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.