Remembering What God Has Done: Judges 5

What do you do after God brings you through a difficult season? Judges 5 gives us the answer. Deborah’s song teaches us to pause, remember, and praise God for His faithfulness. In this message, we explore how our personal stories of struggle, victory, and God’s presence can become testimonies that encourage others and glorify Him. Discover how reflecting on God’s work in your life can turn your memories into worship and your story into a testimony of God’s faithfulness.

Transcript

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Amen. Michaela and I did not talk about what songs to do with today's text, and maybe she looked at the text and picked the songs. And if she did, she did a good job of picking songs to go with today's text. And if she didn't look at the text, then the Lord just worked. Uh, because today we're gonna be looking at a song of victory. Um and so we're gonna be in Judges chapter five, and you have your sheet there. And um but this song this is a recounting of a song of the victory they had, and so but I want to begin today with just a little bit of time of discussion. And for those of you that don't like discussion, this will be the only time we discuss today, all right? So I know sometimes you're like Charlie just talks, and then John and Tyler come up and they allow us to talk, and some people like that, but today you just got to do it once, all right? And it's a pretty easy question. The question will be on the screen, but around your tables, and if you're at a table by yourself, you might join in with somebody, or just if you're in the the non-table section, just turn to your neighbor. What is a song that has been meaningful in your life and why? And I'll throw this disclaimer out. It does not have to be a Christian song, all right? You don't have to Jesus juke us uh and you know say, Well, I love victory in Jesus. And if you do, that's great. But you know, you can choose Muskrat Love if that's a song that's meaningful to you. And if it is, I'd love to know why. Um but take a few minutes here around your table and discuss this question on the screen. What is a song that is unmeaningful in your life and why? Well, thank you guys for sharing. I start with this discussion to help us understand and to remember that music is meaningful. Music is powerful, and we've talked about this before, I believe, but in the Bible, we see many times where, especially in the Old Testament, where music has a prominent role in helping the people remember and recount all that God has done. And so today, uh, we just kind of start with that bass. And so uh we can see that music helps us celebrate. It also helps us mourn, right? We see that in the Bible, we see that we experience that in life. Often at weddings, right? That's a time of celebration. And so we we typically you don't go to a wedding. There isn't some type of music at it, even at a funeral, right? Where we are celebrating, we're often celebrating uh the life well lived, someone that's now with the Lord, but we're also mourning, and so we're doing both, and we use music at both of those, right? Uh in both in both ways at a funeral. Music can also take us back to a memory or a different time in our lives. And so Kay, you know, shared about her story uh with her, you know, three years old, like that in the garden, takes her back to that moment, helps her recount that. I remember a time at the last church, El Reno, where Charlie and I served, we did, I don't know if it was once a month or once a quarter, we would have like a senior adult potluck, and at that, sometimes we would provide the entertainment. And so, you know, we were a smaller church, and we were just and so I sometimes I would sing songs at this at these as entertainment. So one time I was singing the song uh Can't Help Falling in Love by Elvis, and I'm practicing the song, and there are some ladies, uh, one of the ministry assistants and a volunteer are in there setting up the tables. I think it was a Valentine's banquet type of brunch thing. So they're decorating, and I'm practicing Can't Help Falling in Love. And all of a sudden, the volunteer, I look and she's just bawling and then runs out of the room. And I'm like, oh no, is it really that bad? Like, like, I know your voice starts to go at some point, but I'm in my 30s here. Well, it turned out she was a widow and she was a younger widow, and that song was her and her husband's song. So hearing that song sung brought up just the memories of her husband and the love that she had, but also the love that was lost and the you know the where she how she was living. And so music can take us back, it can it can trigger things sometimes. And we may not we may not have thought about something for a long time, but you hear that Mustang Sally, and you were think about that first Mustang you had and those times you had. Uh, and so music can do that. Music can also affect how we feel and how we how we how we react. You know, I think sometimes with music, we have to be careful that we're not using it to manipulate emotions, especially at church. You know, I think you can see it at concerts, whether it's a secular concert and uh even a Christian concert, but for sure it's a secular concert where it almost turns into, like you look at these, and I mean, I just use this as an example because it's probably one of the biggest ones we've had in the past couple years, like on the news and stuff, but these huge stadium shows that Taylor Swift was having, and these people were paying all of these large amounts