3. We should not labour to control events, but study rather to accommodate ourselves to the cir- cumstances in which God has placed us —
[How often might Joseph have escaped from the house of Potiphar, or sent to his brethren the news of his exaltation in Egypt ! But he left all in the hands of God, endeavouring only to fulfil his duty, whether as a slave or a steward, whether as a jailor or a prince. Thus did our Lord also, when he could in ten thousand ways have changed the course of events. Let us do likewise. Whatever he our circumstances or con- dition in life, let us be more desirous of glorifying God under them, than of contriving, by any means, to alter them. God's time and manner of accomplishing his own ends will be found infinitely better in the issue, than any we can devise r. Let us then tarry his leisure, and leave ourselves wholly to his disposal, and approve ourselves to him as faithful, and obedient children.]
r Isai. lv. 8, 9.
Joseph's brethren fulfilling the prophecy respecting
Gen. 1. 15 — 17. And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father teas dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which ive did unto him. And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, So shall ye say unto Joseph; Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin ; for they did unto thee evil : and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.
THE heart of man by nature is vindictive. It was a just observation of Saul to David, " If a man find his enemy, will he let him go well awaya?" Hence, when men have injured any person, they hate him, because they think he must of necessity have become their enemy : and, if they are within the reach of his power, they fear him, because they conclude that he will avail himself of any favourable opportunity to revenge himself upon them. It was thus with Jo- seph's brethren. Their father being dead, and they being entirely at the mercy of their brother whom they had sold into Egypt, they concluded, that " he
a 1 Sam. xxiv. 19.
62.1 Joseph's brethren fulfil the prophecy. 315
would requite them all the evil which they had for- merly done unto him." It is probable that this ap- prehension was strengthened by a recollection of what their father Jacob had suffered from the vindictive spirit of Esau : " The days of mourning for my father are at hand ; then will I slay my brother Jacob." Full of fear, they sent to Joseph to implore his forgive- ness : which, as will be seen, they readily obtained.
The points to which we would direct your attention are,
I. The means they used to conciliate his favour —
These were certainly well adapted to the end pro- posed.
1. They plead the dying request of their revered father —
[What more cogent argument could be used with a pious mind than this? The dying request of a friend is sacred: and how much more of a parent, a parent of such consummate piety as Jacob ! A request too so reasonable in itself, and so conducive to the welfare of bis whole family ! It is probable indeed that the representation which they gave of their father's request was not altogether correct. We cannot conceive that Jacob should have entertained any suspicions about the sub- sequent conduct of Joseph ; or that, if he had, he would have left a posthumous request to be made through his other chil- dren, when he could have urged it himself with so much more effect in his lifetime. The probability is, that he enjoined them to act in a submissive spirit towards Joseph, and not by any refractory conduct to bring upon themselves his displea- sure. But, however this might be, the plea was very power- ful, and could not fail of obtaining for them the favour they implored. True indeed it is, that persons of a headstrong dis- position frequently forget, and that at no distant period, the