JUDGES 5
Read Judges 5:1-31
The psalmist said, ‘Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day’ (Psalm 96:1-2). The Lord’s salvation is worth singing about, it is worth shouting about. When the Lord saved the Israelites from the Egyptians pursuing them across the desert by opening up the Red Sea, and then closing it again, Moses and his sister Miriam responded by celebrating in song Exodus 15). ‘I will sing to the Lord . . . The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become by salvation’. Similarly Deborah and her chief of staff, Barak, celebrate God’s salvation in song here in Judges 5. It is God who has saved his people and all praise is due to him, ‘I will sing to the Lord, I will sing; I will make music to the Lord, the God of Israel’ (5:3). And when we think of the wonderful salvation that we have through the death, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, then surely our response must be to break out into song and praise the Lord for the victory over sin and death that he has given us, and that is why singing is such an important part of our worship together.
This song puts a bit more flesh on the story of Judges 4 and gives us a greater sense of the pressure Israel was under from her enemies. Travelling was hazardous (v7) and Israel was defenceless and without weapons (v8). It is at a time like this, when God’s people see how hopeless things are, that they can appreciate what a mighty God we have – a God who is mighty to save.
Verses 11-23 show division within the people of God. Some of the tribes rose to the occasion and supported Deborah and Balak (Ephraim and Benjamin are mentioned and the people of Zebulun and Naphtali ‘risked their very lives’ (18). But others were less willing to get involved. The people of the tribe of Reuben thought long and hard but decided it was not a good time to leave the sheep (16). The tribes of Dan and Asher seemed to be more interested in their maritime trade (17). It reminds us of Luke 14:18-19 and Jesus’ parable of the great banquet and the excuses people made, ‘I have just bought a field and I must go and see it, please excuse me’ and ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I am on my way to try them out, please excuse me’). Salvation is God’s work, but his people are not to sit passively by, they are to be active in his work. We are, as v23 says, ‘to help the Lord against the mighty’. It does us no credit as God’s people if we are satisfied to rest secure while our brothers and sisters suffer.