turning to God's Word then let
us read a portion in the 105th Psalm Psalm 105 reading from
verse 17 He sent a man before them, even
Joseph, who was sold for a servant, whose feet they hurt with fetters.
He was laid in iron Until the time that his word came, the
word of the Lord tried him. The king sent and loosed him,
even the ruler of the people, and let him go free. He made
him lord of his house and ruler of all his substance, to bind
his princes at his pleasure and teach his senators wisdom. In this psalm we have some record
of God's dealings with his ancient covenant people the children
of Israel and in the portion that we just
read it is of course speaking in particular of the days of
Jacob and his son Joseph and how Joseph was the one of course
sold into slavery into Egypt. And as we come to consider this
portion of Scripture tonight, I really want to direct you to
the passage that we find in verses 17, 18, and 19. And really taking up
the theme of how God's Word was that that both pride and also
ultimately encouraged Joseph. The time and the trial of God's
Word is really what we have said before us in these verses 17,
18, and 19. He sent a man before them, even
Joseph, who was sold for a servant, whose feet they heard with fetters.
He was laid in iron until the time that his word came, the
words of the Lord tried, as I said, it is speaking principally this
psalm of God's dealings with the children of Israel, the physical
descendants of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. We see that from verse
six follows. So you see that Abraham, his
servant, your children of Jacob, He's chosen. He is the Lord our
God. His judgments are in all the
earth. He has remembered His covenant forever. The words which
He commanded to a thousand generations, which covenant He made with Abraham,
and His oath unto Isaac, and confirmed the same unto Jacob
for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant. specific mention then is made
of these various patriarchs and the word, the promises that God
had given to them. But then, we remember that they
are not all Israel, that are of Israel, as Paul says there
in Romans chapter 9, that these people really are atypical people,
and ultimately we should consider how the words apply to God's
true people, the spiritual Israel, the spiritual circumcision, because
again Paul says there at the end of Romans 2 that he is not
a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is circumcision that
which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one
inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart. in the spirit
and not in the letter, whose praise is of God. And therefore, although it's
an historic psalm and it speaks, of the dealings of God with ethnic
Israel there in the Old Testament. There are, of course, as we've
said many a time, such spiritual lessons for us to learn. The important thing is to be
that one who is a spiritual child of Abraham and of Isaac and of
Jacob, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile, as the
Lord himself said, concerning Nathaniel. Well, let us turn
to these three verses that I've read, and as I said, I want us
to consider something of the time and the trial associated
with the Word of God. We certainly see how that word
that was given to Joseph was a word that very much tested
him. The word of the Lord tried him. Well, what was that word? Well,
we read the passage there in Genesis chapter 37 where we have
mention of his dreams and how he tells the dreams to his brethren
and also to his father. How his brethren's sheaves would
come and bow before his sheaf at the time of harvest. and then
also how the sun and the moon and the eleven stars would bow
down before him. This was a revelation that was
given to him by God, because of course at that time the Scripture,
the canon of Scripture was not complete. God was still giving
His Word in different and diverse manners. And remember how Elihu
does remind us of that in the language that we have there in
Job chapter 33. In Job 33, At verse 14, Elihu says, God
speaketh one shade twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream,
in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men,
in slumberings upon the bed, then he openeth the ears of men
and sealeth their instruction. Now, we live in a different day
because we have the Word of God in its entirety, the canon of
the Old Testament Scriptures, also the canon of the New Testament
Scriptures. And we have to remember that
this is a more sure word of prophecy. As says Peter there in 2 Peter
chapter 1, we have a more sure word of prophecy. And what is
that more sure word? It's the complete Word of God,
Holy Scripture. Again, remember how Paul, when
he writes to the Hebrews, reminds them of God's dealings in the
past. God who at sundry times, and in diverse manner spake in
time past unto the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things.
