Every aspect of our Environment is under God’s Sovereign Hand as we Pursue Christ

It is amazing to realize that, as believers in Christ who are pursuing Christ today, every aspect of our environment is absolutely under God’s sovereign hand. Wow!

This week in our crystallization study of the books of 1 and 2 Samuel we come to week 6, entitled, Spiritual Principles, Life Lessons, and Holy Warning seen in the History of David.

We did take a look at such spiritual principles, life lessons, and holy warnings in the life of Samuel and also in the life of Saul, and now we come to the life of David.

We need to know the spiritual principles, learn the life lessons, and receive the holy warnings in the Word of God; these are great preservation to us.

There is a particular life-study message about David in the life-studies entitled, Prepared by God to be a Man according to the Heart of God.

David was chosen, trained, anointed, tested, and approved. Concerning David, God said, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man according to My heart who will do all My will.

Why was David a man according to God’s heart?

In 1 Chron. 22:7 we see that David said to Solomon, My son, as for me it was on my heart to build a house for the name of Jehovah, my God.

This is what was on David’s heart, to build a house for God. God desires to have such a house, the church as the house of the living God, which is the Body of Christ, being prepared to be the bride of Christ to bring Christ back.

In Matt. 16:18 the Lord said, I will build My church; this is the greatest prophecy in the Bible.

The Lord is building His church. And David had on his heart to build a house for God.

When God told Samuel to anoint David, God also told Samuel, Man looks on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looks at the heart.

David was trained by God in humility; he was born as the youngest son, the last one out of eight, and this made him humble.

He was assigned to go to the field and take care of the sheep; this was a humble occupation.

When Samuel came to Jesse, his father, to anoint one of his sons as king, David was not even considered by his father to be a candidate, so he was not even invited to be there.

So Jesse brought his sons one by one before Samuel, and one by one God rejected them; eventually, Samuel said, Do you have another son? And Jesse said, Yes, I have another son out in the field, he’s taking care of the sheep. Samuel said, Bring him here.

When David got in there, Samuel realized right away that he was the one he had to anoint. David was approximately fifteen years old when Samuel anointed him.

He was trained by God in humility, and he was tested and approved by God.

Many young brothers need someone like Saul who continually deals with them, ill-treats them, and suppresses them; this is so that the young brothers can be put into trials and broken to be tested and approved by God.

All these things are under God’s sovereign hand for us to be produced as the right persons in His economy for the fulfilment of His purpose.

Under God’s Sovereignty David was Tested and Approved in his Trusting God and Defeating Goliath

In 1 Sam. 17:1-58 we see the story of David and Goliath; in particular, what we see is how, under God’s sovereignty, David was tested and approved in his trusting God and defeating Goliath.

The Philistines came to fight the people of Israel, and they had a giant man, Goliath, defy, insult, and dare the people of Israel to come to fight him, and whoever wins will win the war.

None of the soldiers in Israel dared to go and fight him, including David’s older brothers.

After some time, Jesse sent David with some food supply to his brothers on the front, and also to find out some news; when David heard Goliath defying the children of Israel and blaspheming God, he told the king that he will go to fight him.

Saul didn’t even know who David is, so David told him about his experience.

David’s experience as a shepherd had trained him to trust in the Lord, so when he heard Goliath’s defiance, he could say to Saul, “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep; and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I would go after it and strike it and deliver the lamb from its mouth. And when it rose up against me, I would seize it by its beard and strike it and kill it…Jehovah, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (vv. 34-37).

He had so much confidence that God was with him; God was real to him, and he was tested and approved in his trusting God as he faced the wild animals.

When David heard Goliath’s defiance, he considered that Goliath was defying the armies of the living God (v. 26), and also considered that to kill such a defier was to turn away the reproach from Israel.

He realized that, under God’s sovereign hand, it was for this that he was sent there by God, to defeat the defier.

David gained the agreement from Saul for him to fight against Goliath (vv. 31-39), even though Saul tried to discourage him at first, saying that David was a youth and that Goliath had been a man of war since his youth (v. 33).

But David had assurance, based upon his experience of Jehovah delivering him from the paw of the lion and the bear in his shepherding of his father’s sheep, that God is with him and will deliver him.

David went forth to fight against Goliath (vv. 40-48); he took his staff, chose five smooth stones from the brook, and held his sling in his hand (v. 40).

Goliath scorned him for being but a youth, cursed David by his gods and said he would give David’s flesh to the birds of heaven and to the beasts of the field (vv. 41-44).

David’s word was, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of Jehovah of hosts, the God of the ranks of Israel, whom you have defied. On this day Jehovah will deliver you up into my hand, and I will strike you and remove your head from you…and all the earth will know that there is a God in Israel; and all this congregation will know that it is not by sword or spear that Jehovah saves, for the battle is Jehovah’s and He will deliver you into our hand” (vv. 45-47).

David went forth to fight against Goliath and killed him by slinging a stone into Goliath’s forehead and beheading him with his own sword (vv. 49-54).

David didn’t have a spear, a sword, or a shied, but he had a slingshot; he shot a stone right in the forehead of Goliath, the part that was not covered by the helmet, and defeated him.

