Seeing God's Foresight
in hindsight
Psalm 105:17
He had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave…
Psalm 105 begins by exhorting God’s people to give thanks, sing God’s praise, proclaim his works, and remember the wondrous works He has done in the past. One of those works the Psalmist reminds us of is the story of Joseph becoming a slave after being sold by his brothers. Following verse 17, we are told of Joseph’s suffering, his deliverance, and his ascendancy to a position of power in Egypt. Verse 17 frames the story of Joseph from the vantage point of seeing that everything that happened to him was God’s doing.
Joseph was sold by his brothers because they bitterly resented and envied him. But that is not what is emphasized here. It does say Joseph was sold as a slave, but that statement is preceded by telling us that God sent Joseph ahead of his family to put him in a position where he could save them. It was in Egypt that his small band of brothers became a great multitude who were ready to become the nation of Israel.
The purpose of God in allowing Joseph to be sold into slavery by his brothers could not be seen while it was happening. It is only when we look back on what happened do we realize that God was using Joseph’s brothers to send Joseph ahead to save his family from the famine.
As Joseph said to his brothers, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”
Often it is only in hindsight that we can see the foresight of God. In the meantime, we can have faith that God is working all things for His glory and our good. We can and should do as the Psalmist says here and praise and worship God for all that we remember of His good works on our behalf. We can also praise Him for what He is doing now, even in our distress and trials, because we have faith that He is working with foresight that we will only see in hindsight.
