MEDITATION WAS NOT TO BE AN OCCASIONAL LUXURY, BUT THE REGULAR DISCHARGE OF A CONSTANT DUTY
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe 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” (Joshua 1:8).
It is one thing to say to a leader, “Be strong and courageous.” It’s quite another thing to enable him or her to do it. Joshua’s strength and courage will come from meditating on the word of God, from believing the promises in it, from living in obedience to its precepts. Moses gave this same counsel to the entire nation back in Deuteronomy 11 almost word-for-word. But now God is applying it specifically to Joshua.
What is “all the law,” mentioned in verse 7, and “the book of the law,” mentioned in verse 8? During the years of his leadership of the nation, Moses compiled a written, historical record of God’s activity among the people from creation history through the history of the patriarchs to Moses’ contemporary setting with the people. Throughout the forty years in the wilderness Moses kept adding material to this record until finally it included everything that God wanted in it. It became the entire five books of Moses—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—the Pentateuch. It was the greatest legacy that Moses could have left to his successor. Deuteronomy 31 talks about Moses' completing the book and of his committing it to the care of the priests, but it wasn't enough that the priests carried it around and protected it. No, Joshua had to take the time to read it every single day, to make it a part of his inner person by meditating on it.
The Hebrew word for meditate is interesting---it means to mutter. We mutter under our breath, talk to ourselves, interact with issues. I think of the practice of the Jews even today who read the Scriptures aloud to themselves. You can see them at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, repeating the Scriptures aloud to the Lord and to themselves. The Jewish people even to this day love to discuss the Scriptures with each other and debate over Torah. That explains God's warning to Joshua here in verse 8 to not allow the book of the law to depart out of his mouth. This image is of soaking in the Scriptures---intense, regular, personal engagement with the Scriptures---with the desire not just to gain information for its own sake, but to be guided and directed and controlled by God's revelation. We want it to keep us from wandering off in the wrong direction, from turning to the right hand or to the left, in the words of our text. We want it to enable us to succeed in the things that God desires for us.
We can choose to set out on our own to become materially successful. In the words of this passage, that would be turning to the right hand or to the left. But the reality is that we can achieve the goal and live to regret it. There are some famous words by George MacDonald, the Scottish novelist and Christian apologist: "In whatever a man does without God, he must fail miserably or succeed more miserably." It is possible to know physical and material success and yet be an absolute failure spiritually. Meditating on the Scriptures will help us evaluate our motives in decision-making with regard to success and prosperity. We will learn to ask ourselves the right questions out of the word of God. Am I totally committed to the will of God in this action, this choice, or this endeavor? Am I relying completely on the Spirit of God to empower me, or do I trust in my own resources? Am I serving the glory of God ultimately? If I can answer those questions with a yes, then my ministry, my activity, my relationships will be successful in God's eyes, no matter what people think and no matter what the physical, material outcome is.
Joshua was learning to reflect on God’s word and this is what we must do, too. We must read it, reread it, and read it again till it becomes a way of thinking. That’s what this passage is calling us to live like—we think biblically, reading and soaking in and reflecting on the word of God. We must stay strong to remain bold—Joshua was called to boldness in God. This exposes Joshua’s weakness; there was a NEED for such a command, because even a great leader like Joshua needed such encouragement. This bold courage would not be in Joshua himself, but in God. We can be full of self-confidence that will take us to ruin, but we should instead be full of a genuine God-confidence. Joshua is being instructed to take great care to observe the law. God’s word and Joshua’s commitment to it would be the pillars supporting his success. Joshua did not only NEED to read God’s word, it had to be on his lips (shall not depart from your mouth), in his mind (meditate in it day and night), and he had to do it (observe to do according to all that is written). For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go: The final encouragement, repeated from Joshua 1:5, reminds us that Joshua’s success did not depend solely on his ability to keep God’s Word. It depended even more on God’s presence with him.
Joshua was a very small man in comparison with his predecessor. He was neither a prophet nor aconstructive genius; he was not capable of the heights of communion and revelation which the lofty spirit of Moses was able to mount. He was only a plain, fiery soldier, with energy, swift decision, promptitude, self-command, and all the military virtues in the highest degree. The one thing that he needed was to be ‘strong and courageous’; and over and over again in this chapter you will find that injunction pealed into his ears. He is the type of the militant servant of the Lord, and the charge to him embodies the duties of all such.
