“For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.”
They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. — the prayer affirms God's sovereignty over history: what happened (crucifixion, trial) was decided (horizō, determine, appoint, decide) beforehand by God's power and will. The paradox of divine sovereignty and human guilt is affirmed: the opposition was real and culpable, but also within God's plan. This is not fatalism but faith that God overrules human opposition.
Church Fathers on Acts 4:28
there were gathered together in this city, against Your holy Child Jesus, (Παἵδα) Whom You have anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, for to do whatsoever Your hand and Your counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings. Acts 4:27-29 Observe their largeness of mind (φιλοσοφίαν). These are not words of imprecation. In saying, their threatenings, they do not mean this or that thing…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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