Genesis 40-41 - What does 'withness' of the Lord look like?

We study through books of the Bible here at the village chapel, and we're going to continue our study of the book of Genesis this morning.

In particular, the story of Joseph.

We're going to continue there.

If you want a paper copy, just lift up your hand and someone can bring it to you.

And we do have 80 verses that we're going through today.

So a paper copy or some kind of copy would be good for you to keep with us.

So glad you're here.

And also, along with Tom, I'm going to welcome those who are worshiping with us online.

Grateful that you're here with us today.

And I'm a big fan.

I don't know if anybody's a fan in here.

A lot of people don't, you know, it's not for everybody, but I like it.

I like some of their music.

Some of it, I don't know where they are spiritually, but some of their songs seem to have some kind of seeker's heart.

But the the hot new single on this album is called Higher Power.

I thought, oh, well, I'm a pastor.

I guess I should probably read the lyrics and see what this song's about.

What do they mean when they say higher power?

And it's a fitting example of the spirit of our age.

And it beckons us to look inside ourselves.

Deep inside of ourselves to find out who we are, who I am, to look deep inside ourselves to decide what's true, what's good, what's beautiful, what's right, what's wrong.

To look inside ourselves to figure out what it means to be human.

And uh Chris Martin, the lead singer, said this song is about uh finding the inner astronaut in all of us.

And now, in in his defense, I don't mean to pick on it, but in his defense, they're not writing a uh a theological or philosophical treatise in this song.

That wasn't their goal when they wrote it.

Um, but it's indicative of the spirit of our age, to be sure.

The song says, the chorus, at the very beginning of the chorus, you've got a higher power.

You've got a higher power.

And one of the core themes of Genesis and really all throughout Scripture is that there is one with a higher power, and you aren't it.

And it's also not uh deep with inside you.

Now, on the other side, I think it's important to affirm that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, each of us individually, and we bear the image of God.

But it's only when we have a proper understanding of who God is, and we just sang about him, and who we are, that we even have a foundation for something like human dignity, human flourishing, a foundation for any of that.

We have to have a proper understanding of what that higher power is, and as believers, who that higher power is.

But the Bible doesn't leave it just at that.

He is the creator, but he's also one that he's revealed himself to us.

You could say he speaks.

So he's the creator God, he's revealed himself to us in his kindness, he speaks.

And even more than that, the Bible tells us that he's with us, most fully in the person of Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us.

So he is the creator, yes, but even more than that, he speaks and he's with us.

And we see that already as we've been studying Genesis and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and now in the story of Joseph.

As we've mentioned in our study, the book of the book of Genesis, Joseph gets just as much airtime as Abraham, or almost as much, 13 chapters, the way that we put it together.

So it tells us something, at least that we should sit up and pay attention to this man of uh exemplary character, of integrity, uh certainly of gifting.

He's not perfect, but the text gives us a portrait of a man who the Lord works through to accomplish his purposes.

I love this story.

And throughout this story, and in particular with our study last week, if you remember in chapter 39, on four occasions the author tells us that Joseph was not alone.

The Lord was with Joseph.

And if you were here last week, you might have underlined that four times.

The Lord was with Joseph.

He wasn't alone in the pit.

His brothers had devised a plan to kill him and eventually they sold him into slavery, but he wasn't alone then.

He wasn't alone in the palace where he's unjustly accused.

And he's not alone now in the prison where we left off last week, serving time for a crime he didn't commit.

Four times.

I think the author is telling us something here.

They're uh framing the story of Joseph in a particular way.

The Lord was with Joseph.

There was a higher power guiding and directing, but it wasn't from deep within Joseph, and he'll actually say that in the text we read today.

It was with the creator God, the personal God Yahweh, who had set his steadfast love on him.

That's what the text said last week.

God set his steadfast love on him, and the Lord was with him.

Many years later, uh, King David would say something similar in a different way, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and Joseph now in the prison, unjustly accused, feels a similar weight.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

But how can that be?

