It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold (Psalm 119:71-72).

Today’s Hymn

Words: Isaac Watts, The Psalms of David, 1719. Music: Antioch, arranged by Lowell Mason, 1836.

The tune is the piecing together of themes in Handel’s Messiah found in the chorus and in the instrumental interludes in “Lift up your heads” and the introduction and interludes of the recitative “Comfort ye.” John Wilson in “Handel and the Hymn Tune: II, Some Hymn Tune Arrangements,” in the January 1986 volume of The Hymn has traced the tune’s origins to A Collection of Tunes, ed. T. Hawkes, 1833, and Voce de Melodia, ed. William Holford, ca. 1835. It was popularized in the USA by Lowell Mason who included our version in Occasional Psalm and Hymn Tunes, 1836, and for no stated reason named it ANTIOCH (see Henry L. Mason, Hymn-Tunes of Lowell Mason, 1944).

JOY TO THE WORLD
Click here for tune.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Thought Provoker

A Welsh newspaper carried an article on 18th June 1993 which announced that the Rev. Medwyn Griffiths will be cremated on Wednesday without a service or ceremonial, according to his strict instructions. He said “a funeral does nothing for the soul of the deceased.” Was he right or wrong?

In a way, he was right. Nothing that is said or done at a funeral can alter the destination of our souls.

“It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb 9:27):

However, not to have any funeral is wrong because:

i) It denies those we leave behind an opportunity to come to terms with our death and grieve. (50 v.1, 10f)

ii) It denies God his rightful due of thanksgiving for a person’s life.

iii) Not to dispose of the body in a dignified way is despising God’s gift of bodily life.

iv) “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart” (Eccl. 7:2). The “living” need funerals.

By burying Jacob in Canaan, in accordance with his instructions (based on his faith), his family was being reminded that Israel had an inheritance. God has wonderful plans for us beyond this earthly life. Death is the (often sad and painful) entrance into God’s intended good.

Dad’s Study

But “as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive” (v.20).

i) A guilty conscience. The evil they had done to Joseph was still weighing heavily on their minds. Now that Jacob was dead, they feared retribution (v.15). Ask your family about what Joseph’s brothers did next. What was wrong? (v.16-17a) What was right? (v.17b- 18).

Do we humbly take full responsibility for our sins, or do we try to cover up and make excuses?

Who have we really offended? Joseph makes it clear that God is our judge, and only God can forgive our sins (v.19). Do we boldly go to our “Joseph” for forgiveness (Christ)? But before we go to him, is there someone we have offended or wronged to whom we must go and ask forgiveness? As you come before the Lord in your family prayers this morning, is there anything between any of you or between the children that would quench the Holy Spirit? Had you better pause and put things right first?

ii) God is in control. Think of all the things that Joseph had been through in his life – the injustices, the cruelty, the hardships, and the false accusations. Notice Joseph does not say, God “allowed it”. That’s the lie of deism, which says that God is reluctant to intervene, subject to our so called “free-will”, and just lets us get on with our lives. No, Joseph says God “meant it”. cf. Gen. 45:8 It was not you that sent me hither, but God. God’s providence means that God not only permits bad things to happen, but he actually accomplishes his purposes through them, although he is not the author of sin. God is good. Can you look back on your lives and see how God brought good out of situations that were very hard at the time? Can you therefore not trust that in His time, God will bring good out of something which at the moment is very painful (like bereavement for example)?

iii) God is committed to His people. God’s providence resulted in good: To save much people alive. If it weren’t for the evil done to Joseph, he wouldn’t have become Prime Minister, and been in the position to feed many people in Egypt and Israel. On the basis of God’s commitment to His people Israel, Joseph could reassure his brothers: “Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them” (v.21).

So Joseph could reassure them that God would bring them back to their land (v.24).

Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Truth in Practice

What is the greatest evil that has ever been perpetrated? “Him, [The Son of God] being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain” (Acts 2:23). But look at the good! “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:30, 31).

Is anybody in your family worried about anything? Is it any worse than anything in Romans 8:35? — “trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword — death?” Well for the Christian, it can never separate you from the love of Christ. God is committed to getting you safely to heaven. Then why worry about the little things that “go wrong”?

Let’s put our faith into practice today. Romans 8:28 And we “know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Catechism

Question 66

Q. Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous?

