Written Sermon

WHEN PILGRIMS SETTLE DOWN

Text: Judges 5:2, 14–24, 31

“Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.” — Judges 5:23

In This Sermon

• Introduction
• I. THE MERCY OF THE LORD CALLS HIS PEOPLE TO A WILLING RESPONSE
• II. THE AFFAIRS OF LIFE CAN GRADUALLY BECOME A REFUGE FROM OBEDIENCE
• III. FAITH RESPONDS TO THE LORD EVEN WHEN OBEDIENCE IS COSTLY
• IV. THE SOLEMN DANGER OF “THEY CAME NOT”
• V. THE PILGRIM'S FAITHFULNESS IS NOT DETERMINED BY HIS EARTHLY CIRCUMSTANCES
• VI. THE GREATER DELIVERER AND THE REST THAT WILL NEVER END
• Conclusion — While It Is Called Today

Introduction

There is a danger in the Christian life that may develop so gradually that we scarcely recognize what is happening. It does not necessarily begin with an open rejection of God or a deliberate decision to abandon His Word. Sometimes it begins with the ordinary affairs of life. We have work to accomplish, families to care for, responsibilities to fulfill, and matters that require our attention. Many of these things are good and necessary. Indeed, the LORD Himself has given us responsibilities within this present world, and faithfulness to Him includes fulfilling them. Yet amid those legitimate concerns, the heart may gradually begin to settle into this world as though it were our lasting home. The things God has entrusted to us for our stewardship become the things around which we arrange our lives, until the Word of God begins to sound like an interruption rather than the authority by which we live.

It is possible to arrive at such a condition without abandoning our profession of faith. We may continue reading Scripture, attending church, praying, and speaking sincerely about the things of the LORD. We may recognize what God has commanded and even experience considerable concern over our failures to obey. Yet there is always another responsibility to attend to, another circumstance to consider, or another reason why obedience must wait. Little by little, what once troubled the conscience may become acceptable. What once demanded a response becomes something we have learned to explain away. The heart can become so accustomed to remaining where it is that it no longer recognizes how far its affections have wandered from the LORD.

The fifth chapter of Judges brings us to a remarkable passage in the history of Israel. The nation had forsaken the LORD and suffered for twenty years under the oppression of a powerful enemy. God raised up Deborah and called Barak to lead Israel against Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army. The battle was real, the danger was great, and the strength of the enemy was formidable. Yet the LORD had promised deliverance, and He accomplished everything He had spoken.

Afterward, Deborah and Barak sang a song of praise. They celebrated the LORD's power, but they also remembered the responses of the people. Some willingly offered themselves. Others remained among the ordinary circumstances of their lives. Some risked their lives in the conflict, while one place, Meroz, was remembered beneath a solemn curse because its inhabitants did not come to the help of the LORD.

Consider the movement of Deborah's song. Between the descriptions of those who remained and the curse upon Meroz, Deborah celebrates the extraordinary power and faithfulness of God. The heavens fight, the river sweeps away the enemy, and the strength of Sisera's horses fails. Then the angel of the LORD pronounces judgment upon those who did not come. The song places the sufficiency of the LORD beside the responsibility of His people, and we must hear the truth of both. There is a warning here that reaches beyond the circumstances of that ancient battlefield. It concerns the danger of hearing God's Word without responding, of allowing the affairs of life to become more important than His revealed will, and of becoming so settled in this passing world that we forget we belong to another kingdom. And so we must ask ourselves whether we are living as strangers and pilgrims whose hope rests in the LORD, or whether we have become so comfortable with the present world that obedience to Him must continually wait upon our convenience.

I. THE MERCY OF THE LORD CALLS HIS PEOPLE TO A WILLING RESPONSE

Before we examine those who remained behind, we must understand why Israel needed deliverance. Judges 4:1 declares, “And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead.” That one word, again, exposes the recurring condition of the nation. God had delivered His people before, yet they had returned to their sinful ways. They had witnessed His goodness and received His commandments, but they repeatedly turned from His revealed will.

