GOD MAKES ALL THINGS WORK FOR HIS GLORY “Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain” Psalm 76:10
God is infinitely wise and absolutely sovereign. Everything, down to the smallest atom, is under His perfect scrutiny. He is always working ahead of men. He not only ordained the beginning but the end of all things. Did it ever occur to you that nothing ever occurs to God? There are no second thoughts with Him! He has determined the end from the beginning and all things between. [“In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Ephesians 1:11). “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified” (Romans 8:28-30).] Many take issue with those of us who believe the Bible to say what it means and mean what it says. I’ve had folk tell me that they did not believe in predestination; that only exposes them to be unbelievers. It is a very serious thing to add to or take from the Word of God (Revelation 22:18). Observe that in the passage above (Rom. 8:30), the verbs did predestinate, called, justified, and glorified, are in the past tense. Absolutely nothing in creation, providence, or salvation is an after thought with God. He performs what He purposed. Nothing has ever taken Him by surprise. In Psalm 76:10 we are taught that God makes “the wrath of man” (the evil conspiracies, purposes, and acts of men) serve His purpose. For example, in the life of David we have an incident in which a family of priests was brutally murdered by an Edomite named Doeg, who was under the orders of Saul. Saul gave those orders out of his hatred and spite for David. His “wrath” was kindled exceedingly against an innocent man (David). Three things are seen in this story which teaches us that God makes the wrath of man serve His purpose. First, God had an indictment against the house of Eli and had sentenced it to annihilation. “Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house. And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thine house forever” (I Samuel 2:31-32). Note that in verse 31, God said; “there will not be an old man in your house”. With the exception of Abiathar the son of Ahimelech, the entire family was slaughtered (I Sam.22:6-23). Therefore we learn how the “wrath” of Saul and his cutthroat servant Doeg carried out God’s sentence upon the house of Eli, fulfilling His purpose thereby bringing praise to His unfrustrated counsel. The second thing we see in the story was the manifest abandonment of the apostate King (Saul) and his being ripened for judgment, “Be sure your sins will find you out”. Thirdly, by the cruel carnage ordered by the enraged King, David obtained the presence of the high priest (Abiathar) who afterwards proved a comfort and blessing to him (I Sam.23:6, 9-13, 30:7-10). Thus we see how God makes the wrath of man praise Him.
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