of money to go, and like, I mean, you can just see the music emotionally having an effect on people. And so we have to be mindful of that, right? If music is meaningful, if music does have an effect on us and it can change how we react, well then we have to be mindful of that. Uh, but because it can have negative effects, but can also have positive effects. And then music really is, and I said this earlier, but it is used throughout the Bible in worship and times of mourning and celebration. So today, as we turn to Judges 5, we're gonna see this song of victory. And through the song of victory, they are praising God for all the work that He that really it's it's a recounting of what we just studied last week in chapter four. And this uh this literature here or this poem here is uh some scholars believe it to be one of the oldest pieces in the Old Testament. So it's a very old poem, it's a very old song. And so I'm gonna read all of it to you today, and then we're gonna go back and just kind of walk through it a little bit. I'm not gonna probably um, you know, it's there's a lot in here, and so and a lot of it you've already studied, but we're gonna go back through it, but I'm gonna read it in its entirety. And yesterday, as I was studying and preparing, um, I started just having the Bible app read it to me, and because I'm like, well, some some of these words I want to know how you say them. Uh, and then I so I had the Bible app read it to me, I believe, in the ESV. I had it read it to me in the New American Standard, and then I had it read it to me in the New Living Translation. So I used New Living, three, three different translations. New Living a little more modern, a little more uh kind of flows a little bit. Uh the New American Standard is typically the most one of the most literal translations, word for word. And so it was an interesting one because in that one it kind of did the the reader of the New American Standard was probably the most boring of the readers, but at times his syncopation, you could almost kind of hear it a little bit. And then the ESV was good as well. And so I don't know if I'll quite have it down like that, um, or if I'll even say all the words right, but I'm gonna try. So, verse one of chapter five, on the on that day, Deborah and uh Barak, son of Abinoam, said, saying, When the leaders lead in Israel, when the people volunteer, blessed be the Lord. Listen, kings, pay attention, princes. I will sing to the Lord. I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel. Lord, when you came from Seir, when you marched from the fields of Edom, the earth trembled, the skies poured rain, and the clouds poured water, the mountains melted before the Lord, even Sinai before the Lord, the God of Israel. In the days of Shamgar, son of Aneth, in the days of Jael, the main roads were deserted because the travelers kept on the side roads. Villages were deserted, they were deserted in Israel until I, Deborah, arose, a mother in Israel. Israel chose new gods. Then there was war in the city gates, not a shield or spear was seen among the forty thousand in Israel. My heart is with the leaders of Israel, with the volunteers of the people. Blessed be the Lord. Who ride on white donkeys, who sit on saddle blankets, and who travel on the road, give praise. Let them tell the righteous acts of the Lord, the righteous deeds of his warriors in Israel, with the voices of the singers and the watering places. Then the Lord's people went down to the city gates. Awake, awake, Deborah, awake, awake, sing a song. Arise, Barak, and take your prisoners, son of Abinoam. Then the survivors came down to the nobles. Lord's people came down to me with the warriors. Those with their roots in Amalek, or Amalek came from Ephraim. Benjamin came with the people after you. The leaders came down from Makir, and those who carry a martial staff came down from Zebulun. The prince of the princes of Issachar were with Deborah. Issachir was with Barak, and they were under his leadership in the valley. There was great searching of heart among the clans of Reuben. Why did you sit among the sheep pens, listening to the playing of pipes or the for the flocks? There was great searching of heart among the clans of Reuben. Gilead remained beyond the Jordan. Dan, why did you linger at the ships? Asher remained at the seashore and stayed in his harbors. Then, or excuse me, the people of Zebulun defied death, Naphtali also, on the heights of the battlefield. Kings came and fought. The kings of Canaan fought at Tanakh by the waters of Menigo. But they did not plunder the silver. The stars fought from the heavens, and the stars fought with Sisera from their paths. The river Kishon went away or swept them away in the ancient river, the river Kishon, march on my soul in strength. The horses' hooves then hammered, the galloping, galloping of his stallions. Curse Miraz, says the angel of the Lord. Bitterly curse her inhabitants, for they did not come to help the Lord, to help the Lord with the warriors. Jael must Jael is the most blessed of women, the wife of Haber the Kenite. She is most a bless she is most blessed, and this part right here, just the poetic part of it, among the tent dwelling women. And just knowing the story of what happened here is. And then the favorite part of every person's song. Next, he asked for water, she gave him milk, she brought him cream in a majestic bowl. She reached for a tent peg, her right hand for a workman's hammer. Then she crushed Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple. He collapsed, he