Tested by the Word - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2025

Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.
Psalm 105:19

Tested by the Word
Most readers of The Lord Is Near calendar will be familiar with the history of Joseph the son of Jacob. This much-loved patriarch is often viewed as a type of Christ by the things he suffered and how he was ultimately exalted by God—a wonderful picture of the sufferings and glories of Christ!

There is another way to view Joseph: simply as a human being who passed through a long period of trials in his life—many years of them in fact. In viewing Joseph as a type of Christ we sometimes overlook that he was a real person with real struggles, his lovely personal character notwithstanding.

Psalm 105 gives a brief summary of the life of Joseph and mentions a detail that we don't find in the historical account in Genesis: "Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him" (v. 19). In Joseph's dreams, God told him that he was to reign, yet he had only seen a pit and a prison! Although greatly tried and tested, his exaltation would come in God's appointed time—as it will for us as well! It is in this sense that the word of God "tested" him. It was a test of faith. Did he really believe the promise given to him? Joseph's faith was deeply tried, yet he never gave up hope in the promise.

Joseph is "Exhibit A" when it comes to bad things being turned to good. Joseph was not bitter, he never let bitterness take root, but he was tried, exercised, and stretched by the word that God had given him. Is the promise really true? How will it come to pass? When will it come to pass? Yet he persevered. It has been said that instead of "standing on the promises" a lot of Christians are just "sitting on the premises." Let's continue to stand on the promises even though tested.

Brian Reynolds