The LORD gave them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, whose captain was Sisera. The enemy possessed nine hundred chariots of iron, and for twenty years Israel suffered beneath his oppression. Yet the deepest problem was not the strength of the Canaanite army. Deborah's song reveals the spiritual condition that lay behind Israel's suffering. Judges 5:8 declares, “They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?” The people had exchanged the worship of the living God for false gods. They had turned from the One who had brought them out of Egypt, sustained them in the wilderness, and given them an inheritance.

Consider the tragedy of that departure. The LORD had revealed Himself to Israel as the only true God. He had delivered them by His mighty hand and entered into covenant with them. Yet they turned toward gods that could neither speak nor save. Their unfaithfulness was not a failure of God's provision or faithfulness. It was a departure from the One who had already demonstrated His goodness toward them. And as they suffered beneath the oppression of Canaan, they were confronted with the consequences of forsaking Him.

But Judges 4:3 tells us that the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, and the LORD acted in mercy toward His afflicted people. He raised up Deborah, spoke His command to Barak, and promised to deliver Sisera into his hand. Israel's deliverance would not originate in the greatness of its military strength. It would be accomplished by the LORD who had heard their cry.

Now notice how Deborah begins her song. Judges 5:2 declares, “Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.” There are two truths joined together in that verse. The people willingly offered themselves, but the praise belonged to the LORD. Their willingness mattered, yet their participation did not make God sufficient to accomplish His purpose. He was already the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth. Their obedience was a response to His command and mercy.

This distinction is essential to our understanding of the Christian life. God does not need our abilities, our resources, or our strength in order to accomplish His eternal purposes. Acts 17:25 declares that He is not worshipped with men's hands as though He needed anything, seeing that He gives to all life and breath and all things. Yet the God who needs nothing has graciously called His people to hear His Word and walk according to His commandments. Our obedience does not supply some deficiency in Him. Rather, it expresses our reverence for the One who has spoken.

And we must begin with His mercy, for otherwise this passage may be reduced to little more than an appeal for greater activity. Israel had not earned its deliverance. The LORD acted according to His own goodness and faithfulness. Likewise, the believer does not enter the Christian life through the merit of his obedience. Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. But the grace that saves us does not leave us indifferent toward the One who has redeemed us. It teaches us to hear His voice, trust His Word, and walk in the obedience that reflects His character. Deborah praised the LORD when the people willingly offered themselves. That willingness was not the source of divine power, but it was a fitting response to the God who had appointed their deliverance. And the remainder of the song will reveal how seriously the LORD regarded the differing responses of His people.

II. THE AFFAIRS OF LIFE CAN GRADUALLY BECOME A REFUGE FROM OBEDIENCE

As Deborah continues her song, she begins naming those who participated in the battle. Ephraim and Benjamin are remembered, governors came down from Machir, and Zebulun is mentioned among those who responded. Then Judges 5:15 records that the princes of Issachar were with Deborah and Barak. The song is remembering people who took part in the deliverance the LORD had appointed.

But in the second half of that verse, the direction changes. Deborah declares, “For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart.” Then verse 16 asks, “Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.” There is something searching about that repetition. Great thoughts of heart are followed by great searchings of heart, yet Reuben remains among the sheepfolds. Deborah places their deliberations alongside their failure to participate. The contrast invites us to consider the danger of thinking seriously about what ought to be done without ever responding.

It is possible to hear God's Word and be deeply affected by it, yet never yield ourselves to what He has commanded. We may recognize the truth of a sermon, discuss its implications, and acknowledge that something within our own lives needs to change. We may even carry the matter in our thoughts for days or weeks. Yet unless that consideration leads us to respond according to God's Word, we may be doing little more than becoming increasingly familiar with the truth we are neglecting.

James 1:22 declares, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” The danger James identifies is not that hearing God's Word is unimportant. We must hear it if we are to know what He has spoken. The danger is that hearing may become a substitute for obedience. We can become satisfied with understanding the command while withholding the response it requires. And such a condition is especially dangerous because the heart may begin to mistake its familiarity with Scripture for submission to Scripture.

