April 3

Psalm 105:23‑26
“Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. And He increased His people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies. He turned their heart to hate His people, to deal subtilly with His servants. He sent Moses His servant; and Aaron whom He had chosen”— Psalm 105:23-2623Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. 24And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies. 25He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants. 26He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen. (Psalm 105:23‑26).
IN these words, God, by His Holy Spirit, has summarized for us Israel’s experiences in Egypt, and given us to see why they were permitted. He caused the family of Jacob to go down to that land, during the years of famine, to preserve them alive and to hold them together as one people. There, under favorable circumstances, they multiplied greatly, and if there had been no change in conditions they might eventually have held the controlling power in that country. But God had other plans for them. He had given the land of Canaan to Abraham and his seed by solemn covenant (Gen. 17:88And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. (Genesis 17:8)). In order, therefore, to prepare Israel to remove front Egypt to the land of promise, He permitted persecution and affliction to be visited upon them. The Psalmist declares that it was He who caused the Egyptians to hate His people. That is, it was all in His permissive will. The hard bondage into which they were pressed made them long for deliverance and cry to God for help. In due time, He sent His servants, Moses and Aaron, to announce that the day of their redemption from slavery had drawn nigh.
“Through scenes of strife, by graves of lust,
Our desert path has been;
But here, O Lord, we’ve learned to trust,
And love Thee, though unseen.”
—Mary Bowley.