Proverbs 30:4 Commentary and Bible Study

This series of questions is intended to show the deep reverence for God which the returning sinner must have, and his awareness that he comes to one who does not give account of all his ways to man, and whose workings are far beyond man’s ability to trace. Without this sense of the greatness of God we will not come with the appropriate humility and submission. The self-confident are full of doubts that God is really so much greater than they are, so they can never lower themselves before him as they ought to. Solomon comes with no doubt about this, and sets God as high above him as he can conceive. These rhetorical questions are posed to draw our attention to human limitation. We dwell in a world prepared for us by God as a suitable life-sustaining and, originally, very pleasant environment for man. That we could not have provided such an environment for ourselves is obvious, and yet man seems incapable of showing proper gratitude to his Creator for all of these aspects of his home on earth. But the truth is that he is completely dependent on divine provision, and this dependence ought to make him admire his God and to worship him. ‘Who has gone up into heaven, or come down?’ Heaven is out of reach of finite fallen man. ‘No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven’ (John 3:13-14). Just as heaven in inaccessible, so its secrets are inaccessible, but that is where the answers to all questions like these must come from. Even if we understood that it was necessary, who would dare to try to persuade God to send his only begotten Son into the world, knowing all the suffering that would follow, and what it would cost him to put the plan of redemption into action? It must be God’s decision to send his Son, a decision which he took without consulting mankind.‘Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of his hand? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?’ Who has tamed the winds or the waves so that these powerful forces in our world are no longer the epitome of what man cannot do, teaching him the limits of his power, but are instead like obedient children, doing their father’s will promptly? God has placed us in a position where there are things beyond our control and where by experience we know that we are helpless. But as believers we know that it is not the same for God. He can control these things at a word: ‘And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm’ (Mark 4:39). The result was that the disciples feared exceedingly, because they were in awe at the presence of one who could do what no man could do. ‘Who has established all the ends of the earth?’ What does this mean? It means that day and night, winter and summer, and all the laws of nature continue forever. Christ upholds the world in place and it continues to operate according to predictable laws of physics which owe their existence to God. Christians can be confident about the future because their God governs the world. It also means that God’s plan for this world never goes off track. All things happen ‘according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will’ (Ephesians 1:11). No one can do anything to damage this plan, because it encompasses all events, and these are known to God in advance, and indeed predestined by him.‘What is his name and his son’s name, if you can tell?’ There is no man whose name can be given in answer to these questions. But God knows all things and nothing is hidden from him. He understands all mysteries, and his mind conceived every existing thing.