David’s victory over Goliath was a strong confirmation of God’s choosing and anointing of him, and it strengthened his faith and trust in the Lord.

May we learn from this lesson and tell the Lord,

Lord Jesus, we trust in You. We do not look at the situation around us or the enemy before us. Our eyes are set on You. We believe that all our situations are under Your sovereign hand. We humble ourselves before You, dear Lord, and we trust in Your sovereign arrangement. Hallelujah, the battle is the Lord’s! Jesus Christ is Lord, and we trust in Him! Amen, Lord, our trust is not in our zeal, our ability, our love for the Lord, or our knowledge; we trust in You, for the battle is the Lord’s! We believe that You are able to deliver us from the hand of the enemy and even more, You are able to make us more than overcomers! We trust in You and we are one with You!

As those Pursuing Christ today, every aspect of our Environment is under God’s Sovereign Hand

We need to realize that sometimes the enemy attacks us; we may be clear about that. However, we need to realize that even the enemy’s attack is under God’s sovereign hand.

His enemy would not be able to bother us if God didn’t allow him to do that.

Every aspect of our environment is under God’s sovereign hand; He allows things to happen, attacks to take place, and situations to be raised up, so that He may prepare, equip, qualify, and approve us for His service.

In Matt. 10:29-31 we see that not even one sparrow falls to the earth apart from our Father knowing this; wow, can you imagine that, even when a sparrow dies and falls to the earth, our Father is aware of that!

Even the hairs on our head are all numbered. Therefore, we should not worry or fear, for we are of more value than many sparrows.

In Psa. 31:14-15 the psalmists said, I trust in You, O Jehovah, You are my God. My times are in Your hand.

All our life, all our days, and all our moments are in the Lord’s hand. What happens to us, and every aspect of our environment is under God’s sovereign hand.

In Psa. 39:9 the psalmist said, I was dumb; I did not open my mouth, for You have done this.

When we see what the Lord does, when we see God’s sovereign hand, we do not open our mouth; we just acknowledge what He is doing, and we say nothing.

In David’s story, there was a particular person, Shimei, who, when Absalom rebelled against David, and David and his people were leaving, began to throw stones at David and his mighty men, speaking evil things against him.

And one of David’s mighty men said to David, Let me go over there and just do away with him. But David said, in a sense, God permits it; let’s just keep going.

This is in the same principle as we see in Rom. 8:28-29, where the Lord assures us that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

All things, whether positive or negative, good or seemingly not so good, work together for good for us to be conformed to the image of the firstborn Son of God so that we may be transformed and conformed to the image of Christ.

All situations, all matters, all persons, all environments, and all things are for our good; the good here is our transformation and conformation to the image of the firstborn Son of God.

However, we need to realize that our God is One who hides Himself; He is our Savior, our Redeemer, and even our very life, but He is a God who hides Himself (Isa. 45:15).

Look at the book of Esther: God’s name is no even mentioned in this book, but we can clearly see how He operates to work out things for good for those who love Him.

Our God who hides Himself takes care of us, His people, in a secret way, while He saves us openly. Amen!

Every single aspect of our environment, including those aspects we don’t agree with, is under God’s sovereign hand; all things work together for good.

If we see this, if we realize that God is not only on the throne but also is sovereign in all things, we will thank Him and love Him, and we will not rebel against Him or against His sovereign arrangement.

Rather, we will pray and say,

Thank You, Lord, for arranging all things to work together for good for us who love You. We give ourselves to pursue You, dear Lord, and we know that every aspect of our environment is absolutely under God’s sovereign hand. Thank You for Your care for us. Though You are a God who hides Himself and operates in secret, thank You for working out all things for our transformation and conformation to the image of Christ, the firstborn Son of God. Amen, Lord, You are our God; our times are in Your hand. Our life, our years, our days, and our every moment is in Your hand. We give ourselves to You today, Lord, to be conformed more to the image of Christ.

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ed Marks, and portions from, Life-study of 1&2 Samuel (msgs. 12-13), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization Study of 1 and 2 Samuel (2021 winter training), week 6, entitled, Spiritual Principles, Life Lessons, and Holy Warning seen in the History of David.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – When we walk with the Lord / In the light of His Word, / What a glory He sheds on our way; / While we do His good will, / He abides with us still, / And with all who will trust and obey. / Trust and obey, / For there’s no other way / To be happy in Jesus, / But to trust and obey. (Hymns #582)
  – When darkness doth Thy face obscure, / And many sorrows I endure, / I think of Christ’s Gethsemane; / Thy will is mine, whatever it be. / When tender joys to me are known, / I render thanks to Thee alone; / I know my cup is filled by Thee; / Thy will is mine, whate’er it be. / Thus calmly do I face my lot, / Accept it, Lord, and doubt Thee not; / Lo! all things work for good to me; / Thy will is mine, whate’er it be. (Hymns #673)
  – O Lord, Thy sovereign aid impart, / To save me from low-thoughted care / Chase this self-will through all my heart / Through all its latent mazes there / Make me Thy duteous child, that I / Ceaseless may Abba, Father, cry. (Hymns #423)