But Deborah does not stop with Reuben. Judges 5:17 declares, “Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches.” The descriptions differ, but the repeated language draws attention to remaining. Gilead abode beyond Jordan. Dan remained in ships. Asher continued along the seashore and abode in his coastal places. Deborah's song places their absence alongside the ordinary locations and circumstances of their lives. The cumulative effect is striking: while some had responded to the conflict, these groups are remembered for remaining where they were. The repeated words press the contrast upon us. They abode, they remained, they continued, while others entered the conflict the LORD had appointed. And when we turn to the New Testament, we find that the Lord Jesus directly warns against allowing the ordinary affairs of life to take precedence over the claims of God's kingdom.

In Luke 14, Jesus told of a man who prepared a great supper and invited many. When everything was ready, those who had been invited began to make excuses. One had purchased a piece of ground and needed to see it. Another had bought five yoke of oxen and wanted to prove them. Another had married a wife and declared that he could not come.

Consider the nature of those excuses. Property, honest labour, and marriage are not inherently sinful. The LORD has given human beings responsibilities concerning all three. The problem in the parable was not the existence of these ordinary affairs, but that they were given precedence over the invitation. They became reasons for refusing what had been placed before them.

The invitation of God's kingdom takes precedence over the affairs of this present life. The principle Jesus establishes reaches directly into our lives: legitimate responsibilities can become excuses when we permit them to occupy a place of authority that belongs to God alone.

The danger is not necessarily that we are doing something openly wicked. Sometimes we are occupied with things that are good, but our hearts have allowed those things to govern us. We may become so devoted to earning a living that our work determines the priorities of our lives rather than the Word of God. We may become so concerned with the maintenance of our homes, the pursuit of comfort, or the preservation of familiar routines that obedience seems continually inconvenient. Even the responsibilities we have toward our families may be handled in a way that places our own desires above the character and commands of Christ.

The LORD has commanded us to love, provide, and care for those entrusted to us. Those duties are part of our obedience to Him. Our work, our homes, and our family responsibilities are all to be governed by His Word. Faithfulness means bringing every part of life beneath His authority, so that the gifts He has entrusted to us are used according to His will.

Jesus declared in Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” In the surrounding passage, He was speaking about the ordinary necessities of life, including food and clothing. He did not deny their importance. He called His disciples to trust their heavenly Father and seek His kingdom first. That is where the danger of becoming settled begins to appear. The affairs of this present life are necessary, but they must never become ultimate. We were not redeemed merely to arrange a comfortable earthly existence. We were redeemed to belong to God, and our lives are to be ordered beneath His authority.

Paul warned Timothy, “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier” (2 Timothy 2:4). Timothy was being instructed concerning faithful service, and Paul used the example of a soldier whose responsibilities required undivided allegiance. The issue was not that ordinary affairs were necessarily evil, but that they could become entanglements. And that is the danger before us. What begins as a legitimate responsibility may gradually become the reason we repeatedly postpone obedience. We may not openly refuse the LORD at first. We may simply remain where we are, assuring ourselves that we will respond when circumstances become more favourable. But the heart that repeatedly accepts such excuses is in danger of becoming accustomed to them. The question is not whether we have responsibilities in this world. Every one of us does. The question is whether those responsibilities have become more authoritative to us than the LORD who has given them.

III. FAITH RESPONDS TO THE LORD EVEN WHEN OBEDIENCE IS COSTLY

After naming those who remained, Deborah suddenly returns to the people who entered the conflict. Judges 5:18 declares, “Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.” The contrast is unmistakable. While others were remembered in connection with remaining in their ordinary places, Zebulun and Naphtali were remembered for placing their lives in jeopardy. The danger was genuine. Sisera's army had oppressed Israel for twenty years and possessed military advantages the Israelites could not simply dismiss. Yet these men participated in the deliverance the LORD had appointed.