Well, he tells us, for you are with me.

Our text last week, like I said, set up and it framed uh the story that we're gonna read today.

Joseph was placed in prison, and the text says, but in English, but the Lord was with Joseph.

So keep that in mind.

And as we uh read this story, I want us to keep this question in mind.

It was something that was uh ringing in my head as I was studying this week.

What does a life shaped by the withness of the Lord look like?

Withness may or may not be a word.

We're not quite sure.

Some dictionaries say it is, some don't.

Um, but we we use it here at TVC, and I think we understand what it means.

What does a life shaped by the withness of the Lord look like?

It looks like something.

So turn if you would to Genesis chapter 40.

Genesis 40 · chapter mention

Like I said, we have a lot to cover.

We have dreams, we have interpretations of dreams, we have famines, a span of nine years, so no pressure whatsoever to get uh through this today.

Um before we do that, let me let me pray for us.

God with us, we need to hear from you today.

God with us, I need to hear from you today.

Lord, I pray you'd um, by your spirit, illuminate your word so that we might follow in all faithfulness and obedience to your great glory.

In Jesus' name we all said.

Amen.

All right, chapter 40, verse 1.

So sometime after this, so Joseph is in prison, sometime after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their Lord, the king of Egypt.

Some of your translations might say butler instead of cupbearer.

So the cupbearer and the baker have committed this offense, verse two, and Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined.

The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them.

So not only is Joseph in prison, but he is now uh serving these two officials, the cupbaker, the cupbearer and the baker.

He's serving them.

They continued for some time in custody.

Real quick, these two uh professionals, the cupbearer and the baker, these were esteemed uh positions.

The cupbearer, um, almost like a secret service, he was protecting the king, Pharaoh, uh, from someone who might poison him.

We don't know this, but it could be that the cupbearer and the baker, um uh some folks thought that maybe they were going to poison Pharaoh.

Maybe that's why they were in prison.

It's interesting that it's both around food.

The baker, it's interesting, uh, baked goods in that time uh were a big deal.

Baked goods in Egypt, there's actually some extra-biblical sources.

These weren't like um great British, Great British bake-off home bakers kind of a thing.

This was a real uh a science, a profession there.

Uh extra-biblical sources tell us there were 38 varieties at least of cake and 57 varieties of bread, so not a low-carb diet there in Egypt at this time.

But the the cupbearer and the baker, these were important positions, and they're now in prison, and Joseph is serving them.

Verse 5 And one night they both dreamed the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, each his own dream, and each dream with its own interpretation.

When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled.

So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in his master's house, Why are your faces downcast today?

Joseph has some empathy here.

Verse 8, they said to him, We have had dreams, and there's no one to interpret them.

And Joseph said to them, Do not interpretations belong to God?

Encourage you to underline that or highlight it.

Joseph, we see here, um, has a proper understanding of what belongs to God, of who God is and who he is in light of God.

Please tell them to me, verse 9.

So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream there was a vine before me, and on the vine there were three branches.

As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened into grapes.

Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand.

And then Joseph said to him, This is its interpretation.

The three branches are three days.

In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh's cup in the hand as formerly when you were his cupbearer.

Only remember me when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house.

For I indeed was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.

So Joseph here making a request to the cupbearer.

Perhaps this might be the only occasion that we see some of his sorrow.

It's a little speculation, perhaps some sorrow, some despair, but also some hope that maybe the cupbearer would help him out of this pit, this prison.

Verse 16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, I also had a dream.

There were three cake baskets on my head, and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked goods for Pharaoh.

I told you.

Not a low-carb diet.

But the birds were eating it out of the baskets on my head.

And Joseph answered and said, This is its interpretation.

The three baskets are three days.

In three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and hang you on a tree.

So there's literally a play on words there.

And the birds will eat the flesh from you.

So not a favorable interpretation.

Verse 20 On the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.

