Psalm 31:14-16, “But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors! Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love!’” David recognized that not only was God’s providential power seen in the anthropomorphism of God’s hand invincible and sovereign, it was also all-inclusive, extending to every tiny detail of life. Jesus said in Matt. 10 that no sparrow can fall to the ground apart from the will of God, and the very hairs of our heads are numbered. The writer of Proverbs extends God’s providence to casting lots, to every decision a king makes, every word we speak, every step we take, everything including the working of wicked people! (See Proverbs 16).

Psalm 139:9-11, “If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night." Here the Psalmist extends the providence of God to every nook and cranny of the universe, so that there is no where we can go and be apart from God.

Ecclesiastes 9:1-3, “But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath.” Here in Ecclesiastes, as elsewhere in Scripture, all of life finds its ordination and direction in God. This fact in no way annuls man’s responsibility, but it assures that the world operates according to purpose, even when that purpose is not clear to us.

Isaiah 34:16-17, “Seek and read from the book of the Lord: Not one of these shall be missing; none shall be without her mate. For the mouth of the Lord has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them. He has cast the lot for them; his hand has portioned it out to them with the line; they shall possess it forever; from generation to generation they shall dwell in it.” As God’s providence could account for the presence of all in national Israel, without the loss of one, so His providence worked through His Mighty Son, will assure the salvation of all those the Father has given Him, without the loss of one (John 6:37-40).

Jeremiah 18:5-7, “Then the word of the Lord came to me: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.” The analogy of God’s working with us as a potter with the clay carries over from the Old Testament and is found in Romans 9. God’s invincible, sovereign plan ordains all events in our lives as surely as a potter plans, works, shapes, and finishes his pottery!