When Joshua began his new role as the leader of the Israelites, God gave the inaugural speech. Can you imagine? We read it in Joshua 1, a powerful and poetic speech that provided assurance and instruction for Joshua. This speech provides a rich framework for our work today, too.

Encouraging Faith

There are four powerful truths in this one short speech, and they have been echoing in my mind recently. I’ve recently joined CSI as director of faith formation. The task of this new role is twofold: to encourage the faith of students and teachers in CSI schools and to provide resources that support spiritual growth. An updated Bible curriculum for PreK–8 is the first resource on our list, and the project is large and exciting.

I’m grateful for God’s timing, as my Bible study group started Jen Wilkin’s study on Joshua at the same time I joined CSI. They’ve been framing each other. Joshua was given these words of God on the brink of a big task, and they are very encouraging. I was amazed to learn that the speech includes poetry—God doesn’t simply list the truths for Joshua but uses a poetic structure to put them in a particular order. The relationship between the truths makes it even richer.

Whatever tasks await you this week, I believe the four truths that God speaks to Joshua can be an encouragement.

Truth #1: God Is at Work

With God’s first words the job description shifts. God tells Joshua: “I am about to give the land [to the people]. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. You will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.” (verses 2–5)

What an assurance! The task set before him is going to happen. It’s a done deal. And why? Because God has planned it and God has promised it. God has ownership of the work, placing Joshua’s task into the broader context of God’s purposes.

Isn’t this truth a gift for us in our work? It places our to-do lists in a larger perspective. We have a tendency to carry our job descriptions as a heavy weight on our shoulders, so it’s good for us to remember: God is at work.

In every task, this is where we begin. We listen for God’s voice saying, “I am about to . . .”

Understanding the Chiasm

The rest of God’s speech is set as a poem. The three remaining truths are organized in a poetic structure called a chiasm.¹ Joshua would likely have recognized it as such, since it was a popular literary form. Chiasms have a symmetry about them, and the heart of the message sits in the middle. Our literary devices tend to place the moral or the punchline at the end of a story; a chiasm places it in the center. The poem (Joshua 1:5b–9) can be summarized like this:

I am with you.
Be strong and courageous.
Meditate on the law and obey it.
Be strong and courageous.
I will be with you wherever you go.

Truth #2: God’s Word Is Central

The center of the chiasm is about meditating on God’s law and doing what it says. “Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Joshua 1:7–8).

God’s central message to Joshua was a command to be in his word. This is the second truth: we too are called to place God’s word at the center. What a necessary reminder for us. The busier we are with our tasks, the easier it is to postpone our time in God’s word. This is the part of the speech where Joshua is given action items. The Hebrew word for meditate includes studying it, speaking it, murmuring, moaning, imagining and roaring!² And the verb “obey” lies in these instructions as well: “obey all the law.” The call to action is substantial.

God uses the poetic structure, though, to show us that this command doesn’t stand alone. It’s intentionally surrounded by two other truths.

Truth #3: God Is Present

God’s chiasm begins and ends with reminders of his presence. He starts: “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Joshua 1:5b). The poem ends with: “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9b).

This is incredible! What a comfort for Joshua that the God who is already at work, the God who promises, is walking with Joshua into his new task, into this new land with all its unknown details. This presence of God is the context around the command to be in his word.

The truth of God’s presence is a beautiful theme we see throughout scripture. God walks with Adam and Eve in the garden, gazes over the land with Abraham, and wrestles with Jacob. God has many discussions with Moses and leads the Israelites as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The theme continues throughout the Bible narrative.

The ultimate gift of God’s presence, of course, is in Jesus. Jesus walks among the people and talks and laughs and heals and eats. In his death and resurrection, we are invited to rich fellowship with our Lord both now and forever, as seen in Revelation’s vision of the new heaven and the new earth: “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God” (Revelation 21:3).

The Power of “With”

Over the years in the classroom, I’ve told my students that I have a favorite word in the Bible. For several days I encourage them to guess what it is—I clarify that it’s my favorite word besides a name for God himself. We have fun looking through our class set of Bibles and remembering the stories. We discuss what they would pick as their favorite word. Eventually I give them tangible clues: it’s found in the first chapter of Genesis and the last chapter of Revelation and many times between. It starts with a “w.” It’s only four letters long. My favorite word: with.

When Skye Jethani wrote a book called With, I was given a copy in honor of my favorite word, and it is a book I recommend! Jethani writes that we can get so busy working for the Lord that we forget about working with him.³ And working at a school means we are busy! There are constant details to consider, much content to deliver, and a cacophony of voices to hear. How deeply overstimulating a day can be!

Remembering the truth of God’s presence is an important struggle. God emphasizes it when he places it at the top and bottom of his poem. He wants to join us in the details. God goes into our meetings before we step into the room. He joins us in the hallway conversations, accompanies the field trips and attends our lessons. This is the comfort that surrounds the poem.

Truth #4: Be Strong and Courageous

The final truth of the passage is God’s message to be strong and courageous. It’s placed in the chiasm directly beside the truth of God’s presence. Joshua can lead the people with strength and courage because God is at work and God is present.

We are given the gift of identity in him. Because God is on the move and present, we can be a people who are not anxious, but who walk into difficult tasks with strength and courage.

The message is not that we are to be strong and courageous because there’s strength within us if we look for it. The message is not that we can be strong and courageous because Joshua was. We can be strong and courageous because of who God is, that he is at work and he is present.

God says to Joshua, “no one will be able stand against you all the days of your life.” What God is doing cannot be stopped. We can stand tall.

How the Four Truths Connect

I love how the chiasm places truths in relationship with each other. Because of God’s presence, we stand in an identity God gives us as his people to be strong and courageous. Not by what we have done, but because God is at work. He’s gone ahead and he goes with.

It’s in this context of relationship with him that we are commanded to meditate on God’s Word. The commandment does not come first, and it doesn’t stand alone. It’s at the center, surrounded by the truths of God’s presence and his assurance that we can stand strong. We study God’s word in the context of God’s desire for relationship, not from an isolated duty. We study the Bible to get to know him and more deeply enjoy his presence!

We see this progression: God’s presence leads to my strength and identity, which shapes my obedience, strengthens my identity, and helps me become more aware of God’s presence.

Putting the Four Truths Into Practice

God’s speech to Joshua encourages us as we face our next set of tasks. May we remember, and perhaps remind others, that:

1. God is at work. He’s at work in your school. He’s at work in the life of that student you’re worried about. He’s at work in you.
2. Our work is centered on the word of God. Because of who God is, and his presence in your life, find some time to enjoy him through his Word.
3. God is present. He goes before you and stands beside you. This truth is the first and the last truth God mentions—may it surround your work today.
4. Your identity is sure as a child of the King. Be strong and courageous.

References

1. Jen Wilkin, Joshua: Every Good Promise Fulfilled (Lifeway Press, 2026).
2. James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Abingdon Press, 1890), entry 1897.
3. Skye Jethani, With: Reimagining the Way You Relate to God (Thomas Nelson, 2011).