"The Lord is good: a strong hold in the clay of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him."--NAHUM.

      "The general providence of God" is a phrase employed by many to denote the agency which we have considered under the head of Preservation. Special providences, on the other hand, have usually been confounded with the interpositions of the Divine Being in the government of the world. It is easily perceived, however, that there are no just grounds for such a distinction between government and preservation, or for such an application of the terms general and special, since the agency employed in the preservation of men may be as special as acts of government.

      Nor is it to be supposed that a general superintendence over the world consists in a mere supervision of universal laws or principles, while special providences are the particular instances in which these laws are administered and applied; for we can have no idea of the Divine agency in the affairs of men except as it is exerted in individual cases; nor can we at all regard the control of laws and principles as an end or a peculiar department of the Divine government, when it is only the means by which ulterior purposes are accomplished in relation to intelligent and accountable beings who are the only legitimate subjects of that control or interference which is termed providential.

      The truth is, that as generals are made up of particulars, we can not conceive of a general providence without involving the idea of a [25] special one; nor can we imagine how the Divine Being can govern the whole human family without governing every particular individual who composes it. If, therefore, there be room for the distinction now under consideration, it is to be found in the peculiar character of the agency employed, or the degree in which it is exercised, rather than in the fact of such exercise itself.

      In this view of the matter the distinction spoken of becomes a very just and important one. For nothing is more certain than that while the Creator governs and sustains all men, he pays more particular regard to a certain portion of the human family, which thus becomes the object of his peculiar care. This particular portion is composed of those who put their trust in him. And that God does so distinguish them is plainly asserted by the sacred writers. Paul declares that He "is the Saviour of all men, ESPECIALLY of those who believe:"--thus employing the very term by which the distinction is characterized.

      We can as easily conceive this to be the case, as that God can be omnipresent--that he can "fill heaven and earth," and yet be more immediately and in a special and peculiar sense present in heaven, which is represented as his "dwelling-place," and as the "throne of his glory;" or that a monarch can superintend and administer the affairs of a vast empire, and pay respect to the interests of the whole community, while at the same time he views with peculiar complacency his immediate followers and dependents, and treats with special favor and affection the members of his own family.

      This special regard must be considered as extending itself to every thing which can in any degree affect the character or happiness of those who are the subjects of it, whether it be to the bestowment of favors or the infliction of merited punishment, which may be in different cases or at different periods equally proofs of peculiar kindness. Hence while it is declared by Paul to the Hebrews that "the Lord is a rewarder of them who diligently seek him," he reminds them of the exhortation "which," says he, "reasons with you as with children--'My son, do not think lightly of the Lord's chastisement, neither faint when you are rebuked by him: for whom the Lord loves he chastises, and scourges every son whom he receives,'" and proceeds to argue that if they were without that necessary chastisement, of which all sons are partakers, it would be a proof of neglect and would imply that they were regarded as bastards or aliens, and undeserving of the care exercised over the proper members of the family.

      Such, then, is the special care bestowed by the Divine Being upon the "household of faith." He is their "Father in heaven" and they are his "children." He views with peculiar interest their condition and their conduct--"His eyes are over the righteous and his ears are [26] open to their supplication." He shall "hide them in the secret of his presence from the pride of man: he shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues." For the Lord "loveth the righteous" and "taketh pleasure in his people--he will beautify the meek with salvation" and "fulfill the desire of them that fear him." Again, he is the "king" that reigns "in Sion" and "Israel is his dominion." He "shows his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He has not dealt so with any nation; and as for his judgments, they have not known them." Or, he is the "Shepherd of Israel" and "leads Joseph like a flock"--he leads him to the lofty "rock" for shelter; he feeds him in the "green pastures" and makes him to drink of the "river" of his pleasures.

      When indeed we wish to form a proper idea of the special care which God has over his people, we have but to contemplate his former dealings with the literal Israel, and remember who are "Israel" now. As he admitted his ancient people to peculiar privileges; as he delivered them from their enemies, and made them the instrument both of vengeance and of salvation, while he failed not to punish their transgressions and to reward their obedience; so is he now the Father and the God--the King, the Shepherd, and the Saviour of his people; and "his face" is still "against them that do evil;"--he will yet "destroy the wicked" and "cut off the remembrance of them from the earth;" and when they "draw out the sword, and bend their bow to cast down the poor and needy, and slay such as be of upright conversation, their sword shall enter into their own heart and their bows shall be broken."

      In all ages have the righteous been the subjects of God's special providence, and a more particular regard has been paid to them both in their preservation and government than to any other portion of the human family. It may be well to observe, too, that on account of the relation which subsists between God and his people, an interference on their behalf is suspended upon certain conditions which have no place where the world at large is concerned. They are the children of God, and as such are expected to ask for what they need. This is not the case with unbelievers, who will not, of course, call upon one of whom they have not heard or in whom they have not believed. To the latter, therefore, the bounties of heaven are dispensed, and all necessary aid administered in the general care which God has over all his creatures; while the latter are admitted to the high privilege of making their requests known to God, and of receiving from him greater and more precious favors. Thus he causes his sun to rise upon the evil, sends rain upon the unjust, and permits the wicked to enjoy unasked prosperity, that his goodness may lead them to reformation. But it is the righteous who are to pray for "daily bread," and daily preservation, who find it a "good thing to [27] give thanks unto the Lord--to speak of his loving-kindness in the morning and of his faithfulness every night;" and who can experience deliverance from the Lord "because they trust in him." The enjoyment of the wicked arises from the long-suffering of God; but if the righteous "have not," it is only because they "ask not," or because they ask for improper things or purposes.

