You're listening to David Platt Messages, a weekly podcast of sermons and messages of pastor, author, and teacher David Platt. Today's episode is a rerun of one of our most listened to messages of all time.
SPEAKER_02If you have his word, and I hope you do, or maybe somebody around you does that you can look on with, let me invite you to open with me to Joshua chapter one. You're gonna want to follow along, so find somebody around you if you don't have a Bible who has one. Look around, share if need be. But Joshua chapter one, feel free to use table of contents to find that. It's the sixth book in the Bible. Joshua chapter one. When I say the word meditate, what is the first picture that comes to your mind? Maybe it's a man with a turban on his head, sitting upright with legs crisscrossed, his arms raised, his eyes closed, maybe his lips humming. We often associate meditation with mysticism, and for good reason. Many Eastern religions, you think about Buddhism and involving or even requiring meditation, this emptying of the mind in order to focus on the soul. And as a result, we as Christians virtually avoid the idea and functionally avoid the practice of meditation altogether. And for good reason, we know that meditation is not the way or even a way to salvation. But what are we to do then with texts like we're gonna read tonight, where God commands Joshua and by implication his people to meditate. So God in his word commands us to meditate. And so to avoid meditation altogether is to disobey God. We need to meditate, which then leads to the follow-up question: well, what does that mean? What is meditation? How do we do it? And what I want to do tonight is, over the next few moments, in a sense, to model meditation. I want us to take a short passage of scripture, actually from our Bible reading today, and meditate on it. Now, you may be wondering, okay, what does that mean? We're about to sit down on the floor and crisscross our legs, raise our arms, close our eyes. Because if so, I'm out of here. Let me set your mind at ease. That's not what we're gonna do. Donald Whitney, who has written some great resources on different spiritual disciplines, defines biblical meditation this way. He says, meditation is deep thinking on the truths and spiritual realities revealed in Scripture for the purposes of understanding, application, and prayer. So, right from the beginning, you see, you hear the major difference here between mysticism and Christianity. And it's not just about posture, it's about the goal. So the goal of Eastern mysticism or even New Age meditation is the emptying of your mind in order to have complete focus. But the goal in biblical meditation is totally different. Actually, the goal would be the same. We want to have complete focus, but the means of accomplishing that goal is not meditation that empties our minds, but meditation that fills our minds with truth, with God's word. That's why, in the passage we're about to read, you might go ahead and just look at it down in verse 8. The command God is about to give us, verse 8 says, This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night. So meditation involves filling our minds with God's word. And it's in doing that that we find right focus for our lives. And this kind of focus necessitates more than just reading the Bible. So notice the command here in verse 8 is not, this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall read it day and night. Instead, this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, and you shall meditate on it day and night. So there's a difference between reading the Bible and meditating on the Bible. And it's clear we're not just supposed to read it. We're supposed to meditate on it day and night. I'm reading this passage this week, and I'm thinking, we need to know how to meditate. Because this is something we're supposed to do every single day. And every night. This is huge. Meditation does not need to be a mystery to us. Meditation needs to be a reality in every one of our Christian lives on a daily basis, on a nightly basis, not just reading. So here's how Donald Whitney, based on the different ways the Bible talks about reading and meditating on scripture, distinguishes between
the two. He writes, Reading the Bible was never intended to be the primary means of absorbing the Bible. Reading is the starting place, but meditation is the absorption of Scripture. And it's the absorption of Scripture that leads to the experiences with God and the changes in our lives that we seek when we come to the Bible. So it's one thing, Whitney says, to read Scripture. It's a whole other thing to absorb it. And absorbing it, that's meditation. And this squares with how the Bible talks about meditation. There's actually three words in the Hebrew that are translated meditate in our Bibles. The first one, used in Psalm chapter 1, basically, when it says meditate there, it's talking about murmuring scripture slowly and softly to yourself. Psalm 1 says, Blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. A.T. Scott, one of our elders, led our elders through this text, this last Wednesday night, glorious time. And then verse 2 says, His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. So he's murmuring it to himself over and over again, every day, every night. And the other two words for meditate in the Bible are actually a part of our Bible reading from this last week in Psalm 119. So Psalm 119, verse 14 describes meditation as repeating God's word even musically in a way that we delight in it. Just an enjoyable picture. And then the other is Psalm 119, verse 99, where the psalmist says, I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. And the word there for meditation is talking about reflecting quietly with deep devotion. So notice the difference here. Reading the Bible is good. And it's necessary, it's a starting point for meditation, but it's not where it stops, because we don't just read the Bible like we're reading a novel for entertainment or a nonfiction book for information. No, as we read the Bible, we want to absorb the Bible. We want to soak in what it's saying. And