Joshua 1:7 tells you to be strong and very courageous, and to keep faithfully to the law God gave through Moses, without drifting to either side. The promise attached is that you will have good success wherever you go. God speaks these words to Joshua, the new leader of Israel, just as the people are about to cross the Jordan River into the land God promised them.
Only be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded you. Don’t turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.
Joshua 1:7 (WEB)
What Joshua 1:7 Means
The verse opens with “Only be strong and very courageous.” The word “only” narrows the focus: strength and courage are required, but they must be rooted in something specific. The courage God calls for is not bravado. It is steadiness that comes from trusting that God is with you, which is exactly the reassurance given in the verses just before.
The next phrase, “Be careful to observe to do according to all the law,” points to faithful, deliberate obedience. Joshua is not told to invent a plan or rely on his own instincts. He is told to keep the instructions already given, all of them, and to do so on purpose. The verse then warns, “Don’t turn from it to the right hand or to the left.” Two directions of failure are named: going beyond the law into self-made additions, or falling short of it through neglect. The path is narrow, but it is clear.
The final promise, “that you may have good success wherever you go,” is worth reading carefully. It does not promise that every battle will be easy or that you will never suffer loss. Elsewhere in Joshua the story includes real defeat and real hardship. The promise is that faithfulness to God’s word leads to a life that ultimately prospers in God’s purposes, wherever the road takes you.
The Context of Joshua 1:7
The book of Joshua is traditionally attributed to Joshua himself, though the final form of the book probably came later. It was written for the people of Israel, who had spent forty years wandering in the wilderness after leaving Egypt. Moses had died, and now they stood on the edge of the promised land, needing to know how to move forward without the man who had led them for so long.
Just before verse 7, God repeats the promise that no one will be able to stand against Joshua and that He will not fail or forsake him, as He was with Moses. Verse 6 is a call to be strong, because the land is to be inherited. Verse 8, which follows directly, tells Joshua to keep the book of the law on his lips and to meditate on it day and night. Read in that setting, verse 7 is the center of a charge: God’s presence is the foundation, and careful, unwavering attention to God’s word is the way forward.
Key Phrases in Joshua 1:7
Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or scared of them; for the LORD your God himself is who goes with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you.”
(WEB)
This verse was spoken to Israel before Joshua took over, and it echoes the same call to courage. It shows that the strength Joshua needed was the same strength God had promised to the whole nation, grounded in His steady presence rather than in human ability.
Psalm 1:2-3
2 But his delight is in the LORD’s law. On his law he meditates day and night. 3 He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that produces its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper.
(WEB)
Psalm 1 describes the person who delights in God’s law and meditates on it, and it uses an image of a tree planted by water that bears fruit in its season. It helps explain the connection between steady attention to God’s word and the kind of flourishing Joshua 1:7 has in view.
A Short Prayer From Joshua 1:7
Lord, you know how easily I lose heart when the road ahead looks uncertain. Give me the kind of courage that rests in your presence rather than in my own confidence. Help me to pay close attention to your word, not only to know it but to live it in the small choices of this day. Keep me from wandering to the right or the left when pressure or temptation pulls at me. Let my faithfulness be the path you use to bring good things into my life and the lives of those around me. Amen.
