Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.
– Genesis 40:23
This is a really low end to this chapter. So as a reminder, Genesis 40:23 Joseph is in prison. And while he’s in prison, he interprets two other prisoner’s dreams. The cupbearer of the King of Egypt and his baker had both been thrown into prison and they both had dreams.
Even when we feel like everyone around us forgets us and overlooks us, we are met by a God who deeply cares about us.
When Joseph interprets those dreams, he says that the cupbearer is going to be restored and the baker is going to lose his life. And Joseph says to the cupbearer after he gives him this good news, he says, “Please remember me when it goes well with you. And please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh and so get me out of prison.” That’s the language from Genesis 40:14. But then when things happen just as Joseph had interpreted in the interpretation of these dreams and the chief cupbearer is restored, Verse 23 says, the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.
God Does Not Forget About Us
Basically, as soon as he was restored, he totally put Joseph out of his mind and Joseph was left to languish in prison. And as I read this verse… Well, I would just ask you, have you ever been let down in a significant way by someone else?
Have you ever been forgotten by someone else? Ignored by someone else in such a way that it brought hurt to your life? I’m guessing there’s a variety of ways this has played out in our lives. Some in small ways, some in some really significant ways. And as I read Genesis 40:23 and I know where this story is going. How God is going to bring Joseph out of prison. He’s even going to use the chief cupbearer to do that after another two whole years in prison.
I just think in a world where people let us down and a world where we let other people down for that matter. In a world where we and others are hurt by being forgotten, ignored, promises broken in this fallen world of significant hurt at the hands of others. We can know that it will never be said of us that God did not remember us.
Genesis 40:23 Thanks God for Our Reliance on Him
It will never be said of all who trust in Jesus, that God forgot him. Isn’t good just to spend time in prayer, like we’re going to do right now before the God, upon whom we can rely 100% completely, totally without question or reservation. I think about your closest relationships in this world. Your most loyal friendships, even those you can’t count on that person 100% to do exactly what is best for you at every moment. Like they may be trusted to desire what is best for you at every moment and to do everything that is best for you, but they’re not all-wise. They don’t have all power. We’re talking about the all-wise, all-powerful, all- loving God of the universe, who you can depend on. He will never forget you. God will always remember you. He will always see and know what you need.
And he is faithful to supply everything we need according to the glorious riches that are available to us in Christ Jesus. So we pray, Oh God, we praise you for your faithfulness, for your perfect reliability, for your complete dependability. God, we praise you that we can always, always, always trust in you. We praise you for your love for us. We praise you that it will never be said of us who have put our faith in Jesus, who have been reconciled a relationship with you by your love for us.
Genesis 40:23 Puts Full Confidence in God
It will never be said of us that the God of the universe didn’t remember us. That the God of the universe forgot us. God, we praise you that when that happens in this world, in our relationships with others, when we are let down in small ways when we were let down in significant ways when we are hurt in various ways, God, we praise you that in those moments, we can always look to you and know that you are trustworthy. To know that you are our comfort.
You are our ever-present help in trouble. That you are always at every moment, even right now. Working for our good, even in the moments when others let us down, you are working for our good. So God, we praise you for this rock-solid confidence and hope and joy. You have given us in this fallen world. God, we praise you that when it comes to the moment when we breathe our last breath, that we don’t have to worry that you have forgotten us, that you don’t remember us.
Our Father Forever
Now, that you have promised to give us an inheritance with you in heaven that will never, ever fade away. That you will be our father forever. That we will enjoy your presence forever. That we will enjoy your love and your mercy and your grace and your goodness forever and ever, and ever. All glory be to your name. So in this, God, help us. Help us to be faithful. Help us to trust you in the hard moments in this world. And the hard years in this world. Help us to trust you as we look to you. Lean on you and say, So God, we praise and worship you for your faithfulness to us. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
