Daily Devotional · Joshua 1:7
Turn Neither Right nor Left
Reflection
Embedded in God's commission to Joshua is a specific warning: "Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go." Turning to the right or to the left is a Hebrew idiom for deviation — either addition or subtraction from the instruction given. The right deviation adds: it goes beyond what was commanded, often in the direction of religious zeal or tradition. The left deviation subtracts: it compromises, negotiates, softens the edges of what God required. Both are forms of unfaithfulness. Saul added to God's command when he kept the best animals for sacrifice. Israel subtracted from God's command every time they failed to remove the inhabitants of the land. Both led to consequence. The instruction to not turn right or left appears in multiple places in Deuteronomy — it was a core principle of covenant faithfulness. Not the appearance of faithfulness. Not creative reinterpretation. The actual path, maintained with consistency. There is something deeply countercultural about this in an age that prizes novelty and personal interpretation. God's word as given — not adjusted for preference, not supplemented by tradition, not stripped of difficulty — is the path that leads to success. This does not mean rigidity or lack of wisdom. It means keeping the center line of what God has said, resisting the drift in either direction.
Background
The Hebrew idiom of turning neither right nor left was also used in ancient Near Eastern royal inscriptions to describe a vassal's loyalty to his lord — not deviating from the treaty terms in either direction. Joshua's commission uses covenant-treaty language throughout, framing his leadership as a loyal vassal executing the terms of a divine king's covenant faithfully.
Truth
Faithfulness is not just about staying in motion — it is about staying on the path. The drift to the right (addition, legalism, tradition-above-text) and the drift to the left (subtraction, compromise, comfort-above-command) are both failures of the same kind: deviation from what God actually said.
Application
Identify one area where you have been drifting — either adding to God's word (extra requirements, tradition as law) or subtracting from it (avoiding a clear command). Ask God to show you the center line and give you the will to return to it.