Deborah: The Power of Worship; Judges 5

Judges 5 is titled: The Song of Deborah.

Songs were written to celebrate national victories. An awesome historic example of this was the Song of Moses found in Ex.15:1-8.

The Song of Moses

"15 Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and spoke, saying:

“I will sing to the Lord,For He has triumphed gloriously!The horse and its riderHe has thrown into the sea!

2 The Lord is my strength and song,And He has become my salvation;He is my God, and I will praise Him;My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

3 The Lord is a man of war;The Lord is His name.

4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea;His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea.

5 The depths have covered them;They sank to the bottom like a stone.

6 “Your right hand, O Lord, has become glorious in power;Your right hand, O Lord, has dashed the enemy in pieces.

7 And in the greatness of Your excellenceYou have overthrown those who rose against You;You sent forth Your wrath;It consumed them like stubble.

8 And with the blast of Your nostrilsThe waters were gathered together;The floods stood upright like a heap;The depths [a]congealed in the heart of the sea."

The Song of Moses is directed completely to the praise of God for His saving presence! His supernatural rescue of His people! His Mighty Protection! And the establishment of a nation to Himself!

When we sing worship songs we are exalting the Lord. When we sing to the Lord, we express how our soul perceives our God. We are reminded of His might, His promises, His faithfulness, His ebduring love... It takes us out of ourselves, out of the trivial, temporal "stuff" that tends to take our minds off of all He is, and reminds us, "Wow! This is my God! What He has done for others, He will do for me, because He loves me so!"

Music is a powerful tool. Music has a calming effect on the brain. When i was younger I was all about music. I worked for a website in my twenties called the New Music Network. Through this platform, young and old artists alike would send their music in to be judged and either accepted into a production aspect or rejected. I was one of the lucky people who had an opportunity to meet new artists, attend their concerts, review their material and judge as to whether to send it further to my managers or let it flop. I never let anyone flop. I would encourage them by making suggested changes here or there either with the wording or with the sound. It was an amazing experience. Through this experience, I learned how we as people can communicate our inmost thoughts, fears, desires, needs, etc through the medium of music.

Later in my twenties I came back to the Lord. It was then that I learned of David. What a guy, right?! He was a song writer to the Lord. When he played his instrument, it calmed an overly anxious king Saul. It silenced the demonic voices in his troubled mind. Have you ever been so distraught and turned on a worship station and regretted it?? No! You haven't! There is science behind this.

Music can boost the brain's production of the hormone dopamine. This increased dopamine production helps relieve feelings of anxiety and depression. Music is processed directly by the amygdala, which is the part of the brain involved in mood and emotions. It reduces stress.

Hopkinsmedicine.org says in an article called Keep Your Brain Young with Music states:

"If you want to firm up your body, head to the gym. If you want to exercise your brain, listen to music.

There are few things that stimulate the brain the way music does. If you want to keep your brain engaged throughout the aging process, listening to or playing music is a great tool. It provides a total brain workout.

Research has shown that listening to music can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and pain as well as improve sleep quality, mood, mental alertness, and memory."

Music is structural, mathematical and architectural. It’s based on relationships between one note and the next. You may not be aware of it, but your brain has to do a lot of computing to make sense of it. It can take your mind from a state of chaotic stress to a place of calm and serenity, praise and worship.

In Judges 5 Deborah sings to God for Healing. "Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day. That the leaders took the lead in Israe, that the people offered themselves willingly, bless the Lord!! Hear, O' kings, give ear, O' princes; to the Lord I will sing; I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel. Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the region of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped water. The mountains quaked before the Lord, even Sinai, before the Lord, the God of Israel. In the dats of Shamgar, son of Anath, in the day of Jael, the highways were abandoned, and travelers kept to the biways. The vilkagers ceased in Israel; they ceased to be until I arose. I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel. When new gods were chosen, then war was in the gates. Was shield or spear to be seen among fourty thousand in Israel? My people, bless the Lord! Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets and you who walk by the way. To the sound of musicians at the watering places, there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the Lord, the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel. Then down to the gates marched the people of the Lord. Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake,break out in song! Arise, Barak, lead away your captives, O' son of Abinoam."

From this section of the Song, we find the praises to the God who rescued and healed this people from the hand of the enemy. We learn that physical problems, poverty, anarchy, godless cultures, demonic gatekeepers, civil unrest and more come from a people that choose for themselves different gods. Choosing a lesser god over the Almighty True God, brings unrest to your soul because ut is sin and sin separates you from His peace, separates you from wholeness, because we are only complete with His presence close by. Healing comes through recognition of bad choices and their effect on our lives. Healing cones when we turn back to God and allow Him to battle on our behalf. Worship is for everyone, everywhere. Worship brings the heart of God to our remembrance.

