WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.100 --> 00:00:30.420 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:31.260 the latest message. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:32.460 Thanks for listening. 00:00:45.740 --> 00:00:49.660 If you've got your Bibles with you, go ahead and open up to Judges chapter 4. 00:00:50.900 --> 00:00:55.840 As we are continuing on in our study as we work through the book of Judges, today we're 00:00:55.840 --> 00:01:00.260 going to look at chapter 4 and chapter 5, kind of tell some stories of what's going on 00:01:00.260 --> 00:01:03.940 there and draw out some of the verses that we want to focus in on. 00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:09.460 And these two chapters, I want to be honest with you, it kind of created for me a little 00:01:09.460 --> 00:01:13.780 bit of a challenge this week to kind of work through and pull what seems to be some separate 00:01:13.780 --> 00:01:17.220 narratives and to pull them together into one story. 00:01:17.220 --> 00:01:24.960 And so I want to give you a concept or an idea to kind of focus your mind on, to centralize 00:01:24.960 --> 00:01:29.220 and to think about this as we work through this study this morning, all right? 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:41.220 In all things, in all moments, and in all times, do you acknowledge God and glorify Him? 00:01:42.500 --> 00:01:43.500 So here's what I want you to think about. 00:01:43.580 --> 00:01:49.840 Like, as you are going through your everyday journey and your battle and your suffering and 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:56.200 your joys, the highs, the lows, and everywhere in between, as we're going through these, are 00:01:56.200 --> 00:02:01.680 we noticing, are we acknowledging, are we responding and giving God glory? 00:02:01.980 --> 00:02:06.480 Because what I found about me, and I shared this during our first service, kind of sitting 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:12.940 there this morning and just kind of had a moment of brokenness and repentance that even in my life 00:02:12.940 --> 00:02:18.380 and where I find myself, that I find myself kind of lost in the weeds of the world, right? 00:02:19.020 --> 00:02:25.340 That with everything that's going on around me, I can allow that to consume me and not only 00:02:25.340 --> 00:02:30.960 consume my thoughts and consume my reality, but maybe even more importantly, right? 00:02:31.160 --> 00:02:33.040 consume my glory, right? 00:02:33.500 --> 00:02:39.780 So that in moments of success, in moments of victory, in moments of achievement, I find 00:02:39.780 --> 00:02:42.000 that I give my glory in wrong places. 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:49.100 And in moments of defeat, in moments of frustration, in moments of the battle where I can find myself 00:02:49.100 --> 00:02:53.840 doing is missing out on what God is actually doing in it, all right? 00:02:54.020 --> 00:02:59.100 And so as we read through this this morning, I want us to kind of navigate through and see 00:02:59.100 --> 00:03:00.780 what are these people doing? 00:03:00.900 --> 00:03:02.100 How are they responding? 00:03:02.320 --> 00:03:05.280 But more importantly, what is God doing in it, okay? 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:11.780 So in Judges chapter 4, we find that once again, right, a common theme that Israel is doing 00:03:11.780 --> 00:03:14.200 what is evil in the sight of the Lord. 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:21.560 And so God responds to his evil people by allowing some difficulties, by allowing some persecution, 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:27.960 by allowing some suffering to invade their world so that he can draw them back to himself. 00:03:28.380 --> 00:03:34.340 And so Judges 4 tells us that now Israel is held captive under King Jabin, who's going 00:03:34.340 --> 00:03:41.400 to use his commander, like his key general, Sisera, to keep the Israelites oppressed, right? 00:03:41.400 --> 00:03:46.880 And so God's going to respond to the cry of his people and to their oppression, and God is 00:03:46.880 --> 00:03:49.380 going to call Deborah to be the judge. 