A. Some sins in themselves, and by reason of various aggravations are more heinous in the sight of God than others (John 19:11; 1 John 5:15).

But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name’s sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust. My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness. I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shaked their heads. Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy (Psalm 109:21-26).

Today’s Hymn

Words: Isaac Watts, The Psalms of David, 1719. Music: Antioch, arranged by Lowell Mason, 1836.

The tune is the piecing together of themes in Handel’s Messiah found in the chorus and in the instrumental interludes in “Lift up your heads” and the introduction and interludes of the recitative “Comfort ye.” John Wilson in “Handel and the Hymn Tune: II, Some Hymn Tune Arrangements,” in the January 1986 volume of The Hymn has traced the tune’s origins to A Collection of Tunes, ed. T. Hawkes, 1833, and Voce de Melodia, ed. William Holford, ca. 1835. It was popularized in the USA by Lowell Mason who included our version in Occasional Psalm and Hymn Tunes, 1836, and for no stated reason named it ANTIOCH (see Henry L. Mason, Hymn-Tunes of Lowell Mason, 1944).

JOY TO THE WORLD
Click here for tune.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Thought Provoker

Each summer one of our favorite family outings is to go whitewater rafting on the Shoshone River. What a wild ride! It’s like a floating roller coaster as the little rubber raft crashes up, down, and through the fast, unstable water. Read together and discuss what you think Jacob meant when he described the character of his firstborn son as “unstable as water.”

Dad’s Study

Jacob had reached the end of his life. His children have been called into the presence of the old patriarch. They found him gray-haired, almost blind, weak, leaning over on his staff in order to bless his children. Every son wants to hear his father’s approval. However, when Jacob addressed Reuben, his firstborn, he told him that he had forfeited his birthright because of his gross sin. He characterized his son as “unstable as water.” A faithful son will never hear these words from his dad. What does it mean to be a person “unstable as water”? Unstable water is like the whitewater rapids. It splashes and crashes mindlessly up, down, left, and right. The unstable water is contrasted to the smooth, steady flowing river that obediently follows the banks that shoulder it. May God impress on your family the Godly character quality of stable faithfulness. The unstable person is tossed to and fro throughout his life. Every believer suffers with varying degrees of instability. Discuss some ways your family struggles with instability. God alone is perfectly immutable (unchanging). How frequently do you find yourself moving in the direction of holiness with a renewed heart not to return to the mire of sin, only to backwash, causing you to crash into the arms of disobedience? They read the Word and then they stop. They tithe to God for a while and then they quit. They bow in prayer and then return to self-sufficiency. They proclaim the doctrines of grace and return to free- will. They bounce through their Christian life like a rubber raft on the whitewater. Should a person be truly converted and yet unstable, he becomes a terrible witness for Christ to an unbelieving world. By their life they deny the power of the Gospel and subject the Church to the charge of hypocrisy. Not only does instability ruin a testimony; it also ruins a person’s usefulness. The unstable person never remains long enough in ministry to witness God’s harvest. He becomes like the man that sets to build a tower but has to quit because he runs out of funds for not counting the cost.

Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Truth in Practice

Although every professing Christian suffers from varying degrees of instability, to be characterized as unstable is the mark of a false professor. Because of his unstable character, Reuben forfeited his dad’s blessing. Don’t forfeit your Christian testimony. If you find your life characterized buy such instability, could it be that you were never truly converted? May God grace you with a repentance of this grave sin, along with a full assurance of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ unto everlasting life.

Catechism

Question 66

Q. Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous?

A. Some sins in themselves, and by reason of various aggravations are more heinous in the sight of God than others (John 19:11; 1 John 5:15).

O Lord our God, have mercy on Your servants and grant by Your grace that we may be obedient in fulfilling the command of Thy word in instructing the hearts of our children. Grant that Your Spirit may grace our families with eyes that see, ears that hear, and hearts that understand Your Word and Your way. Grace our children with life in Christ that we too may be blessed to see our children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation that love You and are called by Your name. Amen.

Today’s Hymn

Words: Isaac Watts, The Psalms of David, 1719. Music: Antioch, arranged by Lowell Mason, 1836.

