God: Providence of

Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food.

And to every beast of the earth and every bird of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth—everything that has the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden,

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease.”

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. …

And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.

I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed,

…because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, and if He will provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear,

…so that I may return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God.

He ties his donkey to the vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He washes his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.

His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.

Asher’s food will be rich; he shall provide royal delicacies.

Yet he steadied his bow, and his strong arms were tempered by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, in the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,

…by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you, with blessings of the heavens above, with blessings of the depths below, with blessings of the breasts and womb.

…saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”

But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do everything I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.

So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take away sickness from among you.

No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren; I will fulfill the number of your days.

For I will drive out the nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the LORD your God.

You are to keep My statutes and carefully observe My judgments, so that you may dwell securely in the land. …

I will give you rains in their season, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. …

You will still be eating the old supply of grain when you need to clear it out to make room for the new.

Then Moses said to Hobab, the son of Moses’ father-in-law Reuel the Midianite, “We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said: ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel.”

The LORD your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky.

Indeed, the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. The LORD your God has been with you these forty years, and you have lacked nothing.

But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive to this day, every one of you.

Keep His statutes and commandments, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.

If only they had such a heart to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it might be well with them and with their children forever.

You must walk in all the ways that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.

…so that you and your children and grandchildren may fear the LORD your God all the days of your lives by keeping all His statutes and commandments that I give you, and so that your days may be prolonged. …

He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will bless the fruit of your womb and the produce of your land—your grain, new wine, and oil, the young of your herds and the lambs of your flocks—in the land that He swore to your fathers to give you. …

He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

Your clothing did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.

But remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.

He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.

For it is your own eyes that have seen every great work that the LORD has done.

You shall therefore keep every commandment I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and possess the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,

It is a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning to the end of the year. …

There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your households shall eat and rejoice in all you do, because the LORD your God has blessed you.

Be careful to obey all these things I command you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the LORD your God.

Nothing devoted to destruction shall cling to your hands, so that the LORD will turn from His fierce anger, grant you mercy, show you compassion, and multiply you as He swore to your fathers,

…because you obey the LORD your God, keeping all His commandments I am giving you today and doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD your God.

There will be no poor among you, however, because the LORD will surely bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, …

…that He will set you high in praise and name and honor above all the nations He has made, and that you will be a holy people to the LORD your God, as He has promised.

And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the voice of the LORD your God: …

For forty years I led you in the wilderness, yet your clothes and sandals did not wear out.

So keep and follow the words of this covenant, that you may prosper in all you do.

See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, as well as death and disaster. …

As an eagle stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, He spread His wings to catch them and carried them on His pinions. …

For they are not idle words to you, because they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in all you do.

When Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD had attended to His people by providing them with food, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to leave the land of Moab.

The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, and upon them He has set the world.

Jonathan said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let us cross over to the outpost of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will work on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”

Now then, you are to tell My servant David that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be the ruler over My people Israel.

I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make for you a name like that of the greatest in the land.

And keep the charge of the LORD your God to walk in His ways and to keep His statutes, commandments, ordinances, and decrees, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you turn,

…and so that the LORD may fulfill His promise to me: ‘If your descendants take heed to walk faithfully before Me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’

And as for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, with a heart of integrity and uprightness, doing all I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and ordinances,

…then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised your father David when I said, ‘You will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’

Now then, you are to tell My servant David that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be the ruler over My people Israel.

I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make for you a name like that of the greatest in the land.

But a son will be born to you who will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name will be Solomon, and I will grant to Israel peace and quiet during his reign.

Then you will succeed, if you carefully follow the statutes and ordinances that the LORD commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged.

So now in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God, keep and seek out all the commandments of the LORD your God, so that you may possess this good land and leave it as an inheritance to your descendants forever.

Both riches and honor come from You, and You are the ruler over all. In Your hands are power and might to exalt and give strength to all.

But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and from Your own hand we have given to You.

O LORD our God, from Your hand comes all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy Name, and all of it belongs to You.

…therefore wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. And I will also give you riches and wealth and honor unlike anything given to the kings before you or after you.”

And as for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, doing all I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and ordinances,

…then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with your father David when I said, ‘You will never fail to have a man to rule over Israel.’

Jehoshaphat was alarmed and set his face to seek the LORD. And he proclaimed a fast throughout Judah. …

For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and sons will receive mercy in the presence of their captors and will return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful; He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”

…and Azariah, the chief priest of the household of Zadok, answered him, “Since the people began to bring their contributions into the house of the LORD, we have had enough to eat, and there is plenty left over, because the LORD has blessed His people; this great abundance is what is left over.”

For I was ashamed to ask the king for an escort of soldiers and horsemen to protect us from our enemies on the road, since we had told him, “The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek Him, but His great anger is against all who forsake Him.”