      Prayer, therefore, is of the greatest importance to the children of God Their petitions should be as frequent as their wants; and their thanksgivings, as their blessings. Yet from their comparative ignorance of their true interests and circumstances, it is very certain that they often net only fail to ask when they ought, but desire things which would be injurious to themselves or incompatible with the happiness of others. It is in these instances that the Divine Being, like a kind parent, may bestow necessary blessings unrequired, and withhold those things which, however ardently desired, would be fatal to the possessor. Nevertheless it is highly requisite that Christians, since they know the will of God, should ask those things which are "according to his will." It is only by so doing, in an humble reliance upon the Divine promise, that they can have the assurance of being heard; and such are the only petitions which are just or proper, as the will of God is the only rule of rectitude, and there can be no higher or better wish than this, that "the will of God should be done on earth as it is in heaven."

      We have not space at present to enter as fully upon the subject of prayer in connection with special providences, as its importance deserves. It may be further observed, however, in relation to the objections of those who doubt the efficacy of prayer, that in order to form just views respecting it, it is necessary that several essential matters be attended to. It must be remembered that not only suitable requests are to be made, but that these are to be made in a proper manner--with earnestness, sincerity, and perseverance. Proper requests are sometimes presented in such an indifferent and careless way as plainly to show that the petitioner cares little about the things for which he prays, and consequently does not deserve them. At other times prayers are offered up, with the most earnest and ardent zeal, for things which are nowhere promised, and which, requiring miraculous or supernatural power for their accomplishment, are wholly inconsistent with the present economy of Heaven. Again, as it is impossible for men to know with accuracy what things they really need, or the proper times at which they should be granted, or even the channels through which they should be conveyed, so it would be plainly presumptuous in them to prescribe definitely in any of these matters to an Omniscient and Omnipotent Being. Christians undoubtedly are entitled to plead the promises of God; but there are no [28] express promises or special revelations to any particular individual, as many have absurdly supposed while under the influence of self-love or the visions of a heated imagination; and men often err in expecting the fulfillment of promises which have been already fully accomplished, and have no relation whatever to them, or even to the age in which we live. There are certain general promises upon which Christians may securely depend; such as that "God will never leave them nor forsake them"--and that "all things shall work together for good to them who love God;" and they manifest a much greater degree of confidence in the Divine Being, when, depending upon his regard and love for them, and sensible that he is best acquainted with their circumstances and their wants, they make their desires known to him, putting themselves at the same time absolutely in his hands--with a full persuasion that he will grant the wishes they have expressed, or what shall be better for them.

      Sceptics and unbelievers have nothing to do with prayer either in theory or practice. "God hears not sinners; but if any man be al. worshipper of God and doeth his will, him he hears." Sceptics profanely regard prayer as an experimenting upon the Divine promises, or a putting the Lord God to the proof; and their ignorance and folly will perhaps be apparent to themselves only when they experience the Divine faithfulness in the accomplishment of the solemn declaration that "indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish shall be to every soul. of man that doeth evil." It is the people of God who are admitted to communion with him, and who have been in all ages, as we have already remarked, the object of his peculiar care, and for whose sake he has so often specially interfered in the affairs of men.

      When, indeed, we reflect upon the history of the human family, we can not fail to be struck with the important influence which the righteous have exerted over the condition and destiny of mankind. Noah became the means of preserving the whole race of Adam from extinction; and the existence of ten just persons in the city of Sodom would, through the intercession of Abraham, have saved it from destruction. For Israel's sake God smote the Egyptians, and expelled the inhabitants of Canaan; it was to punish his people for their apostacy that he delivered them into the hands of the, king of Babylon, and to release them from captivity that he raised up Cyrus, and opened before him the two-leaved gates of that illustrious city. In short, they are represented as the "salt of the earth," and the "light of the world"--as those upon whose account long-suffering is exercised towards the guilty, and who are made the instruments of dispensing the knowledge of God and of spiritual things to the sons of men. Hence it becomes their duty to pray and make intercession for all men--for kings and rulers, and not only to pray but to labor for [29] the conversion of the world--"for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour." And it is most important that they should remember the high responsibilities which rest upon them, and that God has been pleased to suspend his favors towards men in a good degree upon the obedience and the prayers of his own people, as in Babylon the Jews were commanded to "seek the peace of the city" and "pray unto the Lord for it."

      How glorious then is Zion! "God is known in her palaces for a refuge." The "daughters of Judah" rejoice "because of his judgments," for he "preserveth the souls of his saints and delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked--the Lord God is a sun and a shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: and so good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly."

      How precious in the sight of God are them who love him and have laid hold of his covenant! "Fear not," says the prophet, "for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker is thy husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment: but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but thy kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.

      "O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted! behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee. Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. [30] "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord."

      Having in the foregoing essays (however imperfectly) defined the leading terms and sketched the main thoughts embraced by the subject of Divine Providence, I deem it expedient to close the examination of it for the present with the termination of the current volume of this work. Aware, however, of the various difficulties and objections which prevail in the minds of men with regard to the superintendence of God over the universe, I will in the meantime cheerfully receive such exceptions or questions as may be presented in relation thereto, and pay to them the attention which their importance may require.

