “I get it, you can stop."  God doesn't stop though, He doubles down for another two chapters until finally Job says, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”

If that is true, and it is, you and I can have hope! What we know about God that brings us comfort also brings us hope. We know God’s purpose for us is for our good because we are in Christ Jesus! Be hopeful Christian.

Finally, be bold Christian. If I could knock Saul for something in this part of his story it would be his timidity even after God confirms everything to him. If God is sovereign, if he is providentially working in the world - which he is - then you and I have reason for being and acting boldly in life.

As a church we should be bold, trusting that even if the nations rage and the people plot and the world grows ever more wicked, and our nations spirals further into God’s judgment than it already is because we belong to Christ and the world belongs to him, we can be immovable.

God is for us - for we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. God cares how his people are led - in the church and in the world, and the church when preaching a hot gospel speaks prophetically to rulers and authorities, calling them to submit to the reign of King Jesus. God’s providence runs all the way up, down, and through the world so we can be filled with comfort, hope, and a bold confidence.

1 - Quoting from the Last Kingdom is not an endorsement, and given the nature of some of the content I don't recommend watching it without a service like VidAngel to sensor some of the unnecessary content.