Monday, August 3, 2026
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Joshua 6-8
- Secondary Reading: Psalms 89
Key Verse
Joshua 7:18 — “And he brought his household man by man; and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.”
Devotional Thought
The walls of Jericho fell by faith, not by force, and the rubble of Ai rose up because of hidden sin. Between these two battles, Israel learned the hardest lesson of the wilderness: obedience brings down strongholds, but disobedience brings down armies. Achan saw a goodly Babylonish garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold, and he coveted them. He hid them in the earth in the midst of his tent, and he hid his heart from God. Joshua, fresh from victory, sent only three thousand men against Ai, and thirty-six Israelites died in a rout that melted the people’s hearts like water. Joshua rent his clothes and fell on his face until evening, and God’s answer was blunt: “Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned.”
We are in the long green season of summer, when gardens are producing and fields are ripening, and the temptation is to think that small hidden things do not matter. But Achan’s wedge of gold was not small in the sight of God. It was covenant-breaking. It was theft. It was folly in Israel. The God who stilled the raging sea in Psalm 89 and broke Rahab in pieces is the same God who sees what is buried under the tent floor. His justice and judgment are the habitation of His throne, and mercy and truth go before His face. He cannot wink at sin in His own people, because His name is at stake among the Canaanites.
Yet notice the mercy that runs through this dark chapter. Rahab the harlot, who hid the spies, was saved alive with all her father’s household, and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day. Her faith, though imperfect, was counted. And after Achan was stoned in the valley of Achor and a great heap of stones was raised over him, the Lord spoke again to Joshua: “Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai.” The same God who judged the hidden sin restored the broken army. The ambush was set, the spear was stretched out, the city was burned, and the spoil was taken. Grace followed judgment. The valley of trouble became a door of hope.
What does this ask of us today? It asks us to bring our hidden things into the light. It asks us to sanctify ourselves, to put away the accursed thing, and to trust that God’s faithfulness is established in the very heavens. The joyful sound of Psalm 89:15 is for the people who know it: “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.” Jericho’s walls fell at a shout. Ai’s walls stood until sin was removed. The difference was not the size of the city but the purity of the camp.
Reflection
- What “accursed thing” have you buried in the earth of your tent — a hidden sin, a secret compromise, a covetousness you have rationalized — that is keeping you from standing before your enemies?
- When God says “Get thee up” and calls you to sanctify yourself, do you linger in the dust of self-pity like Joshua, or do you rise in repentance and go up to Ai with the promise, “I have given it into thy hand”?
Prayer
O Lord God of hosts, who rulest the raging of the sea and stillest the waves thereof, we come before Thee with the hidden things of our hearts laid bare. Thou hast seen what we have buried under the tent floor, and we confess it as Achan confessed: indeed we have sinned against the LORD God of Israel. Sanctify us today. Take away the accursed thing from among us, and let not our camp be troubled. Turn from the fierceness of Thine anger, and let mercy and truth go before Thy face. Restore to us the joy of Thy salvation, that we may know the joyful sound and walk in the light of Thy countenance. Give us courage to rise up and go up, for Thou hast given the city into our hand. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Psalm Verse
Psalms 89:1 — “I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.”