Friday – The Results of Not Consulting with the Lord
READ: Joshua 9:1-6; 14-15; Psalm 33:10-11
SOAP: Psalm 33:10-11
For further reading – Joshua 9:7-13
“10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.”– Psalm 33:10-11
The victories over Jericho and Ai worried the kings of Canaan. These Israelites were conquering the land and were not going back to the other side of the Jordan. They had arrived in Canaan to stay, were determined to conquer all the land, and had a powerful God by their side. What could they do?
A group of men from Gibeon decided to make a plan to deceive Joshua. The Gibeonites lived very close to the camp of Israel and knew they were going to be destroyed. They met with Joshua and the other leaders and made up a story that they were coming from a faraway city. In order to make their story more convincing, they loaded their donkeys with patched sacks, tattered their clothes, and had dry crumbs as food. These very clever men presented themselves as servants who wanted to make a covenant with Israel when, in fact, they were the enemy in disguise.
Verse 14 says the men of Israel made a covenant with the Gibeonites. But they didn´t ask God about it. As we´ll see tomorrow, they made a mistake. That happens to us sometimes, too. We forget that Satan loves to disguise himself to trick us. We forget that he used the Scripture against Jesus, that he is a deceiver and a liar. Let´s not make the same mistake Joshua and his leaders made and instead look for the counsel of God before making decisions. His counsel stands forever!
Heavenly Father forgive me for all the decisions I´ve made without consulting You. I can see some bad decisions I’ve made and the pain they brought to my life. Guide me in every step. In Jesus’ name, Amen.