Psalm 80

Psalm 80

verse 1

God our Shepherd 

Verse 1

Give ear,

O Shepherd of Israel,

thou that leadest Joseph like a flock;

thou that dwellest between the cherubims,

shine forth.

This verse turns our attention

to God as Shepherd

and

to Joseph as an outstanding sheep.

-

In this verse,

God wants our thoughts to be on

Joseph

and how Joseph attained the distinction

of being highlighted 

as an

outstanding sheep in God's flock.

God is sharing with us that

Joseph 

followed God

in the way that God wants

us

to follow God.

God is telling us in

Psalm 80 verse 1

to ponder the life of Joseph

and learn from him.

The life of Joseph 

shows us

How to Follow God

No Matter the Circumstances.

-

Sometimes our path is uphill and rough.

Joseph had years of following a difficult path.

Yet, Joseph's life reminds us to continue to follow God.

Let's Reflect on the Life of Joseph

Joseph was thrown away - almost killed - by his brothers.

His brothers sold him into slavery. 

He was falsely accused of sexually attacking a woman.

He was thrown into prison.

YET

In every circumstance and situation,

Joseph tried to

have a good attitude

and

do whatever he could

to serve others in an excellent way.

-

He worked hard at his tasks and

served others in the same way he would serve God.

As

Colossians 3:17 a TLB says...

And whatever you do or say,

let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus.

Joseph followed God

like a lamb follows the shepherd he loves.

-

In the video below,

we see a little lamb who loves his shepherd.

Life was unfair to Joseph for YEARS, and yet he kept focusing on God and on obedience to God.

Hardships, frustrations, all kinds of difficulties - yet Joseph kept intentionally keeping God on the throne of his heart.

He submitted to God and obeyed God even when life was unfair.

Some people point out that

when Joseph was young

and he shared his nighttime dreams with his brothers

 - that he would rule over his family - 

Joseph was bragging

and therefore provoked his brothers to anger.

-

That may well be true.

However, no one should ever do what his brothers did....

And

it is also true that

he was young and didn't realize the results of his words.

We all begin this life with

immaturity.

The point is that

Joseph

got better and better at

  following

God

and because of that

he grew wise.

And as

Joseph followed God,

he grew the character traits that we call

The Fruit of the Spirit.

When Joseph was treated poorly,

he didn't let it keep him from living in the right way.

We see that later in life,

Joseph had a perfect

opportunity

to have revenge on his brothers.

Joseph rejected that opportunity.

He fed his brothers, and all his family, during the famine.

$

Joseph even gave them back the money

they brought to buy food.

Joseph learned to love others even when they were unlovable.

Joseph learned to forgive,

even when those closest to him were hateful.

If you

or someone you love

needs help to forgive, click here.

Joseph did test his brothers to see if they had changed.

And he was delighted to find out that they had repented

of what they had done to him.

They had grown into much better people.

~ ~ ~

Joseph's brothers were astonished that Joseph was now the second highest authority in Egypt.
Joseph's dreams had come to pass.

~ ~ ~

Joseph cultivated a good attitude about the
terrible difficulties
that he had faced in his life.

We see an example of that when he told his brothers...

"You meant it for evil but God meant it for good."

Genesis 50:20

You could say

that

when God called Joseph to a task,

Joseph came running.

We see a picture of this type of devotion

as we watch sheep who run to

The Voice of the Shepherd.

Waiting on God

It took years,

but God gave Joseph back his family

and now

they were ready to

make good relationships with him.

~ ~ ~

We too have to wait upon the Lord

to receive his blessings for us.

Below is a

Life-blessing Prayer

for

Waiting upon the Lord.

The above video is highlighted on our page:

Waiting like a Champion 

Also consider our pages:

Jesus the Good Shepherd

Fruit of the Spirit devotional

Psalm 23

Reminder:

God always leads us in the paths of 

righteousness.

We read about Joseph not only in Genesis but also...

Psalm 105:16 and continuing

Obadiah 1:18

Acts 7:9 and continuing

God rewarded Joseph reward in many ways.

In Ezekiel 47:13

Joseph was given two portions.

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Psalm 80 was posted in May 2022.