“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” –Joshua 1:8-9 (ESV).
In context, the command and the promise given in Joshua 1:8-9 were to Joshua when he received his commission from God to succeed Moses as the leader of the Israelites and to begin the task of going into and possessing the land God had promised to them. Moses the great emancipator had died. The mantle now lay on Joshua to be the leader.
God’s command to Joshua could apply to any follower of the Lord. Don’t depart from the Book of the Law. To us, now, that means not only the law given by God and written down by Moses for Joshua and the Israelite people, but it includes all of the Bible which we now have for our enlightenment and guidance. We have a command to meditate on these words day and night, to allow them to be our guide for living. The further command was to do what the law commands, to be strong, courageous, and unafraid.
With the word of God in heart and mind, and practiced in daily walk, then the promise of God could come to pass. The way of obedient servants of the Lord will prosper and have success. Furthermore, the presence of the Lord will be with believers wherever they go.
In his comments in 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart, Rev. Robert J. Morgan writes: “As we meditate on God’s Word, our minds are improved. They are God-conditioned. We begin thinking more as He thinks, looking at life from His point of view. As we’re transformed by the renewing of our thoughts, we become successful in those things God appoints for us to do” (p. 68).
The commission to Joshua reminds us of the Psalmist’s declaration as he describes the way of the righteous in Psalm 1:1-2: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night” (ESV). The writer of Psalm 119:97 further underscores the importance of loving, studying and meditating upon God’s Word: “Oh how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” May each of us grow in our love for the Word, in meditating upon it, following it, and sharing it with others.
In context, the command and the promise given in Joshua 1:8-9 were to Joshua when he received his commission from God to succeed Moses as the leader of the Israelites and to begin the task of going into and possessing the land God had promised to them. Moses the great emancipator had died. The mantle now lay on Joshua to be the leader.
God’s command to Joshua could apply to any follower of the Lord. Don’t depart from the Book of the Law. To us, now, that means not only the law given by God and written down by Moses for Joshua and the Israelite people, but it includes all of the Bible which we now have for our enlightenment and guidance. We have a command to meditate on these words day and night, to allow them to be our guide for living. The further command was to do what the law commands, to be strong, courageous, and unafraid.
With the word of God in heart and mind, and practiced in daily walk, then the promise of God could come to pass. The way of obedient servants of the Lord will prosper and have success. Furthermore, the presence of the Lord will be with believers wherever they go.
In his comments in 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart, Rev. Robert J. Morgan writes: “As we meditate on God’s Word, our minds are improved. They are God-conditioned. We begin thinking more as He thinks, looking at life from His point of view. As we’re transformed by the renewing of our thoughts, we become successful in those things God appoints for us to do” (p. 68).
The commission to Joshua reminds us of the Psalmist’s declaration as he describes the way of the righteous in Psalm 1:1-2: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night” (ESV). The writer of Psalm 119:97 further underscores the importance of loving, studying and meditating upon God’s Word: “Oh how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” May each of us grow in our love for the Word, in meditating upon it, following it, and sharing it with others.
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