[A Meditation on One Verse]

(Joshua 12:7) “Now these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the Israelites conquered on the west side of the Jordan…”

Joshua chapter 12 lists at length the thirty-one kings of the land whom Israel conquered. We tend to pass over this list, seeing it as just a tedious record of historical facts. But for Israel, this list was not a simple recollection of the past, but a living ‘confession of faith’ offered in the present.

Reading the name ‘the king of Jericho,’ they would have praised the God who brought down the walls with only a shout. Seeing the name ‘the king of Lachish,’ they would have sung of the God who fought for them, even stopping the sun. It is at this very point that we discover God’s zeal for us.

In the midst of the intense battlefield of our lives today, God is writing a new ‘song of faith’ for us to sing. The day-to-day of this spiritual warfare, sometimes falling and breaking, is a holy process in which God engraves a ‘confession of faith’ into our lives and ultimately draws out our praise.

Therefore, the battles we face today are by no means meaningless. For all this time is a stage for turning God’s victory into our confession. And so, this morning, we pray with this faith:

”Lord, may every moment of my life today be a confession of faith that testifies to Your faithfulness. Help me to praise You in all times and to sing the song of victory.”

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(Daily Reading)

• Joshua 12:7-24