Mystery of Providence - Chapter 10b

Another handful of jewels from Chapter Ten:

There are five things belonging to the praise of God, and all of them have relation to His providences exercised about us:
(i) A careful observation of the mercies we receive from Him (Isa. 41. 17-20). This is fundamental to all praise. God cannot be glorified for the mercies we never noted.
(ii) A faithful remembrance of the favours received. 'Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits' (Ps. 103. 2). Hence the Lord brands the ingratitude of His people, 'They soon forgat his works' (Ps. 106. 13).
(iii) A due appreciation and valuation of every providence that does us good (I Sam. 12. 24). That providence that fed them in the wilderness with manna was a most remarkable providence to them; but since they did not value it at its worth, God had not that praise for it which he expected (Num. 11. 6).
(iv) The stirring up of all the faculties and powers of the soul in the acknowledgement of these mercies to us. Thus David: 'Bless the Lord, o my soul; and all that is within me bless his holy name' (Ps. 103. 1). Soul-praise is the very soul of praise: that is the very fat and marrow of that thank-offering.
(v) A suitable recompence for the mercies received. This David was careful about (Ps. 116. 1). And the Lord taxes good Hezekiah for the neglect of it (2 Chron. 32. 24, 25). This consists in a full and hearty resignation to Him, and in our willingness actually to part with all for Him when He shall require it. (pg. 158-159)

Do we observe His mercies, remember His favors, appreciate His provision, stir up our souls in praise, and offer recompence for what we receive from His bountiful hand?

Mystery of Providence - Chapter 10a

The Advantages of Meditating on Providence

This is a long chapter, and it might be a couple of days before I complete it, thus this "10a" post, assuming that there will be others before I am done.

Last night I was slapped with a flash of understanding as I read the following:

What unspeakable comfort it is for a poor soul, that sees nothing but sin and vileness in itself, at the same time to see what a high esteem and value the great God has for him! This may be discerned by a due attendence to Providence, for there a man sees goodness and mercy following him through all his days (Ps. 23.6.). Other men pursue good, and it flies from them, they can never overtake it; but goodness and mercy follow the people of God, and they cannot avoid or escape it. It gives them chase day by day, and finds them out even when they sometimes put themselves by sin out of the way of it. In all the providences that befall them goodness and mercy pursue them. O with what a melting heart do they sometimes reflect upon these things! 'And will not the goodness of God be discouraged from following me, notwithstanding all my vile affronts and abuses of it in former mercies? Lord, what am I, that mercy should thus pursue me, when vengeance and wrath pursue others as good by nature as I am?' (pg. 150)

Prior to reading this I had always considered "goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life" as being passive; Goodness and mercy would eventually show up, it would finally catch up with me, etc.

However, as Flavel states, goodness and mercy chase after the children of God. It pursues us, even while we are trying to run away from it. They are active, they are relentless, they will will not be frustrated in accomplishing God's purposes.

A pilgrim was I, and a wandering,
In the cold night of sin I did roam,
When Jesus the kind Shepherd found me,
And now I am on my way home.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days, all the days of my life;
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days, all the days of my life.

I believe that I will never again see the words of this song, or the words of the Psalm, as passive. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me", and I won't be able to lose their tail.

The Best Laid Plans...

...of mice.

(See the movie version of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy if you don't understand why I didn't end with "and men".)

I wrote earlier about my Leap Year Bible Reading Plan, stating that since this was my normal day off from my secular work that I would be able to devote the day to an ambitious plan of extra reading.

Well, I won't be off that day. In fact, I need to drive 4.5 hours round trip to attend some business meetings out-of-town. I felt bad about this for about 5 minutes, prior to remembering that I now live in the 21st century. No matter which car I sign out to take this trip, it will have an FM radio. Since I have an iPod and one of those little FM transmitter units, I can load up my Bible reading into electronic format, and let Max McLean's voice read my text to me. Since the Scripture readings will only take a fraction of the drive I have also created a play list containing the audio version of John Piper's Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce as well as Volume One of The Valley of Vision.

So, while my employer might have had other reasons, God intends this change in my schedule for His glory and my good.

Mystery of Providence - Chapter Nine

How to Meditate on the Providence of God

Consult the providences of your life in this point, and I doubt not but you will find the truth of these promises as often confirmed as you have been in trouble. Ask your own hearts, where or when was it that your God forsook you, and left you to sink and perish under your burdens? (pg. 126)

In February of 1985 I was living in Ft. Worth, making preparations to begin studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. In order to help make ends meet I was serving in the Texas Army National Guard, in Company A, 2/112th Armor, 49th Armor Division. On February 9th my unit was at Ft. Hood, training in M60 tanks. During this training I was involved in an accident that fractured my first lumbar vertebrae, required me to be medically evacuated from the field via helicopter, caused me to be paralyzed from the waist down for seven days, and required six weeks of hospitalization.

During the first hours of this experience I began to wonder why God had deserted me. I began to question Him, and wondered why this was allowed to happen when I felt that I was in the center of His will. After all, hadn't I made great sacrifices in order to attend seminary? As the hours turned into days, especially those first few when nobody could be certain that I would ever be able to walk again, I began to see that He had business with me that could only be conducted while I lay in that hospital bed. It was during this time that He humbled me, speaking to me about my pride and self-sufficiency. No longer did I think that I was doing Him a favor. Instead I began to see my need for His leadership in all areas of my life.

In the longer term, He used this event in other ways in order to facilitate His purposes for my family and I. Even though I spent almost a year on crutches, and 18 months wearing a back brace, He provided for many of our needs through veteran's disability benefits. Also, the seminary had a requirement that students carry health insurance, something that would have been cost prohibitive on my salary. Since my medical care was provided by my military medical retirement this requirement was waived. In short, He provided for everything that we needed.

As a result of this accident I still experience some pain daily, 23 years later, and have some limited range of motion. Yet this is a small price to pay. In many ways, these are daily reminders of that time, and of the way that God both humbled me and provided for me during seminary. These are things worthy of remembering and meditating upon.

Mystery of Providence - Chapter Eight

The Duty of Meditation on Providence

In a word, men can never order their addresses to God in prayer, suitable to their conditions, without due observation of His providences. Your prayers are to be suitable to your conditions: sometimes we are called to praise, sometimes to humiliation. In the way of His judgments you are to wait for Him (Isa. 26. 8), to prepare to meet him (Zeph. 2. 1, 2; Amos 4. 12). Sometimes your business is to turn away His anger which you see approaching, and sometimes you are called to praise Him for mercies received (Isa. 12. 1, 2), but then you must first observe them. (pg. 116)

How can we praise God if we are unaware of His marvelous works?

How can we pray to God if we are ignorant of His abilities?

Flavel, in a very few words, points out to us our responsibility to meditate upon the works of Providence. This is a holy mandate, required of us by His Word. As I have been reading this book I have been constantly reminded of His hand of Providence in my life, as demonstrated in some of my earlier posts. Yet, for every incident that I have recorded in this blog, there are scores of others that have come to mind.

He is a great and mighty God. He demonstrates His love and care in all that He does in shaping my destiny. To Him alone belong worship, and glory, and honor, and praise, and thanksgiving.

To God be the glory, great things He has done.