And here we must return to Judges 4, because these were the very tribes specifically named when God commanded Barak to gather his army. Deborah had declared, “Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?” (Judges 4:6). The command came from the LORD. And with that command came a promise. In Judges 4:7, God declared that He would draw Sisera and his forces toward the river Kishon and deliver them into Barak's hand.

Now consider the relationship between the command and the promise. God had not told Barak to gather the army because the outcome would depend upon whether Israel could assemble sufficient military strength. The LORD had promised the victory. Yet He had also commanded His servants to participate in the means through which that victory would be accomplished. The lives of the men of Zebulun and Naphtali were genuinely at risk. They entered the conflict in dependence upon the LORD who had commanded them and promised deliverance. Faith rested upon His Word even as they faced the strength of the enemy.

Judges 4:14 records Deborah saying to Barak, “Up; for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD gone out before thee?” Then Barak descended from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men followed him. They obeyed. And the LORD accomplished what He had promised.

Now listen to the remarkable movement of Deborah's song. The kings of Canaan came and fought near the waters of Megiddo. Then Judges 5:20 declares, “They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.” The next verse tells us that the river Kishon swept away the enemy, while verse 22 describes the violent movement and breaking of the horsehoofs associated with Sisera's defeated forces. The stars fought. The river swept away the enemy. The strength of the horses failed. These are the words of inspired poetry celebrating a genuine historical deliverance. The LORD governed the battle and accomplished the victory He had promised. Heaven and earth were subject to Him, and the military strength that had oppressed Israel could not withstand His power.

And consider what this teaches us about faith. The men of Zebulun and Naphtali did not make the LORD powerful by their obedience. He was already the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Their participation did not give Him the ability to overcome Sisera. Yet they were called to act upon His Word, and they did so despite the danger involved.

Hebrews 11 helps us understand the confidence of faith amid the different circumstances God's people encounter. Some who lived by faith witnessed wonderful deliverances, while others suffered persecution, imprisonment, and death. Their faith rested upon the same faithful God. Whether He brought them through danger or sustained them through suffering, He remained worthy of their trust. Faithfulness is measured by our response to Him, rather than by the disappearance of every earthly difficulty.

The LORD has spoken concerning how His redeemed people are to live. We are commanded to love one another, forgive those who have wronged us, speak the truth, put away bitterness, walk in holiness, and remain faithful to the responsibilities He has entrusted to us. His Word governs our response even when obedience is costly and the outcome remains beyond our control. Faith receives God's Word as the authority for our conduct, even when the outcome remains beyond our control.

And there is something particularly significant about the movement of Deborah's song. Before the curse upon Meroz is pronounced, the LORD's extraordinary deliverance is celebrated. We behold the greatness of His power and the certainty of His faithfulness. The stars and waters themselves are portrayed as serving His purpose. The mighty strength of Sisera cannot withstand Him. We are brought face to face with the sufficiency of the LORD before hearing the judgment pronounced upon those who did not come, and this makes the next verse all the more searching.

IV. THE SOLEMN DANGER OF “THEY CAME NOT”

Judges 5:23 declares, “Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.” These are solemn words. The curse is pronounced through the angel of the LORD, and its repetition emphasizes the seriousness of the judgment. But notice especially the reason God gives: “because they came not to the help of the LORD.” The LORD regards their absence as culpable. They should have come, and they came not.

Notice that their absence is described in relation to the LORD Himself. This was the deliverance He had appointed, against the enemy He had promised to overcome. To participate in that conflict was to serve His cause. The power belonged wholly to Him, and those called to participate were responsible to respond. Their absence mattered because it concerned the LORD whose deliverance the song celebrates. There is something especially searching about those words when we remember the movement of the song leading up to them. Reuben had great thoughts and great searchings of heart, yet remained among the sheepfolds. Gilead abode beyond Jordan. Dan remained in ships. Asher continued on the sea shore and abode in his breaches. Again and again, the song describes those who remained, before placing Zebulun and Naphtali in contrast: they “jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.” They entered the conflict even though their participation involved genuine danger.