that involves more than just following words on a page. Do you ever find yourself doing that? Do you ever find yourself just kind of reading verses, words in scripture? I I I do, especially when I'm using a Bible reading plan, like we're using. I find myself just reading verse after verse after verse, and then I'll stop and think, I have no idea what I just read. Am I alone in this? Thanks, help me out here. Like, yeah, we're and it's not because I don't understand it, it's because I'm just not even really listening to what I'm reading. Husbands, have you ever been on a date with your wife? Where, and this has never happened to me, but I've heard my wife and I try to regularly, consistently go out on dates, and so every once in a while we'll find ourselves at a restaurant for dinner, and our we'll be seated in this restaurant in such a way that I'm sitting there across from the table from my beautiful wife, and she's sitting in front of me, but then right behind her in the background is this scream. And there's oftentimes a game on or Sports Center. And and I want to listen well to my wife. But there are times, well, I mean, so I've heard, there are times when when in the middle of conversation with your wife, there all of a sudden comes this pause, and it hits you that apparently something has just been said that evokes a response. And you have no idea what's just been said. Therefore, you have no idea how to respond. Now you know how the game's going, but you don't know what's just been said. And so you hear these dreaded words. She says, You haven't been listening to a thing I've been saying, have you? To which I will respond, Well, of course I have. Just that last part. Just repeat that last part. I just want to make sure I'm clear before I respond.
SPEAKER_01And we do that with the word of God. We read it. I mean, we we genuinely, we're actually reading it, but we're not, we don't stop and let it soak in. We all do this.
SPEAKER_02One more quote from Donald Whitney. He writes, most Christians read the Bible, but few Christians meditate on it.
SPEAKER_01And he goes on to diagnosis saying, as a result, so many sense little spiritual impact from the time they invest in scripture intake.
SPEAKER_02So the main reason more Christians don't find their daily time in the scriptures more profitable has little to do with the strength of their memory, the level of their education, or their IQ. Rather, the problem is very simple: a lack of meditation on Scripture. Has anybody been there? Maybe anybody there? Maybe constantly there, reading the Bible, but not experiencing God in it. Not experiencing the spiritual impact from time spent listening to God. And I am zealous for us in this room, for you, for me in this room, for us to experience God on a daily and nightly basis. I'm zealous for us to know this spiritual impact that he's talking about. Not just to read God's word and move on with our Bible reading box checked off for the day, and then not to give up on Bible reading altogether. I'm guessing some, maybe many of you have done to this point because you weren't seeing the point. You weren't really experiencing the benefit. Maybe because you were reading, but you weren't absorbing. It sure seems like something was missing. And what I'm guessing is missing for many of us is meditation.
Now, this is where I'm as a pastor both a bit encouraged and a bit discouraged. So let me explain, encouraged. On one hand, I'm encouraged, because the simple guide to reading the Bible that we've developed as a church and given to you that's online, it's on the Brook Hills app, that simple guide to reading the Bible is in essence a guide to meditation. If you take Donald Whitney's definition of meditation, he said it was deep thinking on the truths and spiritual realities revealed in Scripture for the purposes of understanding, application, and prayer, you realize those three purposes, understanding, application, and prayer, are exactly what that simple guide is all about. If you'll remember or if you use that guide, it's based on an acrostic reap, R-E-A-P. And it's just, okay, read the text, so read, but don't stop there. Examine in order to understand. First purpose that he points out to meditation. And then apply, second purpose he points out, and then pray. Third purpose he points out. So if you're using that simple guide to reading the Bible that uses that acrostic reap, whether you realize it or not, you are meditating on scripture. If you're not using that, you can download that online, just really easily, and tomorrow start using it. I would encourage you to use it. Maybe for the first time, maybe for the first time in a long time. And as you do, know that you're obeying this command from God. If you have been using that guide, be encouraged. Even though you may not have realized it, you're meditating on God's word. At the same time, here's where I am a bit discouraged. So I've been, just to be vulnerable, personally and pastorally convicted this last week that the way I often teach us and lead us through the word when we're together in this room may not always lend very well to meditation. What I mean by that is that if I'm not careful, I can lead us through a sermon where we study a passage in the Bible and we see all sorts of truth. But I don't leave time along the way to let that truth really soak into our minds and our hearts. I think about a sermon like last week where we walk through all of Deuteronomy revolving around four primary commands amidst a plethora of other commands, and all of those commands are good and true. And we need to see those commands and those truths. But if we're not careful, if I'm not careful, I'll end up trying to lead us to a whole study, a whole sermon stocked full of truths, so much to the point that I don't allow any time along the way to absorb that truth and let it soak in. And the result may be us getting a bunch of good notes on a sermon, but then walking away without internalizing anything we've written down. That's actually dangerous, even deceptive. James 1 says, if you hear the word and then walk away and don't even remember what you've heard, then