And he called for a famine upon the land; he broke the whole staff of bread.
Psalm 105 looks back over Israel's history to show God's care for His people in trial. Verse 16 marks a turn: God Himself calls for the famine that drives Jacob's family out of the land.
The psalm does not say a famine arrived. It says God called for one.
Verse 16 assures us that the terrible famine in Egypt and Canaan was not just something that happened in the ordinary course of things. God "called for a famine upon the land" to carry out His purpose. It was one ordered item in the great sequence of events.
The second half of the verse says God broke the supply of bread. Older translations read "the staff of bread" — the support people lean on, snapped in two.
Ezekiel's prophecy about the siege of Jerusalem says: "I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment." It is a picture that speaks plainly of scarcity.
The famine was not an interruption to God's plan. It was how God moved Jacob's family to Egypt — and even their earlier crime against Joseph served the same end.
The immediate occasion of their going down to Egypt was the famine. But by the famine, and by the wickedness of Jacob's sons in selling their brother to the Ishmaelites, God was only accomplishing the fulfilment of His own purposes… It fills us with wonder to reflect that, whatever people do, even in wickedness and high-handed rebellion, God makes it serve the establishing of His own purposes of grace and love.
Hunger changed Jacob's household. It bent proud men low and sent them down to Egypt.
God makes him and his sons feel the distress of famine until they hear that Egypt has plenty of food available for sale. Jacob therefore orders his sons to make the trip there to buy food. Joseph's ten brothers then "went down," which shows that God must humble Israel before He blesses them.
The same hunger forced a buried guilt back into the open.
Years rolled on, and these brothers might have wrongly imagined that everything was fine; but then, seven years of plenty and seven years of scarcity! What did they mean? Who sent them? And what were they designed for? Admirable providence! Unsearchable wisdom! The famine reaches Canaan, and the pangs of hunger actually bring the guilty brothers to the feet of the brother they had wronged!
God's keeping and God's testing come from the same hand.
But if God preserves His own, He also tries them. It was He who sent a famine in the land, reducing the very supply of necessary food to an alarming level. But He had sent His servant Joseph to Egypt beforehand, though as a slave sold to a foreign master… But God's trials have a limit. Joseph came out of prison unexpectedly, and became the deliverer of Egypt from the pains of famine, and very soon the deliverer of his own family from the same suffering.
God sent the famine, and He sent the rescuer ahead of it — by way of slavery and a prison. That order points beyond Joseph.
The psalmist recalls different periods in the nation's history to show God's care for them in the middle of trial. In the time of the patriarchs God called for the famine, but sent Joseph to save them in the trial. But the one through whom salvation comes must himself suffer before he is a saviour. Having suffered, God exalts him to a place of glory. So Joseph becomes a striking picture of the One whom the Father sent to be the Saviour of the world.
- Called — The famine was not bad weather or bad luck. God summoned it, and it took its place as one ordered item in a planned sequence.
- Broke — The staff of bread is the support people lean on. God snaps it, and bread comes by weight, water by measure.
- Humbled — Hunger did the work that comfort never could. It brought proud brothers down to Egypt, and to the feet of the man they had wronged.
- Sent — God had placed the rescuer in Egypt before the famine came. He tests His own, but His trials have a limit, and His provision arrives ahead of the need.
- Saved — The saviour must suffer first, and then receive glory. That is why Joseph pictures the One whom the Father sent to be the Saviour of the world.
He sent a man before them Joseph was sold for a bondman.
Psalm 105 is a song of thanksgiving. It retells Israel's history to show how God kept His promise to Abraham's family. Verse 17 reaches one of the darkest moments in that story — a boy sold into slavery by his own brothers — and calls it a sending.
The verse before speaks of a famine; this one speaks of a slave. One writer sees a single hand behind both:
Verse 17 tells us that Joseph was sent on purpose into Egypt. A harsh light shines here on the cruelty of his dungeon. His feet were hurt with fetters, the iron entered into his soul. That was how he was prepared for the great role he was to fill. God sent the famine; God sent Joseph.
