Joshua spoke to God: “Alas, Sovereign Lord Jehovah, why did you bring this people all the way across the Jordan, just to give us into the hand of the Amorites for them to destroy us? And if only we had taken it upon ourselves and continued dwelling on the other side of the Jordan!

Josh. 7:7-9.

Joshua cannot rightly be accused of complaining against Jehovah on this occasion. As Bible commentators Keil and Delitzsch remark, Joshua was simply using the bold language of faith in wrestling with God in prayer​—faith that could not comprehend the ways of the Lord—​and in making the most urgent appeal to the Lord to carry out His work in the same glorious manner in which it had begun. (Compare Genesis 18:23-26.) Joshua may have felt that the longing the people had before crossing into Canaan was mixed with selfishness, and was not a completely wholehearted desire to do God’s will. He wished for Israel’s good relationship with God to be reestablished as it was on the other side of the Jordan.

We see here that Joshua poured out his heart and feelings without reservation, as should be done in prayer. (Compare Hebrews 10:19-22.)