Only be strong and very courageous, that thou mayest take heed to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded thee. Turn not from it to the right or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
Joshua stands at the edge of the promised land, with God's promise of the land, of victory and of His presence already given. Then comes a word beginning with "only," which turns the focus from what God will do to what Joshua must do.
The call to be strong comes twice in a row. Each time it faces a different direction: the first looks out to the nation, the second looks up to God. One writer then applies it to us today.
Verse 6 emphasizes Joshua's strength and courage in his relationship with the people. Now in verse 7 he is urged to be strong and very courageous in taking care to act on the law Moses had given. This involved his relationship with God. That relationship mattered greatly if his relationship with the people was to stay faithful and honest. He was to be consistently well balanced, not wavering in one direction or the other, and in that way he would prosper. We today are not under law. But God's governing hand is still over us, and we are called to value the grace of God so much that we willingly obey the truth revealed in the New Testament.
We usually connect courage with battle, not with keeping a book. Here they go together, because a life shaped by God's word looks foolish to the world around it.
We need courage to obey. It seems like folly. The world is against us. Often there seems to be no sense in what the word of God tells us to do. Our own comfort would rather we were not so careful. The path is different from the whole world's. It assumes a living God, who acts and notices everything, to whom we belong and whose will is everything to us. Of this the world knows nothing. To do God's will and simply obey His word requires courage in the face of the world, courage with our own hearts.
There is also a timing to it. Knowing the path is not the same as walking it, because opposition rises precisely when the way becomes clear.
The path is known through the law and meditation on it, and it might therefore be concluded that it would be easy to go forward in it. Far from it. The moment God opens out His way before any of His people, all the power of the enemy will be brought to bear to hinder their walking in it.
The standard given to Joshua is all of the law. That one word rules out choosing only the parts we like.
We are called to obey God's word as a whole — "All My law" — not our particularly prized portion of it. When the believer follows his favourite lines of truth, he is not strong and very courageous in obeying the whole of God's word. Some believers have picked out the parts of God's word that suit them best and obey only those. In effect they have built themselves a revised Bible!
The verse names two directions of drift, and they are opposites. One writer sees them as the two ways we can tamper with what God has said.
Joshua adds that the people of God should by no means turn aside, neither to the right hand nor to the left. This means we are not allowed to add anything to the Word of God — our own opinion, our traditions, our self-made unwritten rules. Nor are we allowed to take anything away, such as things we do not like much or things we think are out of date.
The pull away from God's word seldom looks like open rebellion. It comes dressed as a sensible shortcut.
Joshua was not to consider for one moment any question of convenience, any change of circumstances, or any tempting promise of a shorter road to the goal. It was the same with the Lord Himself when He met the power of Satan in the wilderness. The word of God, and that alone, must be supreme, both in marking out the path and in governing the heart. "It is written" was enough for Him, was to be enough for Joshua, and is to be our only reliance.
The verse ends with a promise of success. One writer ties that promise to obedience, and to where God's help is given.
But if we are obedient His strength will sustain us and give us victory. We always need the courage of faith. It looks to God, and it shows itself in obedience to His Word. "God's strength is employed in helping us in the paths of God's will, not out of it. Then no matter where we go, what the difficulties are, how long the journey seems, He makes our way prosperous."
One writer names the enemy that decides the outcome.
Strength and courage to carefully do all that God's word says are of vital importance. The giants who defeat God's people are not the enemies they meet, for those enemies are nothing to God. The giants that win are our own unbelief and disobedience.
- Only — God promises the land, victory and His presence. The "only" of verse 7 names Joshua's part: careful obedience.
- Courage — the second call to be strong faces God, not the enemy. It takes nerve to obey a word the world calls foolish.
- All — the standard is the whole law, not a favourite part. Picking and choosing builds a revised Bible.
- Straight — add nothing, take nothing away, take no shortcut. "It is written" was enough for the Lord in the wilderness, and it is enough for us.
- Prospering — God's strength works inside His will, not outside it. The giants to fear are our own unbelief and disobedience.
