Man Proposes, God Disposes

Friday, July 29, 2016

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.”

Luke 17:28–30

Walter Knight recounted the story of an old Scottish woman who made her living by going from house to house across the countryside selling thread, buttons, and shoestrings. It was her custom that, when she came to an unmarked crossroad, she would toss a stick into the air and go in the direction the stick pointed when it landed. One day a farmer standing nearby saw her throw a stick in the air numerous times. “Why do you toss the stick more than once?” he asked. “Because,” replied the woman, “it keeps pointing to the left, and I want to take the road on the right.” She kept throwing the stick into the air until it pointed the way she wanted to go!

Many times we are tempted to ignore what God has directed because it conflicts with our plans and desires. James issued this warning to those who make their plans for the future without considering God. “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that” (James 4:14–15). Submission to God’s will is not demonstrated by saying, “Lord willing” at the end of every sentence, but by submitting our plans to His revealed will. Though the Bible does not specifically address every situation we will face, it does give principles we must follow if we want to do God’s will.

Today's Growth Principle
Trusting God’s will for the future is evidenced when we obey His Word and base our decisions on it.

Old Testament Reading

Psalm 51-53

PSALM 51

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

¹ Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. ² Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. ³ For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. ⁴ Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. ⁵ Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. ⁶ Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. ⁸ Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. ⁹ Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. ¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. ¹¹ Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. ¹² Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. ¹³ Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

¹⁴ Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. ¹⁵ O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. ¹⁶ For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. ¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. ¹⁸ Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

PSALM 52

To the chief Musician, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech.

¹ Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually. ² Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. ³ Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. ⁴ Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. ⁵ God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.

⁶ The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him: ⁷ Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness. ⁸ But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. ⁹ I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.

PSALM 53

To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David.

¹ The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. ² God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. ³ Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. ⁴ Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God. ⁵ There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them. ⁶ Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

New Testament Reading

Romans 2

CHAPTER 2

¹ Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. ² But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. ³ And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? ⁵ But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; ⁶ Who will render to every man according to his deeds: ⁷ To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: ⁸ But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, ⁹ Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; ¹⁰ But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: ¹¹ For there is no respect of persons with God. ¹² For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; ¹³ (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. ¹⁴ For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: ¹⁵ Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) ¹⁶ In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

¹⁷ Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, ¹⁸ And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; ¹⁹ And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, ²⁰ An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. ²¹ Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? ²² Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? ²³ Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God? ²⁴ For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written. ²⁵ For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. ²⁶ Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? ²⁷ And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law? ²⁸ For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: ²⁹ But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Proverbs Reading

Proverbs 30

¹ The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal, ² Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man. ³ I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy. ⁴ Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell? ⁵ Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. ⁶ Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. ⁷ Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: ⁸ Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: ⁹ Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain. ¹⁰ Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty. ¹¹ There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother. ¹² There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness. ¹³ There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up. ¹⁴ There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men. ¹⁵ The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: ¹⁶ The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough. ¹⁷ The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it. ¹⁸ There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: ¹⁹ The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid. ²⁰ Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness. ²¹ For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear: ²² For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat; ²³ For an odious woman when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress. ²⁴ There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: ²⁵ The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; ²⁶ The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks; ²⁷ The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; ²⁸ The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces. ²⁹ There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going: ³⁰ A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any; ³¹ A greyhound; an he goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up. ³² If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth. ³³ Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.