He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and he placed the cup in the Pharaoh's hands.

But he hanged the chief baker as Joseph had interpreted to them.

Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

So we can add this to the list of injustices against Joseph.

He's thrown into the pit, he's unjustly accused, he's now in prison, and now he's been forgotten.

Chapter 41, verse 1.

After two whole years, so we're skipping ahead here, Joseph's been in prison another two years.

Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile.

We've moved now to the king's palace.

Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, verse 2, and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows, attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass, and behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.

And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows.

And Pharaoh awoke.

Kind of a weird dream.

I don't, I don't actually know what the difference is between an ugly cow and a good-looking cow.

But obviously Pharaoh does, they would.

But there's a theme that's going to run through Pharaoh's dreams here that the ugly, the thin cows are going to eat up the plump.

The unhealthy is going to eat up the healthy.

We'll continue on verse five.

And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time.

And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk.

And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind.

And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump, full ears.

And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.

So in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men.

Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

Now this is important because at this time, dreams and the interpretations of dreams, this was actually an academic science from the extra-biblical accounts we can put together in this time in Egypt.

This was a science.

So when Pharaoh calls the magicians and the wise men, it's almost like we would say calling all the top minds from Yale and Harvard and Stanford and Vanderbilt to come and try to interpret these dreams.

And Pharaoh, the title, the office of Pharaoh the king, was closely linked to the Nile.

Remember, Egypt's in a desert.

And the Nile being the primary source of water, of food, of transportation, econom uh the economy, was all wrapped up with the Nile.

And their mythology in Egypt, the Pharaoh was supposed to try to keep the cosmic order, the universal harmony in their mythology.

And any sign of a breakdown that might affect the Nile and everything that comes with the Nile could look bad on Pharaoh.

So he's very interested in these dreams.

What do these dreams mean?

So, verse 9, the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, okay, now the cupbearer's coming back in two years later, I remember my offenses today.

When Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, we dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own interpretation.

A young Hebrew, he was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard.

When we told him he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream.

And as he interpreted to us, so it came about.

So Joseph's gifting, the Lord himself, his power is being authenticated here, and the cupbearer is remembering this.

I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.

So why two years?

We don't know.

Many of the psalmists ask similar questions.

How long, O Lord?

We don't know.

But we continue to read the story.

14.

Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph.

There's a turning point.

And they quickly brought him out of the pit.

And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh.

That wouldn't have been a Hebrew thing to do, but they were honoring the office there of Pharaoh, likely.

So he comes clean-shaved, and uh verse 15, and Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it.

I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it.

Joseph answered Pharaoh, it is not in me.

God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.

If there's something to underline, that's it.

It is not in me.

Again, Joseph remembers who God is and who he is in light of the Lord.

The Lord is with Joseph.

Verse 17.

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, Behold, in my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile.

So he's going to repeat it.

Seven cows, plump and attractive, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass.

Seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt.

So Pharaoh adds a little bit of flourish here.

These are really ugly cows.

Verse 20.

And the thin, ugly cows ate up the first seven plump cows, but when they had eaten them, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as ugly as at the beginning.

Well, then I awoke.

Verse 22, I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk, full and good.

Seven ears withered thin and blighted by the east wind sprouted after them.

And the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears, and I told it to the magicians, magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.

None of the wise men, none of the top minds of the land.

But verse 25, then Joseph said to Pharaoh, The dreams of Pharaoh are one.

God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.

The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years, the dreams are one.

The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine.

It is, as I told Pharaoh, God has shown to Pharaoh what he's about to do.

There will come seven years of glyc of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt.

The famine will consume the land, and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe.

Thus the really ugly cows.

There's a point to it.

Verse 32.

And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about.

So Joseph there interprets these dreams for Pharaoh.

And a quick side road here: what do we make of dreams?

Dreams play an important part in the life of Joseph.

We see that in the very beginning when we're introduced to Joseph, and he tells these dreams to his brothers and his father.

