Daniel: Humble Servant, Faithful God - The Promise of Providence

Sunday we began our series in the book of Daniel. The book emphasizes the sovereignty of God over the lives of his people and over the kingdoms of this world. The book opens with this statement, “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God” (Daniel 1:1,2). Notice, that while Nebuchadnezzar acted against God’s temple and people, the Lord takes responsibility for the outcome of the siege.

Neither this moment nor this pagan king was outside of the sovereign power of God. God wasn’t guessing what Nebuchadnezzar would do or trying to negotiate with him to avoid conflict. In fact, God was using Nebuchadnezzar to correct his people for their paganism. As a major theme of this book, we’ll take a moment to consider the promise of providence. What does God’s sovereignty communicate to us in our daily experience?