The food supply was never the whole point. Another writer traces the wider aim behind the sending:
Where is there greater cruelty to a young brother, a poor crying boy, who begged them while their hearts stayed hard? And once a slave, an imprisoned slave, where is a more sudden and surprising change from a dungeon to a throne than Joseph's? These are the means that prepare the way for Israel's stay in Egypt. God prepares Egypt for them; then He sends famine and drives them there. Truly we see His hand in every step... To provide food was not the main object, but a smaller purpose, made to serve the greater one: that in Joseph there might be a picture of a greater than he, who suffered from a deeper hatred, and who is a greater Deliverer from a worse famine.
The verse names a man sent and a man sold. Joseph himself later kept both, and cancelled neither:
As to the past, Joseph will not allow any regrets to spoil their enjoyment of his love. The sin had been confessed, and Joseph will not only forgive, he will remove every lingering regret and self-reproach. He assures them that behind their sin — yes, by means of their sin — God was working out His purposes of blessing. It is true, "You sold me here," Joseph has to say, but he adds, "God sent me before you to preserve life."
Naming God as the sender does not make the brothers innocent. Edward Dennett sets their crime beside the greatest crime of all:
The immediate reason for their going down to Egypt was the famine. But through the famine, and through the wickedness of Jacob's sons in selling their brother to the Ishmaelites, God was only carrying out His own purposes... It fills us with wonder to think that whatever men do, even in wickedness and open rebellion, God makes it help establish His plans of grace and love. As Peter said on the day of Pentecost about Christ, "this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men." So even the wrath of man is harnessed to the chariot wheels of God's decrees.
Being sent by God did not spare Joseph a single hardship of being sold.
But if God preserves His own, He also tries them. It was He who sent a famine in the land... But He had sent His servant Joseph to Egypt beforehand, though as a slave sold to a foreign master. And he was not spared the personal trial this involved. He was put in prison, his feet hurt with irons. But God's trials have limits. Joseph was unexpectedly released from prison. He became the deliverer of Egypt from the pains of famine, and very soon the deliverer of his own family too... The trial of his sufferings had fitted him well for a position of such rare greatness.
Joseph's road ran from the pit to the throne. C. H. Mackintosh reads that road as a portrait of Christ:
Notice how strongly Moses speaks of Joseph being separated from his brothers. He was rejected and thrown into the pit. In figure he passed through the deep waters of death, and so reached the place of dignity and glory. He was lifted from the dungeon to rule over the land of Egypt, and to be the preserver and sustainer of his brothers. A striking picture of Him who hung on the cross, lay in the grave, and is now on the throne of the majesty of heaven.
- Sent. God sent the famine, and He sent Joseph ahead of it, on purpose.
- Sold. The sending ran through a real crime. "You sold me here" and "God sent me" describe one event, and neither cancels the other.
- Chained. God's sent man still wore fetters. The trial was the training for the place that followed.
- Loosed. God's trials have limits. The dungeon ended, and the prisoner became the preserver of Egypt and of the family that had betrayed him.
- Foreshadowed. Rejected, brought down to death in figure, then raised to rule and to feed the starving. Joseph traces the path of the One who hung on the cross and now reigns.
They afflicted his feet with fetters; his soul came into irons;
Psalm 105 retells Israel's history as God's own work. It does not soften what happened to Joseph: the man God sent ahead to save a starving family first had his feet clamped in irons — so why the chains, and what were they for?
The fetters follow straight after the statement that God sent a man ahead. One writer joins the two verses and shows what that sending cost.
Verse 17 tells us that Joseph was sent ON PURPOSE into Egypt. A harsh light here shines on the cruel severity of his dungeon. His feet were hurt with fetters, the iron entered into his soul. In this way he was prepared for the mighty role he was to fulfil. God sent the famine: God sent Joseph.
"Fetters" are shackles for the feet. The ESV says his neck was put in a collar of iron; older translations read "he was laid in iron", and the margin note behind it has passed into everyday speech.
Psalm 105:18 shows us that it was a terrible experience. Speaking of Joseph, it reads, "whose feet they hurt with fetters; he was laid in iron." The margin of the Bible says, "Hebraism: his soul came into iron." Do we not have a saying in English, "The iron entered his soul"? Nothing is more depressing than captivity like that: day after day, night after night, summer and winter, year in and year out. The weariness, the discomfort, the sameness, the hopelessness — all of it is a great test. Under such a test character either collapses or is brought out. Trials make or break a man. They prove what a man is made of.
Nothing in the record suggests he was ever given a hearing.
Joseph was cast into prison, and his feet were hurt with fetters (Ps. 105:18), though it does not appear that there was any trial about the crime of which he was accused.