      As for you, oh! beloved and faithful, who have made a covenant with God, it is your happy privilege to repose upon his mercy and his truth, and to cast your "anxious cares" upon him, under the confident assurance that he "cares for you." It is your delight to contemplate the doings of the Most High, and to know that, in the language of the poet,

      It is yours to learn in the sanctuary the end of the wicked; to comprehend why the long-suffering of God permits them often to flourish like a tree which groweth in its own soil; and to be assured that

      How important then, that all your conduct should be regulated by these convictions! How necessary that the Divine will and [31] approbation should be consulted in all your affairs and undertakings! And how conducive to your spiritual and eternal interest that you should ever realize the presence and unceasing care of your Heavenly Benefactor!

[ROBERT RICHARDSON]      

      Of God's government, Mr. Campbell [sic] wrote in 1833, page 206:

      Next to preservation, as that signifies God's upholding all things in being, and preserving and actuating their natural powers, we must consider God's government of the world. For God is the supreme and sovereign Lord of the world, who doeth whatsoever pleaseth him both in heaven and in earth; and therefore the absolute government of all things must be in his hands, or else something might be done which he would not have done.

      This all men grant in general words, who own a Providence; but when they come to particulars, there are so many excepted cases, which they will hardly allow God to have anything to do in, that they seem to mean little more by God's government than a general inspection of human affairs, his looking on to see the world govern itself; for three parts of four of all that is done in the world they resolve into bare permission as distinguished from an ordering and disposing providence; and then it can signify no more than that God does not hinder it. And if this be all, God governs the world in such cases no more than men do. The only difference is, that God can hinder when he does not; but men do not hinder because they can not; but still not to hinder does not signify to govern.

      But rightly to understand this matter, the best way is to consider how the Scripture represents it; and because there are great varieties of acts in the government of the world of a very different consideration, I shall distinctly inquire into God's government of causes, and his government of events.

      1. God's government of causes. And we must consider three sorts of causes, and what the Scripture attributes to God with respect to each. 1st. Natural causes. 2d. Accidental causes, or what we call chance, and accident, and fortune. 3d. Moral causes and free agents, or the government of mankind.

      1st. Natural causes, or God's government of the natural world, of the heavens, and earth, and seas, and air, and all things in them which move and act by a necessity of nature, not by chance. Now the Scripture does not only attribute to God all the virtues and powers of nature which belong to creation, and to a preserving Providence, but the direction and government of all their natural influences to do what God has a mind should be done. God does in some measure govern the moral by the natural world. He rewards or punishes men by a wholesome or pestilential air, by fruitful or barren seasons. He hinders or promotes their designs by winds and weather, by a forward [32] or a backward spring, and makes nature give laws to men, and sets bounds to their passions and intrigues; to overthrow the most powerful fleets and armies; to defeat the wisest counsels, and to arbitrate the differences of princes, and the fate of men and kingdoms. And if God govern men by nature, he must govern nature too; for necessary causes can not be fitted to the government of free agents without the direction and management of Divine Providence, which guides, exerts, or suspends the influences of nature with as great freedom as men act. Men do not always deserve well or ill; and if the kind of malign influences of nature must be tempered to men's deserts, to punish them when they do ill, and to reward them when they do well, natural causes, which of themselves act necessarily without wisdom or counsel, must be guided by a wise hand.

      Thus reason tells us it must be if God govern the world, and God challenges to himself this absolute and sovereign empire over nature. God has bestowed different virtues and powers on natural causes, and in ordinary cases makes use of the powers of nature, and neither acts without them nor against the laws of nature, which makes some unthinking men resolve all into nature without a God or a Providence. Because, excepting the case of miracles, which they are not willing to believe, they see everything else done by the powers of nature. And if it were not so, God had made a world and made nature to no purpose, to do everything himself by an immediate power, without making use of the powers of nature. But the ordinary government of nature does not signify to act without it or to overrule its powers, but to steer and guide its motions to serve the wise ends of his providence in the government of mankind.

      For as God does not usually act without nature, nor against its laws, so neither does nature act by steady and uniform motions without the direction of God. But while everything in the material world acts necessarily and exerts its natural powers, God can temper, suspend, direct its influence, without reversing the laws of nature. As, for instance, fire and water, wind and rain, thunder and lightning, have their natural virtues and powers, and natural causes, and God produces such effects as they are made to produce by their natural powers. He warms us with fire--invigorates the earth by the benign influence of the sun and moon, and other stars and planets; refreshes and moistens it with springs and fountains and rain from heaven--fans the air with winds, and purges it with thunders and lightnings, and the like. But then when and where the rains shall fall and the winds shall blow, in what measure and proportion, times and seasons natural causes shall give or withhold their influences, this God keeps in his own power, and can govern without altering the standing laws of nature; and this is his government of natural causes in order to [33] reward or punish men as they shall deserve. Thus God reasons with Job concerning his power and providence (Job xxxviii. 31, 32, etc.), "Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season, or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven, or canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth? Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds that abundance of waters may cover thee? Canst thou send lightnings that they may go and say unto thee, Here we are?" This is above human power, but belongs to the government and providence of God. "Fire and hail, snow and vapor, and stormy winds fulfill his word" (Ps. cxlviii. 8). Sometimes God restrains the influences of nature, "shuts up heaven that it shall not rain" (11. Chron. vii. 13). And at other times he "calls to the clouds that abundance of water may cover the earth. He gives the former and the latter rain in its season, and preserveth to us the appointed weeks of harvest" (Jer. v. 24), as he promised to Israel (Dent. xi. 14, 15), "I will give you the rain of your land in due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine and thy oil; and I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full." He prescribes in what proportions it shall rain (Joel ii. 23, 24), "Be glad, Ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the former rain and the latter rain in the first month." Nay, God appoints on what place it shall rain (Ezek. xxxiv. 26), "And I will make thee and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing." Amos iv. 7, 8: "And also I have withholden the rain from you when there were yet three months to the harvest. And I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city. One piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered; so two or three cities wandered to one city to drink water, but they were not satisfied."

