The Decrees of God

Psalm 33v10-11

9^th August 2024

Having exhorted us to praise God joyfully in verses 1-3 and given us many reasons to do so in verses 3-9. the Psalmist continues:

Psalm 33v10-11
The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.

When we read about the Vladimir Putins of this world, about ISIS and Al Qaeda, about wars and rumours of wars, we do well to remember these words. The Lord foils the plans of the nations. We can be at peace while non-Christians worry themselves silly, because God is in control. It's true that God allows great sin, that you or I would prefer Him to prevent. But God is in control. He's working out His plan for human history. It's not your plan, or mine. His ways are not our ways. But God's plan is perfect, because He is perfect.

People, political parties, governments, movements, have their plans and their aspirations, but God's plan is the one that will prevail. God will do what He wants, and God knows best.

Sennacherib, King of Assyria, marched against Jerusalem with a huge army. He laid siege to the city and King Hezekiah of Judah couldn’t possibly defend it. 2 Kings 19v35 says that in one night "the angel of the Lord went out and put to death 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp", breaking the siege and saving the city. Sennacherib’s plans, his riches and his men couldn’t stand against God.

Other historical figures, from Alexander the Great to Adolf Hitler, planned world domination, but God decided otherwise.

"the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations." God's will will be done. Always.

A lot of Christians haven't realised this, but God has decreed everything that ever happens. Some of us might struggle to reconcile this idea with human free will, but God works with and through human free will, in order to bring about precisely what he intends to happen. God is that clever. He is the great Orchestrator of everything that happens. And if that's too hard for us to grasp, that doesn’t mean it's not true. God's wisdom is infinite, and ours isn't.

We know it must be true because we know God created the universe, God has a plan, God is omnipotent and God intervenes in human history. If something were about to happen that would be contrary to His plan, He would intervene to make sure it didn't. If He chooses not to change what's about to happen, that would be because it's part of the plan. Nothing happens that God has not planned. God even intervenes in your history and mine. Nothing happens behind God's back. God never sleeps. He's never distracted. God never says "Oops". Here are some verses that confirm this:

Proverbs 16v33
The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.

Even the result of every dice throw has been predetermined by God. You might think God doesn’t care who wins your next game of Monopoly but, because God is infinite, He cares about everything. Nothing is too much trouble for God. Nothing is beyond His attention. The fact that God has decided the result of every cast of every lot doesn’t mean we can discern the will of God with a coin toss. God expects us to pray, and search the scriptures, and seek the advice of wise Christians. We're not babies. We're supposed to approach these things in an adult and sensible way. It does mean that even outcomes that seem to us to be completely random, are not random at all. There is no such thing as chance. There is no such thing as luck.

Proverbs 19v21
Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

My life didn't pan out the way I planned. I expect yours didn't, either. Rishi Sunak's certainly didn’t. God’s plan prevails.

Isaiah 46v10
"I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: my purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please."

God does exactly what He wants to do. He has already decided what will happen. And aren't you glad that God does what God wants, because God’s perfect?

Proverbs 16v4
The Lord works out everything for His own ends – even the wicked for a day of disaster.

Not only the lives of the saints have been predestined by God, but also the lives of the wicked. Not only the eternal reward of the saints have been predestined by God, but the also the eternal punishment of the wicked. The fear of the Lord can be more tangible when we consider these things, can’t it? God is in control. He is more awesome that we realize. All His judgements are perfect.

Psalm 139v16b
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

All the days you’ve already lived, and all the days you have still before you, have been planned by God down to the last detail. Consider Jesus. Consider the crucifixion. Jesus died because God had decreed that He would. Jesus said:

Luke 22v22
The Son of Man will go [that is, die] as it has been decreed.

Peter said:

Acts 2v23
This man [Jesus] was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge.

The idea that Jesus's death was a mistake, or an accident, in utterly preposterous. Jesus came to die for you, because God the Father told Him to.

This Biblical idea, that God will carry out His plan in every detail, is what theologians call the doctrine of the Decrees of God. It's encapsulated in Question 7 of the Westminster Shorter Chatechism:

Q. What are The decrees of God?
A. The decrees of God are, his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.

A lot more churches should teach this truth. God is really in control.

So there's no reason to worry about the future. It will be exactly what God has decided it will be. We might like some parts of it, and we might not like some other parts of it, but worrying will not help, and nothing will prevent God from working out His plan with absolute precision.

This does not mean we can be careless. We are morally responsible for our actions. It doesn't make us fatalists. It doesn't mean that our decisions don't matter. We're called to obey God, act righteously, and pray. We pray "Thy will be done". We want the will of God, really. His will is better that our will. Our right choices, our right actions, our prayers are also part of His perfect will.

And we should be very, very glad that God has planned everything:

Ephesians 1v11
In him [Christ] we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.

We are saved, we are adopted as God's children, we will enjoy eternal bliss with God our Father because, before the beginning of time, God decreed that we should. Thank God! He predestined you and me to be Christians, His for ever.