Judges 5:1-31


I believe that God loves to see us celebrate, especially when we celebrate His work in our lives.  This chapter is a song of celebration that Deborah and Barak wrote and sang as an act of worship to the Lord.  When God does great things, we should not simply go on normally with life as if nothing has happened; we should celebrate.  God is glorified when we recognize and remember His greatness.  God is glorified when we rejoice in His works on our behalf.  We must be faithful to praise the Lord for the amazing things that He has done in our lives and we must constantly trust Him when the circumstances of our lives become difficult.  God is glorified as we live our lives in dependence upon Him.
THEY SING OF THE CALL TO BATTLE: Israel had been oppressed by the nations of Canaan and the people were suffering under a heavy load.  In the midst of this suffering the people begin to call on the Lord for deliverance.  The Lord responds to the people calling by calling on leaders within the nation of Israel to step forward and go into battle.  They sing of what God had called them to do.  They recognize that this was not something that they did on their own, but it was God who was at work through their lives and they found great joy in being instruments of the Lord.  It is an amazing thing that the Lord is able to use any of us and it is a privilege to be a part of what God is doing to advance His plan in this world.  When God allows us to serve Him and sees fit to use us, we should be thrilled and rejoice in His grace.  There is a great difference between being prideful about our accomplishments and being joyful about what God has seen fit to accomplish through us.  God is please when we rejoice.
THEY SING OF THE FALL OF SISERA: Songs help us to remember, so Deborah and Barak recount the various phases of the battle in this song.  God had given them great victory on the battle field and none had escaped accept Sisera, the general.  When he was able to flee, he came across Jael who gained his trust and then drove a stake through his head.  These are victories and acts of courage that deserve to be remembered.  It is easy for us to take the work of God for granted and just go on with our lives as we wait for the next blessing to fall from heaven.  God wants us to take time to remember His works in our midst.  He wants us to tell others about what He has done.  He wants us to thank Him for what He has done.  When God accomplishes great things, we must be faithful to thank Him and tell others of His greatness.

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