The Sovereign God

Lamentations 3:37

In our last article we looked at the justice of God. We determined that God must be just; He cannot overlook or ignore sin. Today we will focus on just one verse. This verses focuses on the sovereignty of God in all things.

In Lamentation 3:37 it says, “Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, when the Lord has not commanded it?” We do not have power on this earth. Yes, we can make decisions, and we are responsible for our actions, but God is in complete and utter control. Psalm 139 talks extensively on the sovereignty of God. Let us look at just a few verses from this chapter:

“You comprehend my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.” Psalm 139:3-4

“If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 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.” Psalm 139:7-9

“My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed, and in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.” Psalm 139:15-16

We can see clearly in these verses that God is in complete control, from before we are born until the day we die, He is in control of it all. Yet, we are responsible for our actions, for we have free will. We decide if we will sin. We decide to be gluttons and continue to eat even after we have stuffed ourselves. We decide if we will have a second, adulterous look at a photo. We decide if we will participate in church gossip. I will not dive too deeply into this since this is not the focus of Lamentations 3:37, but it is vitally important to remember that we are to blame for our sins, not God.

The point of this verse is to say that God is sovereign. Nothing takes Him by surprise. He told the ravens to feed Elijah (1 Kings 17:2-6), the seas to cover the earth (Genesis 7), and He was in control when Joseph’s brother sold him into slavery (Genesis 50:19-20). Job shows us that the devil has no power to do anything apart from Him allowing it (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7). Jesus is the One Who decided when He would die, not the Romans, Jews, or Satan (Matthew 27:50; Luke 23:46; John 19:30).

Jeremiah’s point here is that God is in complete sovereign control of what is happening to him and his people. Isn’t that comforting? Wouldn’t you prefer to have a loving, gracious, compassionate and holy God in complete control rather than the devil or "chance" dictate what happens in your life?

This world tends to ignore God. They are apathetic towards Him. Yet when a disaster occurs, whether to them and their family, or a natural disaster that wipes out thousands, this world suddenly believes God exists. They ask for prayer despite having no relationship with Him. They don’t even know who they are praying to, but for some reason they innately seek to pray. However, when things change in a positive way there is no thankfulness to God. There is no attempt at starting a relationship with Him. It is back to apathy.

But when things turn and their prayers are not answered how they want, God remains real to them. In their minds, He is a heartless and angry God. What does God owe them? Nothing. Yet they demand to have their prayers answered.

We know better than that. We know that we should pray without ceasing. We know that we should build a relationship with Him. We know that we are commanded to be holy. We know that our purpose is to glorify Him...right? Do we seek Him? Do we pray regularly to Him? Do we obey His commandments? To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin (James 4:17).

God is a sovereign God. If we have a relationship with Him we will find comfort in the fact that He is in complete control because we will see His goodness on a day to day basis. We will trust His plan. Build that relationship with Him, build that trust, and you will be comforted when you are going through the difficulties of life. Jeremiah, Joseph, and Job went through great difficulties, yet they were comforted by the fact that their God was in control and everything He does is for our good (Romans 8:28)!

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