Psa 105:16 | KingComments | STEP | Then we read that God called for a famine upon the land where Jacob and His sons lived ( ). He was fully involved in their protection, but also in their tribulation. He “broke the whole staff of bread”. That is, there was not one morsel of food that would give them strength to live. The supply of bread was taken away from them ( ). Why God did that is not mentioned here. We read about that in Genesis 41-44. There we read that God wanted to bring Joseph’s brothers to repentance. That is also what He wants to do with the remnant in the future: bring them into tribulation to purify them ( ). The point here is that God had already provided someone who could supply His people with food. God sends tribulation into the believer’s life because He wants to work out plans of blessing in his life ( ). He had sent Joseph before them ( ), as Joseph himself later testifies ( ). The psalmist describes the way in which God did this. It is a way of deep humiliation. It began with his sale as a slave. We know from the account in Genesis 37 that his brothers sold him ( ). That is not mentioned here. It is about the way God had determined for the man who would provide His people with bread. After Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, he ended up in Egypt and in prison. Here we are told what that meant: “They afflicted his feet with fetters, he himself was laid in irons” ( ). We don’t read that in Genesis 39. There we read about his faithfulness to God that brought him in prison ( ). They afflicted his feet with fetters as if he were a great criminal, so that he could not walk. That he himself came in the irons means that he suffered inwardly because of what was done to him. God had set a limit to this severe trial. When His word came true – where we can think of the fulfillment of Pharaoh’s dreams whose meaning God revealed to Joseph ( ) – Joseph’s captivity was over ( ). And how did Joseph endure this torment? God has been with him all this time with His word of promise. Through that promise, Joseph was “tested”, or “refined” (cf. ). Every trial in our lives God wants to use to purify us. To purify is to make us, or our faith, pure and clean, so that more and more we have only Him in mind and not ourselves or our interests (cf. ). When God’s work on Joseph was finished, “the king sent and released him” ( ). This act of release is given added emphasis by saying the same thing again in other words: “The ruler of peoples … set him free.” We know that it was God’s work in the king and that God is in fact the Ruler of the peoples. He made Pharaoh dream a dream that none of all the king’s wise men could explain. Only Joseph could do that because of the insight God had given him. Therefore, the king called Joseph to him ( ). After explaining it and the advice Joseph gave unsolicited, Pharaoh – who in the book of Genesis is a picture of God in his position as ruler of the world – appointed Joseph “lord of his house and ruler over all his possessions” ( ; ; ). Joseph became the most powerful man in the land after Pharaoh. He was given authority to “imprison” Pharaoh’s princes “at will, that he might teach his [i.e. Pharaoh’s] elders wisdom” ( ). In Joseph we see the rare combination of power and wisdom. We see this in perfection only in the Lord Jesus, of Whom Joseph is a beautiful picture. In God’s dealings with Joseph to fulfill His promise lies an encouraging lesson for us. We can trust that God knows all our difficulties and that He has already prepared a solution for them in advance. He oversees everything and directs everything for the good of His own. The way in which He does this, we can often only see afterwards. At the moment itself we wonder how things will turn out. We see this also with Joseph. Who could imagine that God sent Joseph to Egypt in this way, to be a blessing to his father and his brothers in their time of need? For Jacob and his sons, that blessing is first and foremost spiritual: they are restored to their relationship with Joseph. The blessing is also material: they receive food and are even allowed to come and live with Joseph in Egypt. The deeper meaning of this section about Joseph is that he is a type of the Lord Jesus, Who as the Savior had to undergo a path of rejection and suffering before He could actually be the Savior. The Lord Jesus Himself expressed it this way: “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” ( ). The grace of God is expressed in this psalm because God Himself sent His Son into the world to save us.

‏ Psalms 105:16

Joseph

Then we read that God called for a famine upon the land where Jacob and His sons lived (Psa 105:16). He was fully involved in their protection, but also in their tribulation. He “broke the whole staff of bread”. That is, there was not one morsel of food that would give them strength to live. The supply of bread was taken away from them (Isa 3:1).