Then the song lifts our eyes to the power of God. “They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.” The Kishon swept away the enemy, and the horsehoofs were broken in the conflict. The LORD accomplished the deliverance He had promised. Yet after celebrating that victory, the song records the curse upon Meroz. Here we encounter a truth that searches our hearts: God does not need us to supply anything lacking in Himself, yet it matters whether we obey Him. His sovereignty does not make human responsibility unnecessary. He had commanded Barak to gather men and descend into the battle, and through their participation He accomplished what He had promised. The victory belonged to the LORD, but those whom He appointed to act were responsible to respond.

The LORD accomplishes His pleasure through the means He appoints. His purposes cannot fail, and His commands remain binding upon those to whom He speaks. The God who governed the battle held Meroz responsible for failing to come. His power gives us reason to trust Him and obey Him. God needs nothing from us, but He commands our obedience. His sufficiency never makes His Word optional.

And here the passage begins to search our own hearts. We may possess explanations that appear persuasive to us. We may explain why this is not the right time, why obedience would be difficult, why circumstances are unusually complicated, or why we intend to deal with the matter later. We may rehearse those explanations until they seem sufficient. But where the LORD has clearly spoken, we must bring our reasons beneath the authority of His Word and ask whether we are obeying Him.

Our responsibility is to respond to what God has actually commanded. His Word governs our service, our care for our families, and the discernment we need in fulfilling the duties He has entrusted to us. We are to examine our lives beneath that authority and yield ourselves to the obedience His Word requires.

James 1:22 declares, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” There is a form of self-deception in which hearing the truth begins to substitute for responding to it. We may know what Scripture teaches, agree that it is true, and even feel deeply convicted by it while continuing to resist what it requires. Familiarity with the command can gradually become a substitute for submission to the One who gave it.

That is why Hebrews warns, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:12–13).

The warning reaches deeper than a loss of enthusiasm for service. It concerns unbelief, the deceitfulness of sin, and departure from the living God. Sin deceives us concerning its character and consequences, and the heart that continues resisting the truth is in danger of becoming hardened. For that reason, believers are called to exhort one another daily. We need the faithful encouragement and correction of those who will bring the Word of God before us when our own explanations have begun to seem sufficient.

Hebrews calls us to recognize the danger of continued resistance. What begins as hesitation may become continued delay, and what we repeatedly defend may cease to trouble us as it once did. That is why we need to hear God's Word today and receive the faithful exhortation of His people.

There is a pastoral distinction to recognize between struggling against our reluctance and settling into a defense of disobedience. Yet being troubled by a command is not itself obedience, and sincere struggle does not make continued resistance harmless. Barak expressed hesitation, but he went, and Hebrews 11 remembers him among those who lived by faith. His example directs us beyond acknowledging our weakness toward trusting the LORD and acting upon His Word.

Jesus also warned His disciples, “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares” (Luke 21:34). He was calling them to watchfulness in view of His coming. Even the cares of this life can so occupy the heart that we cease living in readiness before Him. The ordinary concerns of today must therefore be governed by our allegiance to the Lord whose coming we await.

The question is whether, where God has clearly spoken, we are responding to Him. We may have heard His Word, considered its meaning, and felt its searching power. But none of those things gives us permission to continue withholding the obedience it requires. Meroz stands in the song beneath the solemn record: “They came not.”

Yet the warning of Scripture also brings an urgent call to hear God today. Hebrews declares, “To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts” (Hebrews 3:15). Where we have resisted Him, we must repent. Where we have delayed what He has clearly commanded, we must cease defending the delay and respond in dependence upon His grace. We cannot recover past occasions of disobedience, but we are responsible to hear the Word He places before us now.

His goodness ought to lead us toward repentance rather than provide another excuse for remaining where we are. And immediately after the curse upon those who “came not,” Deborah’s song gives us one of its most striking contrasts.