by whom also he made the worlds. And there in Daniel 9 where we
read of the Lord Jesus Christ in that remarkable statement,
remember the words, how he is the one who has finished the
transgression, how he's made an end of sin, how he's made
reconciliation for iniquity, how he's brought in everlasting
righteousness, and then it says that he has sealed up the vision
and the prophecy. There is no other revelation
that will come since the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. But
there are principles that we can gather, surely, from what
he said here with regards to this word that God had given
to his servant Joseph by means of those dreams. Until the time that his word
came, it says, the word of the Lord tried him. And what a trial it was, there
was an outward aspect to the trial that this man had to endure,
but there was also an inward aspect. Outwardly, we would have
to ask the question, why was this man ever put into a situation
where he was clearly in prison? That's what's spoken of in verse
18, whose feet they heard with fetters He was laid in iron. And why was that? Well, there
are a number of reasons, and we see them, of course, in the
history that we have there in the closing chapters of the book
of Genesis. He was in prison, first of all,
we might say, because of those false accusations, those false
words that were spoken by Putterfer's wicked wife. how she laid her
lustful eyes upon him, and he refused her. How can I do this
great wickedness, he says, and sin against God? He will not
do what this wicked woman desires of him. And then she turns and
makes a false accusation against him to her husband, and Joseph
finds himself now cast into prison. There's the principal reason,
we might say, or the obvious cause for his being in that situation
that's spoken of here at verse 18. But why was he there so long? Well, there was also, of course,
the words of the butler. The fickle words of the butler,
we might say. Because remember how the the baker and the butler of Pharaoh
were also cast into the prison and each of them dreamt dreams and Joseph was able to interpret
dreams and he interprets the dreams in such a way that the
the baker is told that he's going to be executed he won't ever
come out of the prison his life has been forfeited but the butler
is going to be restored. And Joseph asks that man if he
will make mention of his case and his cause before Pharaoh.
But we're told in Genesis 4.23, Yet did not the chief butler
remember Joseph, but forgot him. He had made a promise that he
would do what Joseph had requested because Joseph had rightly interpreted
the dream for him. But his words were thine words
and he forgot all about Joseph but if we go further back the
very reason why he was in an Egyptian prison was of course
because of his own brethren and their bitterness towards him
we saw in the passage that we read at the beginning of Genesis
37 how they hated him And in that same chapter later,
we see how they were the ones who sold him into captivity. As it says here at verse 17,
concerning God, He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who
was sold for a servant. Oh, they so despised him. There in that chapter that we
were reading, chapter 37 of Genesis, And we see the language that
is used at verse 19, when he comes to them away from their
father, far away from their father, and he's gone at his father's
appointment to find them. And what do we read? Genesis
37 verse 18, When they saw him afar off, even before he came
near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. And
they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. The Hebrew,
according to the margin, says this master of dreams Behold,
this master of dreams cometh. Come now, therefore, and let
us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some
evil beast hath devoured him, and we shall see what will become
of his dreams. And then we read subsequently
how they sat down to eat bread at verse 25 and they see a company
of Ishmaelites. And Judah says to his brethren,
verse 26, What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal
his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites. And let
not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.
And his brethren were content. And so they sell him to these
men who then take him and sell him into slavery there in Egypt. There were various reasons then
why he was in this prison. His feet in fetters, laid in
iron, it says at verse 18. The false accusation of Potiphar's
wife. The false words also, the fickle
words of the butler. But then those bitter words of
his brethren who so hated him. Oh, there was a reason there.
But also, it wasn't so much what had come upon him physically. It was the state of his soul
that's really intimated in the language that we have here. I
said we have to interpret the psalm in a spiritual sense. Yes,
it's telling us something of the actual history of the children
of Israel, but it's also speaking of God's spiritual Israel. And
Joseph was one of those who was a true Israelite, a spiritual
Israelite. And here, there was an inward
trial for this man. Until the time that his word
came, the word of the Lord tried him. He had received God's word,
God had spoken to him. And God had indicated he was
going to be exalted. And he believed it. What does it say in the margin
in verse 18? He was laid in iron. The margin
tells us literally it means his soul came into iron. The iron
came into the soul of this man. It wasn't just the outward aspect
of his sufferings, the physical aspects of his sufferings. It's
a spiritual trial. And what is this spiritual trial?
