Tested by the Word

There is an unpleasant tension in the hearts of believers when the things that are seen seem to contradict the words that are read on the pages of Scripture. For example, believers see a world where the righteous are punished and the wicked prosper, but they read that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord” (Habakkuk 2:14).
Images of war-torn nations, persecuted Christians, and the shedding of innocent blood are easy to access, yet the words on the pages of Scripture read that “there will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace” (Isaiah 9:7). Believers see their own sinfulness and their ever-present tendency to resist God, yet they read that all believers will “stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy” (Jude 24).
However, it is in these paradoxical times that God stretches one’s faith and prepares believers for service as they wait for the fulfillment of His Word. Scripture records a prime example of this in the life of Joseph.
In Psalm 105, King David uses Joseph’s unjust suffering to remind Israel of the Lord’s covenant faithfulness, symbolized by the ark of the covenant. The psalm points to Genesis 15 and God’s unconditional promise to Abraham to give his descendants a land of their own. The opening verses of Psalm 105 were sung by David and exuberant Israelites as they brought up the ark from the house of Obed-edom (1 Chronicles 16). In connecting Joseph’s captivity to the eternal promises of God, David pulls back the curtain in Psalm 105:18-19 to reveal more about Joseph’s life in Egypt than what is recorded in Genesis: “They afflicted his feet with fetters, he himself was laid in irons; until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.”

The testing
Joseph’s captors “bruised his feet” (v. 18, NIV) and “his neck was put in a collar of iron” (v. 18, ESV). The verse literally says, “iron came into his soul.” David uses this phrase to give amazing insight into the life of Joseph. The physical shackles were painful enough, but they were nothing compared to the inner conflict going on within his heart. The word of the Lord “tested” him.
The use of tested in this passage describes the melting of metal – the smelting process that purges impurities from gold and silver. It is as if the readers of Psalm 105 can hear Joseph asking these gut-wrenching questions: Why did my own brothers betray me? Why did Potiphar’s wife accuse me of something I did not do? Why would God leave me in prison after giving me the interpretation of the cupbearer’s dream? Was I mistaken in thinking that my dreams were God’s word to me, or were these dreams the work of an overactive imagination?
The same kinds of questions can come into the minds of believers when they feel the heat of God’s unfulfilled promises burning within their own hearts.

The turning
As God’s seemingly unfulfilled word to Joseph pressed into his soul like iron, the months and years of testing finally ended abruptly. In one simple phrase, Scripture records, “Until the time that his word came to pass” (v. 19).
The Bible often uses the word until as a fulfillment marker between one set of circumstances and another. It accentuates the realities of time, the purpose of delay, and the distressing need to wait.
Psalm 110:1 records God’s promise to Jesus when He says, “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” In 1 Corinthians 11:26, Paul records that Jesus told His disciples that by partaking of the Lord’s supper, they were proclaiming “the Lord’s death until He comes.” (Emphasis added.)
Thank God for His precious untils! They mark a point in time when every single promise of God is realized, and every act of faith rewarded.
God’s plans for Joseph included a grand reversal of circumstances. Even though he was unjustly accused and suffered for a season, Joseph’s innocence was vindicated. Joseph’s release from prison brought him into the favor of Pharoah and exalted him to the second highest office over the most powerful nation on Earth.
English Puritan Samuel Lee (1625-1691) wrote, “When the Lord’s time was come, by the same stairs which winded him [Joseph] into the dungeon, he climbs up into the next chariot to Pharoah’s.”
The turn of events in Joseph’s life represents proof that God remembers and provides for His people. His covenant is everlasting, and everything He has spoken will come to pass.
In the Bible, we see how God uses the trial of waiting to develop His servants.
For example, in order to provide grain for the coming Egyptian famine and a panic-stricken multitude, Joseph needed to develop an inner fortitude that only comes through the furnace of delay. He needed to be purged of all confidence in personal giftings and self-sufficiency so he would lean wholly on the mighty hand of God.
Undoubtedly, David, author of Psalm 105, remembered his own 15 years of waiting from the time he was anointed by Samuel to the time he ascended as king of Israel. Even Jesus waited before He was exalted to the right hand of the Father. Like Joseph, Jesus was hated and betrayed, yet he demonstrated steadfastness through what He endured as the sinless Son of God (Hebrews 5:8-9).
If God fulfilled His word to Jesus, then He will do the same for all who are in Him by faith.

The transformation
The testing of God’s Word has a powerful effect on the lives of His people today. It exposes the character of believers’ hearts and reveals His glory to everyone watching.
As theologian Charles Spurgeon wrote, “A delayed blessing tests men and proves their metal, whether their faith is that kind which can endure the fire.”
Believers need that testing precisely because it proves that they are His (Psalm 11:5). It produces endurance and maturity (James 1:3). Testing purifies a believer’s life and sets his mind on the glory that awaits at the coming of the Lord (1 John 3:3).
When God seems to delay in bringing His word to pass, it is easy to lose hope. The harsh realities of an evil world, personal betrayal, and the prevalence of sickness and disease can be like iron that presses into a person’s soul.
But it is precisely at that point when the indwelling Spirit of God begins to teach true followers of Jesus. He reminds them of God’s deliverance and provision in the past and slowly restores confidence in His ultimate faithfulness.
Through long seasons of waiting, the purging power of God’s Word begins to burn away unbelief, pride, and self-pity, revealing lives that look a little more like Jesus than before.