      It is impossible to give any tolerable account of such texts as these, without confessing that God keeps the direction and government of all natural causes in his own hands. For particular effects, and all the changes of nature can never be attributed to God, unless the divine wisdom and counsel determine natural causes to the producing such particular effects. Great part of the happiness or miseries of this life is owing to the good or bad influences of natural causes. That if God take care of mankind he must govern nature; and when he promises health and plenty, or threatens pestilence and famine, how can he make good either if he have not reserved to himself a sovereign power over nature? [34]

      The sum is this, that all natural causes are under the immediate and absolute government of Providence--that God keeps the springs of nature in his own hands, and turns them as he pleases. For mere matter, though it be endowed with all the natural virtues and powers which necessarily produce their natural effects; yet it having no wisdom and counsel of its own, can not serve the ends of a free agent without being guided by a wise hand. And we see in a thousand instances what an empire human art has over nature--not by changing the nature of things, which human art can never do; but by such skillful application of causes as will produce such effects as unguided, and, if I may so speak, untaught, nature could never have produced. And if God have subjected nature to human art, surely he has not exempted it from his own guidance and power.

      This shows how necessary it is that God, by an immediate providence, should govern nature. For natural causes are excellent instruments; but to make them useful they must be directed by a skillful hand. And those various changes which are in nature; especially in this sublunary world (which we are most acquainted with), without any certain and periodical returns, prove that it is not all mechanism; for mechanical motions are fixed and certain, and either always the same or regular and uniform in their changes.

      It is of great use to us to understand this, which teaches us what we may expect from God, and what we must attribute to him in the government of nature. We must not expect in ordinary cases that God should reverse the laws of nature for us; that if we leap into the fire it shall not burn us; or into the water, it shall not drown us. And by the same reason the providence of God is not concerned to preserve us when we destroy ourselves by intemperance and lust for God does not work miracles to deliver men from the evil effects of their own wickedness and folly. But all the kind influences of heaven which supply our wants, and fill our hearts with food and gladness, are owing to that good providence which commands nature to yield her increase; and those disorders of nature which afflict the world with famines, and pestilence, and earthquakes, are the effects of God's anger and displeasure, and are ordered by him for the punishment of a wicked world. We must all believe this, or confess that we mock God when we bless him for a healthful air and fruitful season or deprecate his angel: when we see the visible tokens of his vengeance in the disorders of nature. For did not God immediately interpose in the government of nature, there would be no reason to beg his favor, or to deprecate his anger upon these accounts.

      2d. Let us consider God's government of accidental causes, or what we call chance and accident, which has a large empire over human affairs. Not that chance and accident can do anything, properly [35] speaking (for whatever is done has some proper and natural cause which does it); but what we call accidental causes, is rather such an accidental concurrence of different causes, as produces unexpected and undesigned effects: as when one man, by accident, loses a purse of gold, and another man, walking the fields, without any such expectation, by as great an accident, finds it. And how much of the good or evil that happens to us in this world, is owing to such undesigned, surprising, accidental events, every man must know who has made any observations on his own or other men's lives and fortunes. The wise man observed this long since (Eccles. ix. 11), "I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither yet bread to the wise; nor Yet riches to men of understanding; nor yet favor to men of skill: but time and chance happeneth to them all." Some unusual and casual events change the fortunes of men, and disappoint the most proper and natural means of success. What should conquer in a race but swiftness; or win the battle but strength? What should supply men's wants and increase riches, but wisdom and understanding in human affairs? What more likely way to gain the favor of princes and people, than a dexterous and skillful application and address? And yet the preacher observed in his days, and the observation holds good still, that it is not always thus: time and chance, some favorable junctures, and unseen accidents, are more powerful than all human strength, or art, or skill.

      Now what an ill state were mankind in, did not a wise and merciful hand govern what we call chance and fortune? How can God govern the world, or dispose of men's lives and fortunes, without governing chance, all unseen, unknown and surprising events, which disappoint the counsels of the wise, and in a moment unavoidably change the whole scene of human affairs? Upon what little unexpected things do the fortunes of men, of families, of whole kingdoms turn! And unless these little unexpected things are governed by God, some of the greatest changes in the world are exempted from his care and providence.

      This is reason enough to believe, that if God governs the world, he governs chance and fortune; that the most unexpected events, how casual soever they appear to us, are foreseen and ordered by God.

      Such events as these are the properest objects of God's care and government, because they are very great instruments of Providence. Many times the great things are done by them, and they are the most visible demonstration of a superior wisdom and power which governs the world. But these means God disappoints the wisdom of the wise, and defeats the power of the mighty; "frustrateth the tokens of the liar, and maketh diviners mad; turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish" (Isa. xliv. 25). Did strength and [36] wisdom always prevail, as in a great measure they would were it not for such unseen disappointments; mankind would take less notice of Providence, and would have less reason to do it, since they would be the more absolute masters of their own fortunes. A powerful combination of sinners, managed by some crafty politicians, would govern the world; but the uncertain turnings and changes of fortune keep mankind in awe, make the most prosperous and powerful sinners fear an unseen vengeance, and give security to good men against unseen evils, which can not befall them without the order and appointment of God.

