We turn in the Word of God to Colossians chapter 1. Let's stand together for the reading of the Word. Colossians chapter 1. We're picking up in the middle of a longer section. The Apostle Paul has been praying unceasingly for the Colossian Christians and he's giving thanks for what he sees that God has done for them, and we pick up with that note of thanks, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for by Him all things were created that are in heaven and are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him, and He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may have preeminence. And now we turn to Psalm 104, our Old Testament reading, the text for the preaching of the word as well. Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord, my God, You are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty, who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, who stretch out the heavens like a curtain. He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, who makes the clouds His chariot, who walks on the wings of the wind, who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire. You who laid the foundations of the earth so that it should not be moved forever. You covered it with the deep as with a garment. The water stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they fled. At the voice of your thunder they hastened away. They went up over the mountains. They went down into the valleys to the place which you founded for them. You have set a boundary that they may not cross over, that they may not return to cover the earth. He sends the springs into the valleys, they flow among the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field, the wild donkeys quench their thirst. By them the burdens of the heavens have their home, they sing among the branches. He waters the hills from his upper chambers, the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your works. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle and vegetation for the service of man. That he might bring forth food from the earth and wine that makes glad the heart of man. Oil to make his face shine and bread which strengthens man's heart. The trees of the Lord are full of sap, the cedars of Lebanon which he planted where the birds make their nests. The stork has her home in the fir trees. The high hills are for the wild goats. The cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers. He appointed the moon for seasons. The sun knows it's going down. You make darkness and it is night in which all the beasts of the forest creep about. The young lions roar after their prey and seek their food from God. When the sun rises, they gather together and lie down in their dens. Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening. O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your possessions, this great and wide sea, in which are innumerable teeming things, living things, both small and great. There the ships sail about. There is that leviathan which you have made to play there. These all wait for you that you may give them their food in due season. You give them, they gather in. You open your hand, they are filled with good. You hide your face, they are troubled. You take their breath away, they die and return to their dust. You send forth your spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. May the glory of the Lord endure forever. May the Lord rejoice in his works. He looks on the earth and it trembles. He touches the hills and they smoke. Grass withers, flower fades, but the Word of God endures forever. We turn in the preaching of God's Word to Psalm 104. If you're visiting with us, this is the third in a series of five sermons on Psalm 104. We'll get into a review of a few of those, but we look this morning at something entitled the King's Table or the Doctrine of Providence, how God preserves and governs, how He cares for His creation. The Doctrine of Providence is a doctrine that tells us that God is presently and actively upholding His creation, presently and actively preserving and governing it, that He's not distant, but that without His fatherly care and supernatural sustaining power, we would not live, the creation would not continue to exist. Now what I just said is very different than the modern view of God, which if there is a view of God at all, It's like this, there might be a God, that idea might somehow fit into a view of the world and the universe, somewhere, somehow. Perhaps you've heard of the philosophy called deism, which says that God indeed did create the world, But then he just let it go. And the illustration for that kind of philosophy is like a watchmaker. You made the watch, you wound it up, and then set it aside in its natural laws and ways in which things happen, cause and effect. God made that all, but he made it, and then he set it off, and he's now distant from it. It's doing its own thing. The natural man wants to push God as far away as possible. Last week we talked about God's work of creation and the idea of 13.5 billion years is pushing things off very far. It is the idea of putting God so far in the rearview mirror that we don't really think about Him. Maybe, somehow. For the great singularity, nobody knows. As much as the natural man recoils against the idea of special creation, the natural man recoils against this idea of providence, preserving and governing, that he's actively upholding the world. Science would say that this is an anti-scientific idea, that to posit anything supernatural is to ruin any sort of inquiry into the nature of things. So there can be also for the modern man, the rationalist, no miracles, no resurrection. And you know what the Apostle Paul said, if there's no resurrection, there's no Christianity, there's no gospel, there's no hope. The Bible teaches something very different. A