And it's part of the reason why his brothers really don't like him and try to have him killed and eventually sold into slavery.

And then with the cupbearer and the baker, and now with Pharaoh.

So what do we do with these dreams?

Do I need to have somebody interpret the dream that I had last night today, or last night, or did I just have some bad hot chicken?

It's an important question, though.

What do we do with dreams today?

And I think it's important when we're studying a text like this to put it in proper context.

And we've talked about this a little bit in our study already, but obvious, one of the obvious points is Joseph does not have the book of Genesis.

He's living the book of Genesis.

Joseph does not have the written revelation of God.

That would come at Sinai and later.

Joseph doesn't have the Bible.

The fullest expression of the word of God made flesh is revelation to us is in Jesus.

And of course, Jesus will come much later on.

So it's important to remember the context here.

Joseph does not have the Bible.

So the Lord in his kindness is revealing himself through Pharaoh in these dreams.

It's important.

So what about today?

I mean, what about dreams today?

First, if somebody asks me the question, does God still reveal himself through dreams or through other things?

I would say, the Lord can do anything he wants, anything he chooses.

That's true.

But now that we have the written word of God, ordinarily, there's nothing ordinary about it, but ordinarily, the Lord reveals himself through one, the written word that we have here, preserved for us in the scriptures, by the illumination of the Spirit of God in the context of the people of God.

It's an important thing for us to know.

That doesn't mean when you have a prompting or perhaps you have a dream, but we have the Bible to test it against, to consider and test it against.

You have other brothers and sisters to consider and test it against.

I was talking to a friend yesterday, though, this is an important one.

In the Middle East, in other parts of the world where the Bible is not easily accessed, there's no good translations, in other parts of the world where missionary activity is very limited.

There are reports from trustworthy folks that I personally know where visions have been used, dreams have been used by the Lord in conversion.

So I think the Lord can do anything he wants.

But as we look at a story like this, it's important to put it in context that the Lord is being kind.

He's accommodating himself and revealing himself to Pharaoh through these dreams.

So we'll continue reading, if you would, with me at 33.

So he's told him these, or he's interpreted these dreams for him, and now he's going to get strategic.

Verse 33.

Now therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt.

Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years.

So really practical.

Set someone in charge and then give them a you know some folks to help them.

So it's a team effort here.

Thirty-five.

And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for the food in the cities, and let them keep it.

That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.

37.

This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants, and Pharaoh said to his servants, Can we find a man like this in whom is the Spirit of God?

Pharaoh, of course, doesn't have a fully developed theology of the doctrine of the Spirit of God.

But what he does, he sees something.

There's something in the life of faith, it looks like something.

Someone whom the Lord is with, someone walking a life in faith.

That actually looks like something.

And Pharaoh at least recognizes that.

39.

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are.

You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command.

Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.

And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.

Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck.

The one who started his story, at least where we picked it up, with a coat of many colors, it was stolen from him, taken from him, is now being given the finest linen in all the land.

And they called out before him, bow the knee, thus he set him over all the land of Egypt.

Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without your consent, no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.

He's given a lot of power here.

And Pharaoh called Joseph's name, Zaphanath Penea, and he gave him in marriage Asanath, the daughter of Potipharah, priest of On.

So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

He gets to work.

46.

Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

This has been thirteen years that Joseph has been enslaved in one way or another.

And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt.

During the seven plentiful years the earth produced abundantly.

And he gathered up all the food of these seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt, and put the food in the cities.

He put in every city the food from the fields around it, and Joseph stored up grain in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured.

The Lord was with Joseph.

Verse 50 Before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph.

Asanoth, the daughter of Potiphar, priest of On, bore them to him.

Joseph called the first of the firstborn Manasseh.

For he said, God has made me forget all my hardship in all my father's house.

The name of the second he called Ephraim.

For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.

