Charnock on Providence and Prayer

The great English Puritan writer, Stephen Charnock (1628-1680), wrote “A Discourse of Divine Providence,” which is included in volume 1 of Banner of Truth’s 5 volume set of his collected works. A simple definition of the doctrine of providence is found in Westminster Shorter Catechism Q/A 11, which says:

Q. 11. What are God’s works of providence?
A. God’s works of providence are his most holy, wise and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.

And so providence essentially includes two (2) things: That God sustains or preserves all things, and that He also likewise governs or rules over all things, including the actions of his creatures! The Lord Jesus spoke of this very truth in Matthew 10:29, where He said,

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” (ESV)

This is what is sometimes called an argument from the lesser to the greater. If God is sovereign over the minute details and goings-on in His creation, such as a sparrow falling to the ground, then certainly He is also sovereignly in control of the bigger things as well.

In his discourse on God’s providence, Charnock includes a section dealing with a number of the ways that men often tend to “practically deny providence, or abuse it, or contemn [i.e. show contempt for] it.” (p.42). Just as a person may claim to believe in God, but live in a way that is contrary to that profession so that he or she is guilty of a kind of “practical atheism,” even so we sometimes deny the providence of God in our actions, even if not necessarily in our words.

One of the many ways that Charnock speaks of in which we deny the providence of God in our daily lives is in “omissions of prayer,” a failure to pray. He writes,

“If we did really believe there was a watchful providence, and an infinite powerful goodness to help us, he would hear from us oftener than he doth. Certainly those who never call upon him disown his government of the world, and do not care whether he regards the earth or no. They think they can do what they please, without any care of God over them. The restraining prayer is a casting off the fear of God: Job xv. 4, ‘Thou casteth off fear,’ why? ‘and restrainest prayer before God.’ The neglect of prayer ariseth from a conceit of the unprofitableness of it.”

The Works of Stephen Charnock, Vol.1, p.43

In other words, if we really believed that God were sovereignly governing all the affairs of this world, and that He is a God who then hears and answers prayer, we would pray much more often than we do. In many ways, when push comes to shove, the reason we often fail to pray is simply because deep down we doubt or disbelieve that it will really do any good or make any difference to pray.

Do you struggle with prayer at times? (Who doesn’t?) Perhaps it is because in some ways you doubt that God is actually willing to hear and answer from heaven? How often we need to be reminded of the promises of God regarding prayer, such as the words of our Lord in Matthew 7:7–11, where He says,

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (ESV)

“Ask, and it will be given to you” (v.7). As James 4:2 puts it, “You do not have, because you do not ask.” (ESV) If even we who are evil (!) “give good gifts” to our children, “how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11, ESV) Or do we think that we are somehow more generous and loving than God?

If you at times struggle with prayer, perhaps you might find it helpful to consider the doctrine of the providence of God, especially in how it relates to prayer. Charnock is surely correct when he says that if we really believed in the providence and goodness of God, “he would hear from us oftener than he doth.“

If My People Pray (Prayer in the Midst of Pandemic)

We are living in a rather strange, unsettling time. This is the first time that most of us have ever experienced anything like what we have seen related to the Corona Virus (COVID-19) pandemic. It reminds me of the opening verses of the prophecy of Joel:

“Hear this, you elders;
give ear, all inhabitants of the land!
Has such a thing happened in your days,
or in the days of your fathers?
Tell your children of it,
and let your children tell their children,
and their children to another generation.” (Joel 1:2–3, ESV)

Likewise, has such a thing as this current pandemic happened in our days or in the days of our fathers? Not that I know of.

Hundreds of thousands of cases have been reported in the U.S., and, as of the writing of this post, over 16,000 deaths have been confirmed so far. And those numbers, sadly, will no doubt continue to rise for the foreseeable future.

Even for the vast majority of people who as of yet remain uninfected, this pandemic has impacted nearly every single aspect of our way of life. Countless businesses have been forced to close their doors, many permanently so. Millions of people have lost their jobs. The national economy has all but ground to a screeching halt.

Simple things that many of us used to take for granted, such as going out to eat, social gatherings, going to public places like parks, beaches, hiking trails, the movies, etc., have all been put on hold. In many places throughout the U.S., Christians can’t even gather together corporately for public worship on the Lord’s day!