Well, would you not reason thus? Was that dream, or were those
dreams that I received really a revelation from God? Was that
truly God's Word to me, or was it just a dream? And nothing
more than a dream. Was it just a sweet experience
that I knew on that occasion, and yet it really meant very
little? And I put a false interpretation upon the Word of God. What is Joseph experiencing here,
as we have this description of him in these three verses? Isn't
he a man who's having some insight into the working of his own heart
and the unbelief, the native, natural unbelief that is in the
heart of all men? You see, there are Two forces,
as it were, working within this man in the midst of this trial
by the word of God. Paul speaks about the flesh lost
against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these
are contrary one to the other, and you cannot do the thing that
you would. There is a struggle going on,
as it were, between faith on the one hand and non-belief on
the other hand. a struggle between truth on one
side and error on the other side. And we see it so often in the
language of the Psalmist, don't we? Almost statements that seem
to be so contradictory. Look at the words in Psalm 77,
for example. And what does Esau ask there
at verse 7? Will the Lord cast off forever? is his question. Will he be favourable
no more? Is his mercy clean gone forever?
Does his promise fail forevermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he in anger shut up his
tender mercies? Aren't these questions indicative
of unbelief really? Questioning the very faithfulness
of God. But then you see on the other
hand Later, in the 94th Psalm, we have the language of faith. At verse 14, the Lord will not
cast off His people, neither will He forsake His inheritance.
God doesn't cast off His people. And yet sometimes that's how
it appears. This is the struggle, this is
the wrestling that must be going on in the soul of this man. What a struggle it was. It is
that good fight of faith. As Joseph Hart says, true faith's
the life of God deep in the heart. It lies, it lives, it labours
on the load. Though damned it never dies.
But sometimes it seems to be at death's door. But that's not
the case. Oh, there's always that faith,
there's that new nature. There's that divine nature. That's
what the believer is, of course, partaker of the divine nature. If a man is in Christ, Jesus
is a new creation. Whosoever is born of God, we're
told, doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him. He
cannot sin. he cannot sin because he's born
of God he has a new nature that never sins but he has an old
nature and that's the conflict and this is what's going on here
his soul comes into fire he feels something of the warfare the
good fight, the faith, the trial of God's word and God's word
does try us, it comes to us and it encourages us He is pleased sometimes to grant
us such assurances by His Spirit as we read His Word, as we hear
His Word, but then also our faith in that Word is so closely tested
by God. But there's not just a trial
of God's Word here, there's also, in the second place, the time. That's what it says, until the
time that His Word came. But what is this man learning?
He is learning by experience the truth of God's sovereignty
and that all his times are very much in the hands of God. Isn't that the best place for
all our times to be? And what does the preacher tell
us there in Ecclesiastes chapter 3? To everything there is a season
and a time to every purpose under heaven. That's what we have to
learn, a time to every purpose. And when we come to the end of
the book of Genesis and Jacob is dead and now Joseph Bredon
fear that their brother is going to take his revenge upon them.
What does he say to them? Genesis 50 verse 20, As for you,
ye thought evil against me. But the Lord meant it unto good,
to save much people alive. Or they did think evil, but God
was in it all. God was overruling it all. But how long it took, it took
a long, long time for God's Word to have its accomplishment. Again,
as we read there in Daniel 10 and verse 1, the thing it says
was true, but the time appointed was long. The thing was true,
but the time appointed was long. Our time is always now. But that's
not always the case with God, is it? Again, think of those
words in Habakkuk. Habakkuk chapter 2 and verse
3, The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall
speak and not lie, though it tarry, wait for it, because it
will surely come, it will not tarry. All true faith, you see, is that
faith that endures by waiting upon God. That's the life of
faith, that waiting upon God, that looking to God. As Paul
exhorts, Be ye not slothful, but followers of them, he says,
who through faith and patience, or faith and endurance, inherit
the promises. That's how we come to inherit
the promises, through faith, through endurance, through patience. What do vain men want? They want
something tangible, they want something physical. They want
sensible evidences of God and the workings of God. That was
the case with the Pharisees, wasn't it, in the days when the
Lord Jesus Christ was here ministering upon the earth? Well, those religious
men, and they were religious men, they were looked up to by
so many in Israel. And what did they want? They
constantly wanted the Lord to give them some sign. In Mark 8.11, the Pharisees came
forth and began to question with him, it says, seeking of him
a sign from heaven, tempting him. And he sighed deeply in
his spirit and said, why does this generation seek after a
sign? Verily I say unto you, there
shall no sign be given unto this generation." Oh, we're not to
look for these tangible proofs. We want to see something wonderful,
miraculous, I suppose. What are we to do? We're simply
to rest in God. We're to trust in the Word of
God and in the promises of God. Has He not magnified His Word
above all His Name? Is he not that God who can never
break his own word of promise? Why he is sworn by himself until
the time that his word came, the word of the Lord tried him
it says. Here then we're reading of Joseph
but finally do we believe that the Lord Jesus
Christ is in all the scriptures? Well, the Lord Jesus Christ is
here. Isn't Joseph a type of the Lord Jesus Christ? I said
before concerning the book of Genesis, we know what it is. It's the book of beginnings.