you deceive ourselves, your isn't possible that we could be an extremely biblically literate congregation and yet be totally deceived in the process. I don't want us to walk away deceived every week. Because we've just read God's word and seen truth. I want us to listen to God, to ponder God's word, to meditate on it, let it soak into our minds and our hearts in such a way that we're leaving, ready to obey what He has said in our lives as a church. So here's what I want to do: I want to lead us tonight to meditate on this passage of Scripture, Joshua 1, 1 through 9. What we're gonna do is we're gonna read it slowly and deliberately. So the goal is not just to get through this part of the night so we can get into this sermon. No, we want to listen to God. We want to focus intently on what God is saying. So get your eyes off the sports center, TV, whatever, so to speak. So put distractions aside. Let's focus our mind on the word of God. And then let's just absorb it. What we're gonna do is we're gonna step back and just let this passage soak into our minds and our hearts. And there may be some notes you want to write down, some truths that I'll draw attention to, or maybe truths I don't even cover tonight that you observe in this text. But the the goal is to meditate on it, to understand this passage, to apply this passage in our own situations all across this room, to pray according to it in the process to delight in it. So let's ask God to help us do this. I know Corey just just prayed, but but can I can I just let's bow our heads? I just want to lead us and just think about who we're who we're bowing our heads before and who we're about to hear from. All across this room in a supernatural way. Help us to focus on here to absorb. We pray for an experience with you tonight. We pray for spiritual energy that comes and listening to the God of the universe. We pray for you to help for that end now. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Okay. Let's read the word of God. Just hear it, focus on it. Don't tune out along the way. Just this is God's word. After
the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord. The Lord said to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, Moses, my servant, is dead. Now therefore, arise. Go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. All the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea, toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 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. Okay. And when when you read this passage deliberately, there are immediately a couple of phrases that stick out, aren't there? There's two phrases that are repeated three times in these verses that we just read. And so see, one, one is a command. It's the command for Joshua to be strong and courageous. You see it in verse six, you might underline it in your Bible. Be strong and courageous. Then verse seven, only be strong and very courageous. And then verse nine, have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. So three times you see that command. And then the other phrase that's repeated three times is a promise. It's the promise that God is going to be with Joshua. So you see it twice at the end of verse five. God says, just as I was with Moses, here it is, so I will be with you. That's a promise. I will be with you. And then he says it again, just rephrases it, I will not leave you or forsake you. That's the second time. And then you go to the end of the passage, end of verse 9. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. So three times he talks about he's going to be with him. And this is this is not the first time we've seen these phrases. If you've been following along in the Bible reading, you know that these are the exact same phrases we read just a couple chapters before this. In fact, turn back to the left, just a few chapters, you'll come to Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 31. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 31. 31. And if you're using that reap, that simple guide to reading the Bible, first question in that examine section is going to be what words or phrases or verses seem to stick out in this passage? So that's what we're doing right now. We're examining to understand this passage. Look back in Deuteronomy 31 when uh when Moses is speaking to Joshua and the people of God. Look at Deuteronomy 31, verse 1. So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. He said to them, I'm 120 years old today. I'm no longer able to go out and come in. The Lord has said to me, You shall not go over this Jordan. The Lord your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head as the Lord has spoken. And the Lord will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land when he destroyed them. And the Lord will give them over to you, and you shall do to them according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. So listen to what he says in verse six. You might underline it. Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. Same command, same promise there. Then in verse 7, Moses speaks directly to Joshua. You'll never guess what he says to him. Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel. It's the Lord who goes before you. Here it is. He will be with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. Sound familiar? And then you even get later in the chapter, Deuteronomy chapter 31, verse 23, God speaks directly to Joshua in verse 23. And the Bible says, the Lord commissioned Joshua, the son of Nun, and said, Surprise, be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. Then he says, I will be with you. When we see something repeated like this in the Bible, it's obvious we need to sit up and take notice. I didn't even point out. You go back to Joshua chapter 1 at the end of that chapter, which we didn't read all the way there, but the people there are speaking to Joshua, and you'll never guess what they say. They want in on the action. Verse 16 says, They answer Joshua. All that you commanded us, we will do, wherever you send us, we will go, just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you.