00:03:49.940 --> 00:03:53.160 And so let's start reading Judges 4, starting in verse 4. 00:03:54.360 --> 00:03:55.280 Scripture tells us, 00:03:55.280 --> 00:04:02.680 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:11.380 She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:15.340 And the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. 00:04:15.340 --> 00:04:23.840 And she sent and summoned Barak, the son of Abinoam, from Kadesh Naphtali, and said to him, 00:04:23.960 --> 00:04:27.100 Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you? 00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:30.120 Go gather your men at Mount Tabor. 00:04:30.700 --> 00:04:36.060 Take 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. 00:04:36.060 --> 00:04:48.140 And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the river Kishon, with his chariots and his troops. 00:04:48.700 --> 00:04:52.360 And I will give him into your hand. 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:55.140 So we meet a new judge. 00:04:55.600 --> 00:05:06.040 We meet the new judge that God is going to appoint, that God calls, and that God positions to use in order to set the people free. 00:05:06.500 --> 00:05:12.500 And we learn very quickly there's going to be some unique parts about Deborah and her leadership, all right? 00:05:12.780 --> 00:05:17.040 Now, this word Deborah is not a weird name for a man in the Old Testament, all right? 00:05:17.060 --> 00:05:19.280 When you read Deborah, Deborah is a woman. 00:05:19.380 --> 00:05:21.100 That's important for us to know, okay? 00:05:21.300 --> 00:05:25.840 I know sometimes we read these names and it's hard to figure out, but just like today, Deborah's a female. 00:05:25.840 --> 00:05:32.240 And so this is going to be a different piece that we see as she is going to lead God's people, all right? 00:05:32.540 --> 00:05:34.180 Deborah is a prophetess. 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:39.980 So before Deborah is a judge, Deborah is already being used by God. 00:05:40.320 --> 00:05:49.640 So when we read through Scripture, a lot of the books of the Bible that come right before the New Testament are about the prophets and what the prophets would share. 00:05:49.640 --> 00:05:54.900 Well, Deborah was a prophet known as a prophetess, so she was a female prophet. 00:05:55.100 --> 00:05:56.640 Now, here's what she would do. 00:05:57.160 --> 00:05:58.620 She would hear from God. 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:03.220 Now, a prophet, when they would hear from God, had a very distinct responsibility. 00:06:03.860 --> 00:06:07.580 So it wasn't that they would hear from God and then hold that to themselves. 00:06:07.580 --> 00:06:16.160 It wasn't a personal word from God to them, but they were then tasked to communicate from God to his people. 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:21.020 Now, this won't be the case with all of the judges, but it's what we've seen from Deborah, right? 00:06:21.260 --> 00:06:28.060 Prior to Deborah being a judge, Deborah is already seen as a leader within the community. 00:06:28.440 --> 00:06:30.900 And we see this in chapter 4. 00:06:31.160 --> 00:06:36.200 It says that she's judging people as people are coming to her. 00:06:36.200 --> 00:06:46.600 And so it's not just what God has tasked her to do in this world as a judge, but even prior to that, people are coming to her. 00:06:47.440 --> 00:06:57.200 Now, unlike many of the leaders that we're going to see and that we're going to learn about and that we've already learned about, Deborah is not a warrior leader, okay? 00:06:57.580 --> 00:07:03.780 She is not one who comes through her physical presence and is going to establish her authority. 00:07:04.500 --> 00:07:05.900 The exact opposite. 