Psalms 105:19: “Until the time that his word came, the word of the Lord tried him.”
Nehemiah 8:10, “Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!”
We assume that our strength comes for the joy God gives to us. Ever stop to ask where that joy comes from? Joseph learned to be joyful in every situation because the joy of the Lord was his strength. The word joy that is used in Nehemiah is the word chadoth which is really the word for pleasure. The pleasure of God is our strength. What does that mean. Psalms 105:19 gives us a clue.
Psalms 105:19 is a very curious reference to Joseph. Most commentators agree that this reference means that until the time came for Joseph to fulfill his purpose or mission in life which was to become a prime minister of Egypt and thus bring his family into safety from a famine, he first had to go through various trials to be tested by God.
This verse confirms two things that Christians believe, that we are all created for a specific purpose in life and that God puts us through testing’s or a spiritual boot camp, so to speak, to bring us to that point where we can fulfill our life’s mission or calling.
That thought alone make this verse a very important verse for us. It gives us a Biblical basis to say that we are not put on this earth haphazardly, but that God has placed us on this planet to fulfill a specific role. It also gives us a plausible reason as to why we go through the trials of life, and that is to provide a training ground which will help prepare us to fulfill the role God has chosen for us.
The word trial in the Hebrew is tsarp and is a very interesting word in the Hebrew to use in this passage. It is the word that is used for refining gold. In its Semitic root you find it is based upon the idea of making something pure. We see in this verse that it is the word of the Lord that purified Joseph. You would expect the writer to use devar which are words spoken from the heart in this context, yet he uses the word amar which is simply a spoken word, a saying. Just the general sayings of the Lord purified Joseph’s motives until the time of the word came. Here is where we find the Hebrew word devar or the word that is spoken from the heart of God. Devar represents a word of power. It could also be a word of prophecy or inspiration. Devar is spelled with a Daleth which is a doorway to the Beth or the heart of the Resh or Spirit of God. Devar is a doorway to the heart of God. ‘Amar is spelled Aleph which represents God
Revealing the Mem or the revealed knowledge of God through the Resh or the Spirit of God. Thus, ‘amar refers to God revealing himself through the Holy Spirit.
So the message I get from this verse is that Joseph at an early age received a devar insight into the heart of God. He received knowledge of God’s intended purpose in his life. He knows God took pleasure chadoth in him. As Joseph was purged of all his impurities, or selfish and self-center motives he could still feel that devar that pleasure God took in Him. God put him through deep trials, stripping him all his trust in himself so that when the time came to enter into his purpose or role in life his trust would be in God alone. Yet, God was using ‘amar, just as a simple revelation to remind him of God’s devar, God’s approval of him.
Joseph was astute enough to know that every trial, every difficulty that he encountered on his long journey to deliver his people from a famine was actually God speaking or ‘amar (ing) to him. When he was thrown into the pit, he looked to understand what God was saying or ‘amar, when he was sold into slavery, he looked for ‘amar, God reminding him He had a purpose. When he was falsely accused of rape, he looked for ‘amar, to remind him that God took pleasure in him. When he was thrown into prison he looked he received the ‘amar from God that he was being taught and trained for that ultimate devar in fulfilling God’s purpose and bringing joy to the heart of God. Every trial he encountered was God simply speaking ‘amar to him, showing him how to strip himself of all impurities so that he could be refined into pure gold before God and bring joy to the heart of God.
So how did Joseph manager to endure all these trials or tsarps that God sent his way? Was it the knowledge that it would all eventual culminates into a grand plan of God. That Talmud teaches that everything Joseph said or did the name of Jehovah was upon his lips. He did everything as unto God. In everything he gave thanks unto God. When he did this, even when serving in slavery and eventually in prison the joy of the Lord the pleasure god felt in him was his strength. In other words as he performed each task he could feel God’s pleasure. Just to feel God’s pleasure, to know you are in the center of God’s will makes it all worthwhile. Lately, it is coming to light in the news media of how Christians are suffering horrible atrocities in lands where radical religious elements are causing these Christians to live in constant fear. We are hearing of Christians being tortured and put to death for their faith in Jesus. What is it that gives them their strength? It is the ‘amar words of God which remind them of the devar, the words from the heart of God. When they hear these ‘amar’s they see the devar, the heart of God and they see God’s pleasure in them, God’s pride in them, God’s love for them and the joy they bring to God’s heart in their faith and faithfulness.
You see the joy of the Lord is your strength. It is not the joy you feel, but the joy God feels in you and reveals it to you through devar that gives you strength. God felt great joy in Joseph during his time of tsarps, trial. That sense of pride and joy that the Lord felt gave Joseph the strength to endure all his tsarps trails. Joseph may not have been felt very joyful when falsely accused of rape or thrown into prison, but he knew God took pride in Him and felt joy in his faithfulness and that gave him his strength to endure.
Every trial that comes our way if we go through it with the name of God on our lips, if we endure it recognizing that it is the ‘amar of God that has brought us into it, it will lead us to the devar of God, the heart of God and when we enter His heart we find it is filled with joy over us and our faithfulness. When we see the joy of the Lord that becomes our strength to overcome.
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