Sing A Song Of Happiness

Judges 5:1-5 - On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song: "When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves-- praise the LORD!  "Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I will sing to the LORD, I will sing; I will make music to the LORD, the God of Israel. "O LORD, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water.  The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel.

 

On this day …Deborah and Barak were so overcome with happiness …they danced and sang a new song before the Lord. It was a song of victory…because the enemy that had held Israel captive had been killed by Jael.  It was a song of praise to the God who had set them free once more. It was a song of thankfulness to the God who did not leave them…but sent them a judge…to reveal to them the way back to God.

 

We should all stop from time to time and consider the things God has done for us...and sing him a song of praise.  Singing praise to God focuses all our attention on him...and allows him to pour into us his pure love….a love that gives us courage to move past where we are into the unknown. Singing praises to God puts the heart and mind in the right perspective…and helps us remember where our power to do anything comes from.

 

I’m thinking now…as I write this…that my routine of singing songs on Sunday at church …isn’t what God is talking about here. Deborah and Barak’s song was a spontaneous offering of joy that had nothing to do with a church service or routine sacrifice.  It was the joy and love for their Lord that bubbled out from their souls when they heard the news that King Jabin was dead…and their song just spontaneously came out.  It was the realization that God was there all along…and had helped them to this victory…and they sang it all back to him in praise.

 

This song ushered in a time of peace for the Israelites…forty years’ worth of living in the great land God had given them…following the rules he had given them to live by.  They prospered and grew strong.  They worshiped God and God rewarded their obedience.  They followed his rules and taught them to their children.  They probably sang Deborah’s song many times to remind them where they had come from.

 

Father…I thank you for this reminder that it is okay to sing praises to you anytime I feel grateful for what you have done for me. My song doesn’t have to make sense to anyone but you….for it is to be an overflow of the love you have poured into me.  Help me father to stop more often and sing thankful songs of praise to you…so they can usher me into long periods of peace….where I am confident of the victories you have brought me through.  Amen.