Why God did that is not mentioned here. We read about that in Genesis 41-44. There we read that God wanted to bring Joseph’s brothers to repentance. That is also what He wants to do with the remnant in the future: bring them into tribulation to purify them (Mal 3:2-3). The point here is that God had already provided someone who could supply His people with food. God sends tribulation into the believer’s life because He wants to work out plans of blessing in his life (Rom 8:28).

He had sent Joseph before them (Psa 105:17), as Joseph himself later testifies (Gen 45:7-8 ; Gen 50:20). The psalmist describes the way in which God did this. It is a way of deep humiliation. It began with his sale as a slave. We know from the account in Genesis 37 that his brothers sold him (Gen 37:28). That is not mentioned here. It is about the way God had determined for the man who would provide His people with bread.

After Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, he ended up in Egypt and in prison. Here we are told what that meant: “They afflicted his feet with fetters, he himself was laid in irons” (Psa 105:18). We don’t read that in Genesis 39. There we read about his faithfulness to God that brought him in prison (Gen 39:7-20). They afflicted his feet with fetters as if he were a great criminal, so that he could not walk. That he himself came in the irons means that he suffered inwardly because of what was done to him.

God had set a limit to this severe trial. When His word came true – where we can think of the fulfillment of Pharaoh’s dreams whose meaning God revealed to Joseph (Gen 41:14-44) – Joseph’s captivity was over (Psa 105:19). And how did Joseph endure this torment? God has been with him all this time with His word of promise. Through that promise, Joseph was “tested”, or “refined” (cf. Job 23:10). Every trial in our lives God wants to use to purify us. To purify is to make us, or our faith, pure and clean, so that more and more we have only Him in mind and not ourselves or our interests (cf. 1Pet 1:7).

When God’s work on Joseph was finished, “the king sent and released him” (Psa 105:20). This act of release is given added emphasis by saying the same thing again in other words: “The ruler of peoples … set him free.” We know that it was God’s work in the king and that God is in fact the Ruler of the peoples. He made Pharaoh dream a dream that none of all the king’s wise men could explain. Only Joseph could do that because of the insight God had given him. Therefore, the king called Joseph to him (Gen 41:8 ; 14-16).

After explaining it and the advice Joseph gave unsolicited, Pharaoh – who in the book of Genesis is a picture of God in his position as ruler of the world – appointed Joseph “lord of his house and ruler over all his possessions” (Psa 105:21; Gen 41:38-40; Acts 7:10). Joseph became the most powerful man in the land after Pharaoh. He was given authority to “imprison” Pharaoh’s princes “at will, that he might teach his [i.e. Pharaoh’s] elders wisdom” (Psa 105:22). In Joseph we see the rare combination of power and wisdom. We see this in perfection only in the Lord Jesus, of Whom Joseph is a beautiful picture.

In God’s dealings with Joseph to fulfill His promise lies an encouraging lesson for us. We can trust that God knows all our difficulties and that He has already prepared a solution for them in advance. He oversees everything and directs everything for the good of His own. The way in which He does this, we can often only see afterwards. At the moment itself we wonder how things will turn out.

We see this also with Joseph. Who could imagine that God sent Joseph to Egypt in this way, to be a blessing to his father and his brothers in their time of need? For Jacob and his sons, that blessing is first and foremost spiritual: they are restored to their relationship with Joseph. The blessing is also material: they receive food and are even allowed to come and live with Joseph in Egypt.

The deeper meaning of this section about Joseph is that he is a type of the Lord Jesus, Who as the Savior had to undergo a path of rejection and suffering before He could actually be the Savior. The Lord Jesus Himself expressed it this way: “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” (Lk 24:26). The grace of God is expressed in this psalm because God Himself sent His Son into the world to save us.