Word of Salvation – Vol.34 No.11 – March 1989
The Heavenly Father’s Care
Sermon by Rev. B. Hoyt on Psalm 145
and Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Day 10.
Reading: Psalm 145
Singing: Ps/H. 206:1,4,7,8; 261; 299:1-4; 299:5-8
Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Are these words of the Psalmist of the Psalmist daily upon your lips, “Every day I will bless Thee, and I will praise Thy name forever and ever”? No doubt we all fall far short of being able to make such a claim. That shows our lack of appreciation for the fatherly care of our God which is spoken of in this Psalm.
The Psalmist praises Jehovah (the LORD) because He is great: in Himself He is worthy to be praised. He also praises Him because His deeds are great, they are awe inspiring. But underlying the whole Psalm is the fatherly care of this great and awesome God.
The Psalmist is not praising some remote, awe-inspiring God who has no concern for His creatures. He is expressing adoration toward a loving heavenly Father whose care he enjoys from day to day.
This can be seen by a consideration of…
1. the motivation,
2. the extent and
3. the focus of God’s providential care as set forth in this Psalm.
- The motivation:
God’s providential care is motivated by His loving-kindness.
Why is the Psalmist so filled with praise toward God for His providence? Because “The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.” David recognises that all the mercies of the Lord, all His goodness to all creatures, even to the wicked result from His lovingkindness.
That word ‘lovingkindness refers to the loving, faithful, and righteous dealings of Jehovah toward His covenant people. At first thought this may seem strange to us. Why should God’s providence be motivated by His covenant love toward His chosen people? Doesn’t the Lord have regard for all things and all men? Yes, He does. But the point made here is that He has regard for all His creatures for the sake of His covenant people. It is because He has determined to deal graciously with His people that He pours out His mercies upon all. That is the connection we must see between verse 8 and verses 9-16.
This truth must never be lost if we are rightly to understand the providence of God. It is for this reason that the catechism points out that all of God’s dealings toward all His creatures come “by His Fatherly hand”. God is the Father only of His covenant people who are His adopted sons. But His providence extends over all for their sakes. We must be careful never to think of what is frequently called God’s common grace as separate from or different than His saving grace. God’s common grace arises out of His saving grace.
To see this ask yourself: Why does God allow the wicked to continue in this world? Is it not in order that they might come to repentance?
Many of them are His people, chosen but not yet called. Why does He deal so kindly with many who despise Him? Is it not for the sake of His people who are in their midst, who are together in this world, in cultures, in cities, in nations, though not of the same spiritual family. Why does God allow this world to continue? Is it not for the sake of His elect who are not yet complete?
Those who ignore God think of God’s mercies as coming from NATURE. They have the philosophy that things have just fallen out this way; that things just happen by chance. In thinking this way they greatly despise the God of these mercies. God’s people, however, are always to recognize that His mercies are works of His Fatherly hand moved by His grace. Very simply put, we must say that God cares for all because He loves His people. That is, His providence is motivated by His lovingkindness.
- The extent: God’s providential care extends to all things.
The truth that God’s providential care is motivated by His grace must not lead us to minimize the extent of this providence.
All that is within the creation of God is in some degree or another under the providential care of God. As this Psalm says:
“His mercies are over all His works…
The eyes of all look to Thee…
Thou dost satisfy the desire of every living thing”.
You boys live under your father’s care. His care extends to everything that is his. He cares for your dog when you forget. He cares for your bike when you leave it out in the rain. He cares for your toys, etc. In fact, his care is extended to everything in his domain since that domain is your environment, it is where you live.
So it is with God our Father. He cares for his whole domain, all creation, because it is where we, His people, live. The universe is our home. This earth is especially our home. And our heavenly Father watches over it for it for our sake.
Of course there is a tremendous difference between the care of your father for everything in his domain and the care of God for everything in His creation. Your father does the best he can to care for what is his but is not able to control everything. Sometimes things happen against his will. A burglar may steal the stereo and video. An arsonist may destroy his house. A terrible sickness may bring his children to the grave. Or an accident may cause his own death and leave his family fatherless. But none of these things can overtake our heavenly Father.
This is what is what we are taught in the assured language of verses 14-16. (Read) The Lord does these things. There is no doubt but that He is willing and able.
Everything that happens in life, in the whole creation, comes not by CHANCE but by His fatherly hand.
That is not to say that God explains everything He does. No, we couldn’t begin to understand the details of His providential works. Further, we would misuse such knowledge.