One writer reads the two halves as two depths of suffering: one in the body, one in the soul. He also calls Joseph a type of the Lord — a living picture of Christ.
It reminds us of Joseph, who is also a wonderful type of our Lord. Psalm 105:18, in the margin and in the new translation, reads, "Whose feet they hurt with fetters: his soul came into iron." In the first half of the verse we see the external suffering that Joseph endured. In the last half we find a deeper and keener suffering that went into the inmost part of his being.
Years of this were not wasted time. They were forming the man who would one day hold a nation's food supply.
A mere boy, a shepherd lad of seventeen, needed severe discipline to fit him for the brilliant future that lay before him. For thirteen long years he was shut up in prison. His feet were hurt with fetters, the iron entered his soul. One more day he woke to the dreary experience of prison life. Before the sun had set, he was proclaimed second only to Pharaoh in the land, the food controller of a mighty empire. His discipline under the hand of God had fitted him for the fulfilment of his God-given dreams.
Behind the injustice of men, another hand was at work — and its motive was love.
God, Who loved him, made all this "affliction of Joseph" into His discipline; for as we read, "the word of God tried him" (Ps. 105:19). Under God's hand this suffering worked patience in him, and through it his crown was growing brighter.
Release did not come for years. One writer explains why deliverance is often slow.
Whoever is truly cast on God improves the circumstances of trial he is in, whether they are temporary or permanent. No adverse circumstances can crush true living energy... In every trial, however gloomy, there are gleams of light and relief. But full deliverance is often delayed by our own anxiety to get it. God, not the deliverance, is to be the satisfaction of His servant. So deliverance is often postponed until we have no prospect of it and no expectation of it.
The chains were not a detour from God's plan for Joseph. They were the road.
Note, the humiliation of Joseph was God's path to his exaltation.
- Sent — God sent Joseph ahead on purpose. The fetters were part of that sending, not an accident.
- Iron — the margin reads "his soul came into iron". One suffering was outward, in his feet; a deeper one reached inside him.
- Unjust — no trial, no charge answered, years of unbroken sameness. Such a test either makes or breaks a man.
- School — the discipline came from a God who loved him. It worked patience, and formed the character the throne would need.
- Path — his humiliation was God's road to his exaltation. Until release came, God Himself was the servant's satisfaction.
Until the time when what he said came about the word of Jehovah tried him.
Psalm 105 retells Israel's story as a record of God keeping His covenant. At verse 19 it pauses on Joseph — a prisoner in Egypt, holding a promise he had not yet seen come true. The verse holds two things together: a word from God about Joseph's future, and long years in chains before it happened. The writers quoted here use an older wording: where the ESV says "tested," they say "tried."
The word that tested Joseph was the message God gave him in his dreams. The trial lay in the gap between that message and the day it came true.
The magicians and wise men of Egypt were helpless... In this difficulty the chief butler's memory came back. Remembering Joseph, he told Pharaoh how accurately Joseph had interpreted the dreams of both himself and the chief baker, a full two years before. What a test those two years must have been! No wonder Psalm 105:19 says of him, "The word of the Lord tried him." The word of the Lord through his dreams had pointed to his future glory. But how long he had to wait for it! A trying experience indeed!
The waiting had a fixed end point. Commentators word the turning point differently: some keep "until the time that his word came," while another writes of the time when Joseph's cause was known — and names the God at work in this part of the story.
The time came that his cause was known, "the word of the Lord tried him," Psalm 105:19. But it is Jehovah who is with him, the governing God, not under His name God Almighty.
Joseph's record holds no dramatic visions. One writer contrasts his years with the one-off moments of light at places like Peniel and Beersheba, and finds something steadier in Joseph.
In his history there are no angelic visits, no appearances of the Lord, no divine messages spoken to him. But in Joseph himself we have a vessel used by God, because God approved of him. That is a very precious thing with God. It is not Peniel or Beersheba again, with their occasional moments of refreshment and light. It is a lasting witness within, so that he knew the way of God, and kept it. "Until the time that his word came, the word of the Lord tried him."
Read in the flow of the psalm, the famine, the slavery and the prison are all God's doing — and so is the boundary around them.
