Judges

Judges 5: Praise the LORD for His victory

Begin in prayer

Before we listen to Deborah and Barak sing, please turn our thoughts to the God who gives victory and rest. Ask Him to teach us thankful praise and lead us to the salvation found in Christ.

You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the land of wickedness. You stripped them head to foot. Selah.

Habakkuk 3:13

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Help us hear this song with thankful hearts. Show us Jesus, who defeats sin and death, and teach us to praise Your saving power. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Deborah and Barak sing after God defeats Sisera, remembering how Israel's roads had emptied while the people chose new gods. They praise willing leaders and tribes who risked their lives, while others stayed away from the battle. The stars fight against Sisera, and the river Kishon sweeps his forces away. Meroz is cursed for failing to help, while Jael is blessed for killing Sisera in her tent. His mother waits for him, imagining plunder and captive women, yet her son will never return. The song asks for God's enemies to perish and those who love Him to shine, and the land rests forty years.

As you read Judges 5, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

The LORD defeats His enemies and gives rest to His people.

Deborah and Barak turn the victory into a song, so Israel will remember whose power saved them. Empty highways and travelers taking byways show how oppression had disrupted ordinary life. Israel's choice of new gods had brought war to its gates. The song honors leaders and people who willingly risked their lives, while others stayed among flocks, ships and creeks. The stars and the river Kishon join the battle against Sisera, showing God's rule over creation. Jael receives blessing, and Meroz receives a curse for failing to come to the LORD's help. Sisera's mother expects plunder and captive women, exposing the cruelty of the side that lost. The final prayer looks beyond this victory to the ruin of God's enemies and the flourishing of those who love Him.

How does Judges 5 show us that the LORD defeats His enemies and gives rest to His people?

The LORD gives His people reason to sing.

The song begins by blessing God for leaders who lead and people who offer themselves willingly (verse 2). It remembers travelers avoiding the highways during Israel's distress. God has changed life for His people, so those drawing water can recount His righteous acts.

God rules the battle and calls people to serve.

Zebulun and Naphtali risk their lives while others remain at home (verses 16 to 18). The river Kishon sweeps the enemy away, and the stars fight against Sisera. God gives the victory, and Meroz is still cursed for refusing to help.

God brings His enemies down and gives rest.

The song blesses Jael, who kills the commander in her tent. Sisera's mother imagines him dividing stolen garments and captive women, while he lies dead. The prayer for God's enemies to perish is followed by forty years of rest (verse 31).

Memorise

So let all your enemies perish, Yahweh, but let those who love him be as the sun when it rises in its strength.

Judges 5:31

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what keeps my heart from praising Jesus for His saving victory?

The song ends, “So let all your enemies perish, Yahweh.” God's victory is judgment on cruel oppressors and rest for His people. The singers pray that those who love Him will shine like the rising sun.

Sin places us among God's enemies, and we need more than peace from earthly war. Jesus gave Himself for His people, bearing their guilt and its punishment at the cross. He rose from death, and His completed sacrifice is enough for their peace with God. The King who defeated the grave will bring every enemy under His feet (1 Corinthians 15 verses 25 and 26).

Turn from your sin and believe in Jesus Christ. Forgiveness and peace belong to everyone who rests in His saving death. Praise Him for the victory He has won. Those who love Him will share His lasting rest, when evil can trouble them no more.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God's victory brings judgment on His enemies and rest to His people. Explain Sisera's death and his mother's expectation of captive women without making cruelty entertaining. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for defeating evil and giving His people rest, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God, the Almighty! Righteous and true are your ways, you King of the nations.

Revelation 15:3

Lord, we praise You for Your righteous acts and for the victory of Jesus over death. Please turn our hearts from sin and teach us to believe in Him. Give us thankful voices and willing hands to serve You. Help our family remember Your saving power this week. Amen.