Quote of the Day

“Do not have your concert first and tune your instruments afterward. Begin the day with God.” 

– Hudson Taylor

What is God Sovereign Over?

The Bible verses below are far from exhaustive, and each should be interpreted according to its genre and context. But I am convinced that these verses—rightly interpreted—definitively establish God’s absolute sovereignty over all things. And since compatiblism is true, none of this contradicts the equally biblical teaching that Satan is “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4) and that human choices are genuine and significant.

God Is Sovereign Over . . .

Seemingly random things:

The lot is cast into the lap,
but its every decision is from the LORD.
(Proverbs 16:33)

The heart of the most powerful person in the land:

The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD;
he turns it wherever he will.
(Proverbs 21:1)

Our daily lives and plans:

A man’s steps are from the LORD;
how then can man understand his way?
(Proverbs 20:24)

Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.
(Proverbs 19:21)

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. . . . Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
(James 4:13-15)

Salvation:

“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
(Romans 9:15-16)

As many as were appointed to eternal life believed.
(Acts 13:48)

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
(Romans 8:29-30)

Life and death:

See now that I, even I, am he,
and there is no god beside me;
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
(Deuteronomy 32:39)

The LORD kills and brings to life;
he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
(1 Samuel 12:6)

Disabilities:

Then the LORD said to [Moses], “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?”
(Exodus 4:11)

The death of God’s Son:

Jesus, [who was] delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
(Acts 2:23)

For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
(Acts 4:27-28)

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief. . . .
(Isaiah 53:10)

Evil things:

Is a trumpet blown in a city,
and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster come to a city,
unless the LORD has done it?
(Amos 3:6)

I form light and create darkness,
I make well-being and create calamity,
I am the LORD, who does all these things.
(Isaiah 45:7)

“The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. . . . “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
(Job 1:21-22; 2:10)

[God] sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. . . . As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
(Psalm 105:17; Genesis 50:21)

All things:

[God] works all things according to the counsel of his will.
(Ephesians 1:11)

Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.
(Psalm 115:3)

I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
(Job 42:2)

All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
and he does according to his will among the host of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth;
and none can stay his hand
or say to him, “What have you done?”
(Daniel 4:35)

For The Sake of God's Name

I thought this was relevant given our discussion this Sunday about the names in Genesis 17...

Justin Taylor writes: Paul Miller made a comment that has stuck with me: he mentioned that he’s recently been noting the number of things in the Psalmists’ prayers that he doesn’t say in his own prayers. With that in mind, note the basis upon which these prayers are made: Jeremiah 14:7 Though our iniquities testify against us, act, O LORD, for your name’s sake; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against you. Jeremiah 14:21 Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake; do not dishonor your glorious throne; remember and do not break your covenant with us. Daniel 9:19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name. A few observations about this phrase as found in God’s word: 1. The name of God is God’s revelation of himself. 2. In the phrase “for the sake of God’s name,” “name” is essentially synonymous with “praise” and “glory.” Isaiah 48:9 puts “the sake of my name” parallel with “the sake of my praise.” Isaiah 48:11 puts “my name” on the same level as “my glory.” 3. God’s great name can be glorified or profaned (see especially Ezekiel 20). 4. God works for both his glory and our good (compare, for example, Rom. 8:28 and Rom. 11:36), but the Bible puts a priority on God’s interest over ours as the basis for his action (frequently saying “not for our sake” but for “your sake”). 5. In our prayers we should appeal to God, reminding God of what he cannot forget: to do all things for the glory and praise of his great name. The following is not quite exhaustive, but here is a catalog of the main uses of the phrase in the Bible. 1 Samuel 12:22 For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. Psalm 23:3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness1 for his name’s sake. Psalm 25:11 For your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great. Psalm 31:3 For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me; Psalm 79:9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake! Psalm 106:8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power. Psalm 109:21 But you, O God my Lord, deal on my behalf for your name’s sake; because your steadfast love is good, deliver me! Psalm 143:11 For your name’s sake, O LORD, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble! Isaiah 48:9, 11 For my name’s sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. . . . For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another. Ezekiel 20:9 But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. Ezekiel 20:14 But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. Ezekiel 20:22 But I withheld my hand and acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. Ezekiel 20:44 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD. Ezekiel 36:22 Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. The New Testament also uses this language, with Jesus frequently applying it to his own name. Matthew 10:22 . . . and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. Matthew 19:29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. Matthew 24:9 Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. Acts 9:16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. Romans 1:5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations. 1 John 2:12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. 3 John 1:7 For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Revelation 2:3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.

Bible Reading Plans

What value do you place on reading the Word of God?

Have you ever read the whole Bible?

Justin Taylor provides some helpful reading plans as you reflect upon your growth during the past year and look forward to the coming year.