Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put dust on their heads. And Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord GOD, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan! O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?” The LORD said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. Get up! Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the LORD, God of Israel, “There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.”

Lesson 2 Joshua did not call together a committee to analyze the defeat, call his generals on the carpet to account for their lousy leadership, revise their order of worship and install a different form of music. He, and I am sure others, humbled themselves and went before the ark of the LORD face on the ground until evening. Then after an extended period of silence, he began to pray. It was not a prayer of defense and justification but a plea for enlightenment. He did not blame the LORD, and appealed for knowledge. Importantly, he recognized that this was a situation that marred the great name of the Holy One of Israel.

The LORD responded succinctly, without identifying who sinned; it was a corporate sin, a sin attributed to the nation of Israel. He laid out precisely the consequences and declared that these would stand until Israel took corrective action.

How does the Church suffer today because we allow actions, ideas, practices to continue among so-called believers, those who have said the sinner's prayer but whose lives do not indicate any hint of transformation or even a desire to seek transformation?

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 1097-1040

Mid-day: 119:26

Evening: Psalm

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