11/7/12. Judges 5:1-31. THE SONG OF DEBORAH-my devotional

Judges 5:1-31                                                                                                                             Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF

Key Verse: 5:3                                                                                                                          Wednesday, November 7

““Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I, even I, will sing to the LORD; I will praise the LORD, the God of Israel, in song.”

     Dear Lord, heavenly Father, thank you the power of the Gospel, that breaks the chains of sin and sets our hearts free to seek you, love others and live by the truth and live in the love of God. I pray that the Gospel may free millions upon millions of hearts in the USA and Canada so that they walk in faith. May they be brought into the Kingdom of God. I pray that our nation may place their hope, faith and trust in God. Our problems are too big to solve on our own. Please grant me one word of God to hold onto through this passage. I thank you and I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

 Part 1: The Willing Volunteers Among the People (1-9)

        Verses 1-9, “ ¹ On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song: ² “When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves— praise the LORD! ³ “Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I, even I, will sing to the LORD; I will praise the LORD, the God of Israel, in song. ⁴ “When you, LORD, went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water. ⁵ The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel. ⁶ “In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned; travelers took to winding paths. ⁷ Villagers in Israel would not fight; they held back until I, Deborah, arose, until I arose, a mother in Israel. God chose new leaders when war came to the city gates, but not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel. ⁹ My heart is with Israel’s princes, with the willing volunteers among the people. Praise the LORD!”

Israel was guilty of idolatry and became so beaten down that they were afraid to walk outdoors. But all of this changed. Deborah’s victory song proclaims God’s greatness, giving him credit for the victory. She praises God for his faithfulness and character, and for using his mighty power on Israel’s behalf. God also chose new leaders, including a woman named Jael, who heard the call of God and willingly volunteered to fight – though ill-equipped. Even before the battle, Deborah praised the Lord.

People today are beaten down because of their power of sin in their lives. They are floundering, without the inner strength to overcome the basics that they need to live a fruitful life. They lack the energy and fortitude to overcome the obstacles in their path. It could be because of despair, fear, lack of focus, hedonistic pleasure-seeking desires, or many other things. But they are stuck in a well of despair. They suffer a lot and become even more down trodden in their hearts. Who can save them? Verses 3-5 read, “Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I, even I, will sing to the LORD; I will praise the LORD, the God of Israel, in song. ⁴ “When you, LORD, went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water. ⁵ The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel.” It is God! It is God who rouses himself to save his people. Whoever has enough faith and calls on the Lord out of a pure heart, God will intervene to help them. He will come to their aid. He will stop them from “hiding” and help them to come out of the darkness of their sins to follow the Lord to victory in their lives.

I thank God for coming to my rescue lately. I was lost in despair and anger and frustration. I was isolated from the people closest to me. I felt that my only recourse was to live in sorrow and depression until the time I went to heaven. I was going to accept this reality. But Jesus had another reality for me. He broke the chains that bound my heart. He set my heart free to once again approach my family and restore relations with them, growing in love and respect for one another. He is helping us to develop a model for our house church, that is our family, that Jesus can reveal his love through. He is helping me to know how to not just be a servant of God’s word, but also a father and a husband. He is giving me hope that things will change and grow for the better. He has also helped me to personally repent and forgive others and know that through forgiveness and the power of God things will definitely change, as they already have. It is the dawn of a new day.

I also realize that God works through the willing volunteers among the people.  Verse 2 reads, ““When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves— praise the LORD!  And verse 9, “My heart is with Israel’s princes, with the willing volunteers among the people. Praise the LORD!” God does not push anyone to serve him. God does not force anyone to pick up a particular cross. It is a personal calling. It is the good to be a willing volunteer however. A fellowship should be built up by willing volunteers. A church should be filled with willing volunteers. This is every pastor’s dream…to have many willing volunteers in his congregation. I pray that I can be a willing volunteer. Julie and I have a new beginning together. Instead of having two similar but separate ministries, working in parallel without oneness, we have decided to be one. Whatever we do, we do together. And so we have begun to be willing volunteers at Kishwaukee Bible church. We want to be willing volunteers at Network of Nations. We want to be willing volunteers at UBF conferences. We want to be willing volunteers for upcoming conferences for “To Every Tribe.”  May our lives be marked by volunteerism and willingness.

