“Until his prediction came to pass,” the Psalmist says about the patriarch Joseph, “the word of the Lord tested him” (Psalm 105:19).
Apparently the meaning of the second line is uncertain. There are a variety of translations. But when I read the one quoted above (from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer), I wondered if the testing Joseph experienced was the temptation to give in to despair when his circumstances didn’t line up with the promise he had received from God.
And I found myself relating to that. At different times in my life, I’ve found myself between the promise and the fulfillment, and I know the temptation to give in to despair, or to give up on hope. I’ve wondered if I have been foolish to give myself over to a life of faith.
To take “the word of the Lord” seriously really does test you, when the circumstances around seem to run counter to God’s promises.