fell, he lay down between her feet, he collapsed, he fell between her feet, where he collapsed, there he fell, dead. Sisera's mother looked through the window. She peered through the lattice, crying out, Why is this chariot so long and coming? Why don't I hear the hoofbeats of his horses? Her wisest princesses answer her, she even answers herself. Are they not finding and dividing the spoil? A girl or two for each warrior, the spoil of colored garments for Sisera, the spoil of an of an embroidered garment or two for my neck. Lord, may all your enemies perish as Sisera did. May those who love him be like the rising of the sun in its strength, and the land had peace for forty years. Let's pray. Father, today, as we spend a few minutes looking at this song, I pray that you would give us wisdom, but also pray you would help us to be a people that reflect on our lives and the victories that we've had through you, and that we would be able to praise you for that. So in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. So verse one of chapter five. I think before I listened to the Bible, listened to the Bible app read me, I was always saying more like um barak was how I was saying it. But the Bible app in multiple translations used barak. So if you want to say Barak, that works. Um but after I heard it through I think both through all three of them, they used it as Barak. So, but on that first verse, it says, On the day Deborah and Barak, son of Abinoam, sang. So make a note here that Deborah is listed first. So that's not typical. So she's listed first. And then if we looked at the original language, the verb form for this verb saying is in the feminine form. So both of those things would help us, as one commentator said, it said the folly of Barak's timidity is evident in this poetic rendition and gives another example of the ineptitude of the northern leadership. So we see, right, that Deborah was the one that was taking the lead because Barak was not doing what he, and not just Barak, but but others, uh other men in this time were not doing what they were called to do. In verses two and three, it says, When the leaders lead in Israel, when the people volunteer, blessed be the Lord. Listen, kings, pay attention, princes. I will sing to the Lord, I will sing praise to the God of Israel. So right out of the gate, right? It says in verse one, this is who's singing, this is their song, but then in verse two and three, right out of the gate, we get praise. The song starts with praise. So in verse two, uh pray we're we're praising God in regard to the people who stepped up so that Israel could experience this victory. So we're acknowledging and praising God for the victory, but we're also acknowledging and praising God for the people who volunteered, for the people who led, for the people who did what God called them to do. And then in verse three, we're still praising, but it's likely speaking to the defeated kings. And so it's it's praising God, but it's praising God in uh kind of in light of these defeated kings. And so even though God clearly used the people to win this battle, the people were still quick to focus uh their praise upon God in the victory. And it, I think for us, it's a natural tendency to want to take the credit often, right? You know, we're like, oh, I made it through that. And we and we are often working because we're called to do our part. But I think sometimes we get so focused on what we did, we forget one, that everything that we have, even our strength, our ability to make good decisions, everything that we have comes from the Lord. Even our desires, our will, all of this comes from the Lord. And so we forget that. And so we're like, yeah, I pulled myself up by my bootstraps, I'm the one that did this, but we're not pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps if it's not for God who's giving us the strength and the ability, and even the breath that we have on this earth. And so I think it is a natural tendency, but we must fight that tendency to remember that God is the one who sustains. God is the one that brings victory, God is the one that helps us do what He's called us to do. And so I love that in verses two and three we sing, we see this, start this song off with just arousing praise to the Lord. If we skip to verses six and eight, and for the rest of it, I'm just gonna kind of give a little bit of an outline and we're gonna get to closing activity here. But in verses six to eight, we get a picture of what Israel was like before Deborah. So right in verse six it says, but in the days of Shamgar, it says, the main roads were deserted, uh, and then it says villages were deserted in verse seven, and then it talked about uh in verse eight that Israel chose new gods, and there was war in the city gates, and not a shield or spear was seen among the first 40,000 in Israel. And so we get this picture of what Israel was like before Deborah, and it's good to have that knowledge, right? Even in the song, as we're about to get to the part of the song where we're gonna be recounting what God did, it's good to know where they started. If we jump forward to verses 10 and 11, I think we here we see a call to all Israelites to praise God. So, verse uh 10, where it says, You who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on saddle blankets, and who travel on the road, give praise. I think in that verse, we're th we're seeing two or three different classes of people. Those who ride on white donkeys, those who sit on saddle blankets, and those who travel on the road. Now, for