Judges 5:1 – Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day…
Judges 5 is clearly a Holy Spirit-inspired worship song that Deborah and Barak lead the leaders and people to sing in thanks to the Lord for His forgiveness of their sin and deliverance from their enemies. “Then sang Deborah and Barak…‘That the leaders took the lead in Israel, that the people offered themselves willingly, bless the LORD! ‘Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes; to the LORD I will sing; I will make melody to the LORD, the God of Israel.’” (Judges 5:1-3)
Two things are noteworthy here.
One, the leaders are worshippers. There was no distinction between sacred and secular. The key to working in public (e.g. legal as a judge, military as a strategist, spiritual leader as a prophet) was to personally worship God. This reveals that, to be a good leader, you must be a good worshipper of God.
Two, a godly leader uses their influence to encourage and teach other leaders, as well as regular people, to worship God. While some feminists will twist the words and works of Deborah to promote the erasing of God-given gender lines, Deborah, in worship, says that she rejoices when the male leaders (called princes in some English translations) worship God.
Sadly, too much of what passes for worship songs in the average church lacks the kind of cosmic perspective focused on God that Deborah demonstrates. We simply have too many songs about us and not enough songs about God.
Furthermore, in an effort to only be positive and uplifting, the songs do not resemble the Scriptures, including the song of Deborah in Judges 5.
Lastly, with Christian worship now needing to be safe for the whole family, we have generations of children who grew up in the church but do not know about the kind of justice, evil, wrath, war, or other dark themes that are thick throughout the Scriptures, especially in Judges.
The days of the Judges was just like our own day – corrupt political leadership; weak, progressive, compromised clergy; urban cities in hellish decline; and no sense of urgency or repentance from God’s people, who did not know the difference between a demon and a donut. If our day is like Deborah’s, then we should be singing songs like Deborah’s.
Read the song of Deborah, as well as the three songs from other Spirit-filled worshipping women in the Word:
1. Miriam (Exodus 15:20-21)
2. Deborah (Judges 5:1-21)
3. Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1-10)
4. Mary (Luke 1:46-55)