They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took houses full of all goods, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled; they grew fat and delighted in Your great goodness.

For distress does not spring from the dust, and trouble does not sprout from the ground. …

You will know that your tent is secure, and find nothing amiss when inspecting your home. …

…if you are pure and upright, even now He will rouse Himself on your behalf and restore your righteous estate.

Though your beginnings were modest, your latter days will flourish.

Behold, God does not reject the blameless, nor will He strengthen the hand of evildoers.

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with a shout of joy.

Your life will be brighter than noonday; its darkness will be like the morning. …

He makes nations great and destroys them; He enlarges nations, then disperses them.

But it was He who filled their houses with good things; so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.

…and consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines,

…then the Almighty will be your gold and the finest silver for you.

Your decisions will be carried out, and light will shine on your ways.

…when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,

My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.

My glory is ever new within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.’

For God speaks in one way and in another, yet no one notices. …

If they obey and serve Him, then they end their days in prosperity and their years in happiness.

For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the gentle rain, ‘Pour out a mighty downpour.’ …

Who cuts a channel for the flood or clears a path for the thunderbolt, …

Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?

Who set the wild donkey free? Who released the swift donkey from the harness?

I made the wilderness his home and the salt flats his dwelling.

For You welcomed him with rich blessings; You placed on his head a crown of pure gold. …

A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. …

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen as His inheritance!

He shapes the hearts of each; He considers all their works.

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and he delivers them.

Fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing.

Young lions go lacking and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

Your righteousness is like the highest mountains; Your judgments are like the deepest sea. O LORD, You preserve man and beast.

How precious is Your loving devotion, O God, that the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings!

Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

In the time of evil they will not be ashamed, and in the days of famine they will be satisfied.

Surely those He blesses will inherit the land, but the cursed will be destroyed.

I once was young and now am old, yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned or their children begging for bread.

Wait for the LORD and keep His way, and He will raise you up to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done, and the plans You have for us—none can compare to You—if I proclaim and declare them, they are more than I can count.

For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old. …

You attend to the earth and water it; with abundance You enrich it. The streams of God are full of water, for You prepare our grain by providing for the earth. …

The earth has yielded its harvest; God, our God, blesses us.

God settles the lonely in families; He leads the prisoners out to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land.

You sent abundant rain, O God; You refreshed Your weary inheritance.

Your flock settled therein; O God, from Your bounty You provided for the poor.

For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah, that they may dwell there and possess it.

The descendants of His servants will inherit it, and those who love His name will settle in it.

I have leaned on You since birth; You pulled me from my mother’s womb. My praise is always for You.

I have become a portent to many, but You are my strong refuge.

My mouth will declare Your righteousness and Your salvation all day long, though I cannot know their full measure.

May there be an abundance of grain in the land; may it sway atop the hills. May its fruit trees flourish like the forests of Lebanon, the people of its cities like the grass of the field.

He led out His people like sheep and guided them like a flock in the wilderness. …

If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways, …

The LORD will indeed provide what is good, and our land will yield its increase.

And it will be said of Zion: “This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High Himself will establish her.”

Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases, …

He sends forth springs in the valleys; they flow between the mountains. …

How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures. …

He let no man oppress them; He rebuked kings on their behalf: …

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever. …

He provides food for those who fear Him; He remembers His covenant forever.

He humbles Himself to behold the heavens and the earth. …

The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth He has given to mankind.

I love the LORD, for He has heard my voice—my appeal for mercy. …

In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered and set me free.

The LORD is on my side; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

I was pushed so hard I was falling, but the LORD helped me.

The LORD is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.

For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your prosperity.

A song of ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain. …

For when you eat the fruit of your labor, blessings and prosperity will be yours. …

The LORD does all that pleases Him in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and in all their depths. …

By His insight He made the heavens. His loving devotion endures forever. …

Then our sons will be like plants nurtured in their youth, our daughters like corner pillars carved to adorn a palace. …

The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in season.

You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

He executes justice for the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free, …

…who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow on the hills.

He provides food for the animals, and for the young ravens when they call.

For He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses the children within you.

He makes peace at your borders; He fills you with the finest wheat.

For the upright will inhabit the land, and the blameless will remain in it;

My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;

…for they will add length to your days, years and peace to your life.

The blessing of the LORD enriches, and He adds no sorrow to it.

The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be cut short.

When the righteous thrive, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.

By the blessing of the upright a city is built up, but by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.

If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner!

A righteous man eats to his heart’s content, but the stomach of the wicked is empty.

The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish.

The evil bow before the good, and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.

The house of the righteous has great treasure, but the income of the wicked is trouble.

When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even the man’s enemies live at peace with him.

A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

He who leads the upright along the path of evil will fall into his own pit, but the blameless will inherit what is good.

Nothing is better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work. I have also seen that this is from the hand of God.

To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.