supernatural God who's active. Science thinks it has answers, but it really doesn't have answers. It just has better microscopes and telescopes. sees more and more, and if you read carefully, it usually just raises more and more questions. How do the very smallest things work together? We don't know. For all we've done to explore, we can't answer, even what matter is and how it works. We don't know how life begins or how it ends. We can tell that there is life, We can even define, for example, human life, when there's the fertilization of an egg, there's life. But the mystery of how that comes to be, what causes life to spring forth and then end? We don't know. We don't know. Against this is the Christian doctrine of providence. Westminster Shorter Catechism, Westminster Divine's Thought. If you know what the Shorter Catechism is, it's an introductory manual of Christian doctrine for new Christians. And one of the questions in that question-and-answer format teaching Bible truth is, what are God's works of providence? And it's very clear that this group of pastors in the middle of the 1600s thought it was important that Christians know what the word providence means. It's part of your vocabulary. And the answer was that God's works of providence are His most holy, wise, and powerful, preserving and governing, preserving and governing all His creatures and all their actions. That there is the active hand of God that is holding all things together, governing the world. There's nothing outside of that governance or preservation. Psalm 104 teaches this. against the philosophies of this world. It teaches not only the doctrine of creation, but very powerfully the doctrine of providence. Review a little bit of the psalm so far, where we've been. It's a psalm, the genre is praise. Bless the Lord, O my soul. And may the glory of the Lord endure forever, we read. And bless the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord. It's a praise psalm. It's a piece of poetry to be sung in the praise and adoration of the triune God. The reason for those praises are, the thesis statement for the psalm, as it were, is this, oh Lord my God, you are very great, you are clothed with honor and majesty. This is why he is to be praised. We are blessing him, we're declaring his honor and goodness and praising him because he is very great, clothed with honor and majesty. What follows in the rest of the psalm is where we, places that we see that honor, majesty, and greatness. Again, what follows is the places we see the honor and the majesty and greatness. And we saw in the first sermon, we see at the throne of God. The throne room of God is pictured there in the heavens and God is To use the words of Isaiah, heaven is my throne, the earth is my footstool. We looked at the majestic glory of the throne of God, attended by His angels, clothed with light as with a garment. The second thing we looked at is that that throne is of the God who created all things. And last week we looked at God's great work of creation. That how by the word of His power, verse 7, the voice of His thunder that God, out of nothing, in the space of six days, created all things very good. And there's even an intimation in the psalm that the seventh day He rested, may the glory of the Lord endure forever. This is verse 31. May the Lord rejoice in His works. God's delight in His own creation is in this psalm. We saw that the seven days of the creation week are here, and we saw that this also teaches us that the psalmist understood the Genesis week to be historical, and we'll see more about that today, historical narrative. The triune God is here. The Lord God, the Word of God, the Logos, the Wisdom of God, and the Spirit of God. In verse 30, you send forth your spirit, the triune God who made all things. Praises in response to this particular reality that he is the creator and the preserver of all things, that he sits enthroned as the creator king over the cosmos. Now, how about the doctrine of providence from the soul? We're going to run through and see that the psalmist is not only thinking about the act of creation in the past, but the present work of God in sustaining what he's made. Look at the text with me, beginning in verse 5. And you have from verses five through eight, clearly language of creation, laying the foundations of the earth, covered it with the deepest with the garment. The water stood above the mountains. At their rebuke, they fled. The voice of your thunder, they hastened away. This is creation language. This is God's making and forming and establishing his creation. When we get to verse nine, however, you'll notice that there's a new kind of description of this realm. That as quickly as God is making it, He is governing it. When God divides the dry land from the seas, we read this, you have set a boundary that they may not pass over, that they may not return to cover the earth. What the Bible is telling us is very simple, that the division between the dry land and the seas is a division that God has made, He's established a rule, and He's maintaining that. The reason why we do not have a global flood is because God has ordered the world. There was one, and then he said he wouldn't do it again. And Jeremiah picks up on that language in Jeremiah chapter 5. He says, Do you not fear me, says the Lord? Will you not tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand as the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, and it cannot pass beyond it? Though its waves toss to and fro, yet they cannot prevail. Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it. That's God's decree and His active governing of creation. It's language of His active work in creation. And there is an entire industry today, climate change industry, that says man controls that line. We're in charge of that line. The Bible says God's in charge of that line. Very different worldview. The Bible says God made the division and He's enforcing it. Verses 10 and 11. More language of his active governing his creation. He sends the springs into the hills, into the valleys, they flow among the hills, they give drink to every beast of the field. Here's the language of governing and providing. He's watering his creation. He's quenching the thirst of every creature. He's sending the springs into the valleys. You know, I probably have used too many illustrations from my trip to the Sierras last year, but here's another one. We were hiking, camping at 11,000 feet, and in the background was Mount Julius Caesar, 13,000 feet, and all I saw was a rocky slope, just rocks, right to the tip. I couldn't see any snow. And we were camping right next to a series of lakes called the Chalfant Lakes. And what was amazing is that coming out of that rocky slope, was a brook and then a stream and a waterfall into a lake filled with trout. 11,000 feet. And notice on that trip, wherever I looked, somehow from these mountain spires, there was fresh water running down all day long. And it just amazed me again that God had made this from the tips of the mountains, the streams that run forth to water the earth. And I was amazed again at how he provided, how he sends the springs into the valleys. That's how the psalmist sees that. I'm not saying there's no natural explanation for the hydrologic cycle. What I am saying is that when a Christian sees that, he is to see that there is a king over these things. who's providing with an open hand, that these are God's springs, His active provision. Verse 13, He waters the hills from His upper chambers. The earth is satisfied with the fruit of your works. If you turn over to Psalm 147, the Psalms are full of the language of God's active care of His creation. He's the one. Sing praise to the Lord, Psalm 147, verse 7. With thanksgiving, sing praises on the harp to our God. Why? Who covers the heavens with clouds, who prepares the rain for the earth, who makes grass grow on the mountains. He gives to the beast its food and to the young ravens that cry. It's the work of God. Verses 11 and 12 have that picture of a river valley here. The birds of the heavens have their home singing among the branches of the trees, assuming that they're growing along that river valley. The wild donkeys quench their thirst. You ever flown over an arid part of the country and then you see a river valley and there's this green line with lush trees? And you know if you go there, there'll be birds and the branches and the desert animals are coming to the water. Psalmist says this is the work of God. He's feeding and watering and providing actively. Matthew Poole, somewhat comically maybe, says that perhaps the donkeys are mentioned because these are the most stupid creatures. And even they, he writes, are provided for by the care and bounty of divine providence. In other words, the simplest creature has an abundance because God is caring for them. Verses 14 and 15, this well-watered and fruitful word. Again, I want you to notice the grammar. Something's coming together. Go look back in the text. Verse 10, he sends the springs. Verse 13, he waters the hills. Now verse 14, he causes the grass to grow. He sends, he waters, he causes to grow. Some of you think your lawn is green because you're very good at keeping a green lawn and you think you should in your neighborhood maybe have the best lawn. Scriptures say, give glory to God. He makes the grass to grow. Everything that comes forth is because of his active power. Everything. He causes it to happen. Back to the main images here. He's the provider. Why? Grass to grow for the cattle, vegetation for the service of man that He may bring forth food from the earth. He's not only watering, feeding, and causing to grow. He's feeding. He's feeding all of His creation. Vegetation for the service of man, like the fruit trees of the garden. Job 28, we read that God brings forth bread from the earth. Your food and drink comes from Him. More, keep reading. Wine and oil. Clearly the psalmist was not in favor of abstinence from wine. He now commends it as a gift from God. Wine makes glad the heart of man. Very clear. Oil to make his face shine. Bread which strengthens man's heart. This provision, this lavish provision from God actively, He causes this to happen, the psalmist says. And then there's homes for all the creatures. The birds make their nests. The storks are home in the fir trees. The high hills are for the wild goats. The cliffs are refuge for the rock badgers. Every creature in its environment, with its home, provided food by God actively, not passively. Verses 19 through 20. A world of well-ordered patterns of time. Look at the language. The grammar is important again. He brings forth fruit, verse 14, now another. He appointed the moon for seasons. The sun knows it's going down. You make darkness. Why do you think? That day follows night, week after week after week after week after week. The moon in its cycle mentioned here, why do you think that's kept so perfectly? Why do you think the seasons happen year after year? Because God said to Noah, for example, summer and winter, springtime and harvest will not cease. He's holding all of these things in his hands. Again, he's not passive, but active. The day and night cycle here is very interesting. I said earlier, the Genesis narrative is clearly taken as literal. If you look here, we have the evening and morning pattern picked up from Genesis 1. He appointed the moon for its season. The sun knows it's going down. You make darkness. It is night, in which all the beasts of the field creep about. Peace of the forest, rather keep about. The young lions roar after their prey, seek their food from God. When the sun rises, they