What is the solution to these things? We are often tempted to put our faith in science, medicine, the state or federal government, and other such things to solve all of our problems. Don’t get me wrong – all of these things have their proper, God-given place. God often uses these very things to bring us relief from many worldly ills.

But we must not put our faith in these things, as if the arm of flesh were sufficient to save (Jeremiah 17:5-8). That is idolatry. They are not sufficient for these things. No one is. The best scientific models have proven to be inaccurate. Doctors and medical experts, as good and as well-intentioned as they may be, are neither omniscient nor infallible. And the various leaders in our state and federal governments are only human, after all. They are not all-knowing. They are not all-powerful. And so it is futile (if not worse) to expect them to be able to act as if they were. They too need our prayers, as Paul has written (1 Timothy 2:1-4). Perhaps if we stopped expecting them to solve everything for us, we would be more apt to pray for them instead of criticizing their every move (as if we would do any better).

Just as the cause of these things is not ultimately of an earthly origin (except for sin), even so the solution is not ultimately to be found in earthly or human means either.

Are you wondering what it is that you can do in the midst of all of the uncertainty and unrest during this pandemic? Do your best to stay safe, and to be there for others in need. But there is one more thing. And this may be the most needful thing of all.

2 Chronicles 7:13-14 gives us a right perspective on these kinds of things and the ultimate solution to them. There the Lord Himself says,

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (ESV)

This passage reminds us that calamities of many kinds are often (at least in part if not the whole) a chastisement or judgment from God for idolatry and wickedness.

At times does our God not still shut up the heavens so that it does not rain? Does He not likewise send locusts or other things to devour or otherwise destroy crops or livelihoods? Does He not even send pestilence or plague? None of those things are outside of the scope of God’s all-encompassing providence.

Ought we not to see this current pandemic as an act of God’s just judgment? Does not even our own land, which has enjoyed the manifold blessings of God’s grace and mercy in abundance throughout her history, have much wickedness of which we need to seek God’s face and repent?

These things that we might think of as merely being “natural disasters” are not only part of God’s all wise & powerful providence, but they are also at times intended as a chastisement or judgment for wickedness. The Scriptures are replete with examples of such things.

God often sends drought, famine, pestilence, war, and other such calamities in order to get our attention, and to turn us from our wicked ways.

And so we as God’s people must think and act like believers, and not like deists or atheists. These things did not come about randomly or by chance. And while we may not be able to infallibly interpret God’s works of providence, we should be sure that He does all things for a reason, even the sending forth of calamity (Isaiah 45:7).

2 Chronicles 7:13-14 is a call to prayer and repentance. And there God holds forth a promise of mercy (both forgiveness and healing) to the repentant.

And so if we would see the healing of our land, we must first humble ourselves before our God and pray. To humble ourselves means to acknowledge both our sin and guilt, as well as our need for His mercy. It also means acknowledging that His judgments are altogether righteous, holy, and just.

We must pray and seek the face of God. Prayer must not be our last resort in time of crisis or calamity. The Bible says that God’s house is to be “a house of prayer” (Isaiah 56:7; Mark 11:17). If we who are called by God’s name do not pray and seek God’s face, who will? And if God’s hand of chastisement does not get us praying, what will?

If this pandemic gets us praying, it will have done us much good!

And, lastly, we must turn from our wicked ways. In other words, we must repent. If we humble ourselves, pray, and genuinely repent, then we may expect the mercy of God. Then God will, by His grace, “hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” And we will find that even the repentance itself is a gift of God’s grace, as only God can grant repentance, whether to an individual sinner, or even to a nation (2 Timothy 2:25).

But notice that what comes first when God hears our prayers for mercy is not the healing of the land, but rather the forgiveness of our sins. Then and only then come His healing mercies. As Matthew Henry puts it in his commentary on these verses, “Pardoning mercy makes way for healing mercy.”

We might be tempted to focus primarily on the healing of the land, and the removal of the chastisement and suffering itself, rather than our need for repentance and forgiveness.  It is surely right to be concerned for and pray for lives to be spared. We should continue to pray for those who have been directly affected by this deadly virus. And we should be thankful to God for His mercy that so far the death totals have been far lower than the initial models predicted. We should see that as an answer to prayer, and give God the thanks and glory for it!

