The Perilous Ways in Which People Deny Providence

Walking Contrary to the Checks of Providence

When we walk in a way contrary to the checks of providence, when we run against the will of God that is manifested in his providence, or when we deny his government and refuse to be subject to him, we are abusing or denying providence.¹

Omitting to Pray

When we do not pray, we deny providence. The fool denies God’s government of the world, and the proof is that he does not call on the Lord. ²

Looking to Other People Rather than God

We deny providence when we make every effort to gain the favorable assistance of men and women concerning our plans but never ask God for his direction or blessing.³

  

Giving Glory to Others Instead of God

We deny providence when we receive something good and then attribute our grateful acknowledgment to the instrument God has used rather than to its principal author. It is as if God were not involved in bestowing the blessing, and the instrument he has used is operating on its own. Men and women are guilty of this when they ascribe their wealth to their own wit and fortune, their health to their own regimen or a physician’s skill, their learning to their hard work and intellect, or their prosperity to their accomplishments or friends. When people give thanks to second causes and ascribe to them what is due to God, they are giving the glory of his providence to a miserable creature. Thus was the foolish boasting of the Assyrian: “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I remove the boundaries of peoples” (Isa. 10:13).

In the book of Daniel, we read of Belshazzar’s offense: “You have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored” (Dan. 5:23). The foolish king credited material things and man-made idols as the authors of his greatness and not God his Creator.

Similarly, we read in Habakkuk, “Therefore [the wicked foe] sacrifices to his net and makes offerings to his dragnet; for by them he lives in luxury, and his food is rich” (Hab. 1:16). The prophet is referring to those who worship their warlike weapons, and the tools they use to obtain their wealth, instead of worshiping God.⁴ This is such a sinful, base use of God—to ransack him of all his glory and bestow it on the most unworthy instruments: inanimate creatures! To do so is idolatry as great as that of the heathens, inasmuch as it strips God of the glory of his providential care, even though the object to which we direct our acknowledgment is flesh and not stone.

A person is violated just as much whether his goods are taken from him and given to a beggar or taken from him and given to a prince. It is still depriving a person of his right. Yet it is common for a person to ascribe more to the physician who saves his eye from being lost than to God, who has given him both the eye and the physician, not to mention the ability to enjoy the light of the sun. Yes, we ascribe more to medicine than to God, although the existence of every drug is a witness to his deity. It is as if the kindness a king has shown to his subjects were attributed to a worker in his kitchen rather than to the king. This is to belie God: “They have spoken falsely of the Lord and have said, ‘He will do nothing; no disaster will come upon us’ ” (Jer. 5:12). This applies to God’s mercies as well as his afflictions and judgments.

To falsely accuse providence or hold it in contempt is a sin that grows greater in degree according to the degree of mercy we have received by God’s providence: “She did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal” (Hos. 2:8). Israel had every reason to know and acknowledge her provider because she had enjoyed so much! She knew from experience that by a strong and mighty hand, the Lord had brought her out of Egypt into the land of promise. Yet she denied that God had given her the good things that she then turned around and prepared for Baal.

Those who lavish the good things they enjoy on their lusts deny the providential goodness of God as the way they came to possess them. They distort God’s goodness for their own sinful pleasures as though their own lusts had made them. Also, their instruments are showered with flattery and recognition for their achievements. They are much like Herod, who was pleased with himself when his people praised him and said that his voice was the voice of God and not of a man (Acts 12:22).⁵

^{1, 2, 3} Charnock, Stephen. 2022. Pgs. 97-98. Divine Providence: A Classic Work for Modern Readers. Edited by Carolyn B. Whiting. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.

⁴ John Doughtie, Analecta sacra, sive Excursus Philologici (London: Guil. Godbid, 1658), 182.

⁵ Charnock, Stephen. 2022. Pgs. 97-98. Divine Providence: A Classic Work for Modern Readers. Edited by Carolyn B. Whiting. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.