V. THE PILGRIM'S FAITHFULNESS IS NOT DETERMINED BY HIS EARTHLY CIRCUMSTANCES

Judges 5:24 declares, “Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.” Consider the placement of that blessing. Meroz is cursed because its inhabitants did not come. Jael is blessed because of her part in the LORD's deliverance. Yet Jael was not among those who descended from Mount Tabor with Barak's army. She was not named among the leaders of Israel's tribes. She was a woman in a tent. Jael acted within the circumstances in which she was placed, and Deborah celebrated her participation in the deliverance God had announced. In her tent, she became the woman through whom Sisera met his end, just as Deborah had told Barak that the LORD would sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. The LORD accomplished His promised deliverance through her part in that conflict. The contrast teaches us something about faithful obedience. Its measure is our response to the LORD within the circumstances He has given us. Jael's place was different from Barak's, yet her part in the deliverance was remembered with blessing. The LORD regarded the faithfulness of a woman in a tent as surely as He regarded the courage of those who entered the field.

A man may remain in his home and faithfully serve Christ through the care he gives his family. Another may leave the comfort of familiar circumstances because the Lord's revealed commands and wise application of them require costly service. Neither the outward location nor the apparent greatness of the activity determines faithfulness. What matters is whether the heart is yielding to God. And this brings us to the calling of the Christian as a stranger and pilgrim.

First Peter 2:11 declares, “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” Peter addresses believers who belong to Christ yet continue living in a world where the desires of the flesh resist the will of God. Their lives are to be shaped by a greater citizenship and a greater hope.

A pilgrim does not necessarily possess fewer earthly responsibilities than others. Abraham himself had a family, servants, livestock, and substantial responsibilities. Yet Hebrews 11:10 tells us that he “looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” He lived faithfully within the world while understanding that the world was not his ultimate home. Hebrews 11:13 describes those who lived by faith as people who “confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” Then verse 16 declares, “But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.”

Consider the difference between the pilgrim and the heart that has become settled in this world. The difference is not necessarily found in possessions, occupations, or outward circumstances. It is found in the object of hope and the order of affections. The pilgrim knows that this world is passing away. He receives God's earthly gifts with gratitude and fulfills his responsibilities with faithfulness, but he does not ask those gifts to become his final satisfaction. He belongs to the LORD and is looking toward what God has promised. And this is why the words of Jesus concerning discipleship are so searching.

In Luke 14:26, He declares, “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” Matthew 10:37 helps us understand the comparison, for Jesus declares that whoever loves father or mother more than Him is not worthy of Him. The Lord is not commanding hatred toward our families. He is establishing the absolute supremacy of our allegiance to Him. The people we love most dearly must never become more important to us than the Saviour who has redeemed us. Indeed, genuine love for Christ should make us more faithful in the responsibilities He has given us toward those people, not less.

Jesus continues in Luke 14:27, “And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” Following Christ is not a promise that obedience will always be convenient. It is a call to deny ourselves and submit to the One who is worthy of our whole lives. Yet we must distinguish this call to discipleship from the means of our salvation. We do not purchase eternal life through the costliness of our obedience. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. But those whom He redeems are called to follow Him, and following Him requires that our earthly affections be brought beneath His lordship.

This is the danger of becoming settled. We may begin treating the temporary arrangements of our lives as though they were the purpose for which we exist. The home we possess, the work we perform, the comfort we enjoy, and even the plans we make for those we love can gradually become the centre around which everything else revolves. Yet the believer has been redeemed for God Himself. Paul declares in Colossians 3:1–2, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”

Notice where that exhortation begins. It begins with our relationship to the risen Christ. We are not called merely to cultivate a more disciplined life or detach ourselves from earthly concerns through personal determination. We are called to set our affections upon the One to whom we now belong. The pilgrim's life is not defined primarily by what he leaves behind, but by the One toward whom he is walking. And when Christ occupies His rightful place in the heart, the ordinary affairs of life are not despised. They are received as responsibilities to be fulfilled for His glory, while the heart continues looking toward the city whose builder and maker is God.

