Project 119: Joshua 23

 |  Project 119  |  Mary Splawn

I love to play the piano duet of “Heart and Soul” with my dad. Neither of us are good piano players, but we’ve memorized this tune and the timing of the piece. And, on almost every occasion we get together we end up playing this little duo to the delight (maybe?) of our family! We know the piece by heart.

You know the tune, don’t you? Or if you don’t, google “Heart and Soul Piano Duo.” Okay, that’s not the point.

The reason I mention this song is because in verse 14 of this chapter, Joshua reminds the people of something they can know in their “hearts and souls.” In other words, every ounce of their being can know it. What can they know by heart? They can know that “not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled.” What wonderful news! The promises of land and nation given to Abraham way back in Genesis are fulfilled. The promise that God would not forsake them if they followed Him is fulfilled, and the promise to give them rest in the land is fulfilled!

God’s promises to us stand secure as well. The one caution I would give us is that not all promises in Scripture are for us. Some promises are for a specific time and place and others have conditions attached to the promises. Also, as with Proverbs, all statements aren’t as much promises as they are general principles. Yet, there are many promises in Scripture that we can take to heart! One of my favorite promises for all believers is that God will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5)!

What promises of God do you stand on today? Why not memorize one of them so that you can replay it often in your heart?

For more on the promises of God, see Jen Wilkin’s article, “Which Promises Are for Me?” on The Gospel Coalition website. Some of Jen’s favorite Biblical promises include James 1:5, 1 Corinthians 10:13, John 10:28-29, Philippians 1:6, and Luke 12:40.

Joshua 23 (ESV):

 A long time afterward, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years, 2 Joshua summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, “I am now old and well advanced in years.3 And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you.4 Behold, I have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off, from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west. 5 The Lord your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, just as the Lord your God promised you.6 Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, 7 that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, 8 but you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day. 9 For the Lord has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day. 10 One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your God who fights for you, just as he promised you. 11 Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God. 12 For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, 13 know for certain that the Lordyour God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the Lord your God has given you.

14 “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. 15 But just as all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the Lord will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the Lord your God has given you, 16 if you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.”