Sing to God for Deliverance

Judges 5:13-23

“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’s[a] staff.

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[b]

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."

God works Through His people for deliverance! For 20 years Israel had been cruelly oppressed, they were ruled with cruelty and violence, life was unbearable. He worked here, through courageous families: Ephraim, Benjamin, Machir, Issachar, Reuban, Gilead, Dan, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali. They had to overcome their own fears to find the courage to face their enemies.

We have to do the very same today. We have to face up to those fears of life:

What will I eat, what will I drink? Where will we live? How will we raise our kids? What if my kids are mocked because they dont participate in Halloween or sit on Santa's lap? Will they be shunned? How do I encourage them in our God so they aren't discouraged by the people who follow after the ways and traditions of man and the world system? Sing to God a new song of deliverance. Cry out for His assistance in raising a family that serves God, that is delivered from the enemies influence, so that they can love, honor, and worship the Creator of Heaven and Earth in Spirit and in Truth! Teach them these songs throughout the bible, to remind them that no matter what this world can offer, Our God can iffer so much more and He actually follows through on all of His promises! This teaches them to to have faith, to trust in Who He is! And to teach them how to bring down His hand of love, mercy, protection, and faithfulness into their own individual lives. National healing only comes when the nation returns to God

Revelation 21:7-8

"The one who conquers (is courageous)...I will be His God and he will be My son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, and the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur.. "

The cowardly must have been Meroz. He didn't come to help in this fight for freedom. Perhaps they were too afraid of the enemy. Maybe their faith and trust were built up in things or people rather than God. They hid from the hard task at hand, they would have chosen contentment with oppression over hard won freedom. Do we face that same predicament from time to time?

As Christians here in America, for the last 100 years or more, we've had our victories through revivals. We've won souls for God and many have been set free from the oppression of the enemy. But we have also sat back on our pompous "high horse," content with the prosperity we have experienced as a nation and allowed ungodly leaders into offices that we control as a republic of the people, and by the people, and for the people. We have failed in keeping the godly men in leadership. Separating religion from politics is a destructive idea. It allows the ungodly to creep in and destroy a nation with ungodly legislation that corrupts society from the richest to the poorest. For this reason we must have the courage to stand for what's right even if all around us fall to the schemes of the enemy.

This part of the Song also records that the very stars fought on behalf of Israel. Verse 20, "From heaven the stars fought, from their courses, they fought against Sicera." This alludes to the fact that God brought a torrential rain that took the 900 chariots of iron out of commission. It further shows that the battle isn't limited to this earthly realm. It is also fought in the spiritual realm. Angels fighting for us, on our behalf against the demonic entities that seek to ruin our standing with God. Such a supernatural victory in both the physical and the spiritual realm is absolutely is indicative of just how Mighty God is. We can fully trust Him with all our battles. Small and great.

Sing to God for Justice

Judges 5: 24-31:

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.”

Through Jael, God administered justice for Israel. What is justice? In today's woke world it can be seen in reparations, a means for white people to pay money to people who are descended from slaves. This is almost laughable as non of those living today were actually slaves! At least not in the sense of "belonging to another person as property." And not just that, there are people who look white that have ancestors who were slaves!! So they would basically be paying themselves! Real justice, godly justice looks like this:

Justice is a term used for what is right or “as it should be.” Justice is one of God’s attributes and flows out of His holiness. Justice and righteousness are often used synonymously in the Bible. Since righteousness is the quality or character of being right or just, it is another attribute of God and incorporates both His justice and holiness.

He put things right, by delivering Israel, by answering the cries if His people, by sending the supernatural victory in both the physical and spiritual realm. He can do this in your life as well and He longs to! Cry out to Him to make things right in your life. Give Him all your woes, all your worries, all your fears. The battle was won at the cross of Christ. Turn to Him and don't look back. Lay it all at the foot of the cross and allow Him to bring Hus justice into your life and then, praise Him! His works are perfect! He alone is worthy of all our praise.

No matter where your head or your heart is today, take some time and talk to God about it. Read through some of David's songs in the Book of Psalms. Remember what a Mighty God we serve! Sing praises to Him who alobe is worthy! Give Him your all. Let Him work His victory out in your life, by His Spirit, let Him lead you into all righteousness and truth!

I pray you have gleaned something from this work today. I pray you find comfort and peace in Jesus. In all He has done for you. I pray you worship Him, in Spirit and in truth.

Til next time, be blessed by being a blessing.