I must admit that at times I have even found myself being more concerned with the inconveniences and disappointments related to this pandemic, such as the inability to visit with family and friends, the restrictions on public worship, and even missing baseball (!), than with the urgent need for repentance and revival in our land, even in the church. As much as we may long for things to “get back to normal,” we should long for revival in our land even more!

We must seek forgiveness for our sins, first and foremost, and not just healing. Our sin is the real disease; our miseries are only the symptoms and results of that disease.

We who know the Lord Jesus by faith must seek God’s face and pray for revival and repentance, so that God might show mercy to us and heal our land. That is the lesson and promise of 2 Chronicles 7:13-14.

May God in His great mercy bring such revival, that He might grant repentance and faith to many, and so forgive our sins and heal our land, to His glory alone.

“Look at the Birds of the Air”

Years ago while I was attending seminary, small groups of students would get together with one of our professors on a regular basis for prayer. We would often meet outside, since the weather was almost never an issue in Southern California.

On one such occasion we were struck by the sound of all the birds around us singing. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and the birds seemed to be everywhere, and they were all singing their little hearts out. It was as if nature itself was putting on a little concert for us.

Our professor used it as an opportunity to give us an object lesson from the Scriptures. He reminded us of the words of our Lord Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount:

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:25–26, ESV)

He told us that whenever we saw the birds or heard them singing, we should call to mind Jesus’s words there in that passage. I may not remember half of what I heard in the classrooms in seminary, but that lesson stuck with me. It is one of the simplest, yet most memorable lessons that I learned in my entire time there.

The main point throughout that passage is that we are not to be anxious. And we are not to be anxious because our God will provide for our needs.

That is sometimes easier said than done, isn’t it? There are many things in this life that often tempt us to be anxious and worrisome about our daily needs. Even as I sit here writing this post, people all over the world are suffering through the effects of a global pandemic. And those effects are in no way limited to health-related concerns, as serious as those may be. Some of the worst, most widespread effects have been economic and even social in nature. Many businesses have been forced to close their doors, and many jobs have necessarily been lost as well. It is only natural to worry about making your ends meet when faced with this kind of trial.

If you are a Christian and find yourself faced with such a situation in your life, take a moment and do what Jesus says there in Matthew’s Gospel – “Look at the birds of the air” (v.26). Look at them, listen to their chirping and singing, and be reminded that “your heavenly Father feeds them.” And if He feeds them, He will certainly take care of you as well.  As Jesus goes on to say there, “Are you not of more value than they?” And as the hymn writer put it, “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.”

When times are tough, let the birds all around outside be a constant reminder of the providential care of God. And let that knowledge keep you from anxiety, and keep you constantly in prayer to God with thanksgiving.

Calvin on the Great Blessing of the Knowledge of God’s Providence

The doctrine of the providence of God has always proven to be a great source of peace and comfort to the believer in Christ. Sad to say, providence is a word that has largely fallen out of use among many in the church today. Worse yet, a right understanding and affirmation of the doctrine itself in some ways seems even more scarce.

What is providence? The Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it this way:

“Q. 11. What are God’s works of providence?
A. God’s works of providence are his most holy, wise and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.”

God not only created all things from nothing in the beginning (Genesis chapter 1), but He also preserves or sustains all things as well. As Hebrews 1:3 puts it, Christ Himself “upholds the universe by the word of his power.” (ESV) But more than that, the Lord governs or rules over all things as well, including not just “all his creatures” (i.e. everything that God has made), but also “all their actions” as well.

In other words, God’s providence is all-encompassing.

And this truth should be of great comfort to every believer in Christ. John Calvin writes,

“[I]f the light of God’s providence shines in the believers’s heart, not only will he be free of the fear and anguish which afflicted him before, he will also be relieved of every doubt. For as we have a justified fear of fate, so we are rightly bold to entrust ourselves to God. We are thus wonderfully comforted to know that the Lord so holds all things in his power, rules by his will and controls by his wisdom, that nothing can occur except as he has ordained it; and moreover that he has taken us under his protection and has given his angels charge over us [Psalm 91:11], so that neither flood nor fire nor sword nor anything else can hurt us unless his will determines otherwise.” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1541 Edition, p.511)

and also:

“Where does the believer get this assurance that can never be taken from him, except from the knowledge that, while the world seems completely topsy-turvy, God is actively guiding him, and from his hope that all God’s works will prove salutary to him?” (Ibid)

Our Lord Jesus Himself taught the truth of providence in order that His disciples might not fear. In Matthew 10:29–31 He says,

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (ESV)

“Fear not.” That is the lesson and the comfort of God’s providence to the believer. Providence means that trouble and affliction may indeed come, but God will make all things work together for our good, even for our salvation (Romans 8:28-29)!