This book of the law shall not depart from thy mouth; and thou shalt meditate upon it day and night, that thou mayest take heed to do according to all that is written therein; for then shalt thou have good success in thy ways, and then shalt thou prosper.
God's charge to Joshua comes as he takes over from Moses and faces a land full of enemies. The strength God offers him is tied to one book. The instruction is not to read now and then, but to keep Scripture in mouth and mind day and night. A promise comes with it, and that promise raises a question: what do "prosperous" and "good success" mean for someone in God's service?
Courage here has a purpose: doing what is written. One writer notes that God promised His power, but it would show itself in one particular way.
They were to show strength and courage, and to show it in obedience. Obedience is where strength shows itself. So by obeying, they would beat their enemies. The Lord's power would be there, but they were to show their strength in obedience. Now the world is all against us. It says, "you are fools for all your trouble." That is what it says if we keep obeying the word simply, instead of following the world's plain good sense. There is no wisdom like faith.
The verse gives meditation a stated goal — being careful to do all that is written. That goal exposes why we usually open the Bible.
There must then be, besides divine energy, diligent care to take in the thoughts of God. He says: meditate on it so that you obey. Is that our aim when we study the word of God? Often we like to read in order to learn, which is a good thing in itself. At other times we read so that we can pass it on to others, which is also excellent in its place. But do we read it in order to obey? If it were so, how it would change the whole current of Christians' lives!
Knowing much and doing nothing is not a neutral position:
Meditation and practice, like two sisters, must go hand in hand. The end of meditation is action. Those who meditate on God's law and do not do it are no better than the devil; he knows much, but is still a devil.
Set "day and night" beside how most of us treat the Bible.
Some Christians read a chapter every morning — sometimes only a verse! — as a charm to protect them through the day. Is that meditating day and night on the word of God? "What about our occupations?" you say. Well, let me ask you in return. In the middle of your work, is it God's word that feeds you? He gave that word for your soul's enjoyment, and to guide you in the path of Christ. That is the way to prosper and have good success.
The man receiving this command was not a man with spare hours:
This was a famous military commander, and he carried great responsibilities. Even so, he had to make time not only to read God's word, but to meditate on it. It was vital to his prosperity in every way. Do we "make time" for reading and meditation?
Beyond telling us God's will, dwelling on the word changes the way we see everything.
This meditation on God's word, of course, makes us know His will. But it does a great deal more. It gives the heart a settled delight in what God reveals, in what He delights in. We acquire His way of thinking of things — the true and divine way, not the way of this world's empty show. Our own hearts are formed by this divine and blessed understanding of things. What a light this is! It shows how empty this world really is.
It also produces a different kind of person than study alone does:
No hour is better spent than the hour a Christian spends alone with God over His word. There he weighs God's thoughts in God's presence. A book-learned Christian and a Spirit-taught Christian are very different. A person may know the truth of the word from reading or teaching, and still hardly ever meditate on it.
The promise is real, but the route to it is what most people abandon.
The success is great indeed, and it is certain for those who follow the rule laid down long ago to Joshua... Yet how much more often people expect success from a flexible, worldly wisdom than from close and steady loyalty to the Word of God!
Joshua had only the law of Moses. Christians have more:
The Book of the Law was to be Joshua's meditation day and night, so that he might do all that was written in it. We today need, not only the Old Testament, but the whole truth of the New Testament if we are to have spiritual prosperity and success.
- Obedience first. God supplies the power, but a believer shows strength by obeying His word, not apart from it.
- Obedience needs feeding. Meditation takes God's thoughts in. Its stated aim is doing what is written, not gathering material to teach others.
- Feeding needs time. A commander with an army to lead was told to make room for the word day and night; a verse read as a morning charm is not that.
- Time reshapes the man. Hours alone with God over Scripture shape how we think. They show up the emptiness of the world, and leave us humble, not just informed.
- The reshaped man prospers. God promises success, but to steady loyalty to His word, not to flexible worldly wisdom. For us that word now includes the whole New Testament.