Immediately after the defeat of Jericho, Joshua sends out spies to the land of Ai, and subsequently, a small army of soldiers. But they are surprisingly defeated. So Joshua comes before the Lord and addresses Him with these words:

“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?”

Notice a few things:

First, notice that Joshua seems to instinctively assume that there is some sort of problem in God, not in him or them. That is, rather than coming before the Lord and humbly asking what the problem is with him or the people, Joshua comes before Him and asks what is going on with Him!

Lest we jump all over his case and get down on Joshua, this simply shows how human he was, for we are all inclined to do the very same thing. If God doesn’t seem to fulfill His promise to us, we are oftentimes inclined to believe that there is a problem with God, not us. We should instead, come before Him humbly, asking Him for insight into what is going on, rather than jumping to conclusions that end up far from the truth.

Second, notice that Joshua instinctively runs with this negative result of the war with Ai to the point where the people are wiped from the face of the earth. That is, this one incident leads him to believe that all is lost.

Now, I realize that the situation the people were in was rather perilous. For they were trying to take over a vast amount of land already inhabited. However, when the odds are against us in anything, we must never forget ‘the God factor.’ If God is for us, who can be against us? So if we are thinking clearly, let us come before the Lord with the incident itself and not jump to conclusions that will not occur.

Third, notice that Joshua asks the Lord, “What will you do for your great name?” This is wisdom. Here is what motivates God. His name. His fame. His glory. This is what gives power to Joshua’s prayer and to ours. Petitioning the Lord to act for the sake of His name.

Fourth, notice the Lord’s response to Joshua in verse 10.

“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. Get up!…”

No doubt our God is patient with us, but like a good parent, He also isn’t shy about rebuking us and setting our thoughts upon the right track. In this instance, the Lord speaks plainly with Joshua, confronting his foolish thinking and unbelief. He is still gracious with Joshua, but He is also quite firm, for Joshua’s good and the good of the people.

Fifth and finally, notice that Joshua gains clarity after coming to the Lord. Even if he didn’t come with a whole lot of wisdom, at least he left with a whole lot of wisdom. We are wise to follow in his steps.