that it cannot hear :" yea rather he would glorify himself, as he did in rescuing Israel at the Red Sea, if we would call upon him ; and our extremity should he the opportunity he would seize for his effectual interpositions : " In the mount, the Lord would be seen."
We may apply the same observations to those who seem to have cast off all fear of God, and to have sinned beyond a hope of recovery. But while the conversion of Saul, and the deli- verance of Peter from prison, stand on record, we shall see that there is nothing too great for God to effect, and nothing too good for him to give, in answer to the prayer of faith.]
II. That God is never at a loss for means whereby to effect his gracious purposes —
[He had decreed the elevation of Joseph to the highest dignity in the land of Egypt. To accomplish this, he causes Pharaoh to be disturbed by two significant dreams, which none of his magicians could interpret. The solicitude of Pharaoh to understand the purport of his dreams leads his butler to " confess his fault" in having so long neglected the youth who had, two years before, interpreted his dreams ; and to recom- mend him as the only person capable of satisfying the mind of Pharaoh. Instantly Joseph is sent for (not from a sense of justice to an injured person, but from a desire for the informa- tion which he alone could give) ; and, upon his interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh, and giving suitable advice respecting the steps that should be taken to meet the future distress, he is invested with supreme avithority, that he may carry his own plans into execution. Thus God, by suggesting dreams to Pharaoh, and to Joseph the interpretation of them, effects in an hour what, humanly speaking, all the power of Pharaoh could not otherwise have accomplished.
If we were duly observant of the works of Providence, we should see, in many instances relating to ourselves, how won- derfully God has brought to pass the most unlooked-for events. Things the most strange have been made to subserve his gra- cious purposes, and to accomplish what no human foresight could have effected for us. In relation to the concerns of our souls this may perhaps be more visible than in any temporal matters. The history of God's people, if it were fully known, would furnish thousands of instances, not less wonderful than that before us, of persons " raised" by the most unexpected and apparently trivial means " from the dust or a dunghill, to be set among princes, and to inherit a throne of glory." We are far from recommending any one to trust in dreams, or to pay any attention to them whatever: for "in the multitude of dreams are divers vanities." But we dare not say that God never makes use of dreams to forward his own inscrutable
53.1 Joseph's advancement. 275
designs : on the contrary, we believe that he has often made a dream about death or judgment the occasion of stirring up a person to seek after salvation; and that he has afterwards answered the prayers, which originated in that apparently trifling and accidental occurrence. At all events, there are a multitude of little circumstances which tend to fix the bounds of our habitation, or to bring us into conversation with this or that person, by whom we are ultimately led to the knowledge of the truth. So that we should commit our every way to God, and look to him to order every thing for us according to the counsel of his own gracious will.]
III. We are never in a fairer way for exaltation to happiness than when we are waiting God's time, and suffering his will —
[We hear nothing respecting Joseph but what strongly impresses us with a belief that he was perfectly resigned to the will of God. It is most probable indeed that he had formed some expectation from an arm of flesh : but two years' expe- rience of human ingratitude had taught him that his help must be in God alone. At last, his recompence is bestowed, and ample compensation is given him for all that he endured. With his prison garments, he puts off his sorrows ; and, from a state of oppression and ignominy, he is made the Benefactor and the Saviour of a whole nation.