Meant for GoodSample

A Never-Failing, Eternally-Persevering, Always-Keeps-His-Promises Kind of Love

Read: Genesis 39:20-23; Deuteronomy 7:6-9

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Genesis 39 ends similarly to how it began. Joseph is once again stripped of his garments and imprisoned in a pit of death by those who betrayed him. However, God continues to fill Joseph with His presence, blessing him with favor and prosperity even in prison.

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Although Joseph was “there in the prison” (Genesis 39:20), his imprisonment was no solitary confinement: for the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy (Genesis 39:21). More than describing his experience in the prison, this verse is a key interpretive text for the whole story of Joseph.

First, “the LORD was with Joseph” shows us that God Himself was preserving, protecting, and providing for Joseph in prison. Just as God’s presence brought prosperity as a slave in Potiphar’s house (Genesis 39:3-4), so too it brought prosperity in Potiphar’s prison (Genesis 39:23). For Joseph, the nearness of God was a brilliant light amid the darkness and difficulty of his descent into prison.

While the first phrase tells us how God preserved and prospered Joseph with His presence, the second phrase, “the LORD … showed him mercy,” tells us why. As mentioned before, the Hebrew word translated as “mercy” is “hesed,” and refers to God’s covenantal, loyal love. When God shows Joseph hesed, He is showing a never-failing, eternally-persevering, always-keeps-His-promises kind of love. God’s loyal love means He will always be faithful to His covenant promises. As Moses declares in Deuteronomy, “Know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and loyal love for a thousand generations” (Deuteronomy 7:9).

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How do we respond to a God who delights to dwell with us and always loves with a loyal love? God’s presence invites you to rest in Him. In Exodus 33, God affirms to Moses, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:14). Whether he is in the pit, the palace, or the prison, Joseph can rest because God Himself is with him. The greatest weapon against the darkness of our days is the light of God’s gracious presence. Pray for God to go with you today and for His Holy Spirit to be your constant guide and companion.

God’s loyal love also invites you to trust. How do we know God’s presence will be with His people? Because His love is neither fickle nor indecisive – it is not beholden to emotion or swayed by circumstance. He does not love finickily, erratically, or unreliably. God’s love for you is not rooted at any point in who you are, what you have done, or what you will do. Rather, God's loyal love bound himself to you in the blood of Jesus Christ, forever persevering through every season of difficulty, darkness, and rebellion. One of the most beautiful aspects of the gospel is that what God has started He will also be faithfully loyal to complete (Philippians 1:6). You can trust God to be all that you need today because He loves with a loyal love.