SPEAKER_01Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses.
SPEAKER_02Same thing there. And then verse 18: whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him shall be put to death. Only, Joshua, this is how the chapter ends, be strong and courageous. So there's a promise here. God will be with Joshua. And there's a command that flows from that reality. So in light of God's presence, be strong and be courageous. And that is what I want us to meditate on for a few moments. How does God's presence with the Christian create strength and courage in the Christian? And I want us to just think about this. Let this soak in to absorb this. Not just to think about this in Joshua's life. So yes, we want to understand what's going on in his life. We want to soak this into our own lives. Christian, what effect does knowing God is with you have upon you? That's what I found myself meditating on in my life this while last week, even with some things that I'm walking through in my life. Reading Deuteronomy 31 a few days ago, then Joshua 1 today, here's what I'm soaking in. And obviously, I don't know all that each of you are walking through in your own lives, but I've got a feeling that what we just read has a lot of room to soak in to lives and families all across this room tonight. And I I prayed this morning. Group of our pastors get together every Sunday morning and pray. And one of the things we're praying is that God would bring people here to this room today that need to hear this word, that need to soak in this word in particular. And after the nine o'clock gathering this morning, a man comes up to me right afterwards and he says, Uh, Pastor, what's your name? He had no clue what my name was. He said, I'm not supposed to be here today. I was planning on going to another church. I couldn't find the church that I was planning on going to, and so I saw this one, and so I just pulled in. It was a little bit late, so I walked in. Uh the sermon had already started, but I thought, I'll just sit down, and then tears just start flowing from this man's eyes, as he says, You don't understand what I'm walking through in my life, and I needed to hear this word today. So I just don't think that's a coincidence. And similarly, I don't I don't think it's a coincidence that any one person is sitting in this room at this moment. So if you if you were looking for somewhere else, we're glad you're here. If you were planning to come here, I I'm trusting that there's a reason you're planning to come here. So just soak this in for the next few moments, just listen to God and his word speaking to your life.
Think about it. What we just read, it means meditate on it. When God is with you, you have a confidence amidst uncertainty. So you might you might write this down. When God is with you, you have the confidence amidst uncertainty. You might even personalize it. When God is with me. So this is just soaking into your life. When God is with me, I have confidence amidst uncertainty. Just think about this. If you're reading through the Bible, you know the context that leads up to Joshua 1. In the chapter right before this in the Bible, Deuteronomy 34, a monumental event in Israel's history happens. Moses dies. Moses, the man who had led the people of God ever since the beginning of the book of Exodus. So that's four books in the Bible. Four out of five books in the Bible. We've seen Moses as the main leader among God's people, and now he's gone. And here stand God's people on the brink of the promised land, and their leader is dead. You can only imagine the uncertainty. What are the people going to do without Moses? Sure, Joshua had been appointed as Moses' successor, but there was so much unknown about how he would lead and what would happen. So in the aftermath of Moses' death, uncertainty is in the air among the people, among their leader. So don't you love verse 1? After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, and here, from the start of this book, we're reminded Moses was only a servant of the Lord. And the Lord was still with his people. The Lord who goes on in verse 5 to say to Joshua, just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. So the man who leads God's people is not ultimately what matters. Ultimately what matters is the Lord who leads his people. And when he is with his people, they can have confidence amidst uncertainty. Oh, so let this soak in. Certainly there's corporate application here. It is always good to remember that we, as