gather together, lie down in their dens. Then man goes out to his work and his labor till the next evening. And here's a literal day. The creatures are running around at night. If you ask some of the people who are at our church camping event about creatures running around in the night, and you might ask for a picture of what their cooler looked like after they left it on the campsite, with the creatures running around at night. It's real. And the Bible says God's governing all of this, and he made some animals to be busy at night, and he made us to work during the day. It's all part of providence, all part of his care. The summary of this teaching on providence is this. God is the active and intentional agent of providence. He sends, he waters, he causes the grass to grow, he appoints the moon, he makes the darkness. Our Westminster Confession of Faith says this about Providence. God, the Great Creator of all things, does uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by His most wise and holy Providence, according to His infallible foreknowledge. free and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy. He reigns. The king reigns. He provides. Everything is under his control, coastlines and rivers and birds and cattle. The blessing on the labor of your hands is from him, not from you. Matter of fact, your very life is from him. If you keep reading, you read that He's the God of fruitfulness, and feeding, and He makes it home, and He cares for His people. Psalmist takes a step back in verses 24 to 30 to survey the whole realm. Oh Lord, how manifold are your works. He's looking at creation in providence and wisdom you have made them all. He surveys the entirety of the thing. The earth is full of your possessions. The great and wide sea in which there are innumerable teeming things. Living things both small and great. There the ships sail about. There is that leviathan which you have made to play. There's an exclamation here of awe and wonder. He sees the hand of God, and he can't help but praise. The climactic end of this section, verse 27, the psalmist sees all creation, every creature. in total dependence on this preserving and governing. These all wait for you that you may give them their food in due season. What you give them, they gather in. You open your hand, they are filled with good. You hide your face, they are troubled. You take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. You send forth your spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. The language here is that the whole creation, if you've ever had a little baby bird maybe fall out of a nest, and you take a little eyedropper and you mix up some of that food, maybe children, you've done this with your family, and you hand feed that bird. And you start to come to the nest, and if you touch the little nest box, that little bird will come up with a wide open mouth and wait for the next meal. The psalmist says all creation is like this, and God comes and hand feeds his creation. He is the one who has sovereignty over all things, reaching higher yet to the mystery of life itself. He gives life and he takes it away, verse 29. The end of life is in his hands. That's under his providence. The day of your birth, the day of your death, everything is under his governance and control. The matters of life and death, of blessing and calamity, all under the providence of God, all under the hand of God. And the Spirit who hovered over the waters in creation, Genesis 1, look at verse 30, is the same Spirit who is also active in providence. You send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. May the glory of the Lord endure forever. May the Lord rejoice in his works. Last little phrase on Providence. He looks on the earth and it trembles. There's the earthquake. He touches the hills and they smoke. The volcanoes and the wildfires are the hand of God. Everything is under the rule of God. What are some lessons for you and I? Providence. You'll learn from this. Number one, you need to think like a Christian. A biblical worldview. I mentioned a moment ago science and things like the great climate debate. Christians are not against scientific inquiry. Not at all. The Bible actually commends the study of the works of God. I mentioned Psalm 111 a little earlier, but this is what the Lord says. The works of the Lord are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them. We study God's creation. We study his works. We seek to read the book of nature, general revelation. That is a good thing to do. It's a good thing for the Christian to do. We delight in God's works. It's what the psalmist was doing. How manifold are your works in wisdom, you have made them all. We have examples. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived. He spoke 3,000 proverbs. His songs were 1,005. This is 1 Kings 5. He also spoke of trees, from the cedar of Lebanon, even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall. He spoke of animals, of birds, of creeping things, of fish. And the man of all nations from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom came to hear the wisdom of Solomon. We have Moses, who was instructed in the best universities of his day. I mentioned that last week. However, the predominant worldview we live under, the worldview of what I call modern science, the modern age, is not simply the inquiry and the study of God's works, it's a religion. Ever heard the phrase, trust the science? Trust the science. What does that mean? It is meant that there are certain experts who can predict and tell you what's going to happen. They just know. The priests of knowledge. Christians don't trust men, no matter how much expertise they say they have. We trust God. Experts aren't to be discounted. There are people who know a lot of things about very hard things, and that's good. But we