Calvin goes on to say:

“I would say that the greatest misery which can befall a man is to know nothing of God’s providence, and conversely that it is an exceptional blessing for him to know it well.” (p.512)

May every believer in Christ make it their aim to know the “exceptional blessing” of knowing God’s providence well, that in time of trial or affliction he or she may say with the Psalmist:

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”” (Psalm 91:1–2, ESV)

 

“The Master of the Jigsaw Puzzle of Our Lives” (Sinclair Ferguson on the Providence of God)

In his book, Devoted to God, Sinclair Ferguson includes a chapter dealing with what Romans 12:1-2 has to say about the doctrine of sanctification.  In v.2 the Apostle Paul says the following:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (ESV)

There Paul describes the will of God as “good and acceptable and perfect.” Now this passage, strictly speaking, primarily refers to what is known as the preceptive will of God. That is, the will of God as it has been revealed in Scripture regarding how we as believers in Christ are to live. We are to seek to discern and do the will of God. And in doing so, we will find His will to be good, acceptable, and perfect.

But, as Ferguson points out, this passage also has application to the will of God in general, and so even to what is known as His secret or decretive will. And so that means that it has application to the providence of God as well. He writes,

” . . .God’s will is ‘perfect’ because his wisdom is flawless. We see this in small things, perhaps sometimes in great things. The Lord is the master of the jigsaw puzzle of our lives. The pieces may be strangely shaped; often we cannot see how they fit together; but eventually when the big picture is complete we will see that each piece was perfectly shaped. He leads us by ways we could not have guessed, into situations we never expected, to fulfil [sic] purposes we never could have imagined.” (p.52)

What a beautiful way to describe the believer’s perception of God’s providential care over his or her life. It is sometimes very difficult for us to understand what God is doing in our lives. But God truly is the “master of the jigsaw puzzle of our lives.” And He knows what He is doing in our lives, even when we do not. It brings to mind the old, classic hymn by William Cowper, “God Moves in a Mysterious Way.” One of the verses of that hymn puts it this way:

“Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.”

What a comfort to know that the will of God is indeed perfect, and that behind every frowning providence He hides a smiling face. Our lives may sometimes seem like a jigsaw puzzle to us, but never to God!

Rugged Providences

Providence is God’s “most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions” (The Westminster Shorter Catechism Q.11). So God not only preserves all things as He sees fit, but also governs all things as well. Providence is basically God’s sovereignty in action. It is what the Apostle Paul is speaking of when he tells us that God “works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11, ESV).

Providence is a comforting truth for believers. It assures us that, no matter what happens in our lives, God is still firmly in control. And not only is He in control of all things, but He is in control of all things for our good, even for our salvation (Romans 8:28).

But that doesn’t mean that we will always immediately perceive how God is making all things work together for our good. Sometimes His providence is not only hard to understand, but at times it can also be hard to experience and endure.

Thomas Brooks (1608-1680) calls this “rugged providence.” In his classic book, Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices, he writes:

“As the waters lifted up Noah’s ark nearer heaven, and as all the stones that were about Stephen’s ears did but knock him closer to Christ, the corner-stone, so all the strange rugged providences that we meet with, they shall raise us up nearer heaven, and knock us nearer to Christ, that precious cornerstone.” (p.154)

What a wonderfully helpful and encouraging reminder! Sometimes God’s providence in our lives can indeed be strange, and even rugged, but we can be sure that it is always good. God’s providences in our lives, no matter how rugged, will never harm us, but will actually serve only to bring us closer to heaven.

The Ultimate Cure for Discontentment

How many of us struggle with envy and discontentment? To put it another way, are we truly content and at ease with our present circumstances?  Are we anxious about the future?

