Day 12 – Psalm 105:16-19
Until the Word Tried Him
Scripture Reading – Psalm 105:16-19
Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread.
Psalm 105:16 KJV
He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
Psalm 105:17 KJV
Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:
Psalm 105:18 KJV
Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.
Psalm 105:19 KJV
Scripture Review
Psalm 105 pulls back the curtain. The famine is not yet visible in Genesis 37, but the psalm says God called for it and sent a man before Israel. Joseph was sold as a servant; his feet were hurt with fetters, and he was laid in iron. Genesis tells the story from ground level. The psalm lets me see that heaven was not reacting late. God sent provision ahead of the need.
The hardest phrase may be, “until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.” The dream did more than encourage Joseph; it tested him. Would he remain faithful when the promise seemed contradicted by iron? A bridge is proved under weight, not while the road is empty. Joseph’s confidence would be tested by years in which nothing around him resembled the dream.
Men meant bondage, pain, and removal. They used chains to reduce Joseph’s future to the status of a servant and prisoner.
God meant to send a man before the famine and used the waiting years to prove the servant who would later carry authority.
What this asks of me
God’s providence never makes cruelty good, and it never removes the guilt of those who choose it. It does assure me that evil cannot place me beyond His ability to preserve and use. When His Word tries me, I want to hold it without pretending the fetters do not hurt. Faith can be honest about the iron and still trust the Lord.
Consider
- Has a promise from God’s Word become a test of my patience rather than an immediate comfort?
- Can I acknowledge the pain of the present without surrendering confidence in God’s character?