“Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?
Is thine eye evil, because I am good?”
(Matthew 20:15)
God possesses absolute sovereignty over all He has made. He tends everything (likened to a wonderful vineyard) with great care. Heaven, earth, sea, and everything within them exist because He created and preserves them. The earth is His, its fullness is His, and every inhabitant belongs to Him. He therefore possesses an unquestionable right to order and dispose of His creatures according to His own good pleasure.
God who disposes of all things according to His will is also infinitely wise. His understanding cannot be measured, and every work of providence proceeds according to the counsel of His own will. He always intends the highest end, which is His own glory, and orders all things with perfect wisdom toward that end. No creature possesses enough knowledge to correct Him. For the short-sighted cannot instruct the omniscient, nor can finite minds discover some better arrangement that escaped infinite wisdom.[1]
God’s sovereignty is likewise inseparable from perfect righteousness. The Judge of all the earth cannot do wrong. Men may act unjustly through ignorance, prejudice, corruption, or weakness, but none of these defects exist in God. He is righteous in all His ways and holy in all His works.
His goodness also characterizes His sovereign administration. God is free to distribute His favors as He pleases, yet nothing in that freedom makes Him less good. Health may be given to one while another is sick; wealth may be afforded to one while another suffers loss; one family may cherish close relationships while another is bereaved. But these differences do not exist because goodness has deserted the throne.
To complain against providence is implicitly to question whether God has the right to order His own world, whether His wisdom has chosen well, whether His justice has dealt fairly, or whether His goodness has given enough.
Yet even difficult providences occur within a field already crowded with undeserved mercies. Fallen creatures deserve condemnation, and everything short of that judgment is mercy. Under heavy loss, other mercies remain. Under bodily pain, providential gifts remain. Under poverty, sickness, bereavement, or humiliation, the gospel itself remains an unspeakable privilege wherever God has given it. The believer therefore has reason to adore divine goodness even when providence is painful.
God is worthy of worship because sovereignty, wisdom, righteousness, and goodness meet without conflict in Him. He has absolute right without tyranny, infinite wisdom without uncertainty, perfect justice established in righteousness, and overflowing goodness without obligation to the creature. Let us therefore worship with thanksgiving for the Lord who owns all things and always does what is right.
Contemplations:
- Before the Throne That Belongs to You. Everything I possess came from You, and even I belong to You. My body, abilities, relationships, opportunities, possessions, and days are not my own. You do not borrow authority from Your creatures or govern by their permission. When You give, You give what is Yours; when You withhold, You withhold what was always Yours. Let this truth silence any rebellious instinct in me for I exist beneath Your rightful dominion.
- Your Wisdom Needs No Correction from Me. I see only fragments, while You know the whole. I judge from the pressure of the present moment, while You order all things according to Your perfect eternal counsel. Even when I cannot explain Your providence, I can bow before the wisdom that appointed it. You know exactly what You are doing.
- No Shadow of Injustice Rests in Your Ways. My judgments are often distorted by self-interest, pain, comparison, and limited knowledge, but Your righteousness is never distorted. You do not favor one unjustly or afflict another unfairly. Every act of Your government agrees perfectly with Your holy nature. When my heart begins to say that I deserved something different, bring me back underneath the majesty of Your justice. Let me adore the God whose ways may be mysterious though never unequal.
- Your Goodness Is Greater Than My Complaint. Even in painful providences, I remain surrounded by mercies I did not earn. I can become so fixed on what has been withheld or removed that I fail to see what remains. Yet every mercy beneath final judgment is undeserved kindness. So let Your goodness silence envy, comparison, and resentment, until my heart learns to worship instead of complain.
Prayer (Adoration):
Sovereign Lord, I adore You as the rightful owner and governor of all things.
You made the heavens and the earth, and You preserve everything You have made. Nothing exists independently of You, and nothing lies outside Your dominion. You have perfect right to order Your creatures according to Your will.
I worship Your wisdom. Every providence proceeds from counsel that cannot fail. My understanding is narrow, but Yours is infinite. I cannot see the whole design, yet You never act without perfect knowledge of every end and every means.
I adore Your righteousness. You cannot deal unjustly. No circumstance You appoint can make Your ways unequal, because justice belongs essentially to Your nature.
I adore Your goodness as well. Even where I see loss, hardship, inequality, or disappointment, Your goodness has not ceased.
Help me receive prosperity without pride and adversity without complaining, and to bow before Your sovereignty, trust Your wisdom, rest in Your justice, and admire Your goodness.
You are worthy to rule because everything belongs to You, and You are worthy to be trusted because everything You do is wise, righteous, and good.
In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Further Scripture References:
John 6:44; 1 Cor. 2:14; Jer. 31:3; Hosea 11:4
[1] Benjamin Wadsworth, Twelve Single Sermons on Various Subjects, Tending to Promote Godliness, Early American Imprints, 1639-1800; No. 1936 (Boston: B. Green, for N. Buttolph, B. Eliot, S. Gerrish, and D. Henchman, sold at their shops, 1717), 25-32.
