The Mystery of Providence

John Flavel — read again from the page images of the 1840 Presbyterian Board of Publication edition (archive.org), printed as Divine Conduct, or The Mystery of Providence, in modern spelling.

Flavel preaches Psalm 57:2 — I will cry unto God most high, unto God that performeth all things for me — and the argument runs in five general heads: that the saints’ affairs are conducted by a special providence, what providence has actually performed for them (in ten particulars, from their formation in the womb to the mortification of their corruptions), that observing it is a duty, how to observe it, and why. Five practical cases close it, and four shorter pieces are printed after.

Three of them — The Righteous Man’s Refuge, Christian Resignation and Encouragements to Trust in God — are the 1840 editor’s additions from Flavel’s other works, and are kept here as that edition prints them.

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Contents (25)

1. To the Ingenuous Readers
2. The Text Opened
3. That the Affairs of the Saints Are Conducted by a Special Providence
4. The First Performance: Our Formation and Protection in the Womb
5. The Second Performance: The Place and Time of Our Nativity
6. The Third Performance: The Stock and Family Out of Which We Spring
7. The Fourth Performance: The Occasions and Means of Our Conversion
8. The Fifth Performance: Our Employment and Outward Estate
9. The Sixth Performance: The Settling of Us in Families
10. The Seventh Performance: Provision for Us and Our Families
11. The Eighth Performance: Our Preservation from the Snares of Sin
12. The Ninth Performance: Our Preservation in Perils and Dangers
13. The Tenth Performance: The Mortification of Our Corruptions
14. That It Is the Duty of the Saints to Observe Providence
15. Directions for Observing the Performances of Providence
16. Motives to the Study of Providence
17. The First Case: How to Discover the Will of God under Dark Providences
18. The Second Case: Waiting upon God While Providence Delays
19. The Third Case: How to Discern a Sanctified Providence
20. The Fourth Case: Evenness of Spirit under the Changes of Providence
21. The Fifth Case: A Resigned Frame under Sad Providences
22. Postscript
23. The Righteous Man’s Refuge
24. Christian Resignation
25. Encouragements to Trust in God