Context No. 3078 of 4322 · Judges

Judges 5:1-16: in context

1Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying, 2“Because the leaders took the lead in Israel, because the people offered themselves willingly, be blessed, LORD! 3“Hear, you kings! Give ear, you princes! I, even I, will sing to the LORD. I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel. 4“LORD, when you went out of Seir, when you marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the sky also dropped. Yes, the clouds dropped water. 5The mountains quaked at the LORD’s presence, even Sinai at the presence of the LORD, the God of Israel. 6“In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied. The travelers walked through byways. 7The rulers ceased in Israel. They ceased until I, Deborah, arose; Until I arose a mother in Israel. 8They chose new gods. Then war was in the gates. Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel? 9My heart is toward the governors of Israel, who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless the LORD! 10“Speak, you who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets, and you who walk by the way. 11Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water, there they will rehearse the LORD’s righteous acts, the righteous acts of his rule in Israel. “Then the LORD’s people went down to the gates. 12‘Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, you son of Abinoam.’ 13“Then a remnant of the nobles and the people came down. The LORD came down for me against the mighty. 14Those whose root is in Amalek came out of Ephraim, after you, Benjamin, among your peoples. Governors come down out of Machir. Those who handle the marshal’s staff came out of Zebulun. 15The princes of Issachar were with Deborah. As was Issachar, so was Barak. They rushed into the valley at his feet. By the watercourses of Reuben, there were great resolves of heart. 16Why did you sit among the sheepfolds? To hear the whistling for the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben, there were great searchings of heart.

After the victory over Sisera, Deborah and Barak sing. They bless the LORD that the leaders led and the people offered themselves willingly. The song remembers God marching out from Seir, the earth trembling; the dark days when the roads lay empty and Israel had no weapons, until Deborah arose, a mother in Israel. And it names the tribes who came, and gently rebukes those who did not.

The refrain of the song is willing service. It blesses God twice over for those who offered themselves willingly, the leaders who led and the people who followed at real risk. And it quietly indicts those who stayed home, Reuben with its great searchings of heart but no action, sitting among the sheepfolds while others went down to fight. The song honors the ones who showed up and grieves the ones who deliberated but never came. God is praised through the willingness of ordinary people who put themselves forward when he calls.

When God calls his people to act, am I among those who offer themselves willingly, or among those who search their hearts but stay among the sheepfolds?

Sources

Judges 5:2: "Because the leaders took the lead in Israel, because the people offered themselves willingly, be blessed, LORD!"
Judges 5:16: "By the watercourses of Reuben, there were great searchings of heart."
2 Corinthians 8:12: "For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what you have, not according to what you don't have."