But if God preserves His own, He tries them also. It was He who sent a famine in the land... But He had sent His servant Joseph to Egypt beforehand, though as a slave sold to a foreign master. Nor was he without the personal trial that this involved. He was put in prison, his feet hurt with irons (v. 18). But God's trials are limited. Joseph came out of prison unexpectedly, and became the deliverer of Egypt and soon of his own family too. The king of Egypt made him ruler over all his house (v. 20). The trial of Joseph's sufferings had well qualified him for this unusually great position.
Why does full relief so often come late? One writer answers by asking what God wants from His servant while the chains stay on.
The person who truly casts himself on God makes good use of the trying circumstances he is in, whether they are short or lasting. No adverse circumstances can crush true living energy; they may limit and direct it... In every trial, however gloomy, there are gleams of light and relief. But our own anxiety to get free often delays full deliverance. God, and not the rescue, is meant to satisfy His servant. So the rescue is often put off until we have no prospect of it and no longer expect it.
The same writer sets Joseph's long wait beside another one. The day of Christ's glory also seems to delay.
Though the day of Christ's glory seems to delay, we wait for it with confidence. It is the settled purpose of God. Joseph's advancement and glory seemed to be long delayed. All seemed failure and gloom, "Until the time that his word came: the word of the Lord tried him" (Ps. 105:19), then at one mighty bound he leapt from the prison to the throne.
- The word. God's message to Joseph came through his dreams and pointed to future glory; the promise itself became the instrument that tested him.
- The wait. Two years passed after Joseph read the butler's dream. The trial was the distance between what God said and when God acted.
- The Governor. God sent the famine and sent Joseph ahead of it; He also set the limits, so the prison had a fixed end.
- The making. The years built a lasting witness inside him. Joseph knew God's way and kept it, and the trial fitted him to rule.
- The turn. When the time came, Joseph went from prison to throne in one bound. The same confidence belongs to everyone still waiting on God's word.
The king sent and loosed him -- the ruler of peoples -- and let him go free.
This verse is the turning point in the psalm's story of Joseph: the fetters and the iron of the verses before end in one royal command. A king gave that order, yet the psalm is telling what God did for His people — so whose hand really opened the prison?
One commentator notes how long the trial lasted, and how suddenly it ended:
The trial of Joseph's faith and patience had been long, and it was sharpest, in soul and in body, at the very end — though the Lord was with him the whole time... How sudden the change from the king's prison to the puzzled king's court, and the baffled wise men of Egypt!
Joseph did not wait quietly. He tried to shorten his time in prison by asking Pharaoh's cupbearer to speak for him:
So Joseph, in his day, finds the waiting time in prison a testing time for faith. He too looks for rescue through human strength. He has done the king's cupbearer a kindness, so he assumes the cupbearer will speak to Pharaoh and get him released... Joseph must learn not only that human help is useless, but that God is his only resource... God has His time as well as His way to bring His purposes to pass.
Another writer draws out why God often lets the waiting run so long:
In every trial, however dark, there are gleams of light and relief. But full deliverance is often delayed by our own anxiety to get it. God Himself is to be the satisfaction of His servant, not the deliverance. So the deliverance is often put off until we no longer expect it at all.
A human king gave the order. One writer looks at the chain of events behind it:
As we read these sections of Scripture, we see a remarkable chain of providential dealings. They all move toward one great point: the exaltation of the man who had been in the pit. Along the way, they also bring out many lesser purposes. "The thoughts of many hearts" were to be "revealed;" but Joseph was to be exalted.
Joseph's release did more than end his pain. It led straight to high office, and his suffering had prepared him for it:
But God's trials have a limit. Joseph's release from prison came unexpectedly. He became the deliverer of Egypt from the pains of famine, and very soon the deliverer of his own family from the same distress... The trial of his sufferings had fitted him well for such great prominence — both in keeping control of the country and in teaching wisdom to its elders (v. 22).
Commentators read the movement from dungeon to dignity as a picture of Christ:
Here was exaltation of no ordinary kind. Set it beside the pit and the dungeon. Look at the chain of events that brought it about, and you have at once a clear display of the hand of God, and a striking picture of the sufferings and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ... We see a man put, in every real sense, in the place of death by the hand of man. Then the hand of God raises him up and sets him in dignity and glory. "This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it." (Acts 2:23-24)
Joseph's authority covered a foreign nation. One writer sees that reach in Christ too:
And in the exaltation of Joseph we see the exaltation of Christ, to whom every knee must bow. No Egyptian could move without Joseph's permission, and heralds went before his chariot calling out, "Bow the knee." ... Just as the Egyptians bowed to Joseph's authority, so the nations will own the exalted Christ, in that day, as King of kings and Lord of lords.
