Psalm 105:16-36
The psalmist continues recounting highlights of Israel’s early history. We see Joseph, having been sold into slavery by his brothers, rising to power as Pharaoh’s right-hand man (Ps. 105:16-22). We also see that it is God Who summons a famine on the land, and it is God Who sent Joseph to Egypt as the way to rescue Jacob (Israel) and his family, to preserve them through the famine (Ps. 105:16,17,23). For details on that history, see Genesis 37-50.
So Israel sojourns in Egypt, and God blesses them, causing them to multiply and to become strong. But God also turns the hearts of the Egyptians against them (Ps. 105:23-25). See Exodus 1.
Then we see that God chooses Moses and Aaron to deliver the people of Israel, working signs and wonders and bringing severe plagues upon Egypt (Ps. 105:26-36). See Exodus 2-12:32.
It’s easy to look at all of these works of God from our (or even the psalmist’s) perspective, hundreds of years after the fact, with all our hindsight, and with the knowledge of how the story works out. We can see God’s faithfulness. We can see His power. And we can sing praises accordingly. But put yourself into the story, as all these events were unfolding. How did it look for Joseph when his brothers were selling him into slavery, or when he was languishing in prison? How did it look for everybody in the area during the famine that God sent to drive Jacob and his family to Egypt? How did it look for the Israelites during the four centuries between Joseph and Moses? How did it look for the Israelites as the hearts of the Egyptians were turned against them by the LORD? Or how did it look for the average Egyptian as the plagues were poured out?
Clearly, things did not always look so rosy as God worked out His purposes. Yet all the “bad” stuff — all the waiting, all the pain, all the silence, all the suffering — was just as much part of the story, just as much part of the plan as the “good” stuff, perhaps even more so. So the next time you are contemplating “glory sightings”, don’t just look for the things that make you feel all warm and fuzzy. Look for all those hard things, those trials that God is using to conform you to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29), because that’s the real deal: Christ in you, the hope of glory! (Col. 1:28)