We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.

How do you respond to Psalm 135:6?

“Whatever the Lord pleases he does,
In heaven and on earth…” (cf. Job 23:13–14; Ps. 115:3; Dan. 4:35)

Some conclude from passages such as this that God’s will can never be thwarted. Since Scripture explicitly teaches that God’s will is in fact sometimes thwarted (Isa. 63:10; Luke 7:30; Acts 7:51; Eph. 4:30; Heb. 3:8, 15; 4:7), we must reject this conclusion.

These passages certainly teach that the Lord can do whatever he pleases, but they only support the view that God meticulously controls everything if we assume that it pleases the Lord to control everything. There is no basis for this assumption, however. No mentally healthy parent would be pleased to meticulously control their children, even if they could.

We all know that relating to free persons is infinitely more rewarding than controlling people, though it is also much more risky. Why then should we assume that God’s greatest agenda for creation—what “pleases God”—is to meticulously control it?

Related Reading

What Does Greg Think About _________________?

Since the launch of the new website yesterday, I’ve been browsing around the various topics to see what I can find. You can click here to join me. This is awesome. If you want to know what Greg has to say about the nature of the future and God’s knowledge of it, you can find…

Tags: ,

In your Anabaptist view, should Christians get involved in politics at all? Do you think they should even vote?

Ultimately, each person must follow their conscience when it comes to whether or not they vote, how they vote if they decide to vote, and the extent to which they should involve themselves in the political system. But we must always remain aware of the dangers involved in participating in the political system, for it…

What is the significance of 1 Samuel 13:13–14?

Because of Saul’s rebellion, Samuel tells him, “The Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever but now your kingdom will not continue.” The biblical narrative depicting God’s dealings with Saul up to this point is predicated on the assumption that God intended to establish Saul’s descendants as the permanent heir to the throne…

Topics:

What is the significance of Acts 15:7?

At the Jerusalem council, “Peter stood up and said to them, ‘My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles should hear the message of the good news…’” The tense of the verb that locates God’s “choice” in “the…

Topics:

Why is the Bible so strict on prohibiting pre-marital sex? What’s the big deal?

Today in western culture people tend to have a rather “recreational” view of sex. It’s just a pleasurable physical activity we engage in. Even people who don’t consciously believe this are influenced by it , since we’re bombarded with this message every day through movies, television shows, radio, magazines, etc. Because we’re influence by this…

How do you respond to Romans 8:29-30?

Question: Romans 8:29–30 says that everyone God foreknew he predestined. You deny both that God foreknows and predestines individual believers. So this verse seems to refute your open view. Answer: First, as many exegetes have noted, the sort of “knowing” Paul intends in this passage is not merely intellectual knowledge, but rather an intimate affection.…