00:07:05.900 --> 00:07:17.920 Deborah is going to lead God's people not through her physical abilities, but because of her wisdom, her character, and her intimacy with God. 00:07:18.420 --> 00:07:26.780 That this is what she is going to be known for, not as the warrior queen who would come in and dominate and take. 00:07:26.840 --> 00:07:32.900 And we're going to see in this chapter what women are capable of doing as God empowers them to work and to move. 00:07:33.160 --> 00:07:37.280 But instead, Deborah is going to lead out of her wisdom from God. 00:07:37.420 --> 00:07:45.340 The character as she submits herself to God, where both of these lead to an intimacy with God. 00:07:46.020 --> 00:07:48.840 This is the perfect, beautiful picture of what we see. 00:07:49.580 --> 00:07:55.100 And Deborah, in this nature, is going to point us to Jesus, all right? 00:07:55.160 --> 00:08:04.180 We talked about this last week, and when we read the Old Testament, that God is constantly giving us individuals that we can see that while they are strictly human, 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:13.500 through the power of God, they're able to lead God's people, and they're able to point and to teach us about who Christ is and the character and nature of Him. 00:08:13.500 --> 00:08:23.640 And so what we see from Deborah, as she points us to Jesus, is that Deborah will be seen as a ruler, not as a rescuer, right? 00:08:23.760 --> 00:08:32.620 We're going to begin to understand and walk through how Deborah is going to rule, not rescue, and how that's going to point us to Jesus. 00:08:33.420 --> 00:08:36.780 Remember, I said Deborah's not going to be the one that storms the battlefield. 00:08:37.280 --> 00:08:40.100 Instead, that's going to be this guy named Barak. 00:08:40.200 --> 00:08:43.880 Barak's going to lead the soldiers to go in and to fight. 00:08:44.420 --> 00:08:49.360 And in fact, the one who will fully rescue God's people won't even be Barak. 00:08:49.680 --> 00:08:53.620 It'll be another woman that we meet named J.L. 00:08:53.680 --> 00:08:58.580 Who comes in and who redeems and rescues God's people. 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:06.760 And so what I want us to get through as we begin to understand this is the concept of saving and surrendering. 00:09:07.580 --> 00:09:15.420 And we begin to see this as Deborah establishes her rule and the rule and reign that will come in of Christ. 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:23.260 You know, I know it's hard to believe, but it's dropping down to 50 degrees, which lets us all know, right, that Christmas is right around the corner. 00:09:23.260 --> 00:09:28.560 Now come Christmastime, it may be 85 degrees again, right, but we know that Christmas is coming. 00:09:29.020 --> 00:09:40.680 And when Christmas comes, we will tell stories, we'll have Bible verses that all point to the fact that our Messiah, the Savior of the world, has come to save us. 00:09:41.060 --> 00:09:52.040 And one of the passages of Scripture that we oftentimes look at, that we read, we quote, and we even maybe put it on Christmas decorations is a passage in Isaiah chapter 9. 00:09:52.300 --> 00:09:58.580 And when we read this passage, we think about our Savior who has come to save us. 00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:09.600 But what we're going to see more in there is not in the saving nature of Christ, but in the response of us in our surrenderance to Him. 00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:13.660 In Isaiah 9, starting in verse 6, it says, 00:10:13.660 --> 00:10:29.940 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 00:10:29.940 --> 00:10:48.220 And so, as Isaiah writes this, as Isaiah talks about this coming child who will save the world, 00:10:48.220 --> 00:10:59.920 And so, as Isaiah writes this, as Isaiah talks about this coming child who will save the world, 00:10:59.920 --> 00:11:06.000 There is the salvation that's there, but there's the rule of His kingdom that He's talking about, right? 00:11:06.020 --> 00:11:09.460 He talks about a government that's different than the earthly government. 00:11:10.120 --> 00:11:17.800 He talks about a rule that's different than any other rule, that there will be peace, and that this peace will be of no end, 00:11:17.800 --> 00:11:35.360 And so, for you and I, as we begin to wrestle with, and evaluate, and repent even, in our relationship with God, 00:11:35.900 --> 00:11:41.840 We need to begin to balance out and to understand our saving and our surrendering. 