I realize that I have sinned greatly by forcing my children to pick up the cross that I was called to bear. I was imposing my mission on them. They were willing for a long time. But as they entered their teen years, their willing volunteer spirit was not there. I tried to make it happen and became depressed when I didn’t see everyone as willing volunteers. I expected too much and suffered a lot because of it and strained family relations. From now on I want to pray for willing volunteers and in the meantime I want to be a good husband and father and friend and worker.

 Part 2: God Was With Those Who Made a Stand (10-31)

Verses 10-31, “¹⁰You who ride on white donkeys, sitting on your saddle blankets, and you who walk along the road, consider ¹¹ the voice of the singers at the watering places. They recite the victories of the LORD, the victories of his villagers in Israel. “Then the people of the LORD went down to the city gates.  ¹² ‘Wake up, wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up, break out in song! Arise, Barak! Take captive your captives, son of Abinoam.’ ¹³ “The remnant of the nobles came down; the people of the LORD came down to me against the mighty.  ¹⁴ 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’sstaff. ¹⁵ The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; yes, Issachar was with Barak, sent under his command into the valley. In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart. ¹⁶ Why did you stay among the sheep pens to hear the whistling for the flocks?  In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart. ¹⁷ Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. And Dan, why did he linger by the ships?  Asher remained on the coast and stayed in his coves. ¹⁸ The people of Zebulun risked their very lives; so did Naphtali on the terraced fields. ¹⁹ “Kings came, they fought, the kings of Canaan fought. At Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo, they took no plunder of silver. ²⁰ From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera. ²¹ The river Kishon swept them away, the age-old river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul; be strong! ²² Then thundered the horses’ hooves— galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds. ²³ ‘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.’ ²⁴ “Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women. ²⁵ He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk. ²⁶ 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. ²⁷ At her feet he sank, he fell; there he lay. At her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell—dead. ²⁸ “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?’  ²⁹ The wisest of her ladies answer her; indeed, she keeps saying to herself, ³⁰ ‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoils: a woman or two for each man, colorful garments as plunder for Sisera, colorful garments embroidered, highly embroidered garments for my neck—  all this as plunder?’ ³¹ “So may all your enemies perish, LORD! But may all who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.” Then the land had peace forty years.

In this song we hear of other members of the citizenry of God’s people. We can see what made them great. The  following are some experts from the song, “ They recite the victories of the LORD…In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart….The remnant of the nobles came down; the people of the LORD came down to me against the mighty…. ⁸ The people of Zebulun risked their very lives; so did Naphtali on the terraced fields. …..may all who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.”

Israel would boast of the righteous acts of the Lord and keep telling of it for generations to come. It was all because of God and the many people working together to bring about the victory. God works powerfully when people work together as one, united faith and purpose. May God grant us such unity among our own people at KBC and UBF and with the rest of Christianity. May we do our part in engaging our faith. I thank God for many who are risking their faith for he cause of Christ. Ron and Jenn are risking their lives in Mexico helping to strengthen fledgling churches. Many servants of God are giving up their privileges as citizens of this country to preach the Gospel. In a way it is like laying down their lives.

In the song, four tribes and the citizens of Meroz chose to be neutral. They forfeited experiencing the power of God personally and could not share in these praises. It does not mean that they are not God’s people. They just couldn’t taste a lot of the victory that they could, if they were one with those fighting the battle.

Prayer: “Lord, I was one who was trapped by my sin, but you delivered me by your great power. May I sing your praises forever.”

One Word: Praise the Lord in song