|
Last week, in the Consequences of Hesitation: The Time Before the Kings, Part 5, we saw that whatever God calls you to do, you can trust Him to empower you to success. Don't hesitate. Just ... GO!
Today's lesson takes us to Chapter 5 of the book of Judges. The battle against Jabin and Sisera is over, and Israel has had a great victory. The next chapter kind of surprised me. The bible says, "On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song..." (Judges 5:1 NIV).
I supposed it shouldn't have surprised me. What did Israel do after crossing the red sea? You got it! They sang a song (See Genesis 15)!
There there was the Song of Moses, as recorded in Deuteronomy 32. This one wasn't about a great victory; rather, it was composed to help the people remember the goodness of the Lord, His laws, His precepts, His judgements, His blessings, and His curses!
It would seem that in the culture of the day, especially before written language was a common, everyday thing, creating a song was a way of ensuring that something would be remembered! In composing what we now know as the Song of Deborah, Deborah and Barak were attempting to help Israel remember God's power, His deliverance and grace, and perhaps also, what happened when they turned away from the Lord!
I get it. The words to songs often stick with me a lot longer than other material. Somehow the words set to music just seems to speak to my memory and charge it up. It is for this reason that the Psalms are all songs! But with so many beautiful songs out there already about the power and mercy of God, why go to all the trouble to create a new one?
Yet this seems to be important, for we have verses such as, "Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth." (Psalms 96:1 NIV); and "He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him." (Psalms 40:3 NIV).
Perhaps it is because it isn't enough to just remember the goodness of God. It's isn't enough to cognitively know and remember that He is the God who delivers, He is the God who saves, His grace and mercy, His love never fails. Perhaps what God knew when He inspired these two verses from the book of Psalms is that it isn't enough to cognitively know God is who He is! Rather, we need to experience it to fully believe and trust in Him!
Revelation teaches us the Truth that testimony has power. Not just in general saying that God is good, but our personal testimony! "They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony..." (Revelation 12:11a NIV). In other words, not just Jesus' blood helps people triumph over sin, but also our personal testimony!
When Deborah and Barak composed the new song, what is now known as "The Song of Deborah", they were forever ensuring that people through ALL generations wouldn't just remember that God delivers; but that God delivered Israel from the Jabin's oppression! And if He intervened in that specific, personal way for Israel, He'll do the same for us!
What has God done for you lately? Maybe we all need to start singing to the Lord a "new song", one that will help us to remember that specific thing He did, for it is this specific kind of memories that will have the best impact for strengthening our faith!
One more thought about the concept of singing a "new" song ... When we take the time and effort to praise God for each and every individual blessing He bestows upon us, we begin to see that truly, "The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning." (Lamentations 3:22-23 NLT). When we begin to realize that each and every blessing is a new thing, similar perhaps to past blessings, but never identical, we become amazed at God's love for us and our faith mushrooms.
And that is the lesson for today from the Song of Deborah: Whatever God does for us, whenever He does it, we need to record the specifics and remember them, so that when troubles come in the future, and they will come, we will remember the works of His hands! We will understand and remember that His mercies begin anew every day, and we will ensure that the Lord's blessings to us will never become mundane or common!
lease join us next week for "The Time Before the Kings, Part 7", as we begin to learn from what Gideon has to teach us!
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Author, Moderator, Acting Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries
|