don't discount them or trust them. We're careful. We're careful to think about how we listen to others. Again, a white lab coat is no guarantee of true wisdom. In fact, the history of the world seems to bear out that the closer people get to God's revelation, the stronger their recoil is against it. Romans 1 says, they suppress the truth in unrighteousness. The more you see of glory, either you must bow or push back. You only have two choices. The doctrine of providence is antithetical to the modern view of the world. Again, going back to climate, I'm not convinced that what's happening in our climate is man-made. Other people might be an argument for another time. What's the greatest danger in how these things are being presented to us? It's not really the science or the politics, which I think both can be dangerous, but a subtle reframing of how we think about the world. It's a world in which God is absent and distant, and where man is king, where our destiny is on our hands, where we control our own future, and where the God of providence is absent, not talked about, Under this kind of thinking, what would happen if God were to bring a judgment? What would happen if he were to bring, for example, what the word says he could bring, which is a time of drought or famine? What would the world say right now? We did it. What does the scriptures say? God did it. And what do the Scriptures say? When Solomon prays the dedication of the temple, he says, if something like this happens, what should we as your people do? We should turn to the Lord who rules the cosmos with repentance, and ask for mercy, and pray for rain. Because He is the preserver of all things. Subtle shift, or maybe not so subtle shift in the way that we are thinking. Instead, we believe in a God who is the supernatural sustainer of all things, all life. He's active in everything. Look again at verse 29 and 30. In life and death, you hide your face, they are troubled. You take away their breath and they die and return to the dust. You send forth your spirit and they are created. The very ultimate things of living and dying are under the providence of God. Everything is. And you think about his hand in everything. And you trust him. You believe that he's in all the details and in the grandest things. There's nothing outside his care and control. But General Stonewall Jackson has this great quote. He says, my religious belief on account of my doctrine of providence, that's what he was referring to, teaches me to feel as safe and as in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time of my death. I do not concern myself about that, but always be ready no matter when it may overtake me. That is the way all men should live, then all would be equally brave. There is a God of providence who is ruling and governing all things, the details of my life. Verses 14 and 15 and 21 of the same psalm where you see that the matter of food for example, God gives us our food in due season. Luther famously said that the wheat harvest, the loaf of bread on your table, is no less a sign of matchless divine power than the feeding of the 5,000 by the hand of Jesus Christ. Different ways, same God providing. See his hand. God's hand is in all things. It takes the spectacles of the word of God, to use Calvin's language, to see it. Number two, trust the God of Providence. Two things, trust His generous provision. The sermon's entitled The Table of the King. One of the themes that runs through this psalm is bountiful provision. That's what kings are supposed to do. You remember when Mephibosheth from the line of Saul and Jonathan comes to David and David says, we'll get to this in the next weeks, in 2 Samuel, David says, come to my table. All that is mine is yours. You have a place at my table. When the Queen of Sheba came to Solomon, we read in 1 Kings that she was amazed. There was no spirit left in her when she saw his feasting table, his waiters, the food, the bounty, the provisions of the king. Psalm 23. How does the psalmist describe the care of God? The table you prepare me in the presence of my enemies. You feed me. Leads me in green pastures, by the quiet waters, green grass and water, same symbols as in this psalm here. Or we think of our salvation and we remembered it last week at the table of the Lord, the Lord's Supper, where He bountifully provides with an open hand, as it were, hand feeds us with the bread of life, Jesus Christ. You know, have you ever heard of preppers? Some of you might have leanings in that direction. It always strikes me as it's not imprudent to prepare for calamity. However, it does always strike me interesting if you read history that a very easy way to frustrate a prepper is just take them away from their food pile. And if you haven't read history, it only takes a few minutes or a few days for the winds of history to change and you to be carried off like the exiles to Babylon. Your future is not in your hands. It's in God's hands. Your food and drink, everything you need comes from Him every day. That's why Jesus said, give us this day our daily bread. He feeds you. He cares for you. He hasn't forgotten your needs. He knows your tears, your sadnesses, your weakness. He knows your hunger and your thirst. He knows the burdens you carry. And He promises, I'll carry you with my active divine providence. Like I care for all my creatures. Second thing is you can trust His perfect plan. Not only His generous provision, but His perfect plan. Whatever that brings. Because all things work together for good for those who love God, that called according to His purpose. All things. All things work together for good. The Westminster Confession of Faith says something very interesting when it continues to talk about providence. It says, providence is directed to a special end. And the last phrase of that chapter says, in