The tune is the piecing together of themes in Handel’s Messiah found in the chorus and in the instrumental interludes in “Lift up your heads” and the introduction and interludes of the recitative “Comfort ye.” John Wilson in “Handel and the Hymn Tune: II, Some Hymn Tune Arrangements,” in the January 1986 volume of The Hymn has traced the tune’s origins to A Collection of Tunes, ed. T. Hawkes, 1833, and Voce de Melodia, ed. William Holford, ca. 1835. It was popularized in the USA by Lowell Mason who included our version in Occasional Psalm and Hymn Tunes, 1836, and for no stated reason named it ANTIOCH (see Henry L. Mason, Hymn-Tunes of Lowell Mason, 1944).

JOY TO THE WORLD
Click here for tune.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Thought Provoker

Have you ever wondered why the thoughts of dying men turn to the things they do? Some turn to God, and some turn to folly. Perhaps this is a true test of the heart, whether it belongs to God, or if it is preoccupied with thoughts of Him as it prepares to enter into His presence. We see in the case of Israel that his thoughts turned to the blessings of the living God as Israel finally learns to wait and rest in Him.

Dad’s Study

Joseph goes to Israel after he hears that his father is ill. Israel recounts to Joseph how God had appeared to him and blessed him with the covenant promise of his fathers. He also commands that Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, would also be his sons, just as Reuben and Simeon where his sons. Once again Israel is showing his partiality toward Rachel. Reuben and Simeon are the two oldest sons of Leah and Joseph is the oldest son of Rachel. Had Israel had things his way, Joseph would have been his oldest son, not Reuben, and he wood have had the birthright. By taking Joseph’s sons as his own, Israel bestows a double inheritance upon Joseph.

Israel then blesses Joseph by stretching out his hands onto the heads of Ephraim and Manasseh and pronouncing the blessing of verses 15-16. There are two significant things concerning this blessing:

1. He blesses them in the fullness of the Godhead.

Although Israel may not have realized the significance of this, in his blessing he speaks of the Father as, “God before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, did walk”. He speaks of the Spirit as, “The God which fed me all my life long unto this day”, and he speaks of the Son as, “The Angel which redeemed me from all evil”. There is significance in the terminology of Israel. For the first time in Scripture the word “fed me”, which is equivalent to “shepherd me” is used in connection with God to describe His oversight of His people. This is also the first time the word “redeemed” is used, and it describes the work of the preincarnate Christ in the life of Israel when He wrestled with him at Peniel and his life was preserved (Genesis 32:24- 32).

2. Israel no longer runs before God.

This is seen in Israel placing his right hand on the head of Ephraim and blessing him over Manasseh, the firstborn. This was contrary to custom and practice, but according to the will of God. Israel had spent his entire life running before God. He did not wait on God in the selection of his wife, but chose Rachel over Leah, even though the line of Judah with the Messiah came through Leah. In his last days Israel waits on the Lord and pronounces the blessing on the son of Joseph whom God has chosen.

Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Truth in Practice

What can we learn from Israel’s last days? We can learn to wait on God and trust Him in the fullness of His being as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen” (2 Cor. 13:14).

Catechism

Question 66

Q. Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous?

A. Some sins in themselves, and by reason of various aggravations are more heinous in the sight of God than others (John 19:11; 1 John 5:15).

But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour (Isaiah 43:1-3).

Today’s Hymn

Words: Isaac Watts, The Psalms of David, 1719. Music: Antioch, arranged by Lowell Mason, 1836.

The tune is the piecing together of themes in Handel’s Messiah found in the chorus and in the instrumental interludes in “Lift up your heads” and the introduction and interludes of the recitative “Comfort ye.” John Wilson in “Handel and the Hymn Tune: II, Some Hymn Tune Arrangements,” in the January 1986 volume of The Hymn has traced the tune’s origins to A Collection of Tunes, ed. T. Hawkes, 1833, and Voce de Melodia, ed. William Holford, ca. 1835. It was popularized in the USA by Lowell Mason who included our version in Occasional Psalm and Hymn Tunes, 1836, and for no stated reason named it ANTIOCH (see Henry L. Mason, Hymn-Tunes of Lowell Mason, 1944).

