In recent years, no book apart from Scripture itself has impacted my life more than John Piper’s magnus opus, Providence. It’s Piper’s definition of providence that I am using as the title for this post and this new topic on the website.

It’s not that Providence introduced me to or convinced me of the sovereignty and providence of God; that battle was fought and resolved more than four decades ago when I was at Bible College. What Piper’s great work did was open my eyes and mind and heart to the all-comprehensive nature and effect of that purposeful sovereignty as revealed in Scripture.

I will confess that I was, at first, somewhat reluctant to read the book when it was published because while I love Piper’s passion and ministry, I always felt that all his writings had something of a similar ring to them. But when a long-time friend said that this book was the best book he had ever read, I knew I had to read it for myself and I am so glad – and blessed – that I did.

Without a settled conviction of God’s purposeful sovereignty, life and the world simply don’t make any sense, which is why I think of this subject as my GPS. And I have just started a new Bible reading project in which, starting at Genesis 1:1, I will read through my Bible, several chapters a day, highlighting every verse in which Scripture teaches the providence and sovereignty of God. I expect to need a good stock of highlighter refills!

I will log the results here as I go

Genesis

Exodus

1:20, 21

2:24, 25

3:2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22

4:3, 4, 6, 7, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 31

5:3, 22, 23

6:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 26, 29

7:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 25

8:2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 31

9:3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, 33, 35

10:1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 13, 17, 19, 20, 22, 27

11:1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

12:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 36, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51

13: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22

14:1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 31

15:1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 25, 26

16:4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 32, 34

17:1, 5, 6, 14, 15, 16

18:1, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 23

19:3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 20, 21, 22, 24

20:2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26

21:1-36

22:1-31

23:1-33

24:1, 2, 12, 16

25:1-40

26:1-37

27:1-21

28:1-43

29:1-46

30:1-38

31:1-18

32:33-35

624 out of 939 verses

(In total so far, 2886 out of 2474 verses)