From today’s entry in EDIFIED!
You, Lord God, are the marvelous One, for you are able to weave the evil decisions of all people and the conditions of this warped and twisted creation into the detailed plan for your recovery of righteousness and holiness in the universe.
In your wisdom you got Jacob, that stubborn, self-centered, rebellious, underhanded man, to move to Egypt, to where he didn’t want to go, so that his family line could be preserved and produce the mother of the Messiah. “You called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food…” (Ps. 105:16). The far-reaching features of the famine (foodlessness and fear) drove Jacob to leave his beloved land and go where you wanted him.
And you didn’t leave him unprotected: “… and you sent a man before them—Joseph, sold as a slave” (Ps. 105:17). He didn’t go on a camel as an esteemed emissary, but as a slave, in chains, cut off from hope, experiencing the death of his vision to be a ruler.
It was no pleasant position, being a slave: “They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons…” (Ps. 105:18). As he trudged across the sands of the desert, the shackles cutting into his ankles, the iron ring on his neck burning in the sun, you spoke to him, you brought him to surrender, burned the bitterness out of him, saved him from his self-centeredness, prepared him for being a productive person.
Then the years of service, of disappointment, of imprisonment (a second death of his vision), then of abandonment as Pharaoh’s servant forgot Joseph’s help and his plea for reciprocal help, leaving him to rot in jail for another two years (a third death of his vision). You kept him there “till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the LORD proved him true” (Ps. 105:19). You refined him, broke and reshaped him, taught him to trust you no matter how bad it looked.
Then when things were ready, when Joseph was fully prepared by you, “The king sent and released him, the ruler of peoples set him free. He made him master of his household, ruler over all he possessed, to instruct his princes as he pleased and teach his elders wisdom” (Ps. 105:20-22).
At the right time, you elevated him from the lowest position, a slave in prison, to the second highest position in the kingdom, Prime Minister, as it were. And he was ready to rule: having learned obedience and submission to you, he was able to lead others.
You, Lord God, are wise, all-knowing, all seeing, ever looking at the goal, always weaving every detail of life into the fabric of your plan, bringing history to the conclusion you desire: the exaltation of your Name, the elimination of evil, the elevation of the saints and an eternity full of praise, worship and glory.
Your wisdom is wonderful, your strength is sure, your love is long-lasting, your grace is ever good, your plan is perfect, your execution is excellent, your greatness is gracious, your workings are wondrous—you, O Triune God, the Excellent One, are worthy of worship and whole-hearted obedience through all eternity.