VI. THE GREATER DELIVERER AND THE REST THAT WILL NEVER END

There is one final part of Deborah's song that we must consider if we are to understand this account within the whole purpose of Scripture. Judges 5:31 concludes, “So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.”

The LORD had delivered His people. Sisera was defeated, Jabin's power was broken, and Israel enjoyed forty years of rest. But turn the page to Judges 6:1. “And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.” The rest had not lasted. Israel had experienced the mercy and power of God, yet the recurring problem of sin remained. Another generation departed from Him, and another period of oppression followed.

And this brings us to something greater than the immediate warning concerning Meroz. The deepest problem of humanity is not merely that we fail to participate in the things we ought to do. It is that our hearts are sinful before the LORD. We wander from Him. We resist His authority. We love lesser things more than the One who made us. Even when we recognize what is right, we discover within ourselves desires that oppose His will. The history of Judges repeatedly demonstrates that outward deliverance cannot, by itself, cure the sinful heart. Israel could be delivered from one enemy and yet return to the very sins that had brought its earlier suffering. The LORD could grant forty years of rest, yet another generation would again turn away.

They needed more than another judge. They needed a Redeemer. And this is where the whole movement of Scripture directs our eyes toward Jesus Christ. Consider the contrast between the responses we have examined in Deborah's song and the perfect obedience of the Son of God. We have considered the danger of deliberation without obedience, the entanglements of earthly life, and the costliness of responding to the LORD. Yet the eternal Son came into the world with perfect devotion to His Father's will.

Jesus declared in John 6:38, “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.” He did not merely consider the Father's will. He accomplished it. He did not permit the attractions of this world or the sufferings before Him to turn Him away from the purpose for which He had come.

Philippians 2:8 declares, “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” But we must understand that His obedience was far more than an example for us to imitate. Jesus Christ came to save sinners.

The Son of God took upon Himself our humanity, lived without sin, and willingly gave Himself upon the cross. There He bore the sins of His people, satisfying the righteous demands of God's holiness. He died, was buried, and rose again the third day. Through His finished work, salvation is offered to sinners who could never earn it through their own obedience. And there is something particularly significant about this when we remember the curse upon Meroz. Meroz was cursed for its failure to participate in the LORD's appointed deliverance. Its judgment brings before us the seriousness of guilt before God. And when Scripture addresses our own standing before His holy law, it reveals that we too are sinners who need redemption. No amount of subsequent obedience can erase that guilt. Our hope must rest in the Redeemer who can deliver us from the judgment our sins deserve.

But Galatians 3:13 declares, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” What mercy is revealed in those words. The perfectly obedient Son bore the curse in the place of sinners. He accomplished the redemption we could never secure, and through His resurrection He has established the certainty of the salvation found in Him.

This is why we must never preach Judges 5 merely as a demand that people become more willing, more courageous, or more active in the service of God. If that is where we leave the passage, we have shown the people their failures without directing them toward the only Saviour who can redeem them. We need Christ. And the glorious truth of the gospel is that He has come. Ephesians 2:8–10 teaches that we are saved by grace through faith, not of works, lest any man should boast, and then declares that those who are saved are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. The order is essential. We are not saved through our good works. We are saved unto them.

And even as believers, we remain dependent upon the grace of God. The Christian life is not sustained through independent determination or confidence in the strength of our own character. Philippians 2:13 declares, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” The Lord who commands obedience also works within His redeemed people by His Spirit. As we behold Christ through His Word, acknowledge our sin, and submit ourselves to Him, He continues the gracious work of forming His character within us.

And the rest He has secured is greater than the forty years Israel enjoyed after the defeat of Sisera. Hebrews 4:9 declares, “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” The rest Israel experienced under the judges was temporary. The people returned to sin, oppression returned, and death continued its reign over fallen humanity. But Jesus Christ has accomplished redemption from sin and secured the final inheritance of His people. He is risen, He reigns, and He will bring to completion the purpose for which He came.

