PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 20): In this scripture, Judah became the leader of Your people after Joshua passed away. He appears to be keeping in line with keeping the promises Your leaders have made from You to Your people. With him also keeping promises from prior leaders, I wonder if I have stayed consistent as of late with keeping my promises. I know I have slacked in the past on keeping promises to others, even You, but I hope/feel that I’ve gotten much better as of late. Please forgive me for my lack of keeping promises in the past, Father. Help me to be better at keeping my promises in the future by reminding me of such promises. I do not have the best memory and I often distract myself with other things, which pull me away from doing the things I’m supposed to be doing. Help me to stay focused in what I have promised so that I can get them done properly, quickly, and up to Your standards of what You expect from me.
PROMISE (verse 20): In becoming the new leader of Your people, Judah has quite the handful. Not only must he know and adhere to the promises made directly from You, but also those of Moses and Joshua. This is quite a heavy task for him to take on, but it appears that he is doing so just fine with Your help, of course. In this verse, he recognized an old promise made by Moses and carried it out to fulfillment now that it is time to do so. Yet another example of Your promises always coming to fulfillment! Thank You, Father!
ATTITUDE (verses 2-3): Judah’s attitude of obedience to You in this example seems to be unwavering. Your people asked You who their new leader was now that Joshua has passed away. You responded with Judah as the answer and immediately he accepted the role and took action as You deemed him to. There was no hesitation on his part or Your people on who the leader should be. It came from You that Judah is the next leader of Your people and both Your people and Judah immediately accepted this and moved forward with the next steps from You. I know I have not been the most obedient follower during my lifetime, Father. I ask that You help me with my attitude of obedience, so that I may follow the steps You’ve given me without hesitation, grumbling, or doubt. Help me to be like Judah in this example, so that the attitude of obedience is embedded into my heart.
COMMAND (verse 2): Your people asked You for guidance on the next steps and who was to lead them through those steps. You gave them the command that Judah would lead Your people, which they all immediately accepted this command and began taking action on the next steps You had for them. I’m sure this command from You appointing their next leader as Judah was likely not a surprise to them. Typically, when one leader falls, most people already know who the best choice for the next leader is. Your people seem to be fairly aligned with Your will for them, so I doubt that Judah’s selection was a surprise to any of them.
EXAMPLE (verses 19, 21-22, 29-31, 33, 35): I find these verses provide an interesting example that I do not yet know the full meaning of. It seems that the tribes of Judah and Joshua maintained success throughout these remaining battles, but for some reason the other tribes listed in these verses were not successful. For both the tribes of Judah and Joshua, You specify that “the Lord was with them.” For the other tribes, however, You never mention that. Did they do something to upset You to where You did not go with them in their battles? Were the tribes of Judah and Joseph the only ones meant for further success? I am curious about this, Father. Maybe the next chapters will reveal more to me.
*DAILY NOTE: I was going to skip over the book of Judges and move onto Ruth, but I felt it on my heart that I should press with Judges. After reading the first chapter I still wasn’t sure as it isn’t speaking loudly to me, but if this is where You want me then this is where I’ll be for the next few weeks. Thank You for today’s quiet time, Father. Please help me to remain consistent in my quiet times, but also to listen intently during them.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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