      That there are a great many accidental and casual events, which happen to us all, and which are of great consequence to the happiness or miseries of our lives, all men see and feel. That we can not defend ourselves from such unseen events, which we know nothing of till we feel them, is as manifest as that there are such event's; and what so properly belongs to the divine care, as that which we ourselves can take no care of? The heathens made fortune a goddess, and attributed the government of all things to her tuche kuberna panta; whereby they only signified the government of Providence in all casual and fortuitous events; and if Providence govern anything, it must govern chance, which governs almost all things else, and which none but God can govern. As far as human prudence and foresight reach, God expects we should take care of ourselves; and if we will not, he suffers us to reap the fruits of our own folly; but when we can not take care of ourselves, we have reason to expect and hope that God will take care of us. In other cases human prudence and industry must concur with the divine providence in matters of chance and accident, providence must act alone and do all itself, for we know nothing of it; so that all the arguments for providence do most strongly conclude for God's government of all casual events.

      And the Scripture does as expressly attribute all such events to God, as any other acts of providence and government. In the law of Moses, when a man killed his neighbor by accident, God is said to deliver him into his hands. Ex. xxi. 12, 13: "He that smiteth a man so that he die, shall be surely put to death. And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hands, then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee:" where "God's delivering him into his hands" is opposed to him "that smiteth a man so that he die," and "to him that comes presumptuously upon his neighbor to slay him" (15th verse), and therefore signifies one who kills his neighbor by mere accident, as it is explained in Dent. xix. 4, 5, "And this is the case of the slayer that shall flee thither" (i. e., to the city of refuge); "whoso killeth his neighbor ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past--as when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbor to hew [37] wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve and lighteth upon his neighbor that he die--he shall flee unto one of these cities, and live." What can be more accidental than this? And yet we are assured that this is appointed by the divine providence; that God delivers the man who is killed into the hands of him that killed him.

      Is anything more casual than a lot? And yet Solomon tells us, "The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord" (Prov. xvi. 33); which is not confined to the case of lots, but to signify to us that nothing is so casual and uncertain, as to be exempted from the disposal of Providence. For what seems accidental to us, is not chance, but providence--is ordered and appointed by God to bring to pass what his own wisdom and counsel has decreed; as is very evident from some remarkable instances of providence which are recorded in Scripture.

      By how many seeming accidents and casual events was Joseph advanced to Pharaoh's throne? His dreams, whereby God foretold his advancement, made his brethren envious at him, and watch some convenient opportunity to get rid of him, and so confute his dreams. Jacob sends Joseph to visit his brethren in the fields, where they were keeping their sheep. This gave them an opportunity to execute their revenge, and at first they intended to murder him; but the Ishmaelites, accidentally passing by, they sold Joseph to them, and they carried him into Egypt and sold him to Potiphar. Potiphar's wife tempts him to uncleanness, and being denied by Joseph, she accuses him to his lord, who casts him into the king's prison. Whilst he was there, the king's butler and baker were cast into the same prison, and dreamed their several dreams, which Joseph expounded to them, and the event verified his interpretation. The butler, who was restored to his office, forgot Joseph till two years after, when Pharaoh dreamed a dream which none of the wise men could interpret; and then Joseph was sent for, and advanced to the highest place of dignity and power next to Pharaoh. The years of famine brought Joseph's brethren into Egypt to buy corn, where they bowed before him, according to his dream. This occasioned the removal of Jacob and his whole family into Egypt, where Joseph placed them in the land of Goshen, by which means God fulfilled what he had told Abraham: "Know of a surety, that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years" (Gen. xv. 13). How casual does all this appear to us! But no man will think that prophecies are fulfilled by chance, and therefore we must confess, that what seems chance to us, was appointed by God.

[WILLIAM SHERLOCK.]      

      Another writer [sic] (Sherlock) teaches as follows: [38]

      "Let us, then, now more particularly consider how God governs mankind, so as to make them the instruments and ministers o his providence in the world. The methods of the divine wisdom are infinite and unsearchable, and we must not expect fully to comprehend all the secrets and mysteries of God's government; but something we may know of this, enough to teach us to reverence God, and to trust in him, and to vindicate his providence from the cavils of ignorance and infidelity, which is as much as is useful for us to know. And I shall reduce what I have to say to two general heads:--1. The government of men's minds, of their wills, their passions, and counsels. 2. The government of their actions.

      1. God's government of the minds of men, their wills, and passions, and counsels; for these are the great springs of action, and as free a principle as the mind of man is, it is not ungovernable: it may be governed, and that without an omnipotent power, against its own bias, and without changing its inclinations; and what may be done, certainly God can do; and when it is necessary to the ends of Providence, we may conclude he will do it. Let a man De ever so much bent upon any project, yet hope or fear, some present great advantage or great inconvenience, the powerful intercession of friends, a sudden change of circumstances, the improbability of success, the irreparable mischief of a defeat, and a thousand other considerations, will divert him from it; and how easy it is for God to imprint such thoughts upon men's minds with an irresistible vigor and brightness, that it shall be no more in their power to do what they had a mind to, than to resist all the charms of riches and honors, than to leap into the fire, and to choose misery and ruin!