Revelation 21:4 declares that God shall wipe away all tears from the eyes of His redeemed people, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. That is the home toward which the pilgrim is traveling. It is not a temporary place of relief from earthly trouble. It is the fullness of God's dwelling with His redeemed people through Jesus Christ. And when we behold that promised inheritance, how differently the affairs of this present life ought to appear. We are not called to despise the gifts God has given us here. We are called to receive them with gratitude, fulfill our responsibilities faithfully, and refuse to make them the ultimate objects of our affection. Our lasting home is with the Lord.

Conclusion — While It Is Called Today

As we return to Deborah's song, let us remember the movement God has placed before us. Some willingly offered themselves, while others remained among the ordinary circumstances of their lives. Zebulun and Naphtali risked their lives in the conflict the LORD had appointed. The stars in their courses fought against Sisera, the river Kishon swept away the enemy, and the strength of his horses failed. Then came the solemn pronouncement against Meroz because its inhabitants did not come to the help of the LORD. And immediately afterward, Jael was blessed for her part in the deliverance. The LORD regarded their responses as significant. His sovereign power did not make obedience unnecessary, and His accomplished victory did not make culpable absence insignificant. The song brings His sufficiency and their responsibility together, calling us to trust the LORD whose power is complete and whose Word is to be obeyed. And when we bring this historical testimony alongside the explicit warnings of the New Testament, a searching truth stands before us. The affairs of life may gradually become excuses for resisting the Word of God. Repeated resistance may harden the heart. What begins as postponement may become settled indifference. And we may discover that we have become more comfortable with this passing world than we are willing to admit.

Yet the LORD has not given us this warning so that we will merely dwell upon every failure of the past. He has spoken so that we may hear Him today. Hebrews 3:15 declares, “While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.”

Perhaps there is some area of life in which the Word of God has been searching your heart. You know what He has commanded, yet you have continued finding reasons why obedience must wait. Perhaps those reasons once troubled you, but over time they have become increasingly comfortable. The question is not whether you can produce a convincing explanation for your circumstances. It is whether you are willing to bring those circumstances beneath the authority of the LORD who has spoken.

Or perhaps you have become discouraged by failures that already lie behind you. You recognize occasions when you resisted the Word of God, and you wonder what you may have missed through your disobedience. You cannot return to those moments, nor can you know what God might have accomplished had you responded differently. But you can hear His Word today. You can confess what was sinful, receive His correction, and walk forward in dependence upon His grace.

And if you have never trusted Jesus Christ for salvation, the first need of your heart is not to become more active in religious service. Your need is to be reconciled to God. The Scriptures declare that all have sinned, and no works of righteousness can purchase forgiveness. But Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again. He is the sufficient Saviour of all who believe on Him. Do not mistake the call to discipleship for a means of earning salvation. Come to Christ in repentance and faith, resting upon His finished work rather than anything you could offer Him.

For those who already belong to Him, the call remains: seek first His kingdom, deny yourself, and follow the Saviour who loved you and gave Himself for you. Fulfill the responsibilities He has entrusted to you, but do not allow those responsibilities to take the place that belongs to Him. Love your family, labour faithfully, and receive His earthly gifts with thanksgiving, while remembering that none of these things is your final portion.

We are strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Our citizenship and our lasting inheritance are bound up with the risen Christ. We are passing through a world that cannot satisfy the soul or bear the weight of its eternal hope. And perhaps this is the question that should remain with us when we leave this passage: Have we become so settled in the affairs of this life that obedience to the LORD has become an interruption rather than the governing purpose of our days?

May the LORD search our hearts through His Word, reveal where we have become entangled, and grant us grace to walk faithfully before Him. And may our eyes remain fixed upon Jesus Christ, the obedient Son, the risen Saviour, and the faithful Shepherd who will bring His redeemed people safely into the everlasting rest He has secured. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. And until that day, may we hear His voice, trust His Word, and follow Him.