JOY TO THE WORLD
Click here for tune.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Thought Provoker

I recently read an article about the martyrdom of Jim Elliot, Roger Yourderian, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, and Nate Saint, written by Nate Saint’s son Steven (who has carried on their work with the Aucas of the Amazon). After some recent study and interviews with some the men who actually killed his father and the others, Steven concluded that without some unlikely intrigues the killings would not have happened. His conclusion was that the deaths were clearly a work of God, by which His plans to draw people of “every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” to Him who had redeemed him by his blood (Revelation 5:9). We must share Steven’s understanding, that our sufferings and even our deaths serve God’s glory, work for our good (Romans 8:28), and identifies us with Christ (Romans 8:16-17).

Dad’s Study

In the text we see God’s sovereignty of purpose and means. God’s announced purpose in Genesis was to make the descendants into a great nation that would bless all the nations of the world and glorify Him (Genesis 12:1-7). Before leaving Canaan Israel (Jacob) sought God’s counsel by making sacrifice at Beersheba. God assures him that he is to go to Egypt. What did God accomplish by leading Israel to Egypt?

In Canaan, the land of promise, there was pressure to inter-marry and assimilate with the pagans. The suffering of Joseph, the suffering of the early years of famine, and the suffering of 400 years of slavery to the Egyptians (who were very jealous of their ethnic and cultural purity) saved Israel from compromise and allowed the growth of Israel from a family of 70 to a nation of 635,000 men of military age within 400 years (Numbers 1). Just as God used the hardships of Joseph, years of famine and slavery to build the nation that would bless all nations through the earthy incarnation of His son, God uses the sufferings of modern day Christians to gather his sheep to him.

Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Truth in Practice

The article by Steven Saint can be viewed at Christianity Today.

Catechism

Question 66

Q. Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous?

A. Some sins in themselves, and by reason of various aggravations are more heinous in the sight of God than others (John 19:11; 1 John 5:15).

O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. (Isaiah 12:1-2)

Today’s Hymn

Words: Isaac Watts, The Psalms of David, 1719. Music: Antioch, arranged by Lowell Mason, 1836.

The tune is the piecing together of themes in Handel’s Messiah found in the chorus and in the instrumental interludes in “Lift up your heads” and the introduction and interludes of the recitative “Comfort ye.” John Wilson in “Handel and the Hymn Tune: II, Some Hymn Tune Arrangements,” in the January 1986 volume of The Hymn has traced the tune’s origins to A Collection of Tunes, ed. T. Hawkes, 1833, and Voce de Melodia, ed. William Holford, ca. 1835. It was popularized in the USA by Lowell Mason who included our version in Occasional Psalm and Hymn Tunes, 1836, and for no stated reason named it ANTIOCH (see Henry L. Mason, Hymn-Tunes of Lowell Mason, 1944).

JOY TO THE WORLD
Click here for tune.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Thought Provoker

Not long ago, one of my teenage children said: “Dad, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you cry”. Of course I do cry, but not very often in public or in front of other people. (Perhaps it’s something to do with that caricature of the British “stiff upper lip”?) But that got me thinking that maybe it’s wrong if, as fathers, we hold back our emotions because we want to appear strong. Now that we have been redeemed, we ought to be models of what it is to be truly human. Jesus wept didn’t he? Why don’t we weep much? Is it because sometimes we don’t have God’s holy view of sin? Or is it because we don’t have God’s compassion on people? Joseph models the compassion of Christ to his brothers, and more . . .

Dad’s Study

1. He forgives them. Joseph does not “brush their sin under the carpet” (see Ch. 44). But, once it is out in the open and confessed, Joseph wants to comfort them and forgive them, even though they had sold him (v. 5). Peter, who as good as betrayed Christ by his denial, knew what it was to be completely forgiven by Christ, and so said in his letter: And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins (1Pet. 4:8, cf. 2 Cor.2:7).

When you confront sin in your home, is it because you want to lay the law down, and be seen to be in charge, or is it because you want to deal with it in justice and compassion?

2. He encourages them to trust in God. He points them to a sovereign God. God did send me before you to preserve life (v. 5). And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance (v. 7). So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God (v. 8). When something goes wrong in our family, or there’s a tragedy, or someone is troubled, it’s no comfort just to be told: “Don’t worry, be happy, everything will be alright in the end”. Our family needs to be pointed to the God of Providence, and to have explained why he can be trusted. By pointing out how God had worked in the past, Joseph encouraged them to believe that He would provide for them in his land. Jesus said: “Do not worry about your life…your heavenly Father feeds them….your heavenly Father knows that you need…” (Matt. 7). Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me (John 14:1).