Interesting that these two sons would be elevated to tribes of Israel, along with the rest of Jacob's sons.

53.

The seven years of plenty that occurred in the land of Egypt came to an end.

And the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said.

There was famine in all lands, but in the land of Egypt there was bread.

When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread.

Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, Go to Joseph, what he says to you, do.

So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.

Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.

Do you remember one of the covenantal promises to his great grandfather Abraham?

Through you all the nations will be blessed.

And here we're starting to see some of the fruit of that.

Because of what Joseph has done, what the Lord has done through Joseph, that says that all the earth, as they were aware of it, was in a famine, and they were blessed because of the work of Joseph, what the Lord has done through Joseph.

Such an amazing story.

Stories like this should make us stand in awe of the goodness, of the kindness, of the faithfulness of God.

Amen.

I love this quote by Marilyn Robinson.

When we study a text like this, I think she gets at some of this.

We are grass, no doubt of it, meaning the grass withers and the flowers fade.

We are grass, no doubt of it, but with a sense of history, we can have a perspective that lifts us out of our very brief moment here.

Certainly, this is one purpose of biblical narrative.

I think that's so true.

So I suggested we ask this question all along the way as we read this story: what does a life shaped by the withness of God look like?

And I just have two very simple points for us to consider.

One, because the Lord is with me, and that is true by the way, for you, because the Lord is with me, I can wait with hope.

Thirteen years Joseph was in prison, mistreated.

Like I said, we may be witnessing a little bit of his sorrow, of his of his despair and hope when he asked the cupbearer for his help.

And the cupbearer forgets Joseph.

And I'm uh speculating, but I imagine for those two years before the cupbearer remembers him again, that he's in prison.

And for those two years, every time there's a footstep down the prison stairwell, every time the iron doors are opened up, did the cupbearer remember me today?

In a room like this, um, I know many of you, and there's bound to be hearts uh that are in the throes of waiting.

Uh I have some in my own family who are uh wondering when the doctors are gonna finally figure out uh what this chronic pain is.

They're waiting.

Um might be in this room today wondering when is my uh when is the trust in my marriage gonna be uh when when is my marriage gonna be healed?

How long, oh Lord?

When's my child who's far from the Lord gonna come back to the Lord?

How long, oh Lord, might be a question you're asking.

It might be your prayer this morning or this week, and you're in good company.

We've already said it, the psalmists.

How long, O Lord?

We don't know the answer to that question often.

Uh why did it take two years for the cupbearer to remember Joseph?

We don't know.

Uh Psalm 105 tells us the Lord was testing Joseph, so we know that uh that at least, but we don't know all the reasons.

God could have reminded him at any point.

Two years.

We don't know often why, and it's okay to wrestle with that, and you should hear that from us this morning, from me.

It's okay to wrestle with that how long?

Why am I waiting?

Uh sometimes I don't wait with hope.

Sometimes I don't wait with patience, I wait with anger or anxiety or despair.

And that hope may not be fully realized until glory, but our hopeful waiting, and this is important, is grounded in the truth that for those in Christ, and I hope that's you today, for those in Christ, the Lord is with you.

It's not just a platitude, it's not just a verse your grandma had on her coffee mug.

It's a truth that's been borne out through redemption history, fully proved in the life of Jesus and his death and his resurrection.

Emmanuel, Jesus' name, God with us.

Isn't that amazing?

He walked the earth, he sent us his living and active spirit, and he dwells among us in this room today, among his people.

And that is a guarantee.

It says that the Spirit being sent to us is a guarantee that He will once, He will come again with as we wait in hope, and He will restore all things new.

There'll be no more tears, no more suffering, no more waiting.

Can't wait for that day.

And Jesus Himself says this when he's with his disciples at the end of Matthew, and behold, I am with you to the end.

Words of Jesus.

I love R.

C.

Sproul said this, uh said it this way.

To me, there's nothing more comforting than knowing that there is a God of providence who is aware not only of every one of my transgressions, but of every one of my tears, every one of my aches, and every one of my fears.

