Joshua 1:7-8 Be Thou Very Strong and Courageous

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Joshua 1:7-8 (KJV)  Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. 

The Holy Spirit always works in tandem with God’s Word. God’s will is in God’s Word. The Holy Spirit grants illumination to understand the Scriptures and to apply them appropriately to help us in our lives. 

Joshua is asked to meditate on God’s Word. Meditation hardly seems like the work of an industrious general. Yet God commanded Joshua to do just that if he hoped to succeed.

7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. 8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Joshua was to be guided and governed wholly by the written Word. Before Joshua, there was no such command because there was no such Book. But for Joshua, Moses has recorded God’s laws in His Book. 

Remember Moses wrote God’s law in a book and rehearsed it in the ears of Joshua.

Exodus 17:14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

Deuteronomy 31:9 And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel.

The Scriptures were set as the supreme authority for Joshua. The Scriptures were set above Joshua. All his actions were to be regulated by it. Joshua is to read it, understand it and submit to its authority.

This is the Scripture handed down to God’s people today. May it be duly appropriated for His glory. Amen.