And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.
– Joshua 23:14
Is that not an awesome verse? Joshua is about to go be with the Lord, and he is looking back at his life. He looks at the people, and he says: “You know this. Not one moment has the Word of God failed you. All the good things God promised concerning you have been true. Not one promise has failed.” Now, that didn’t mean everything had been easy. I mean, they’ve just taken the Promised Land. It’s been filled with all kinds of challenges.
Joshua 23:14 shows why we can trust God in every season.
This is not “Look back and all your life has been easy and simple and perfect.” No, that’s not the reality in this fallen world. But the reality is that there is a God whose promises will never fail you. There is a God whose purposes will be accomplished, and his purpose is to bring all things together for the good of those who love him and trust him, and you can bank your life on this reality.
The one true God will never fail those who trust in him. And I just want to encourage you with that today. No matter what you’re going through. No matter what you may face at any point in this world, the God over this world is worthy of all your trust. For all who trust in him, you will get to the end and look back and realize he never failed.
Like Heaven is full of people, 100% of whom look back and know God never failed me. Even the things we don’t understand right now, where we are tempted to think God is failing us. When you look at the picture of Heaven, you see all the saints and angels in Heaven praising God for his justice and his goodness and his mercy and his faithfulness. We will not get to Heaven and think, “Well, there were these times when God failed me.” Never. Never ever will that happen in Heaven because it’s not true. The God over you is working for your good at all times.
Joshua 23:14 shows why we can stand confidently on God’s Word.
O God, we praise you for this reality. We praise you for the rock-solid foundation that we stand on today and your promises and your good purposes, that you will never fail us. O God, based on this, we have freedom from fear, from worry, from anxiety. We have confidence today and confidence for the future. We praise you that you have not failed us. You will not fail us today, and you will not fail us at any point in all of eternity. That for all of eternity, we will praise you for the good things you have brought to pass that you promised to us.
O Jesus, we praise you for securing all of this for us through your death on the cross and your resurrection from the grave. O God, please help us to spread this good news to people around us today. Help us to encourage especially anyone who’s hurting around us today with the rock-solid foundation they can stand on when it comes to your promises and your purposes, and God, help us to spread this good news around the world.
Prayer for the Kheng People
We pray for the Kheng people of Bhutan, for this small people group, a small, 36,000 souls, 36,000 men and women and children who don’t know the good news of your love in Jesus in Bhutan in the Kheng people group. God, we pray that your promise of eternal life would reach them, that your promise of love and mercy for them in Jesus would reach them, that they would receive it and be saved and stand on these promises and join with all the tribes and all the languages and all the peoples in Heaven praising you as the one who never fails his people. In Jesus’ name we pray. All this according to your Word in Joshua 23:14, which we love and we trust in today. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