That's the kind of God we serve.

That's the God who is with you today.

So uh, one, because the Lord is with us, with me, with you, I can wait with hope.

And two, because the Lord is with me, I can trust him with any outcome.

And that is hard work.

I know a lot of our brothers and sisters here can attest to that fact.

Waiting and trusting are inseparably linked.

We can only wait with hope if we trust the one who is all wise, all good, all powerful.

We can trust the Lord who is with us with the outcomes.

And let's be clear, they won't always be as dramatic.

This is quite a dramatic story.

That's why there is a musical written about it.

Not all of our stories are going to have a musical written by Andrew Lloyd Weber.

But this story is a, I think, a glorious display of the reason why we trust God.

That's why Paul and Silas could sing in prison.

Because our hope is grounded in something.

Later in the study, and we'll study this in more depth next week, Joseph will meet his brothers again.

And it's extraordinary if you think about it, the kindness of their Lord, uh of their Lord and ours.

Their intention to destroy Joseph, his brothers, they intended to destroy his life.

And the Lord continued to work in Joseph's life, and now Joseph is saving his brothers.

Isn't that incredible the way the Lord works?

For they intended for destruction, and the Lord works for their own deliverance from the famine.

When the Lord is with us, everything changes.

Many others throughout the history of God's people, of course, understood this.

And I just wanted us to read, or I'll read this aloud, from a few psalmists.

Be gracious to me, O Lord.

This is King David.

For I am in distress.

My eye is wasted from grief, my soul and my body also, but I trust in you, O Lord.

I say, You are my God.

My times are in your hands.

Another way of saying he's with David, he's with you.

And we read this one earlier, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

How can that be?

For you are with me.

Or from our brother the Apostle Paul, rejoice in the Lord always.

And again, I will say, rejoice.

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.

The Lord is at hand.

Do not be anxious about anything.

How in the world could Paul say, how can we say, rejoice in the Lord always?

How can we say don't be anxious about anything?

Except that the Lord is at hand.

Paul would also say in Romans, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In other words, for those in Christ, there's never a moment that you're separated from God.

Do you believe that this morning?

There will be seasons where you can't see his hand moving, you can't feel his presence.

There'll be seasons where you've strayed from his ways, perhaps so much that you're calloused to even recognize the presence of God.

That can be true.

But it's precisely in those moments that we're invited to come, you and I.

We're invited to come and remember the promises, these promises with hope, a grounded hope, grounded in the history of God's saving work in his people, the history of God's saving work in my life, and your life, and many other brothers and sisters in here.

A holy God rescuing me, a rebel, and adopting me as his own child.

All because of the work of Christ on the cross, the greatest, the greatest act of injustice the world has ever seen.

And the resurrection, the greatest source of hope that we'll ever know.

The grounding of our hope is that He is with us.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon would say this it's noteworthy that the clearest promises of the Messiah have been given in the darkest hours of history.

Emmanuel is a grand word.

God with us means more than tongue can tell.

All these promises are bound up and found in our union with Christ, the King of Kings, the Word may flesh, Emmanuel.

We have much to learn from our brother Joseph in a story like this, but as he said, it is not in me.

He points away from himself, lifting our eyes here in this room today to the one who's with us.

I don't know if you're in a prison or a palace this morning.

I don't know if you're perhaps in a pit, maybe at the top of your game.

My prayer is that all of our lives would be shaped by the witness of the Lord.

I pray we rest well today with the words of Jesus in our ears.

And I and behold, I am with you always.

That's good news.

Let's pray.

Lord, make us more attentive to you today.

We know you're with us.

Plant that truth deep inside of us, shape our work, our play, our rest around that fact.

Holy Spirit, you alone can reveal yourself to us.

And I pray you would continue to do that in this place.

Move among us, shape us, renew us.

In the name of Jesus, Emmanuel, we all said.

Amen.