God's people, called the Church Ebrakills, are not dependent on one leader or even one group of leaders. This text is a clarion call to remember that the church is not dependent on one pastor. This church is not dependent on me or any other pastor for that matter. Our certainty is not dependent on a particular leader, but on the Lord who guides his people with his presence. So there's corporate application here, but then apply this in your own life. Your own family, your own works. Uncertainty often hits when someone we have looked to in our lives is no longer there, right? Maybe it's a husband or a wife who was once there but is no longer there. Maybe it's a mom or a dad who was once there but is is no longer there. Mark Sly, our student minister, got a call on Wednesday night this week as the students were finishing up down the hill. Got a call that his dad had just passed away. And reminded me of ten years ago, this August, when I got a similar call. When things like that happen in our lives, in our families, at work, in the church, all of a sudden we find ourselves in a cloud of uncertainty. And into that cloud, God speaks to his people with crystal clear clarity. He says, I am still with you. Would you just meditate on that tonight? And just let that soak in. And maybe it's uncertainty that you're facing, not because of the death of somebody you love or the distance now from someone you once loved. Maybe because of something unexpected or unforeseen that has happened or is happening in your life that's caused all kinds of questions just to come into the air. Would you just hear God saying in the middle of uncertainty around you, I am with you. And you can be confident in me. God says, don't put your confidence in your circumstances. Don't put your confidence in this person or that person. God says, put your confidence in my presence with you. When God is with you, you have confidence amidst uncertainty. And then keep going. So second, when God is with you, you have strength despite weakness. You have strength. When God is with me, I have strength despite weakness. Verse 5, just as I was with Moses, Joshua, so I will be with you, I will not leave you or forsake you. So, verse 6, be strong when God is with you. You have strength despite your weakness. And Joshua needed strength in his weakness. You remember, Joshua tried to lead the people of God before. We don't have time to turn there right now, but you go back to Numbers chapter 13, which we've read. Remember that Joshua and Caleb, 40 years prior to this, had gone into the promised land as two of the 12 spies sent by Moses to scout out that land. When they came back, the spies were saying, This land is flowing with milk and honey. It's plentiful. It's a great land. But then 10 of the spies say, We can't take it because the people, they're big and they're large and they're powerful, and we'll never be able to take them. And Caleb and Joshua are standing up and says, Yes, we can. God's given us this land. And in Numbers chapter 14, Joshua specifically rises to speak, and he tells the people, we can take this land. You know how the people respond to Joshua in Numbers 14? The Bible says they rose up to stone him. They rose up to stone him. Now, obviously, by this point in Joshua 1, that entire generation had passed away. But the memory of that kind of event in a leader's life does not pass away so easily. Joshua knows that leading this people will not be easy. It will be hard. And Joshua knows that left to his own abilities to lead this people, he will fail. He can't do it. And so God says to him, I am with you. And in light of this, even though you know you are weak, with me you are strong. Oh, this is good news, isn't it? This is worth meditating on. Anyone in this room feel over your head? And your life? And your relationships. You ever feel over in over your head in your marriage? Ever feel in over your head in parenting? Can I just testify to that one? Totally in over my head. Ever feel in over your head at work? And this or that situation, maybe emotional difficulty you're facing, maybe physical challenge you're encountering, maybe relational strain you're walking through, and you don't know what to do. Maybe the only thing you do know to do is extremely hard to do. So to Christian men and women, and husbands and wives, and moms and dads, and employees and employers facing all kinds of situations all across this room. Let this soak in. God is with you. And He gives you strength despite your weakness.