- Tested — The wait in prison tested Joseph's faith. He first tried to cut it short by leaning on human help.
- Timed — Deliverance is often held back until we stop expecting it. God means to be the satisfaction of His servant, not only his rescuer.
- Sent — A king gave the order. Behind it ran a chain of providential dealings, all moving to one point: the lifting up of the man from the pit.
- Trained — God's trials have a limit. The suffering that held Joseph down had fitted him to rule a nation and teach its elders wisdom.
- Typified — A man put in the place of death, then raised by God's hand, pictures Christ — crucified by men, raised by God, exalted until every knee bows.
He made him lord of his house, and ruler over all his possessions
Psalm 105 is a call to thank God by retelling what He has done. Here the retelling narrows to one man: a slave in a foreign prison who ends up running Egypt's royal household. The verse never names the king who promoted him, which raises the question of who the psalm credits with this rise.
Joseph's rise was no accident of Egyptian politics. One writer puts both the famine and the prisoner under the same hand:
Verse 17 tells us that Joseph was sent ON PURPOSE into Egypt. A harsh light here shines on the cruel severity of his dungeon. His feet were hurt with fetters, the iron entered into his soul. So he was prepared for the mighty role he was to fulfil. God sent the famine: God sent Joseph. Verses 20-22 describe his exaltation and power.
The fetters of the earlier verses were not an interruption of the story. One writer sets the prison next to the promotion:
But if God preserves His own, He tries them also. He had sent His servant Joseph to Egypt beforehand, though as a slave sold to a foreign master. Joseph was not spared the personal trial that this involved. He was put in prison, his feet hurt with irons. But God's trials are limited. Joseph was released from prison unexpectedly. He became the deliverer of Egypt from the pains of famine, and very soon the deliverer of his own family from the same troubles. The trial of Joseph's sufferings had well qualified him for this unusually great prominence.
The verse gives Joseph charge of the house and of everything the king owned. One writer measures how far that reached:
Joseph had now reached the peak of his glory. His word governed all Egypt, and every knee had to bow to him… His dominion was absolute, subject only to the king on his throne. The signet ring of authority rested on his hand.
Yet Joseph managed all of it for someone else. One writer looks past him to a greater administration:
If Joseph's administration resulted in everything being brought under Pharaoh, the glorious administration of Christ will result in God being "all in all."
One writer follows the psalm from the trial to the office, and reads Joseph as a type — a picture set up in advance — of Christ:
This section speaks of trial. The famine in Jacob's time is the occasion of it. But the psalmist goes on to show how God had provided for it. He sent one ahead of them into Egypt to be His servant in the service of man. This servant was himself fully tried, and made to realise what such service means in a world like this… In Joseph we have the type of the Lord Jesus. In Him God has indeed provided blessing for Israel and for the earth, and deliverance out of the great trial that is coming for both. The divine outcome came at last for him. Loosed from his chains, he is made the lord of Egypt, with fullness of power based upon fullness of wisdom. Such a One, but far surpassing Joseph, the world shall find at last.
Joseph's office was not a throne in his own land among his own people. One writer carries that over to Christ, and to the kind of kingdom He now holds:
God was with the hated Joseph. In the same way He was with Jesus in all fullness, the object of divine delight and the storehouse of wisdom for His glory. When Jesus was delivered out of all His troubles, deeper than any that ever fell on another, God highly exalted Him and set Him at His own right hand. If this kingdom was not the kingdom of Israel, of which Zion is the centre, this only confirms how fitting the type is. It was the administration of a kingdom wholly different from that coming day. Then He shall be the one king of all the earth as well as of the chosen people, coming in manifested glory on the clouds of heaven. That day has in no way arrived, though it surely will. But the despised and rejected One is exalted on His Father's throne, not yet on His own. He has all authority over a kingdom as wide as the world. That authority came in a form quite special, which He received when He was cast out and separated from His brothers. Joseph's exaltation by the king of Egypt is the striking shadow of this: the king made him chief over Egypt and all his house.
- Sent. The psalm credits the promotion to God, not to Pharaoh. The same hand that sent the famine sent the man ahead of the family who would need him.