us, it doesn't really translate because we're not doing uh probably two out of those three normally. We might travel on the road, but even if we're going someplace, most of us are gonna be in a car. And so here, uh in a poetic way, they are just describing all the types of people that are called to praise. So it lists those three types of people, and it says, give praise. So all of Israel is called to give praise. If we jump to verses 13 and 18, here the recounting of what happens, of what happened begins. And in verses, in these first verses, they talk about this the assembling of the troops, and they list the people that got on board, and they list the people that didn't. And we're even gonna see that come back later in the song where they even call out further those, they call out a curse on uh on some of the people that didn't. And I think it's just a very real account of what happened. They're not sugarcoating in this song. Often our song, sometimes like, right, we're we're doing the highlights, but in this moment they they've talked about what Israel was like, and now uh the song recounts here's who came to battle. If we jump to verses 19 to 21, the first part of 21, here's the recounting of the battle. So we have the battle going on. Verse 21, the second part of that, we're gonna have a break for an exhortation. We can read that. It says, March on my soul and strength. And so we talk about this battle, and then it's almost like just this this breath of exhortation, like we're recounting the battle, and it's just like, March on my soul and strength. And we go to verse 22, we're back to the recounting of the story. We're talking about horses and and the their hooves and how they hammered and the galloping, and then to verses 23 and 24, we have another break for it for exhortation. The first exhortation is a curse, and it's on Meraz who did not join in. And this is really the only mention of Meraz. It's likely that it's a city, it's like a place of people, like a people are living there. And they did not join in it. But then we have a blessing, right? For for Jael, the one who responded valiantly. We're gonna read more about her coming up. And then verses 25 to 27. I said this earlier, but you know, it's my favorite part in every song the recounting of a grisly death. Um Garth Brooks. You know, it's always good to talk about Garth Brooks. What's his song? Um they had like a verse that was outlawed from the radio, uh kind of about murder. Oh, I should have thought of this before now, but yeah, the thunder rolls. Thank you, thank you. So, you know, as a man, I think it's a classic country song. There's uh cheating going on. So you got, you know, we have Jesus take the wheel and cheating. A lot of that's kind of the span of country music. And so, but in that song, there's like a verse that I think got banned from the radio that you could listen to uh on other maybe if you had the tape or the CD. And it was I don't know, was it a man or a woman that was cheating in that? I think it was it was the man, and the woman ran the car into the hotel where the cheating was happening. So there's your song with Grizzly Death, all right. But even I think this song takes the cake because in verse 25, I mean, or verse 26, it says, She reached for a tent peg, her right hand, for a one for a workman's hammer, then she hammered Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple. Can you imagine singing that song? Like, I I wish I would have been able to sing it to you, but um, I won't even try right now because I'll sing it to uh endless love. So she crushed his head. There you go. But we have that recounting of the Grizzly Death, and that it's an important part of the song because we see where not only is it Deborah who's stepping up, but now J Jael is stepping up and and continuing on this battle and this victory. Verses 28 and 30 uh we're transported to the palace of Sisera's mother where she's awaiting this their son's return from battle. So that's what we have there. And so you know, it says she looked through the window, she's out. Asking the question, why is a chariot so long and coming? Why do I hear the hoofbeats of horses? And then basically he's not coming back. Verse 31, we have a concluding curse and a concluding blessing in the first part of that where it says, Lord, may all your enemies perish as Sisera did, but may those who love him be like the rising of the sun in its strength. So this song ends with this curse, right? Like, all that are against the Lord, may they may they perish. But for those who love the Lord, may they be like the rising sun in its strength. And then the very last phrase of this song really helps it connect back to the narrative of judges. Some people might question, is this, was this song really needed to, did it need to be a part of the narrative? Because it really recounts. There are a few things that are a little different that are added or maybe taken away in this poetic re-retelling of what happened in the previous chapter and in Deborah's life. But it says, and then the land had peace for 40 years. So that connects us back to this narrative where there's this time of 40 years before, as we get into next week with John, where we're going to get into the call of Gideon. So that's Deborah's song. It's an interesting topic. I've never taught on Deborah's song before. I'm not sure I've ever taught, uh well, I've probably taught judges before in my life group, but I've never taught in this context. And so what I want us to do today as we close, because I want us to always be able to