And so keep going, you have courage in the face of fear. So we're just meditating on God's presence. When God is with you, you have courage in the face of fear. Think about this. Why did God tell Joshua three different times to be strong and courageous? God told Joshua three times to be strong and courageous because Joshua was scared to death. He's looking at the land of Canaan, currently divided into 31 different city-states, and he's supposed to lead God's people to conquer all of them. How is he going to do that? Starting with this major city of Jericho, surrounded by massive walls around it. There is much, much to be afraid of here. Yet God says, I am with you, so don't be afraid. And then hear what God says to him next. Look at verse 6. He says, I'm not going to leave you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Now that's good news if you're Joshua. It's God saying, You are going to cause this people to inherit this land that I swore a long time ago to give them. God has said back up in verse 3, listen to this verse. Verse 3, every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. Did you hear that? Every place that your footsteps will be yours. Verse 4, from the wilderness and Lebanon, as far as the Great River, the river of Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, the Great Sea, to the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. That's a guarantee from Almighty God. And that's reason for courage in the face of fear. Do you realize what's going on here? Joshua hasn't even fought one battle in the promised land, and God has already guaranteed him the victory. Don't miss it. When the God, the one true God, the only God who is sovereign over all peoples and all nations and all the universe, when this God is with you, you have no reason to fear. I don't know what you're facing right now in your life that makes you afraid. But I do know that when the God who spoke and all creation came into being, the God who reigns over all creation and all nations, he holds them in the palm of his hands. When this God is on your side, you have nothing to be afraid of. You have nothing to be afraid of. You have courage in the face of fear. Now, this courage is obviously based not just on God's presence, but on God's promise here, which leads to the next reality that I want to invite Christians all across this room to soak in. So when God's with you, you have confidence amid uncertainty, strength despite weakness, courage in the face of fear, and when God is with you, you have success according to Scripture. You have success according to Scripture. Notice how everything here in this text hinges on God's word to Joshua, God's word to his people. Which is why in verse 7, look at it, God says, only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses, my servant, commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left. You may have good success wherever you go. Success here is tied to obedience, right? Verse 8, this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth. You shall meditate on it. So there it is, meditate on it day and night. Soak it in day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that's written in it, for then, then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. You will have success, God says, when you meditate on my word, and you do what I have commanded there. And it's so interesting the way this plays out in the coming pages. You'll see it as you read this week. Israel's military success in the book of Joshua is never based on how strong their army is or how innovative their strategy is. Human strength, human strategy have nothing to do with whether or not the Israelites win different battles. Instead, their battles are totally tied to whether or not these Israelites are obeying God. And when they're walking in obedience to God's word, they can win a battle with nothing but trumpet players and people shouting. Yet, on the other hand, when they're not walking in obedience to God's word, they can't defeat even the smallest puny town of AI, even with their strongest men. So notice this. All that we're talking about here, confidence, strength, courage, success, all these things hinge on trusting in God's presence and clinging to God's word. So just let that soak in. Whatever you're walking through in your life right now, whatever circumstances you are facing, whatever decisions you are making, notice here in Joshua 1 that God doesn't spell out the battle plans for each of these places they're going to conquer. God doesn't give the specifics at this point for what to do on this day or that day in this city or that battle. Instead, God says, stay in tune with my voice, listen to my word, hear it and heed it, and you will have success. Oh, you may not know the specifics at this moment of what you need to do in this circumstance or that situation, and you may not know the details about the decision you need to make, but know this, Christian. God is God is with you, and God is not silent. He leads his people according to his word. He does not leave his people in the dark regarding his will, and he will give us success according to scripture. So cling to his word. Read it, but don't stop there. Meditate on it, soak it in day and night, day and night, day and night, and he will give you success according to Scripture. Last reality, just to let it soak in.