For this reason the commandment to be strong and of good courage is in the text based upon this: ‘As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.’ Our strength depends on ourselves, because our strength is the fruit of our faith. And if we live with Him, grasping His hand and, in the realizing consciousness of our own weakness, looking beyond ourselves, then power will come to us above our desire and equal to our need. The old victories of faith will be reproduced in us when we say with the ancient king, ‘Lord! We know not what to do, but our eyes are up unto Thee.’ Then He will come to us, to make us ‘strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.’ ‘Wait on the Lord and He will strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord.’ The secret of all blessed Christian lives is a lovely echo of these vigorous words of command to Joshua in a very much more peaceful form in the 1st Psalm: ‘Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, … but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day and night’—the very words that are employed in the text to describe the duty of the soldier—therefore ‘all that he does shall prosper.’
Did you pick up on the thing God DID emphasize to Joshua? There wasn't much elaboration made in the way of instructions. It was really a very simple message that God gave him. It was that he should follow carefully what was written in 'the book'. He said, "Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left" (v. 7); or "This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it " (v. 8). And if Joshua faithfully did as he was told - if he stayed true to 'the book' - he would have no reason to fear. God Himself promises, "For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success" (v. 8). If that condition is followed, he could enter into this great task with confidence; because God Himself assures him, “for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." We must make the word our own before it can dwell in us; and Joshua could not meditate upon the law day and night if it were not continually in his mouth. Having it in his mouth, feeding upon it, it would pass into his heart and by meditation upon it divine affections would be formed; his whole soul and conduct would be molded by it, so that, as in the law of liberty, obedience to it would be the spontaneous outflow. A qualification for service, then, is that our own thoughts should be entirely displaced, together with ourselves, and that God's thoughts, His wisdom, should fill the soul, as the spring of all our activity in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Knowing God’s Word, the clearly revealed will of God, plus recognizing one’s gifts, abilities, and training, all of which are a part of understanding His pleasure or will for one’s life, is foundational for finding strength and courage to accept any area of responsibility in ministry. Without this understanding, one will hardly have the motivation or courage to move into the ministries God wants to call us to. We need to pray and seek God’s will and wisdom. Read this passage again and carefully see what application you can make for your life. Do you feel the tug of God on your life to serve him in a particular way, but you are afraid? Are you afraid of failure? Are you afraid of what it might cost you? Meditate on these verses. God will answer all your questions and concerns as you seek for His understanding. Joshua had questions and fear; nevertheless, regardless of that or any obstacles, God’s will was clearly made known to Joshua. He needed to act on this fact by faith in the Lord’s person, promises, and provision.
Successful ministry according to a biblical definition of success is ultimately related to solid Bible teaching and study rather than to our human methods, techniques, and strategies which too often resort to pressure, coercion, and manipulation in order to achieve our own agendas or results. The Word is intrinsically powerful and able to produce godly change in believers’ lives as it motivates, encourages, gives hope and direction, and exposes us to both our needs and God’s provision. The Word has been given to us to establish a communicative relationship with God. It is a means of fellowship with Him. But this takes time, quality time and diligence. Note the emphasis on this in these verses. “To do according to all the Law…; do not turn from it …” (vs. 7), “but you shall meditate on it day and night …” (vs. 8). What’s our tendency? The average person today wants a quick fix—three easy steps. We want God to do it now. But this kind of approach does not develop a relationship with the Lord. Relationship with God, knowing Him, as with any relationship, takes time. It is this that provides us with success in ministry and in life, wherever we go and in whatever we do.
Meditation was not to be an occasional luxury, but the regular discharge of a constant duty—"day and night", and this in order to a prompter, fuller and more acceptable obedience. God requires an intelligent, voluntary, and joyous obedience, and if we are really desirous of pleasing and glorifying Him we shall not only familiarize ourselves with His Word, but habitually ponder how its holy precepts may best regulate all the details of our daily lives. "I will meditate on Thy precepts, and have respect unto Thy ways" (Ps. 119:15) — the latter cannot properly be without the former.
A life of faith calls for a stout heart, that we may not be daunted by either the difficulties or the dangers along our way. The flesh, the world and the Devil are arrayed against us, seeking our destruction. Nor are we called upon to engage them for a season only—it is a lifelong battle. Nor can we expect to avoid hardship or escape being wounded in such a conflict. Our obedience to mediate on God’s word must be taken seriously every day as we walk with the Lord and grow in Christ. We must be in a reflective mode to read, reread, and read again the Word of God soaking in all that God wants to teach us.
