Introduction

We are continuing to look at Proverbs 16:1-9 - a passage that teaches us foundational principles for godly planning. Commentators have pointed out that this is a chiasm that begins and ends with planning, and each of verses 2-5 showing potential problems with our planning and verses 6-8 showing solutions to those problems for planning. I won't take the time to review where we've been so far. But let me read verse 4. It says, "The LORD has made all things for Himself, yes, even the wicked for the day of doom." You might wonder how on earth that has anything to do with the subject matter of this paragraph - our planning. But it does - both structurally¹ and thematically.

This verse certainly talks about God including all things in His plan, right? And what is it that often frustrates our plans? If your plans are for your garden, it could be lack of rain, or lots of weeds, or moles that have ruined your garden plans. And who is in control of those things? God is. Or your plans could be frustrated by a hail storm and an insurance company that only paid out half what it cost to replace the damage. All of a sudden a portion of your plans that needed those finances are put on hold. Or maybe your plans were dashed by a burglary. Yet God's sovereignty of even those things needs to be taken into account when we make our plans - and to make contingency plans for those unanticipated problems. Too many planners don't make adequate contingency plans - like an emergency fund, or a sinking fund. But if God is sovereign, then that means that He can change our plans, and we need to think about contingencies that will be in submission to His sovereignty - and not act as if we are sovereign ourselves.

We can make plans in faith when we are confident in God's providence (v. 4a)

The first phrase says, "Yehowah has made all things for Himself." He's made the hail, the moles who ruined your garden, and the ups and downs of the stock market. And if you have total confidence in God's sovereign control of all things in this universe, it helps us to not get frustrated by delays.

But several commentaries point out that we could not even plan unless we believed that history had purpose and God was sovereign over history. How can anyone plan in a chance universe where everything is arbitrary? He can't. Hindus who don't believe in a linear and purposeful view of history tend not to bother with longterm plans. They certainly don't make hundred-year plans for the next generation. There would be no point in planning in such a universe. But if (as Ecclesiastes 3:17 words it) "there is a time for every purpose and for every work," then trusting in God's supervision of our planning in the first three proverbs will give us confidence that even slow-downs, detours, and changes to our plans are for our good. It helps us to get excited about those changes and to wonder what good the Lord will bring out of the flat tire we got last week. Here are some other translations of that first clauase: "The Lord works out everything to its proper end" (NIV). "The LORD has made everything for his own purposes" (NLT). "The LORD has prepared everything for his purpose" (CSB). “The Lord has made everything with precise intention” (CEV). Those are all decent translations of the Hebrew.

The point is that there is nothing (absolutely nothing) that is outside of God's control. We've got to believe that. Douglas Moo says on this verse, "Arrogant planning ignores God's providence."² John Calvin says that without God's providence there would be no point in planning, and "since God’s will is said to be the cause of all things, I have made his providence the determinative principle for all human plans and works."³ And I say, "Amen. Calvinism is a very practical doctrine." When you get used to thinking that way, it makes planning exciting. Derek Kidner says of this verse, "The general meaning is that there are ultimately no loose ends in God’s world: everything will be put to some use and matched with its proper fate."⁴

And let me make four practical applications of this first clause on God's sovereignty. First, God is interested in everything that we might plan for and therefore everything can be planned to God's glory. It doesn't matter how mundane the plan might be - going out for a date next Friday, planning to wash your car, and opening a Roth IRA. If God controls these things, then He is interested in your involvement in these things. And that's encouraging.

Second, if everything is a part of God's plans, then since these proverbs have already commanded us to imitate the God of planning in our own planning, then we too should try to be proactive by making plans for every area of life. After all, God does. When I do leadership training, the portion dealing with time management has them beginning to make general and specific goals in every area of life: spiritual goals, family goals, Christian service goals, social goals, intellectual goals, goals for physical health, occupational goals, financial goals, and even emotional goals. You might have never considered emotional goals, but yes, you need to make goals for the emotional well-being of yourself and your family. And what might be good for your own emotional well being might be different than for your spouse's emotional well-being. That's imitating the God who plans everything. Just as God is not haphazard in His approach to this creation, we should not be haphazard in the way we live. And if you don't have specific goals, it is guaranteed that you are going to be haphazard in a lot of those areas. As Calvin said, God's sovereignty is the foundation for our planning. This verse is very much connected to planning.

Third, if God controls everything, then we should not get frustrated when God fine-tunes our plans, delays our plans, or even permanently makes a given plan unachievable. Our planning must always be in submission to His sovereignty.

Fourth, if God is sovereign over everything, then it means He can guarantee what He has already outlined in the first three proverbs - including making our dominion succeed. Praise God! Planning becomes totally worthwhile.

We can plan for the future when we are confident that the wicked cannot frustrate God's plans (v. 4b)

But what about the second clause? Is it really true that God is sovereign over DEI, over tense international politics, over the senators who voted against your bill last week, and over other evil people? And Calvinists would say, "Yes. He causes even the wrath of man to praise Him. He's got a purpose for it." I mentioned last week that even the losses of chess pieces on God's chess board that cause great pain are strategic losses in God's chess game of history. He is a master chess player (so to speak) and uses even those things to work together for His victory and for our good. And Cody's about-to-be-released book makes some great applications of some of these principles using the analogy of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I really enjoyed the preview of the book.

Anyway, the second clause says, "yes, even the wicked for the day of doom." God is not blindsided by the reprobate and their actions against Him and against His people. Not at all. They were placed in your life for a purpose. Obviously there is a final end result for the wicked, but the words "yes, even" point back to the first clause, and make it clear that even in history God has a purpose for the wicked. And we can plan for the future when we are confident that the wicked cannot frustrate God's plans. And it should be our desire that our plans more and more line up with God's plans.

Let me make three applications of this second clause.

First, God's answer to our plans is a perfect answer. We might wish for a different one, but it is a perfect answer. Waltke says of this clause, "If even the wicked, who does not entrust himself to the LORD, will get his 'answer,' how much more the righteous, who entrusts their planning, speaking, and acting to the LORD, will in due course get his right 'answer.'"⁵

A second application is that if God has a purpose for even the wicked, then nothing in life should be seen as meaningless to us. God will work all things together for our good and for His glory - yes, even the actions of the wicked. And I think the apparently meaningless obstacles to King David getting on the throne are such a perfect illustration of this. In hindsight, none of those evil people who sought to thwart him was meaningless. It was necessary to prepare David.

A third application is that we can offer up our prayers that God would keep the wicked from thwarting our plans. In the Psalms He has even shown us how to pray against the wicked. God can move the hearts of the wicked just as He did in the book of Esther. You can't read the book of Esther without seeing the good that God produced in His people even through Haman, the first wicked queen, and the wicked emperor.

So as we come to the Lord's Table, I would encourage you to get rid of your frustrations about difficult events and difficult people and tell the Lord that you know He cares for you and that you are recommitting yourself to trusting Him for all things and thanking Him for all things. This meal is His pledge that He is in such good control of life that He can make Romans 8:28 work out for your well-being. He can cause all things to work together for the good of those who love Him and who seek to conform their plans to His Word. Let's pray.

Father, forgive us for those times when we get frustrated with Your providences. Help us to always remember that if You are for us, who can be against us. Help us to trust your providence and to realize that since life is not random that we have a good basis for obeying each of these proverbs related to planning. We come to this table realizing that even our planning needs to be bathed in your grace and needs your daily wisdom. Grant that to this Your people. In Jesus name, Amen.