How many of us are content with our income? Our automobiles? Our homes?  Our families? Our social status? No matter how much we have, we always seem to focus on what we do not have.  There is always someone around us who has more (or something better) than we do.  We are an envious lot.

It is not without reason that the 10th commandment not only prohibits envy, but does so at great length and in great detail.  The 10th commandment (Exodus 20:17) is much longer than the commandments against murder (v.13), adultery (v.14), theft (v.15), or bearing false witness (v.16).  Rather than simply saying, “Thou shalt not covet.”, the 10th commandment specifies a number of the various ways that we are tempted to covet:

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” (Exodus 20:17, ESV – emphasis added)

We covet the estate or place of others, the family of others, the possessions of others, and all kinds of things.  The green-eyed monster is a many-headed hydra.

So what is the cure for discontentment?  The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews writes,

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5, ESV)

How are we to guard our lives from the love of money?  How are we to learn to be content with what we have?  Take a vow of poverty?  Lower our expectations?  Think about those who have less than we do or are worse off than we are? (And do that instead of focusing on those who have more than we do?)

All of those things may sound like good advice, but is that what the writer of Hebrews is saying?  No – not even close.  We are to guard our lives from the love of money; and we are to be content with what we have, not because we just need to bear down and get used to not having as much, but because we need to see with the eyes of faith how much we actually do have!

Concerning Hebrews 13:5, John Calvin writes,

It is quite certain that lack of faith is the source of greed. Anyone who has the firm conviction that he will never be forsaken by the Lord will not be unduly anxious because he will depend on His providence. Therefore when the apostle wants to cure us of the disease of greed he properly recalls us to the promises of God by which he bears witness that He will always be present to us. (Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries Vol.12, p.207).

So faith in the providence of God (God’s “most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions” – Westminster Shorter Catechism Q.11) is part of the cure for envy and discontent.  When we believe that God Himself is working all things together for our good and is providing for our needs according to His power and wisdom, it is then that we will be able to rest from our anxiety about the future; it is then that we will be able to be content with our present circumstances.

But Hebrews 13:5 not only encourages us by pointing us to the providence of God; it also encourages us by pointing us to the God of providence.  We may be tempted to think that we do not have much in this life.  But in telling us that God Himself has promised His people that He will never leave us or forsake us, the writer of Hebrews is reminding us that we can be ‘content with what we have’ (v.5) because what (or rather who) we have is God Himself!

If you are in Christ by faith, you have God Himself as your God.  God has blessed you not just with things, but with Himself!  You have God Himself as your heavenly Father (Matthew 6:5-15).  You have Jesus Christ, the Son God Himself, as your Savior and mediator, who not only died for your sins and rose again from the dead for your justification (Romans 4:25), but who is also reigning at the right hand of God the Father almighty and interceding on your behalf (Hebrews 7:25). And You have God the Holy Spirit dwelling within you (1 Corinthians 6:19), who also intercedes on your behalf (Romans 8:26-27).

So if you are a Christian be content with what you have, because you truly have more than anyone on this earth without Christ can even dream of having – you have the one true and living God, the infinite, eternal, and unchangeable triune God as your God. And He will never leave you or forsake you!

That is the ultimate cure for discontentment.

The Difference Between Confidence & Presumption

“Providence is a Christian’s diary, but not his Bible.” (Thomas Watson, A Body of Divinity, p.123)

While we can be sure that God works all things together for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28), we must be careful not to try to ‘read the tea leaves’ of His Providence, so to speak.

We can be sure that He “works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11), but that does not mean that we have access to know what His specific purposes are in any given situation or circumstance.

So when we need or desire guidance, we should look to the Word of God, not the Providence of God. (Indeed we cannot even begin to understand the latter without the former.)

As believers, we take comfort, not in knowing why God is doing whatever it is that He is doing in our lives at any given moment, but in knowing that He surely knows what He is doing.

Deuteronomy 29:29 provides us with wise words to live by:

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

We need to focus on what God has revealed to us in His Word (including His commandments – “that we may do all the words of this law” – Deut. 29:29), not on the things that He in His infinite wisdom chose to keep to Himself.

To do so is to be on the road that leads to confidence in God and His purposes in our lives.  To do otherwise is to be on the path of presumption and error.