When God is with you, you have hope in the face of despair. When God is with you, you have hope in the face of despair. This passage closes out in verse 9 with God saying, Have I not commanded you, just in case you missed it, be strong and courageous, do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed. Don't be dismayed. Don't be discouraged or disheartened. Downcast. Distressed. Don't let your heart give way to despair. Because the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. When whenever you get to a point where it seems like there's no way out, whenever you find yourself in a valley where it it seems like nothing but darkness is surrounding you. Christian, know this. You have hope. You have hope. I'm convinced that God's brought some people into this room to hear these three words loud and clear. Just let it soak in. You have hope. You have hope. Why? Not because your circumstances are guaranteed to change tonight, and not because the situation you're facing is guaranteed to turn around tomorrow. No, your hope is not in your circumstances or your situation. Your hope, the hope of your heart, is in the rock solid reality that the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. So don't be dismayed. Don't be dismayed. You may remember back in Numbers chapter 13, when Moses sent these 12 spies out into the land, it gives the names of these 12 spies. But when Joshua's name is mentioned, he's not called Joshua initially. In Numbers 13, verse 8, he's called Hoshea the son of Nun. It's not until you get to verse 16 in that chapter that you read, these were the names of the men whom Moses sent out to spy the land, and Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua. And this is where we learn that Hoshea's name was actually changed by Moses to Joshua. You may wonder, well, why? What's the difference between the two names? Glad you asked. The answer is Hoshea means deliverance or salvation. But Moses makes a slight but significant change at the beginning of this name. When he changes it to Joshua, so now it doesn't just mean deliverance or salvation, but now it means Yahweh delivers. Or Yahweh saves. In other words, the Lord delivers. The Lord saves. It's the first name we see given in the Bible that explicitly incorporates the Lord Yahweh into someone's name. And it's deliberate. For when we come to this book that bears the name of Joshua, the overall message of the book of Joshua is clear. The Lord delivers his people. The Lord saves his people. Because of Yahweh's presence, because of the Lord's presence with his people, they can have hope in the face of despair. He will deliver them. He will save them. God delivers, God saves his people. That's why you know you can have hope when he is with you. And if that slight change of name in the Old Testament is not cool enough in and of itself, you know how that Hebrew name, Joshua, is translated when you get to the New Testament in the Greek. Joshua is translated in the New Testament as Jesus. For in the Greek New Testament, it's the name of Jesus that translates, the Lord saves, the Lord delivers. So don't miss this. All this talk about God's presence with his people was foreshadowing a day when God would come literally to dwell in flesh among his people. Jesus, the Lord who saves, would come to the earth as a man, the perfect presence of God dwelling with and among his people, dwelling with and among a people who were separated from God's presence. This is the human condition. This is the story of all of our lives in this room. This is the story of the world around us. We have all sinned against God. We've turned away from God and we have separated ourselves from God. This is the ultimate explanation for all that is wrong in our lives and all that is wrong in the world around us. We and the world we live in have turned away from God. And the effects of our turning from Him are all around us. And the ultimate need we all have is to be reconciled to God, to be restored to God's presence. And the good news of the Bible is that Jesus came to make that possible. Jesus came to live the life we couldn't live, a life of perfect fellowship with and total obedience to God. He did not deserve, as a result, the payment of sin, death and separation from God. And yet he chose on our behalf to stand in our place, to take our payment, to experience death and undergo separation from God. Jesus stood in our place on a cross, willingly suffered our separation for our sin, and in so doing purchased our reconciliation to God and his unique life and his substitutionary death and his victorious resurrection over sin and death. Jesus has made it possible for you and I in this room to be restored to the presence of God. This is why I have been intentional all night long to apply these promises from Joshua chapter 1 to Christians in this room. Because it's only through Christ and through faith and trust in who he is, what he has done, that these promises can be a reality in our lives. Apart from God, we are separated from God in our sin. We have no reason apart from Christ for the confidence and strength and courage and success and hope that we have seen in Joshua. It's only through trust in the one who saves, the one who delivers through Christ that these promises become a reality for you and for me. And so I invite you tonight, non-Christian friend, we don't believe it's an accident that you were here tonight. We invite you to realize that apart from Christ, you are separated from God in your sin. But God has made a way for you to be restored through him. He has sent his son to die on a cross to suffer your separation in order to purchase the possibility of your reconciliation. When you turn from your sin and trust in Jesus, you can be restored to God right where you are sitting by faith in him. Talk about not a coincidence. Woman today from Kazakhstan here who works in ministry in Kazakhstan who brought a friend of hers who is from Ukraine who is not a follower of Christ, and the whole message she's translating to this friend from Ukraine. And at the end of our time together this morning, the friend from Ukraine puts her faith in Christ for salvation. So I don't know if you're here from another country tonight. Or you're here from down the street. But God desires to do exactly what David testified to tonight. He desires to bring you to himself, not based on your works. Well, not based on how many good things you can do, but based on trust in what he has done for you. And when you put your trust in him, when you are reconciled or restored to God, just consider what these promises mean for your life right now. You realize all these promises are yours in Christ. And even in greater ways.