00:11:42.400 --> 00:11:46.440 Because in our salvation, Jesus saves us. 00:11:47.180 --> 00:11:50.800 And in our response, we surrender to Him. 00:11:51.800 --> 00:11:53.520 Salvation happens in a moment. 00:11:54.280 --> 00:11:56.840 I want you to think back, for all of us who were saved, 00:11:57.300 --> 00:12:00.900 I want you to think back to that moment when God saved you. 00:12:01.680 --> 00:12:03.140 Maybe you were a young child. 00:12:03.260 --> 00:12:04.940 Maybe it's when you were an adult. 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:06.900 Maybe it was in a church. 00:12:07.100 --> 00:12:08.520 Maybe it was at your home. 00:12:08.660 --> 00:12:10.360 Maybe it was in a conversation with a friend. 00:12:11.040 --> 00:12:16.100 But at some point in time, for all of us who were a part of the kingdom of God, 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:18.300 God saved us. 00:12:18.620 --> 00:12:20.180 Salvation happened in a moment. 00:12:21.040 --> 00:12:25.080 And where we find ourselves moving from that point forward, 00:12:25.260 --> 00:12:28.920 as God fully saved us, is now surrendering to Him. 00:12:29.420 --> 00:12:33.520 Find ourselves positioning in ourselves under Him. 00:12:33.520 --> 00:12:37.520 And so, for so many of us, we begin to have this conflict. 00:12:38.200 --> 00:12:40.080 And here's what the conflict is for us. 00:12:40.680 --> 00:12:45.060 We want the salvation, but without the surrender. 00:12:46.020 --> 00:12:47.740 We want the salvation. 00:12:48.580 --> 00:12:52.940 And what I mean by that is, we want our past taken care of. 00:12:53.380 --> 00:12:58.640 We want the forgiveness that comes with Jesus to be credited toward us. 00:12:59.040 --> 00:13:01.540 We want our future ensured. 00:13:01.860 --> 00:13:06.900 Like, we want that moment that when we breathe our last breath, 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:10.200 that we will be with Christ for all of eternity. 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:12.080 And so, we want our past. 00:13:12.280 --> 00:13:13.440 We want our future. 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:18.520 The difficulty with all of us who call ourselves believers are not with those. 00:13:18.660 --> 00:13:20.080 It's with the right now. 00:13:21.280 --> 00:13:22.760 God, I want you to have my past. 00:13:22.980 --> 00:13:24.060 I want you to have my future. 00:13:24.500 --> 00:13:26.020 Save me from those. 00:13:26.700 --> 00:13:32.820 But God, the right now, that's still up to me. 00:13:33.880 --> 00:13:35.840 We want Jesus to save us. 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:42.100 We want Jesus to save us, but we want to hold on to what we feel is ours right here. 00:13:42.220 --> 00:13:45.460 You know, Jesus, the Bible tells us, is our king. 00:13:45.460 --> 00:13:48.300 And the king has subjects. 00:13:48.300 --> 00:13:55.700 And the way we become the subjects is to surrender to the king. 00:13:55.700 --> 00:13:58.900 You know, Deborah doesn't come in as the ruler. 00:13:59.540 --> 00:14:02.380 I'm sorry, Deborah doesn't come in as the rescuer. 00:14:02.820 --> 00:14:10.760 But Deborah comes in as the ruler, where people would sit beneath her to have her judge them. 00:14:11.340 --> 00:14:15.880 Not just for the past, not just for the future, but for the moment. 00:14:16.700 --> 00:14:23.760 And as we begin to wrestle through this, just a simple question as we go, as that sets the groundwork for all of us will be, 00:14:23.920 --> 00:14:27.360 as we talk about where we're going to give God the glory, right? 00:14:27.520 --> 00:14:31.020 We can't go back in time and give him the glory from the past. 00:14:31.180 --> 00:14:34.120 We can't jump to the future and give him the glory that's there. 00:14:34.120 --> 00:14:43.280 But what we have in the moment is the opportunity in the right now of where we declare our glory. 00:14:44.160 --> 00:14:46.620 Let's keep reading in Judges 4, verse 8. 