The Providence of God

I want to bring before you today, friends, a message on God's sovereignty. If you will turn in your Bibles to the book of Psalms. The title of my message today is The Providence of God.

And my text can be found in Psalm 105 and verses 17 through 21. Let me read us our passage about the providence of God now. Here now is the word of God, and may the Spirit of the Lord attend the reading of His holy word.

He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant, whose feet they hurt with fetters. He was laid in iron until the time that his word came. The word of the Lord tried him.

The king sent and loosed him, even the ruler of the people, and let him go free. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance. I will stop there, friends.

One of the clearest pictures of the providence of God can be seen here in the life of Joseph. Here was a man who was betrayed by his jealous brothers, and thrown into a pit, and sold as a slave, taken to Egypt, where he led a blameless life, and built a reputation in Potiphar's house as dependable, loyal servant, until a loose woman, Potiphar's wife, tries to seduce him, and he refuses, so as not to sin against God. And for this he is cast into a dungeon for a number of years, with no hope of ever being released.

Then the Egyptian king, Pharaoh, has a perplexing and disturbing dream that only Joseph can interpret, and the king censors Joseph, and then elevates Joseph to a position of authority, second only to the king. Then the famine comes, and along with the famine comes his brethren to Egypt, looking for food, and through all of this we see the hand of God moving, as it were, his chosen chess pieces on his divine chessboard of sovereignty, moving one piece here, and another piece there, in the providence of God to accomplish his purpose, and to bring him glory. In Genesis 45, 7, we see God's hand behind it all, as Joseph tells his brethren, And God sent me before you to preserve you posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by great deliverance.

God oversaw and overruled his brothers' cruel treatment of Joseph, as a means to send Joseph ahead of them into Egypt, for the purpose of preserving the people for God. And we see God's divine providence in the following remark, as found in Genesis 50, 20, which states, But as for you, ye thought evil against me, but God met it unto good to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. So we see, friends, a sovereign God, who brings good out of evil, to promote the designs of his providence.

Now I want to ask you, friends, is there an event in your own life, that at the time you were clueless as to God's purpose in your trial and tribulations, but God meant it for good and his glory, where the providence of God was behind your circumstances to accomplish his purpose? For in Romans 8, 38, we read, And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, but to them who are the called, according to what? His purpose. I remember Dr. Stephen Oldford relating the following story to me. He said he had an uncle in London, who owned a pharmacy, and one day he went to visit his uncle at his place of business, and he found him in a back room, standing behind a long table, as he mixed chemicals in a bowl.

He would pour in a green liquid and stir that in. Then a white powder was added, and that was mixed together with all that was already in the bowl. And Stephen Oldford said, As I stood there, watching him mix his potion like an old-fashioned alchemist, my thoughts ran to the Almighty, as the divine alchemist, where in our lives and in his providence, he mixes in a little of this and a little of that, and then stirs it all together for our good and his purpose.

Think about that, friend. That no matter the difficulties and obstacles you may be thrust into in life, that seemingly are overwhelming and unfathomable to your understanding, God is overruling it all in his divine mixing bowl, so to speak, and you will emerge in his hands for your good and his glory, for God's word will try us, stretch us, test our faith and strengthen it, and even though we may not understand why we are going through such a difficult and trying time, we can rest in the knowledge that God is sovereign over it all, and he loves us with a father's heart, and he has his best interests in store for us for our good and for his purpose. No matter what you're going through, friend, keep your eyes on Jesus, and he will get you through.

Now you can take that to the bank and count on it. As I speak from personal experience, the Lord Jesus will never let you down, and he'll never let you go. He is not only worth it, he is worthy.

Let us pray.