Remember His Wonders
He sent a man before them— Joseph, sold as a slave. Psalm 105:17 · Berean Standard Bible
God sent Joseph ahead into Egypt—a young man sold into slavery by his own brothers—to prepare the way and ensure his family's survival when they would arrive.
On the surface, Joseph's story looks tragic: his brothers hate him, sell him into slavery, and he's taken to Egypt in chains. But the psalmist is revealing the deeper truth: God sent him ahead intentionally. What his brothers meant for harm, God meant for the preservation of the entire family line.
The psalmist
Genesis 37-40 shows Joseph's slavery and imprisonment in Egypt. But by Genesis 41, he's interpreting dreams for Pharaoh and becoming the most powerful man in Egypt after the king—perfectly positioned to save his family.
God sent Joseph ahead of his family to Egypt through the mechanism of slavery, positioning him to save his people from famine.
The phrase 'He sent a man before them' (*shlch 'ysh lpnyihem*) uses language of *missio*—deliberate dispatch with purpose. Joseph's enslavement (Genesis 37:28) is reinterpreted not as misfortune but as divine sending. This theology of suffering-as-missional-placement prefigures messianic theology and later Servant Songs (Isaiah 53).
The narrator, articulating what we might call a 'theodicy through retrospection'—interpreting past suffering as ultimately purposeful.
Joseph's biography becomes paradigmatic: the righteous sufferer whose trials serve larger redemptive purposes. This establishes a hermeneutical framework for understanding Israel's later exile—displacement serves covenantal purposes beyond immediate comprehension.
15“Do not touch My anointed ones! Do no harm to My prophets!”
16He called down famine on the land and cut off all their supplies of food.
17He sent a man before them— Joseph, sold as a slave.
18They bruised his feet with shackles and placed his neck in irons,
19until his prediction came true and the word of the LORD proved him right.
Read all of Psalm 105 — From Abraham to the exodus, God's faithfulness is retold as a song. He remembered His holy promise and brought His people out with joy.
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