3. He provides for them generously. Joseph is a type of the way God provides for us in Christ, “who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:7). However, at the human level, Joseph is acting as an earthly provider. Give thanks today that the Lord has given you the strength and resources to provide for your family. And [when] thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth (Deut. 8:17, 18).

Joseph showed his love for his father and brothers by being very generous. Ask the Lord for wisdom to get the right balance in your family between not “spoiling” your children, encouraging industry, thrift, simplicity of lifestyle, and reflecting the generous giving of Our Heavenly Father.

Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Truth in Practice

If your children are just about to leave for school, or go out to play, there’s a lovely little verse you can leave with them: (v. 24) See that ye fall not out by the way or in the NIV, Don’t quarrel on the way! Who said the Bible wasn’t up to date?!

Catechism

Question 66

Q. Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous?

A. Some sins in themselves, and by reason of various aggravations are more heinous in the sight of God than others (John 19:11; 1 John 5:15).

Examine men, O Lord, and prove me; try my mind and my heart. For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth (Psalm 26:2-3).

Today’s Hymn

Words: Albert Midlane, 1858.

REVIVE THY WORK, O LORD
Click here for tune.

Revive Thy work, O Lord,
Thy mighty arm make bare;
Speak with the voice that wakes the dead,
And make Thy people hear.

Revive Thy work, O Lord,
Disturb this sleep of death;
Quicken the smold’ring embers now
By Thine almighty breath.

Revive Thy work, O Lord,
Create soul-thirst for Thee;
And hungering for the Bread of Life
O may our spirits be.

Revive Thy work, O Lord,
Exalt Thy precious Name;
And, by the Holy Ghost, our love
For Thee and Thine inflame.

Revive Thy work, O Lord,
Give Pentecostal showers;
The glory shall be all Thine own,
The blessing, Lord, be ours.

Thought Provoker

Sometimes you don’t know the depth of true brotherly love until it is put to the test. Thomas S. Steward injured one of his eyes with a knife. His doctor decided that it should be removed in order to save the other eye. As he was recovering from his surgery, young Thomas discovered he could not see at all. The doctor had accidentally removed his good eye, leaving him totally blind! Thomas wanted to become a lawyer. The depth of his brother William’s love for Thomas was about to be put to the test. Both Thomas and William entered the law school at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. William accompanied his brother to all of his classes. He read the assignments to him and helped him in all of his studies. Thomas, the blind brother, graduated number one in his class while William finished second. It’s easy to say you love your siblings, but true love blossoms in the face of adversity. Do Joseph’s brothers really have a brotherly love for Benjamin? Joseph decides to put his brothers to the test.

Dad’s Study

• Read together verses 1-6 and discuss Joseph’s plot. While his brothers were getting ready to leave Egypt and return home, Joseph had his steward take Joseph’s silver cup and hide it in Benjamin’s traveling sack. After the cup was planted and the brothers left, the steward tracked down the brothers and began to search them. When it was discovered in Benjamin’s things they were accused of stealing.

• Read together verses 7-17 and discuss the brothers’ response to the news that the cup had been stolen.

The news that the cup was in Benjamin’s sack came as a sudden jolt to his brothers. They could have easily betrayed Benjamin and left him to be enslaved in Egypt, but instead, they tore their clothes in grief and sorrow. This time they all declared that they would become Joseph’s slaves. When Joseph announced that only the guilty one would become his slave, Judah displayed his true love for his brother by interceding on behalf of Benjamin and his father. Fearing that his father would die if he returned without Benjamin, Judah offered to be put in prison in his brother’s place.

Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Truth in Practice

You might not have an opportunity to become a slave for your brothers or sisters, but you can display true brotherly love in many more practical ways from day to day. True love is sacrificial. It puts your siblings above yourself. Don’t wait for a test. Display love to your siblings today through genuine acts of kindness. Help them with their chores, ask them to join you on an outing, drop them a note of encouragement, and include them in your life. Discuss other ways that brotherly love can become active in your family.

Catechism

Question 65

Q. Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God?

A. No mere man, since the fall, is able in his life perfectly to keep the commandments of God (Ecc. 7:20), but does daily break them in thought (Gen. 8:21), word (Jas. 3:8), and deed (Jas. 3:2).