Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:
When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves —
praise the Lord!
Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I will sing to the Lord, I will sing; I will make music to the Lord, the God of Israel.
O Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water. The mountains quaked before the Lord, the One of Sinai, before the Lord, the God of Israel.
In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the roads were abandoned; travelers took to winding paths. Village life in Israel ceased, ceased until I, Deborah, arose, arose a mother in Israel. When they chose new gods, war came to the city gates, and not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel. My heart is with Israel's princes, with the willing volunteers among the people. Praise the Lord!
You who ride on white donkeys, sitting on your saddle blankets, and you who walk along the road, consider the voice of the singers at the watering places. They recite the righteous acts of the Lord,
the righteous acts of his warriors in Israel.
Then the people of the Lord went down to the city gates. 'Wake up, wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up, break out in song! Arise, O Barak! Take captive your captives, O son of Abinoam.'
"Then the men who were left came down to the nobles; the people of the Lord came to me with the mighty. Some came from Ephraim, whose roots were in Amalek; Benjamin was with the people who followed you. From Makir captains came down, from Zebulun those who bear a commander's staff.
The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; yes, Issachar was with Barak, rushing after him into the valley. In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart. Why did you stay among the campfires to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the districts of Reuben, there was much searching of heart. Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. And Dan, why did he linger by the ships? Asher remained on the coast and stayed in his coves. The people of Zebulun risked their very lives; so did Naphtali on the heights of the field.
Kings came, they fought; the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they carried off no silver, no plunder. From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera. The river Kishon swept them away, the age-old river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul; be strong! Then thundered the horses' hoofs; galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds.
'Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the Lord. 'Curse its people bitterly, because they did not come to help the Lord, to help the Lord against the mighty.'
Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women. He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk. Her hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman's hammer. She struck Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple. At her feet he sank, he fell; there he lay. At her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell-dead.
Through the window peered Sisera's mother; behind the lattice she cried out, 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?' The wisest of her ladies answer her; indeed, she keeps saying to herself, 'Are they not finding and dividing the spoils: a girl or two for each man, colorful garments as plunder for Sisera, colorful garments embroidered, highly embroidered garments for my neck — all this as plunder?'
So may all your enemies perish, O Lord! But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.
Then the land had peace forty years.
Judges 5
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In Chapter4, the Lord delivered Israel from the oppressive King Jabin and his army commander, Sisera, using Deborah, the ruling judge of the time, Barak who commanded the Israelite forces, and Jael, the woman who killed Sisera as he sought refuge in her tent from the pursuing Barak. You’ll remember that Jael’s actions fulfilled God’s promise that a woman would kill Sisera, not Barak.
So as Chapter 5 begins, Israel has a great deal to celebrate and we see Deborah and Barak singing a special song commemorating the victory. The song chronicles all the important aspects of the event, beginning with Israel being under such terrible oppression that “the roads were abandoned” and “travelers took to winding paths” because of their fear of attack. We read where “village life in Israel ceased” because it wasn’t safe to live outside of the walled cities. Additionally, “war came to the city gates” and Israel was helpless to defend itself as “not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand”. Indeed, Israel was in dire straits.
But things changed when Deborah was appointed as judge. She selected Barak to lead the Israelite forces who came from the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali. These troops were given victory over Sisera’s army and Sisera himself was killed by Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite as she drove a tent peg through Sisera’s temple as he slept. Her actions led to her being touted as the “most blessed of tent-dwelling women” in the song.
The song’s last stanza involving the battle has Sisera’s mother looking for her son’s return and wondering what might be taking him so long from returning with the spoils…unaware of his demise.
All and all, the song is a powerful account of God’s power and providence as He leads His people from oppression to victory and I would like to focus in on two specific points that God’s word makes…one at the beginning and one at the end of this special song.
First, note the initial words at the very beginning as Deborah and Barak begin singing:
“When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves — praise the Lord!
Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I will sing to the Lord, I will sing; I will make music to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
When people are willingly offering themselves to the Lord’s service and when God is doing great things in the midst of His people, then His people are to praise Him and give thanks for all He has done. One of the ways God can be honored and exalted is by lifting up His name in song.
Personally, I love to sing whether it’s one of the classic hymns of the church (How Great Thou Art and Holy, Holy, Holy are two of my all time favorites) or a contemporary Christian song that speaks to God’s greatness (Chris Tomlin’s How Great Is Our God or Rich Mullins’ classic Awesome God are just two of many songs I love). There’s something awesome about lifting our voices to heaven, proclaiming our respect and love for the One who so richly blesses us in all things. I think you would agree.
The second point comes at the very end of the song before we learn that Israel would have peace for forty years. The following final words are sung:
“So may all your enemies perish, O Lord! But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.”
These words celebrate victory against those who would go against God and His people. They also serve as words of condemnation for those who would choose to not serve the one and only true God.
So does God have enemies today? You bet He does. A passage from James helps define who that enemy might be…and you may be surprised about the qualifier:
“You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” James 4:4
Did you hear those words? Any friend of the world is an enemy of God. This is because the world’s ways are always counter to God’s ways because the world is the devil’s domain…the place where he leads the world astray. (Revelation 12:9) Indeed, being a friend with the world and its ways is akin to partnering with the devil…and this will always make one an enemy of God.
Conversely, those who love the Lord carry with them a power that will always gain victory over the world...both in life and in death. For in the Lord, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit which abides in our heart and mind and allows us to shine the Lord’s holy light on the world, illuminating it like the sun with God’s goodness, grace, mercy and love.
Friends, the song in Chapter 5 proclaims with the sweetest refrains that God is good…awesome, powerful, and mighty in every way. My prayer is that we all, like Deborah and Barak, will compose our own songs of praise, lifting up our voices in admiration for all God has done in our lives. For He is fully worthy of all the honor and praise we can give. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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