Psalm 105:1–45 (ESV):
Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!
4 Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually!
5 Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,
6 O offspring of Abraham, his servant,
children of Jacob, his chosen ones!
7 He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He remembers his covenant forever,
the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
9 the covenant that he made with Abraham,
his sworn promise to Isaac,
10 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as your portion for an inheritance.”
12 When they were few in number,
of little account, and sojourners in it,
13 wandering from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another people,
14 he allowed no one to oppress them;
he rebuked kings on their account,
15 saying, “Touch not my anointed ones,
do my prophets no harm!”
16 When he summoned a famine on the land
and broke all supply of bread,
17 he had sent a man ahead of them,
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
18 His feet were hurt with fetters;
his neck was put in a collar of iron;
19 until what he had said came to pass,
the word of the Lord tested him.
20 The king sent and released him;
the ruler of the peoples set him free;
21 he made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions,
22 to bind his princes at his pleasure
and to teach his elders wisdom.
23 Then Israel came to Egypt;
Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
24 And the Lord made his people very fruitful
and made them stronger than their foes.
25 He turned their hearts to hate his people,
to deal craftily with his servants.
26 He sent Moses, his servant,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They performed his signs among them
and miracles in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and made the land dark;
they did not rebel against his words.
29 He turned their waters into blood
and caused their fish to die.
30 Their land swarmed with frogs,
even in the chambers of their kings.
31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
and gnats throughout their country.
32 He gave them hail for rain,
and fiery lightning bolts through their land.
33 He struck down their vines and fig trees,
and shattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke, and the locusts came,
young locusts without number,
35 which devoured all the vegetation in their land
and ate up the fruit of their ground.
36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the firstfruits of all their strength.
37 Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold,
and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.
38 Egypt was glad when they departed,
for dread of them had fallen upon it.
39 He spread a cloud for a covering,
and fire to give light by night.
40 They asked, and he brought quail,
and gave them bread from heaven in abundance.
41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
it flowed through the desert like a river.
42 For he remembered his holy promise,
and Abraham, his servant.
43 So he brought his people out with joy,
his chosen ones with singing.
44 And he gave them the lands of the nations,
and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples’ toil,
45 that they might keep his statutes
and observe his laws.
Praise the Lord!
'Praise the Lord!' God is always present and in charge. Through the desert times, the promised land, when His people are outnumbered or a multitude, in the times of lack and prosperity, in darkness and light, in famine and harvest, God is present and in charge. God knows what He is doing and exercises His authority for He, ‘remembers his covenant’. God has been fulfilling his oath to Abraham ever since he gave it, for He is faithful. He is working to bring you and the rest of His people into the promised land. No other authority can have jurisdiction over your life. Yes, you may walk through times of poverty, success, hardship, brokenness, celebration and comfort. Yet, always God is in control. He has His plan and He will stick to it for He remembers ‘his holy promise’.
Consider the life of Joseph (v16 - 45), he had a privileged upbringing in his youth, then his life radically changed as he spent a significant proportion of his adult life enslaved and imprisoned. It must have been very difficult for Jospeh to have become a bound man instead of a favoured one. How could he see where God was in that, or understand what He was doing? What about the promises and the dreams he had been given? Yet it was all in God’s plan. God was present and still in charge, He knew what He was doing. It was not because of the jealousy of Joseph’s brothers that Joseph ended up in this position, as i have always thought, but because ‘he (God) had sent a man ahead of them’. God used the family dynamics and the jealousy in order for His people to have life in the future. God, ‘sent a man’, It was God’s choice, He sent Joseph. Joseph was not gotten rid of or sold, but sent. Unbeknown to himself or anyone else, Joseph was sent to Egypt by God. God had planned for this to happen for He had a purpose greater than Joseph being a son and a brother. Joseph was to become a rescuer of God’s people. God purposed for the life of Joseph to look like this so that God’s kingdom could to come to Egypt, and ultimately His people could reach the land of promise generations later.
God has a plan for the future for all of His people. That means that yes, suffering happens, but none of it is without purpose. God is always present and in charge, and He has a plan that your life will display His glory. Maybe you will end up imprisoned, accused, suffering, but that doesn’t mean that you have failed or God has left. As the life of Joseph shows, God can use any situation to display His kingdom. God used Joseph’s imprisonment to save the lives of millions of people, His purpose was salvation. It meant that life was difficult for Joseph for many years, but Joseph had to experience enslavement and imprisonment in order to be in the right place at the right time, for God, ‘had sent a man ahead of them’. All was in the plans and purposes of God. So, i wonder what God is preparing you for. When life is hard and you feel abandoned, overlooked, mistreated or persecuted, take heart. God always has a plan for His name to be glorified, and He is using you to achieve it! Joseph was ordained by God to become a ‘ruler’ and ‘to teach his elders wisdom’. This resulted in God’s people being transformed from a season of famine to fruitfulness! But the story of God’s people doesn’t stop there. The nation of Israel was then enslaved by the Egyptians, and Moses and Aaron were equipped and commanded to lead the them out from Egypt. From being slaves they left with riches! They witnessed miracles, hardship, and felt hunger but the sun never scorched them and the cold never overcame them, for God sent cloud and fire. God so loves and cares for His people, and He remembers and fulfils ‘his holy promise’.
The story of Israel’s salvation and gaining the promised land wasn’t an easy one, so don’t expect your life to be either! Yet do not fear when trouble comes. God isn’t punishing you, He is preparing you. He needs you to depend and rely upon Him, so open your eyes to see the miracles and favour that He is giving you even within the difficult situations. God is using you to display your kingdom in a way that will glorify His name and be for the benefit of His people. Just like he did with Jospeh, Moses and Aaron. Therefore, when troubling times come, do not despair. Instead; ’call upon his name’, tell of his wondrous name’, ‘seek the Lord and his strength’, ‘remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgements he uttered’, ‘keep his statutes and observe his laws’ and then you will have the great and marvellous privilege of walking in the footsteps of Abraham, Joseph, Moses and Aaron to ‘make known his deeds among the peoples’.
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