Judges 5:1-11 – To be on victory ground, we need God

God desires that we live an oppression-free life. To enjoy such a life, it requires that we pay careful attention to what He says and to do it. We are to be obedient to His instructions. However, God knows that we do need to be disciplined time and again to get on the right track, especially when we have meandered into the wrong path. Whenever we realize our wrong, repent, and cry out for His intervention, He is ever ready to help. The natural outcome of being delivered by Him is to celebrate, rejoice and sing His praise. This was exactly what Deborah and Barak did. Judges 5 is a wonderful song of victory and praise that Deborah and Barak sang. They were recounting the nation’s deliverance and the victory they experienced with the help of God. It is a poem that lauded their freedom from the oppression and extolled the Lord who fought for them.

This poem begins praising Yahweh, the Jehovah God. The song recognized that it was a combination of courageous leaders and willing followers with the help of God that had brought the victory. This was the case in the victory that Deborah and Barak experienced. To experience victory, having God is critical but we also need great leaders and willing followers. It is said that a leader should lead and a follower should follow. If we are unwilling to lead or to follow, just get out of the way. Secondly, in this poem, they praised Yahweh for His presence. The earth, the sky and the mountain were all seen to be responding to His awesome presence. The God who came down to Mount Sinai and demonstrated His awesome power had now come to the assistance of His people. He granted them the victory over Sisera and his menacing force.

God’s people cannot do without His presence. Without His presence, life would be miserable. This was seen in the desperate time of Shamgar and Jael. The Israelites suffered much oppression. They had to make long journeys in a round-about way. Highways were in the control of their oppressors.  Joy and civility were depleted among God’s people. New gods were being venerated. They were oppressed. Among the forty thousand men of Israel, no one had the courage to fight Sisera, until Deborah arose. She, however, realized that without the leaders taking their position, she alone would not be able to secure such a victory. Hence, she praises the Lord for them. Verses 10-11 call upon the different segments of people: (1) those who ride on white donkeys, probably referring to those who rule, (2) those who travel on the road, the business people, and (3) the shepherds. Every class of society had reason to celebrate and praise the righteous deeds of the Lord for the victory. There is no question that without God success cannot be attained. Defeat need not be our experience when leaders and followers choose to walk with God and obey Him diligently. Let’s do it!