      That thus it is, the Scripture assures us (Prov. xxi. 1), The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord; as the rivers of water, he turneth it whithersoever he will." And if the king's heart be in the hand of the Lord, we can not doubt but he hath all other men's hearts in his hand also, and can turn and change them as he pleases. Thus the wise man tells us, "A man's heart deviseth his ways but the Lord directeth his steps" (Prov. xvi. 9). Men consult and advise what to do, but, after all, God steers and directs them which way he pleases, for though "there are many devices in a man's heart, nevertheless the counsel of the Lord that shall stand" (Prov. xix. 21), which made the wise man conclude, "Man's goings are of the Lord: how then shall a man understand his own ways?" (Prov. xx. 24). That is, God has such an absolute government of the hearts and actions of men, when his providence is concerned in the event, that no man can certainly know what he himself shall choose and do: for God can, in an instant, alter his mind, and make him steer a very different course from what he intended. As the prophet Jeremiah assures us, "I know that [39] the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (Jer. x. 23). And Solomon tells us something more strange than this: "The preparation of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is of the Lord" (Prov. xvi. 1), or, as the Hebrew seems to signify, the preparation of the heart is from man; a man premeditates and resolves what he will say; but notwithstanding that, the answer of the tongue is of the Lord. When he comes to speak, he shall say nothing but what God pleases. Which sayings must not be expounded to a universal sense, that it is always thus; but that thus it is whenever God sees fit to interpose, which he does as often as he has any wise end to serve by it.

      Thus we are told, that "when a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him" (Prov. xvi. 7). And it is a very remarkable promise that Gad makes to the children of Israel, that when all their males should come three times every year to worship God at Jerusalem, by which means their country was left without defense, exposed to the rapine of their enemies who dwelt round about them, that "no man should desire their land, when they go up to appear before the Lord" (Ex. xxxiv. 24). We have many examples of this in Scripture, and some of those many ways whereby God does it. When Abraham sojourned in Gerar, he said of Sarah his wife, that she was his sister, and Abimelech, the king of Gerar, sent and took her; but God reproved Abimelech in a dream, and tells him that he had withheld him from sinning, and not suffered him to touch her. (Gen. xx. 1, etc.) Thus when Jacob fled from Laban with his wives and children, and Laban pursued him, Gad appeared to Laban in a dream, and commanded him that he should not speak to Jacob either good or hurt. (Gen. xxxi. 24.) Such appearances were very common in that age, though they seem very extraordinary to us; but God does the same thing still by strong and lively impressions upon our minds--by suggesting and fixing such thoughts in us, as excite or calm our passions, as encourage us to bold and great attempts, or check us in our career by frightful imaginations and unaccountable fears and terrors, or by such other arguments as are apt to change our purposes and counsels.

      Sometimes God does this by concurrence of external causes, which at other times would not have been effectual, but shall certainly have their effect when God enforces the impression.

      Thus God in a moment turned the heart of Esau when he came out in a great rage against his brother Jacob. It was an old hatred he had conceived against him for the loss of his birthright and of his blessing. And he had for many years confirmed himself in a resolution to cut him off the first opportunity he had to do it. And could it be expected that the present which Jacob sent him, which he could [40] have taken if he had pleased without receiving it as a gift, and that the submission of Jacob when he was in his power, should all on a sudden make him forget all that was past and the very business he came for, and turn his bloody designs into the kindest embraces? No! this was God's work, the effect of that blessing which the angel gave to Jacob after a whole night's wrestling with him in Penuel. (Gen. xxxii. 33.) And when God pleases, the weakest means shall change the most sullen and obstinate resolutions.

      Of the same nature of this is the story of David and Abigail. Nabal had highly provoked David by the churlish answer which he sent him, and David was resolved to. take a very severe revenge on Nabal and his house. But God sent Abigail to pacify him, who, by her presence, and dutiful and submissive behavior and wise counsels, diverted him from those bloody resolutions he had taken, as David himself acknowledges: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me, and blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou who hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with my own hand" (I. Sam. xxv. 32, 33).

      Saul pursued David in the wilderness to take away his life, and God delivered him twice into David's hands; and the kindness David showed him in not killing him when he was in his power, did at last turn the heart of Saul, that he pursued him no more. (I. Sam. xvi. and xxvii.)

      Thus God confounded the good counsel of Ahithophel by the advice; of Hashai, which Absalom chose to follow. And the text tells us this was from God, who had purposed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that he might bring evil upon Absalom. (II. Sam. xvii. 14.) Such an absolute empire has God over the minds of men, that he can turn them as he pleases, can lead them into new thoughts and counsels with as great ease as the waters of a river may be drawn into a new channel prepared for them.

      2. When God does not think fit to change and alter men's wills and passions, he can govern their actions and serve the ends of his providence by them. When God suffers them to pursue their own counsels and to do what they themselves like best--he does that by their hands which they little expected or intended. The same action may serve very different ends; and therefore God and men have very different intentions in it. And what is ill done by men, and for a very ill end, may be ordered by God for wise and good purposes; nay, the ill ends which men designed may be disappointed, and the good which God intended by it have its effect. And this is as absolute a government over men's actions as the ends of providence require, when whatever men do, if they intend one thing and God another, "the counsel of God shall stand," and what they intended shall have no effect any [41] further than as it is subservient to the divine counsels, as to give some plain examples of it:--

      Joseph's brethren being offended at his dreams and at the peculiar kindness which their father Jacob showed him, resolved to get rid of him; but God intended to send him into Egypt, to advance him to Pharaoh's throne, and to transplant Jacob and his family thither. And therefore God would not suffer them to slay him as they first intended; but he suffered them to sell him to the Ishmaelites, who carried him into Egypt, which disappointed what they aimed at in it, never to see or hear more of him, but accomplished the decrees and counsels of God.