apply what we're learning to our life. And so I've put a green sheet on your paper or on your table, a green table, excuse me, a green paper on your table. It's all this muskrat love up here, has got me a little. And so that's kind of that first little part that says sense. And so with the sense, I want you to pick a moment in your life that you want to reflect forward from. So that could be the loss of a spouse, that could be retirement, that could be your kids leaving your house, it could have been a divorce you faced, it could have been an illness you had. I mean, the list is endless. So I want you to pick a moment and just identify that moment. So here in a second, we'll have, we'll put on some music and we'll just give you a few minutes to kind of work through this individually. It's not something you're gonna have to share with people, and so you'll pick that sense moment. And then the next prompt on this page is I have faced. And so on that section, I would just want you to write what difficulties you've faced and what victories you have experienced since that moment that you chose. And how have you how have you responded to things that were thrown your way? And then the very last part of that is says the prompt is but God. And I want you to write how has God been with you through everything you've experienced since that moment you put on that sheet. All right. Now again, some of us are better writers than others. Some of us could actually write a song. I'm not expecting you to write a song. If you want to turn it into a song, let me know. Uh, you can probably take it and put it into AI, whatever AI you you use, if we use Chat GTP or Gemini or whatever, and it could probably make a song for you. But let's we'll put on some light music and you guys just take a minute to write. And really, the activity here is I want us to be a people that think about our life and think about periods of our life and can use those periods of life, whether there's difficulty or there's blessing, and we can praise God through all of it. And so use that green sheet. There should be some pens on your table if you need them, and just take the next couple minutes and work through that. Thank you. All right, I know many of you might still be working, and I think it's something you can continue on. I would say this the life that you've experienced and how you've experienced God's faithfulness should be something that each one of us often praises God for. And so I think it's beneficial to us to be a people of praise. And so I think we should do that. But I would also say this many of you in this room have experienced something that I haven't experienced yet and don't hope to experience for a long time, which is the loss of a spouse. And I can't even begin to imagine what it's like to go through life with a partner for 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 years, and then to be left without that partner. And so for how you've been, you know, for the struggles you've had, for the victories you've had, for how God has been with you, while you thinking about that could be helpful to you, think about how that might be a testimony to your children. And sometimes, you know, we have some of us have kids that haven't followed in our footsteps and they're not following the Lord, but they might be experiencing the same grief that you are about the loss of a father, about, or yeah, about the loss of a father, about the loss of a mother. And you can be a testimony to them of, hey, like it has been difficult without your dad here. It has been difficult without your mom here. But this is how God has helped me, and this is how God has been faithful to me. And so I just want using, I want to encourage us, and you don't have to do it in a song, you don't have to write it out, but I want us to be a people that think deeply and reflect upon all that God has done. And then we are be a people that reflect and turn that reflection as praise back to God, but also to be a people that share that with others. And I think a beauty of writing that out is sometimes writing it out can really help us put our thoughts down, can help us think through it differently. And then if it's written out, that's something sometimes we can share with loved ones a little easier. So that's my encouragement today. Let's be a people of praise, let's be a people that recount and celebrate all that God has done. And we don't have to shy away from the difficult things because they're a part of our life. But even through the difficult things, we know that God is with us and God is faithful. So I'm gonna pray, I'm gonna turn it over to Raymond, and then next week we'll be in Judges chapter six. And if anyone knows, I know we have uh uh some music people in the room and some pastors in the room. If anyone knows of a song tune that goes to Judges 5, I'd love to know it. So all right, let's pray. Father God, we come to you today, and I'm so thankful for how I can see, just in the 42 years I've lived, I can see your faithfulness. And God, for people in this room that have much more experience in life than me, God, I just to know some of their stories and to be able to uh just hear some of their stories is would is a blessing to a younger person. Um, it'd be a blessing to their children, would be a blessing to their grandchildren. And I just pray that you would help us to be a people that remember, reflect, and we praise, but we also share with others. Thank you so much for all that you've done. Thank you for your word. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.