When we say “God is in the details” we are talking about the doctrine of God’s providence. But how would you explain God’s providence? The word “providence” does not appear in the Bible but it is used to articulate a truth that is most certainly found in Scripture (this is true of other theological terms as well, e.g. the word “Trinity” is not a Biblical word, but it articulates a truth that is clearly Biblical). This being the case, how do we define the providence of God? In 1561 the Belgic Confession was written and here’s how they explained this important doctrine: “We believe that this good God, after creating all things, did not abandon them to chance or fortune but leads and governs them according to his holy will, in such a way that nothing happens in this world without God’s orderly arrangement.” There are so many examples of this in Scripture but consider one from Matthew 6:25-34 where Jesus is teaching on anxiety. He uses two examples from nature to teach us to trust God instead of giving in to anxious thoughts. In v. 26, 28-30 He says, “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? … And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” Think about the magnitude of what He’s saying! God feeds the birds. How many birds are there in the world? God clothes the lilies. How vast are these assertions! Jesus is claiming that God the Father sees to these things. Most people, even Christians, have been so influenced by the secularization of society that they don’t think of God seeing to it that the birds find their worms and the lilies wear their flowers. Most people think the birds and lilies are simply acting by natural laws, nothing more. But if that’s the case then Jesus’ words mean nothing, and His teaching cannot relieve our anxiety. However, we know Jesus’ words are authoritative and completely meaningful! The hand of God the Father is at work in the smallest details of all natural processes. There’s a lot to chew on here, but I think you could capture much of it by saying, God’s providence means there is no such thing as chance. That is wonderfully comforting news! Our good God is governing the world down to the smallest details, and this is exactly what we will see in 1 Samuel 9-10.