      Another example we have in the king of Assyria, who came against Jerusalem with a powerful army with an intention to destroy it; but God intended no more than to correct them for their sins. This God suffered him to do, but he could do no more. "O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation: I will send him against a hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire in the street." Thus far God gave him a commission; that is, thus far God intended to suffer his rage and pride to proceed. But this was the least of his intention: "Howbeit, he thinketh not so, but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few." But in this God disappointed him: "Wherefore, it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria., and the glory of his proud looks" (Isa. x. 5, 6, 7, 12).

      A great many examples might be given of this nature, but these are sufficient to show what different intentions God and men have in the same actions, and how easily God can defeat what men intend, and accomplish by them his own wise counsels which they never thought of. When God has no particular ends of providence to serve by the lusts and passions and evil designs of men, he commonly disappoints them; that when "they intend evil, and imagine a mischievous device, they are not able to perform it" (Ps. xxi. 11). Or he turns the evil upon their own heads: "The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made; in the net which they hid, is their own feet taken. The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth. The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands" (Ps. ix. 15, 16). Or he doubly disappoints their malice, not only by defeating the evil they intended, but by turning it to the great advantage of those it was intended against; which was visible in the case of Haman, whose malice against Mordecai and all the Jews for his sake, did not only prove his own ruin, but the great advancement of Mordecai, and the glory and triumph of the Jewish nation. [42]

[WILLIAM SHERLOCK.]      

      3. Let us now consider what difference there is between God's absolute government of all events, and necessity and fate; for many men are very apt to confound these two. If no good or evil befall any man, but what God orders and appoints for them, this they think sounds like fate and destiny--that every man's fortune is written upon his forehead--and that it is impossible for any man, by all his care, and industry, and prudence, to make his condition better than what God has decreed it to be in the irreversible rolls of fate. And yet an unrelenting, immutable fate is so irreconcilable with the liberty of human actions, with the nature of good and evil, of rewards and punishments, that if we admit of it, there is an end of all religion, of all virtuous endeavors, of all great and generous attempts: it is to no purpose to pray to God, or to trust in him, or to resist temptation, or to be diligent in our business, or prudent and circumspect in our actions; for what will be, will be: or if any means be to be used, that is no matter of our choice or care; but we shall do it as necessarily and mechanically as a watch moves and points to the hour of the day; for fate has, by the same necessity, determined the means and the end, and we can do no more nor less than fate has determined.

      I shall now trouble you with an account of the various opinions of the ancient philosophers about fate, none of whom ever dreamed of such a terrible fate as some Christians have fancied, which reaches not only to this world, but to all eternity. What I have already discoursed is sufficient to vindicate the doctrine of Providence from the least imputation of necessity and fate.

      For, 1st. Though God overrules the actions of men, to do what he himself thinks fit to be done, yet he lays no necessity upon human actions: men will and choose freely, pursue their own interests and inclinations, just as they would do if there were no Providence to govern them; and while men act freely, it is certain there can be no absolute fate. God, indeed, as you have already heard, sometimes hinders them from executing their wicked purposes, and permits them to do no more hurt than what he can direct to wise ends; but no man is wicked, or does wickedly, by necessity and fate. Though she may be restrained from doing so much wickedness as he would, yet all the wickedness he commits is his own free choice, even when it serves such ends as he never thought of; and therefore he is, and acts like a free agent, notwithstanding the government of Providence.

      2d. Though God determines all events, all the good and evil that shall happen to men or nations, yet it is no more and no other than what they themselves have deserved; and therefore they are under no other fate than what they themselves bring upon themselves by the good or bad use of their own liberty; that is, they are under no [43] other fate than to be rewarded when they do well, and to be punished when they do ill: but this is the justice of Providence, not the necessity of fate. Those who do ill, and deserve ill, and suffer ill, might have done well, and have made themselves the favorites of Providence, and therefore are under no greater necessity of suffering ill, than they were of doing ill. The reason why God keeps all events in his own hands, is not because he has absolutely determined the fates of all men, but that he may govern the world wisely and justly, and reward and punish men according to their deserts, as far as the reasons of Providence require in this world. Now, while the liberty of human actions is secured, and the events of Providence are not the execution of fatal, absolute, and unconditional decrees, but acts of government in the wise administration of justice, and dispensing rewards and punishments--how absolute soever God's government be of all events, it is not necessity and fate, but a wise, and just, and absolute government. This, indeed, is what some of the wisest heathens called fate, and all that they meant by the name of fate, that God had fixed it by an irreversible decree, that good men should be rewarded and the wicked punished; and thus far we must all allow fate; and Providence is only the minister and executioner of these fatal decrees; and to that end God keeps the government of all events in his own hands. Now whether we say that God determines what good or evil shall befall men at the very time when they deserve it, or that foreseeing what good or evil they will do, and what they will deserve, did beforehand determine what good or evil should befall them--this makes no alteration at all in the state of the question; for if all the good or evil that befalls men, have respect to their deserts, this is not fate, but a just and righteous judgment.

      In a word, God's government of all events is indeed so absolute and uncontrollable, that no good or evil can befall any man, but what God pleases, what he orders and appoints for him; and this is necessary to the good government of the world and the care of all his creatures. But then God orders no good or evil to befall any men, but what they deserve, and what the wise ends of his Providence require; and this is not fate, but a wise and just government of the world.