a special manner, God by His providence cares for His church. If you are one who trusts Jesus Christ, the Word says that the course of that providence is goodness all the way. They not only will prepare a table before you in the presence of His enemies, but goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life, and then one day by that active governing, preserving, you will abide in the house of the Lord forever. He'll preserve your life to the very end. It's for His glory, verse 31, may the glory of the Lord endure forever. And it's for the good of His people that He rules and governs. Now does that mean we understand all the mysteries? No. We don't read Providence. Sometimes people read Providence and You know, they see signs in their life, you know, get a flat tire in front of a car dealership, God's telling me to buy a new car. That's probably a very bad way to think about life. There's a great illustration, a farmer going in the field, and he thinks he sees these letters in the clouds. He says, uh, GPC, and he goes, runs into the house, runs to his wife, and he says, I just saw these letters in the clouds, and GPC, and she said, what do you think it means? He said, I think it means go preach Christ. And she said, well, you've been late with planting, I think it might mean go plant corn. That's the danger of trying to read the secret providence of God. We don't understand very often what He's doing. I get into a world of hurt. God's thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways. His secret things belong to the Lord. He does what He does. The Scriptures tell us, for His glory, which will never be thwarted, for the good of His people who are safe with Him. And on the way, the hardships and the tears and the sorrows we do not fully understand. If you read the chapter 5 of the Confession, paragraph 5 on Providence, it says sometimes God brings us through some of the hardest things that we can imagine. And He does so, either to bring us closer to Himself, or for this little phrase, or for sundry other just and holy ends. For things that we don't fully comprehend right now. But He's good. Trust Him. The doctrine of providence is like a pillow for the pilgrim's head. It calls for humble rest and trust. What's the fundamental reason that you can trust the providence of God? I would say one more thing at the end of this sermon, it's this. It's because God is good. Paul, if we continue on in Romans chapter 8, he asked that question that I think of so often. He said, God did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How much more shall he also not with him freely give us all things? This is how we interpret providence. We begin with this. My Heavenly Father sent me a Savior, Jesus Christ the Righteous. He came into this sin-sick world according to the perfect plan and providence of God. He went to the cross, He died, and He rose again. Now He's ascended into heaven. He has all authority over heaven and earth. He is the Creator King that rules the cosmos. He's the one who gives me my daily bread. He's the one who washed my sins away. He's the one who promises to take me to heaven. And I trust whatever God does, because he gave me his son, and the hand of providence will help me home. He's not against me, he's for me. To use Job's word, I will then accept good from God and adversity. William Cooper, you fearful saints, fresh courage take. The clouds you so much dread are big with mercy and shall break and blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace. Behind what sometimes is a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face." I know that some of you here are listening to this sermon and I know your stories. Your hearts are profound tears and sadness. Things you cannot fully comprehend or understand that have happened in your life, and you felt the sharpness of the pangs of disappointment and pain in ways that perhaps you think no one else could understand. Christ could, and He does. Take it to Him. You can be assured of this. The Doctrine of Providence says that underneath are the everlasting arms. the God who made the world and redeemed his people is preserving and governing all things for his glory and your good with an intentionality love and mercy. Finish with the word of some words from our Savior who said, 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 do not sow or reap or gather into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Christian, listen to Christ's next question. Are you not of more value than they? So seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you by the hand of a gracious God who cares for His people. Let's pray. Our God, we join the psalmist in worship. We praise you as the creator. We praise you as the one whose works are manifold. In wisdom, you made everything. We praise you, the God of providence. May your glory, O Lord, endure forever. You send the waters. You cause the grass to grow. You hurled the storm in Jonah's day. Lord Jesus, you said, peace be still, and the wind and the waves ceased. And your disciples were filled with awe and wonder at your hand of providence. Lord, you provide for us, you feed us, you order your creation, you protect your people. Every detail of our lives is in your hands. And we thank you that in Christ this means it's for our good. Lord, we would also pray for any who would be here chafing under your providence, rebelling against it, ignoring it, denying it, minimizing it, and failing to give you honor and glory, failing to bow. under your sovereign hand. Lord, we pray that such sinners would be turned to you and learn to see a heavenly Father who cares for us. Lord, we pray for the grace of repentance and new trust, and we ask in Jesus' name, amen. But we also go with the blessing of the triune God. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.