So it's been a while since I used this uh illustration, but as I was preparing this week, I thought I gotta pull it back out. So I wanna I wanna I want you to picture this with me. I want you to picture uh what is this are these Tupperware? I don't know what these are called, but okay. So, alright. Just go with me. Alright, here we go. Alright, so this I've drawn you here. Okay? That's you. Now, now this is you in your life, and separated from God on your own amidst the wind and the waves of this world, tossed back and forth, back and forth, with with without certainty, without strength and courage, not knowing what lies ahead. But here's the deal: something, something radical happens. Don't say radical, just to say radical, like something radical happens when you put your faith and your hope in Christ. Because these promises in the Old Testament, yes, in the New Testament we get there and we see, and we'll say at the end of our time together, Jesus saying, I'm with you always. But it goes even deeper because the picture in the New Testament is not just God with us. What is Colossians 1.27 says? This is the mystery of the gospel. Christ in you, the hope of glory. So just picture this. Here we got uh, I'm gonna bring in the spirit here, okay? So there's the spirit. Can you see the spirit? It says spirit. So this is the spirit. So picture the spirit of Christ. The spirit of Christ who raised Jesus from the dead comes to live inside of you. So Ephesians 1 says, he's a deposit in you, guaranteeing your eternal redemption. So you are sealed with the spirit of Christ inside of you. So just meditate on this, let this token. Right where you're sitting, Christian, you put your faith in Christ. Even this woman spawning from Ukraine, she puts your faith in Christ. At that moment, the Spirit of Christ comes to dwell inside of her. You have the Spirit of God living in you. Right where you're sitting, dwellings. God's Spirit, the Spirit of Christ living in you. That's not the end of the story, because Scripture also talks about not just how Christ is in us, but how we are in Christ as Christians. 2 Corinthians 5, 17. If anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. The old is gone, the new has come. So let's bring Christ into the picture. There's Christ. I'm going to put you in Christ. So see you in there. You can barely see it, but it's through Christ. Put you in there. You're in Christ. You're sealed. New creation. Old gone, new come. Things looking pretty good. But then it gets even better. Because Colossians chapter 3 goes on to talk about how since we have we have died to ourselves, we are now hidden with Christ. Anybody know how the verse ends? We're hidden with Christ in God. In God. So now we're going to bring in the big one. There we go. Here's the big one. God. So we're going to put Spirit of Christ in you, you in Christ, Christ in God. I'm going to seal that up. Alright. Do you see you in there? You're in there. How don't you just think about it? Like, I don't know. So just let this soak in. I don't know what you're walking through in your life right now. I don't know what situations you are facing. I don't know what the devil and all his demons are throwing at you right now. But I do know this, Christian. When the devil comes to try to get at you, he's got a lot of work to do. He comes first face to face with God, which he doesn't have a very good track record. Coming face to face with God. And then if for some reason he were able to get past God the Father, he came face to face with Christ. And we know how that works out. I mean, the devil thought he had defeated Christ when he died. Three days later, though, Stone rolled away. He was saying about it earlier. Jesus Christ risen from the dead, conquering sin, death, and Satan. In the words of Genesis 3, he crushed the serpent's head. So that didn't work out well for him. And then if for some reason they want to get past God the Father and God the Son, when he gets to you, he's still got to deal with the Spirit of Christ who sealed your heart for eternity. The spirit of him who raised from Jesus from the dead, living inside of you. So when you put this together and you realize where you stand right now tonight, I'd say you're pretty secure. I'd say you're you're pretty secure. A.W. Tozer came across this quote. He said, I'm not afraid of the devil. The devil can handle me. Tozer said, he's got judo I never heard of. I thought that. What is Tozer talking about? Judo. But he can't handle the one to whom I'm joined. He can't handle the one to whom I'm united. He can't handle the one whose nature dwells in my nature. Hudson Taylor said, Oh, it is joy to feel Jesus living in you. He's my life, my strength, my salvation. I'm no longer anxious about anything. Not anxious about anything. Don't you want that? Not to be anxious about anything. For Taylor says this in his biography called Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Seeker. He said, I know he is able to carry out his will, and his will is mine. It makes no matter where he places me or how. That is rather for him to consider than for me. For in the easiest position, he must give me his grace. And in the most difficult, his grace will be sufficient. So if God should place me in great perplexity, must he not give me much guidance? In positions of great difficulty, much grace? In circumstances of great pressure and trial, much strength. I have no fear that his resources will be unequal to the emergency, and his resources are mine, for he is mine, and he is with me, and he dwells in me. Christian, just let it soak in. Amidst uncertainty. You have confidence. Despite your weakness, you have strength. And face of fear, you have nothing to be afraid of. You have courage. He will grant you success according to his word. And he gives you hope. Even in the deepest, darkest, most difficult circumstance. He's with you. Don't be don't be afraid. Don't be dismayed. The Lord your God is with you. In you. You in him wherever you go. This is a blood-bought reality for every follower of Christ in this room. And I just invite you to receive it and soak it in and to hear it. And let it apply to whatever you're walking through.
SPEAKER_00We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of David Platt Messages. For more resources from David Platt, we invite you to visit radical.net.