      3rd. That the exercise of a particular Providence consists in the government of all events.

      I have often wondered at those philosophers who acknowledged a Providence, but would not acknowledge God's particular care of all his creatures. Some confined his Providence to the heavens, but would not extend it to this lower world; and yet this world needs a Providence as much, and a great deal more, as being a scene of change and corruption, of furious lusts and passions, which need the restraints [44] and government of Providence: no creatures need God's care more than the inhabitants of this earth; and if he take care of any of his creatures, one would think he should take most care of them who need it most.

      Others, who would allow that the Providence of God reached this lower world, yet confined God's care to the several kinds and species, but would not extend it to every individual; as if God took care of logical terms, of genus and species, but took no care of his own creatures, which are all individuals; or as if God could take care of all his creatures, without taking care of any particular creature; i. e., that he could take care of all his creatures, without taking care of any one of them.

      Thus they would allow God to take care of the great affairs of kingdoms and commonwealths, but to have no regard to particular men or families, unless they made a great figure in the world; as if kingdoms and commonwealths were not made up of particular men and particular families; or that God could take care of the whole, without taking care of every part; or as if there were any other reason for taking care of the whole, but to take care of those particulars who make the whole. To talk of a general Providence, without God's care and government of every particular creature, is manifestly unreasonable and absurd; for whatever reasons oblige us to own a Providence, oblige us to own a particular Providence.

      If creation be a reason why God should preserve and take care of what he has made, this is a reason why he should take care of every creature, because there is no creature but what he made; and if the whole world consist of particulars, it must be taken care of in the care of particulars; for if all particulars perish, as they may do if no care be taken to preserve them, the whole must perish.

      And there is the same reason for the government of mankind; for the whole is governed in the government of the parts; and mankind can not be well governed, without the wise government of every particular man.

      I am sure that the objections against a particular Providence are very foolish. Some think it too much trouble to God to take care of every particular; as if it were more trouble to him to take care of them, than it was to make them; or as if God had made more creatures than he could take care of; as if an infinite mind and omnipotent Power were as much disturbed and tried with various and perpetual cares, as we are. Others think it below the greatness and majesty of God, to take cognizance of every mean and contemptible creature, or of every private man; as if it were more below God to take care of such creatures, than it is to make them; as if numbers made creatures considerable to God; that though one man is below God's [45] care, yet a kingdom is worthy of his care and notice; when the whole world to God is but "as the drop of the bucket, and the small dust of the balance."

      Now it is certain there can be no particular Providence, without God's government of all events; for if any good or evil happen to any man without God's order and appointment, that is not Providence, whatever other name you will give it; so that if God does take a particular care of all his creatures, this is a demonstration that he has the absolute government of all events; for without it he can not take care of them: and if God have the government of all events, as the Scriptures assures us he has, this confirms us in the belief of a particular Providence; for if all the good or evil that happens to every particular man, be appointed by God, that is proof enough that God takes care of every particular man. God's government of all particular events, and his care of all individuals, include each other in their very natures. The care of particular creatures consists in the government of all particular events; and the government of all events is the exercise of a particular Providence, as our Saviour represents it (:Matt. x. 29, 30, 31), "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not, therefore; ye are of more value than many sparrows." Where God's particular Providence over all his creatures is expressed by his particular care of all events, which extends even to the life of a sparrow, and to the hairs of our heads.

      Thus much is certain, that without this belief, that God takes a particular care of all his creatures in the government of all events that can happen to them, there is no reason or pretense for most of the particular duties of religious worship. For most of the acts of worship consider God not merely as a universal cause (could we form any notion of a general Providence without any care of particular creatures or particular events?), but as our particular patron, protector and preserver.

      To fear God, and to stand in awe of his justice; to trust and depend on him in all conditions; to submit patiently to his will under all afflictions; to pray to him for the supply of our wants, for the relief of our sufferings, for protection and defense; to love and praise him for the blessings we enjoy, for peace and plenty and health, for friends and benefactors, and all prosperous successes: I say, these are not the acts of reasonable men, unless we believe that God has the supreme disposal of all events, and takes a particular care of us. For if any good or evil can befall us without God's particular order and appointment, we have no reason to trust in God, who does not always take care of us; we have no reason to bear our sufferings patiently at [46] God's hands, and in submission to his will; for we know not whether our sufferings be God's will or not: we have no reason to love and praise God for every blessing and deliverance we receive, because we know not whether it came from God; and it is to no purpose to pray to God for particular blessings, if he does not concern himself in particular events. But if we believe that God takes a particular care of us all, and that no good or evil happens to us but as he pleases, all these acts of religious worship are both reasonable, necessary and just." [47]

[WILLIAM SHERLOCK.]      

Sources:

1. Robert Richardson. "The Providence of God.--No. 7: General and Special Providence." The Millennial Harbinger 7 (December 1836): 537-543.

2. William Sherlock. "Sherlock on Divine Providence." The Millennial Harbinger 4 (May 1833): 206-212.

3. ----------. "Sherlock on Divine Providence (Continued from Page 251)." The Millennial Harbinger 4 (July 1833): 296-300.

4. ----------. "Sherlock on Divine Providence (Concluded)." The Millennial Harbinger 4 (September 1833): 435-439.

NOTE: A Discourse Concerning the Divine Providence by William Sherlock (1641?-1707) was first published in London in 1694. An American reprint from the second London edition was issued in Cincinnati by Marvin Butler for the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1823.

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