Our heavenly Father has not seen fit to explain the reasons for what He allows in our own life let alone the reasons for everything else He does. But of this we may be sure: He causes all things to happen.
In the ultimate sense there are no chance happenings in God’s creation. God opens His hand and thus the desire of every living thing is satisfied. To use the characters in Thornton Wilder’s beautiful children’s books: It is not by chance that the wind blows the scent of Farmer Brown’s chickens across the nose of Reddy Fox who snoops around and helps himself to chicken dinner. It is not by chance that the winter is severe and thousands of winter birds starve and die.
It is not by chance that AIDS spreads like wild fire across Western Culture at the end of the second millennium.
But you may object, isn’t the fall of the dice really a chance event? No! For the Scripture teaches, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord” (Prov.16:3). Though it may appear to us to be chance because we have no understanding of how God orders things, even the fall of the dice is in the providence of God.
Some people object to the use of dice or any “games of chance”. They argue that by treating the fall of dice as a chance thing, we thus make a game out of what is really the providence of God. They object to such an activity that makes light of the hidden works of God. I respond by pointing out that everything we do is fully dependent upon the providence of God not just so called “games of chance”. Using this argument we could never play any games. To do so on this thinking would be to make light of some aspect God’s providence. If I play a game of chess, I cannot claim that chess is a game of reason and therefore does not depend upon God’s providence. My very thoughts are dependent upon His providence. So if playing a game which depends upon God’s providence is making light of that providence, then playing chess is also wrong.
The proper view is that all our actions are based on the providence of God. Observing that dice fall in a way that appears to us to be random and basing some actions (playing a game, or deciding who shall do the dishes) on this ordering of God’s providence is not making light of God’s providence but respecting it. He has so ordered things that an evenly balanced cube when thrown will land with approximately equal frequency on each face with no apparent pattern. To act on that fact is no different in principle than acting on the fact that you will continue to reason as you did yesterday in a game of chess.
It is one of the great glories of our heavenly Father that we can depend, day after day, upon His providence since He orders everything that happens. Nothing is beyond His power and will. Nothing can just happen to us. No, He cares for all his creatures and we who trust Him to do so have not misplaced our trust.
- The focus:
God’s providential care is specially directed toward those who fear Him and call upon Him in their need.
There is a special attention given by God in His providence to those who fear Him.
“The Lord is near Him, to all who call upon Him,
to all who call upon Him in truth.
He will fulfil the desire of those fear Him;…
The Lord keeps all who love Him.”
This conclusion is to be expected since those who fear Him are the object of His special, saving grace.
However, be careful not to confuse the order here. The Lord elects, the Lord calls, the Lord shows His grace by the work of His Spirit, and then we respond in faith and obedience, then we respond in the fear of the Lord. It is to such people (His chosen who therefore fear Him) that the Lord gives special attention in His providence. He does not do so because they are righteous, but because they cry to Him. They have come to fear Him and trust in Him because of His sovereign grace. For this reason they cry to Him. To these He shows special attention.
Let us ever be mindful that the Lord cares for His people in a special way through all the difficulties and trials of life. They are His own, His children. Will not any true father run to help when he hears a cry of loneliness or fright from His children?
This is taught throughout Scripture. God sends judgments when they sinned. But He poured out blessings when they cried to Him in their need. Would He not save a city if there are 10 righteous people in it in answer to the intercession of Abraham? Does not God withhold the rain and send it again because of the prayer of a righteous man? “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (Jas.5:16). How so? through the special attention given by our heavenly Father to the cries of His children.
But let us be careful not to presume that we can read the book of God’s providence. He has not opened that book for us to read. Even long after the events we see only dimly His purpose in what has happened. We cannot say that this event is God’s judgment upon the sin of those people, and that event is God’s blessing upon the righteous acts of these believers. And anyone who speaks this way, speaks presumptuously about God’s providence. He does not speak to edify.
It is because our heavenly Father is the God of providence that we may truly rest in His care. Rightly the catechism exhorts us “to be patient in adversity, thankful in prosperity, and with a view to the future to have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that no creature shall separate us from His love, since all creatures are so in His hand that without His will they cannot so much as move.”
Even “the heart of the King (and parliament) is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes” (Prov.21:1). We need fear no man. We need fear no enemy no matter how great his power.
He cares for all things for the sake of His people for whom He has special regard. For this reason we are to praise him every day. “Thy godly ones shall bless Thee”.
Amen.