17 He sent a man before them--
Joseph--who was sold as a slave.
Psalm 105 is one of the five
historical psalms (78, 105, 106, 135, 136), that reminds and encourages God’s
people of the great truth that He is a covenant God Who always keeps His
promises. The foundation of any society, culture, nation, community, church,
family, or any relationship for that matter, that will allow people to enjoy
protection, peace, and prosperity must be built on truth! Sadly, we live in a
day where it appears that it is very difficult to hear the truth. In the book
of Proverbs, we are told that when the wicked speak that “they breathe out
lies”. In other words, they can’t even breathe without lying.
That’s why I’m so glad that I
have a Book called the Holy Bible. Jesus in His High Priestly prayer in John 17
asked His Father to, “Sanctify them through thy truth, thy Word is truth.”
Pilate asked Jesus one of the greatest questions that could ever be asked in
John 18:38, “What is truth?” Pilate didn’t recognize that Truth was
standing right in front of Him. “Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the
Life….” (John 14:6).
God fulfills His promises
through people! Psalm 105 could be divided into three sections of people. In
verse 1-15, we have Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, the Patriarchs that God made His
covenant promises to. In verses 16-25, we are told of Joseph that God prepared
to preserve His people so they would become a great nation in Egypt fulfilling
the promise He made to Abraham. In verses 26-45, we have Moses and Aaron that
God used to release His judgements upon Egypt as He kept His promise to deliver
Israel back to Canaan.
In our study today of Psalm
105:16-25, we are reminded of the story of Joseph in Genesis. In Joseph's
dreams, God had promised him that his brothers would bow before him one day,
but He did not explain how this would occur. Envy and a family quarrel took
Joseph to Egypt where he prepared the way for his relatives and kept them alive
during the famine (Gen. 41:55-57; 50:20). But before he became the second ruler
of Egypt, Joseph experienced great suffering in prison, for in God's economy,
suffering precedes glory (1 Peter 5:10), and being a servant precedes being a
ruler (Matt. 25:21).
But the Word that God gave
Joseph came true, and Jacob and his family moved from Canaan to Egypt (Gen. 46,
the land of Ham; vv. 23, 27; 78:51; 106:22; Gen. 10:6). It was there that God
in His grace turned Jacob's family of seventy persons into a nation so large
and powerful that it threatened the security of Egypt. No matter how dark the
day, God always sends His servant ahead to prepare the way.
God permitted the Egyptians to
persecute His people, for suffering is one of the secrets of fruitfulness. God
did not force the Egyptians to hate the Jews nor did He force Pharaoh to harden
his heart. The Lord arranged the circumstances so that Pharaoh and his officers
could either obey or disobey His Word, and their repeated disobedience hardened
their hearts more. The record in Exodus reports that Pharaoh hardened his heart
(Ex. 7:13-14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 34-35; 13:15) but also that God hardened it
(4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8,17). God sent the plagues, but
Pharaoh would not obey. The same sun that melts the ice will harden the clay.
My friend, the same God that
prepared a Joseph, that “He sent as a man before them…”, is still alive
and at work today behind the scenes not only in the world, but in our personal
lives. This is the Truth that we can rely on and trust!
God bless!
