Meditation

Hi there,

The final verses of the song of Deborah and Barak, that we'll copy today, are as unexpected as they are extraordinary.

After the death of Sisera at the hands of Jael, we might have expected Deborah's song to end on a triumphal note, but instead she imagines Sisera's mother waiting at his home for his triumphant return, a return that will never come.

It would be poignant were it not for the triumphalism of her companions.Who believe the delay is a result of the customary division of the spoils after the inevitable victory.

It's the same arrogance we read of in Exodus 15:9.

"The enemy boasted,
‘I will pursue, I will overtake them.
I will divide the spoils;
I will gorge myself on them.
I will draw my sword
and my hand will destroy them.’

The echo here is not simply an echo of the story, but also one that echoes a spiritual truth. God's justice will always overcome human might.

And so the song ends on a quietly uplifting note with a blessing that may all who love the Lord rise with strength like the sun in the morning.

The writer notes that the land had peace for 40 years after this deliverance, which subtly echoes the 40 years in the wilderness that followed from the vanquishing of the Egyptians.

Today's text is Judges 5:28-31

The Song of Deborah

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.”

Then the land had peace forty years.

Encouragement

¹⁶ The Lord’s justice will dwell in the desert,
his righteousness live in the fertile field.
​¹⁷ The fruit of that righteousness will be peace;
its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.

Isaiah 32:16-17

This week we are accompanying the text with Handel’s oratorio, Deborah.

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