Man's goings [are] of the Lord
In a natural and literal sense, the instruments of going are of
the Lord; the act of motion from place to place is not without
the concourse of his providence; as in him we live, and move, and
have our being, so "in and by him we move"; he preserves our
going out and coming in; and as the preservation, so the success
and prosperity of journeying are owing to his providence, and the
whole is under his care and direction: and so likewise, in a
civil sense, all the civil concerns, business, and actions of
life, are guided by his providence; there is a time for every
purpose under heaven, and the success of all depends on a divine
blessing; and things are with every man in civil life according
to the providence of God, and as it is his pleasure they should
be; and it is by him they are directed to take this and the other
step, the issue of which is according to his will: and this may
be applied to men's goings in a spiritual and religious sense;
faith, which is properly a man's going to Christ as a perishing
sinner for pardon and cleansing, for righteousness and life, for
food and rest, and eternal salvation, is not of a man's self, it
is of God; it is his gift, and of his operation; no man can go to
Christ in this way unless it be given him of God, or he is drawn
by his grace, ( John 6:35 John 6:57 John 6:44 John 6:65 ) ; and all
spiritual actions which flew from hence are by the grace of God,
and under his influence and direction; as walking in the path of
truth, it is the Lord that teaches it, causes to choose it, leads
into it, and preserves there; walking in the statutes and
ordinances of the Lord, and in the ways of righteousness and
holiness, is of him, and owing to his Spirit puts within his
people; and indeed all good works done by them, which may be
called their goings, he has foreordained that they should walk in
them; it is by the grace of God, and in the strength of Christ,
and with the assistance of the blessed Spirit, they walk on in
them; and their perseverance in faith and holiness, or their
going from strength to strength, is all of the Lord; how
can a man then understand his own way?
even of a journey in a literal sense, what will be the issue and
event of it, when or whether ever he shall return to his own
house again, since all is under the direction and providence of
God; and also of his civil affairs, he knows his beginning, and
how he goes on for the present; but what will be the end he knows
not; and a natural and unregenerate man knows not what way he is
in, where he is going, and what his last end will be; being in
darkness, in which he was born, brought up, and continues, he
does not rightly understand what is his duty, what he should do,
what is the good and perfect will of God, what the way is in
which he should go, and which is for his good; nor the way
everlasting, which leads to eternal life, few find this way. Or
it may be understood of the way of the Lord, "how can a man then
understand his way?" the Lord's way, not man's; the way of the
Lord in providence, which is as the deep, and unsearchable; and
the way of life and salvation by Christ, which is of the Lord's
devising and resolving on; this way of peace, pardon,
righteousness, and eternal life, is not known by the natural man;
and when it is externally revealed in the word, and by the
outward ministry of it, it is not understood so as to be approved
of, but is despised, unless God gives a heart to know it, or a
spiritual and experimental understanding of it.