When leadership becomes UNspiritual (Joshua 9-10)

We get some good lessons on leadership in these two chapters, but I specifically appreciate the lesson learned in chapter 9 when Gibeonites deceive the Israelites into believing that they are from a foreign land seeking out more of what God is doing for the Israelites.  Truth be told, they were scared out of their wits and conceived the story to save their hides.  Joshua and his fellow leaders bought into the lie and made a covenant with the Gibeonites not to kill them.  The amazing thing to me is what shows up in verse 14: the men did not seek the counsel of the Lord.  They took matters into their own hands.  They believed in their own judgment.  They trusted their own intuition.  They bought into the lie.  They cut God out of the equation, and they had to suffer consequences for the mistake of their actions.  Lest we be tempted to point a finger at Joshua we have to realize how easily we fall into the same trap.  Far too often I rest on my own abilities rather than seeking the Lord.  A true spiritual leader seeks out the Lord first always.