- Tried. The fetters came before the household keys. The suffering qualified Joseph for the office, and God's trials have a limit.
- Set. Charge of the house and of all the king owned means absolute dominion. One man only stood above Joseph — the king on his throne.
- Exercised. Joseph brought everything under Pharaoh. His rule is a shadow of a greater one that ends with God being all in all.
- Surpassed. Power built on wisdom, given to a man once in chains, is the pattern of Christ. He was rejected by His brothers. He is now exalted with worldwide authority, and one day the whole earth will find Him.
To bind his princes at his pleasure, and teach his elders wisdom.
Psalm 105 retells Israel's story as proof that God keeps His word. Verse 22 is the top of Joseph's rise: a prisoner now commands Egypt's nobles and teaches its senior men. So who put him there, and what is that rise meant to teach?
The psalm never mentions the envy inside Joseph's own family. One writer notes what the psalm leaves out and what it leaves standing:
This Psalm mentions no national failure of any kind. It retells the ancient judgments on Egypt. For the Spirit celebrates here the action of God for His own name, and for the people of that name. On the other hand, it says nothing about the family envy that made Joseph a slave in a foreign land. It keeps only the overruling sovereignty of God in view: "He sent a man before them, even Joseph."
"Bind his princes" and "teach his elders" describe real power over Egypt's highest men. Older translations say "senators" where the ESV has "elders." One writer sets out how far that power reached:
Joseph had now reached the height of his glory. His word ruled all Egypt, and every knee had to bow to him. Pharaoh "made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance; to bind his princes at his pleasure; and to teach his senators wisdom." His rule was absolute, subject only to the king on his throne. The signet ring of authority rested on his hand.
How could a Hebrew prisoner teach Egypt's trained advisers? The wisdom was not his own. Joseph said so himself, while he was still in the dungeon:
God had destroyed "the wisdom of the wise" and brought "to nothing the understanding of the prudent." So He falls back on the man He had in reserve, "a man in whom the spirit of God is." … Joseph at once confesses, "It is not in me." It was no more in Joseph than in the wise men of Egypt. They may be learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. They may hold the very highest positions in the king's court. Joseph, by contrast, is "a young man, a Hebrew, a slave," in a dungeon. But because God is with him, he can surpass the wisdom of the wise. He can stand without fear before the king and say with complete confidence, "God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace."
One writer reads Joseph's suffering, wisdom and rule as a picture of Christ:
So without any effort of his own, Joseph was lifted from undeserved depths of suffering and shame to be prime minister of the greatest kingdom then on earth. Who could deny it was God's doing in His providence…? And how clearly Joseph pictures a greater than himself! He suffered first from His own people, who did not receive Him. Afterwards He suffered death on the cross from Gentiles, who did not know Him. Yet in the middle of both He was the vessel of divine wisdom, far beyond Joseph or anyone else born of women! For He was indeed the wisdom of God in the days of His humiliation, as He is now at the right hand of power.
The psalm states its own reason for the song near the start:
Psalm 105 offers thanksgiving to Jehovah, and calls on the descendants of Abraham and Jacob to remember Him and glory in His name. Verses 7, 8 give the occasion. He is Jehovah, their God. His judgments are in all the earth. And He has remembered His covenant for ever.
The same psalm speaks comfort to the believer today, not only to Israel:
This Psalm has a wonderful beauty in its direct bearing on Israel, its primary subject. But it also brings rich practical comfort to the believer now. It displays the perfect way of the God he has to do with. God is at the bottom of everything. He works, and the fruit of His labour is the blessing of His own.
- Sender — The psalm credits the whole sequence to God: He sent Joseph ahead, and the family's envy is not even mentioned. Only His overruling sovereignty is kept in view.
- Gift — Joseph could teach Egypt's elders because the wisdom was not his: "It is not in me." God set aside the wisdom of the wise and used a man in a dungeon.
- Scope — The rule granted was absolute, limited only by the throne itself: binding princes, instructing statesmen, the signet ring on his hand.
- Shadow — Commentators see a greater than Joseph here: One rejected by His own and killed by others, yet the wisdom of God in humiliation and now at the right hand of power.
- Reason — The song exists because God remembered His covenant. And what He did for Joseph shows His settled way: God is at the bottom of everything, and the fruit of His work is the blessing of His own.