340 SICRMONS UPON GENESIS XXIV. C3.
how many are the crooked lanes we have passed, the uphill and down- hill we have trod, and God knew us all along, and did not only lead us in, but lead us out ; then we shall know the multitude of his thoughts, and what the great number of them is. I confess by narrow observation we may discern a little for the present ; as David : Ps. cxxxix. 17, ' How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, 0 God ! how great is the sum of them ! ' When he looked back, how God had carried him through many difficulties, and brought him to rule his people, and watched over him with a careful eye of providence, and ordered every event for his comfort. Some general view and knowledge we may have for the present.
Now, to direct your meditations upon the providence of God — (1.) I will show what it is ; (2.) That it is ; (3.) I will give you some observations ; (4.) I will press you to treat with your own hearts about the use and comfort of it.
I. To open the nature of it, what it is. Consider — (1.) The grounds of providence ; (2.) The acts of providence.
1. The grounds of providence ; it is founded in God's nature and attributes, three especially — omniscience, wisdom, and power.
[1.] God's omniscience, or knowledge of all affairs in the world. God, like the sun, is all light and all eye : Prov. xv. 3, ' The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good ;' in the congregation, in the closet, in the shop, the eyes of the Lord are every- where, and do not only behold the evil and the good person, but the evil and the good action. But chiefly God's eyes are upon his children ; they fall under his special care : 2 Chron. xvi. 9, ' The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him.' God minds their whole condition, takes notice of their wants and dangers and troubles, and will show himself strong in their supply and deliverance. He doth not only know their persons, but their way : Ps. i. 6, ' The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous.' God takes notice of every particular step he takes and every case he is in ; by one intuition all things are present to God. Therefore when Christ would comfort his disciples, and fence them against worldly care, he saith. Mat. vi. 32, ' Your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things.' God takes an exact and particular account of all your wants and necessities. So the psalmist : Ps. Ivi. 8, ' Thou tellest my wanderings ; put thou my tears into thy bottle ; are they not in thy book ? ' There is not a tear you shed but it is treasured up in God's bottle ; not a weary step you take for his name's sake but it is recorded in God's book. He speaks of those weary steps he took through the two forests of Ziph and Hateph. But if this be not full enough to commend the particu- larity of God's care, he goes higher : Isa. xlix. 16, * Behold, I have graven thee on the palms of my hands ; thy walls are continually be- fore me.' When we are apt to forget, we fix a memorial on our hands ; and if we forget a thing recorded in our book, we shall not forget what is imprinted on our hands.
[2.] God's wisdom. He knoweth their wants and ordereth their deliverance. There is something of counsel in all that the Lord doeth : Eph. i, 11, ' Who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will/
SEPwHONS UPON GENESIS :^X1V. 03. 3il
Therefore his will is called his counsel : Acts iv. 28, ' For to do what- soever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done/ There is not only a mighty hand seen in all the dispensations of God, but a wise counsel. So these two attributes are coupled : Job ix. 21, • He is wise in heart and mighty in strength.' We are rash and precipitate, carried on with more resolution than reason ; our desires beget an heat that oversetteth us ; but whatever God doth it is with exact judgment. If we have eyes to see it, we should see that all the circumstances of providence are disposed with much art.
[3.] God's power to execute and administer that which his wisdom hath devised. God's counsels and purposes are always followed with a shall be, or shall not be , he hath infinite power to accomplish them. His power is as it were the midwife to his blessed decrees ; he con- ceiveth all things in the womb of his will, and then he educeth and bringeth them forth by his mighty power : Ps. xxxiii. 9, ' He spake and it was done, he commanded and it stood fast.' 'Let it be' was sufficient to make the world, and ' I will ' is enough to preserve it. God pleadeth this as the privilege of the Godhead : Isa. xliv. 7, ' Who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me ? ' that is, that can by calling ordain or create. Therefore Christ, when he would discover the power of his godhead, cured by a word of omnipotency : Mat. viii. 3, ' I will ; be thou clean.' Now this power of God is dis- covered in providence three ways — by his ability and sufficiency to work without means, by unlikely means, or by contrary means.