That's what Genesis means. The Genesis of a thing is the
beginning of a thing. In the beginning God created
the heaven and the earth. But Remember that there's a sense
in which it's more than a book of beginnings, it's also a book
of generations. In Genesis 2-4 we're told these
are the generations of the heaven and the earth. The beginning
of chapter 5 we're told these are the generations of Adam.
In chapter 6 and verse 9, these are the generations of Noah.
And so, go through and see how we have these various generations
being spoken of. And the last, the last of the
generations is what we read in chapter 37 of Genesis. These
are the generations of Jacob. And then immediately it says,
and Joseph. And all the remaining history,
really, very much centers in this young man, Joseph. Joseph is a type of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And what do we read here in verse
17? He sent a man before them, even Joseph. Isn't it the Lord
God who has sent his son and when did he send his son, why
he sent his son in the fullness of the time and there are such striking similarities
really between Joseph and the Lord Jesus Christ he was a master
of dreams he could interpret dreams that's how he came to
be freed from the prison because eventually
when Pharaoh dreamt his dreams, no one could interpret any of
those dreams, none of the wise men anywhere in Egypt, but then
suddenly the butler recalled that there was one those many
years ago in the prison and Joseph is summoned and he interprets
the dream and that results of course in
his exaltation and eventually is the man who is placed next
to the Pharaoh. Now the Pharaoh had great respect
for him. There in Genesis 41, 38, the
Pharaoh says to his courtiers, Can we find such a one as this
is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? He's speaking of Joseph.
Who can he put over matters? Why this man? In whom the Spirit
of God is. And when we think of the Lord
Jesus Christ, of course, we remember He is the Anointed, He is Christ. And God giveth not the Spirit
by measure unto Him. Oh, this is the man that God
sent in the fullness of the time, even the Lord Jesus Christ. And
again here in this portion that we're considering in Psalm 105,
what does the Pharaoh do with Joseph? He made him Lord of his
house, ruler of all his substance. And isn't it a truth? Christ
is a son over his house, we're told in the New Testament. Here is Joseph over this house,
what does he do? He nourishes his house. He is the nourisher of his father
and his brethren. He is there to open all the storehouses
in Egypt. He can make every provision for
his own family. And the Lord Jesus is that one.
There's a son over his house. Why? The Father has committed
all power and authority into the Lord's hands. Are we not
directed then ultimately here to the Lord Christ himself? That one who comes in the fullness
of the time and comes to execute that great work of redemption,
who comes to save his people from their sins. Why the type
is so insignificant we might say. when we consider the blessed
antitype, the Lord Jesus Christ. Far greater is that deliverance
that is in Christ and that provision that is in Christ than anything
that we see here in Joseph. But we do learn this lesson,
I truth, that we're to be those who look to the Word of God and
rest in the Word of God and await God's time to accomplish all
His goodwill and pleasure. He sent a man before them, even
Joseph, who was sold for a servant, whose feet they hurt with fetters
as he was laid in iron. Until the time that his word
came, the word of the Lord tried him. May the Lord be pleased
to bless his word to us. Now before we turn to the Lord
in prayer, let us just sing his praise in the hymn 614, the tune
is Clevija. Is that right, Ruth? Clevija. It's number 20. The Lord the righteous tries,
yet will adore his name. He never will their cause despise,
nor put their hope to shame. 614, tune 20.