00:14:47.940 --> 00:14:54.840 So she comes, I'm sorry, she comes and shares with Barak what Barak is to do, that Barak is to go, and that the Lord will deliver them. 00:14:54.920 --> 00:14:57.660 And so starting in verse 8, Barak said to her, 00:14:58.580 --> 00:15:01.640 If you will go with me, I will go. 00:15:02.440 --> 00:15:06.080 But if you will not go with me, I will not go. 00:15:07.160 --> 00:15:10.520 And she said, I will surely go with you. 00:15:11.140 --> 00:15:16.900 Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory. 00:15:17.420 --> 00:15:21.640 For the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. 00:15:22.260 --> 00:15:26.820 Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kadesh. 00:15:27.640 --> 00:15:30.600 Here's what it means to give God glory. 00:15:31.380 --> 00:15:38.280 Here's what it means in the uncertainty of time for you and I to glorify God with our life. 00:15:38.520 --> 00:15:42.960 To give God glory by trusting in his sovereignty. 00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:48.860 So Barak on the surface does everything that he's supposed to do. 00:15:49.580 --> 00:15:53.540 Barak hears from Deborah and Barak will go. 00:15:54.260 --> 00:16:01.380 Barak will know what God has called him to do and Barak will respond to that in doing all of the correct things. 00:16:01.380 --> 00:16:05.880 But let's notice what he says when Deborah tells him what he's supposed to do. 00:16:06.200 --> 00:16:07.040 He says, look, look. 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:08.380 I'll go. 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:10.680 I'll be obedient. 00:16:11.420 --> 00:16:14.220 I'll do what God told me to do. 00:16:15.300 --> 00:16:17.960 But you've got to go with me. 00:16:19.220 --> 00:16:24.100 Deborah, I know that God called me for this and he called you for that. 00:16:24.900 --> 00:16:36.200 But if I'm going to do what God has told me to do, that my obedience to him is dependent not on him but on you. 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:40.100 Who is Barak fully obedient to? 00:16:40.680 --> 00:16:41.140 God. 00:16:42.100 --> 00:16:46.860 But in that, who did he place his trust in? 00:16:47.640 --> 00:16:48.120 Deborah. 00:16:48.680 --> 00:17:06.220 When it comes to giving glory, we must ask ourselves, we must evaluate and begin to understand whose glory you and I are living for is oftentimes determined by who we give credit to. 00:17:07.060 --> 00:17:18.920 You see, Barak in his obedience is placing his trust, is determining the faithfulness and the sovereignty, not of by God, but through Deborah. 00:17:19.580 --> 00:17:36.740 So let me ask you this question with where you are, with where you find yourself today, and the successes of your life, and the accomplishments that you've made, and the character that is within you, and the integrity that exudes from you, and everything that is good, 00:17:36.760 --> 00:17:42.100 and the obedience that comes from you, and the obedience that comes from you, where do you place that credit? 00:17:44.620 --> 00:17:49.240 Ultimately, where are you going to give glory? 00:17:50.520 --> 00:17:55.760 You see, for Barak, he wanted to trust in Deborah. 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:02.680 I'll do, but you've got to go with me in order for this to happen. 00:18:03.560 --> 00:18:15.020 Instead of trusting and knowing that God is faithful, instead of knowing that God is trustworthy, instead of knowing that God is sovereign, 00:18:15.300 --> 00:18:26.180 he places his faithfulness, his trustworthiness, and the sovereignty in Deborah, and in doing so, imparts his glory to her, and completely misses. 00:18:27.400 --> 00:18:28.980 But the battle goes on. 00:18:29.900 --> 00:18:33.080 The battle will happen, and God will be faithful. 00:18:33.840 --> 00:18:40.620 So Barak and his soldiers go into battle against Sisera, and 900 chariots, all right? 00:18:40.680 --> 00:18:46.280 So let me explain this, of what it means for men to go into battle with chariots, all right? 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:50.980 So I want you to think of going into battle with a bunch of rocks versus tanks, right? 00:18:51.060 --> 00:18:52.880 Who's going to win, all right? 00:18:52.900 --> 00:18:53.420 The tanks. 00:18:54.340 --> 00:18:57.260 And so this is what God's people are going to face. 00:18:57.900 --> 00:19:00.700 They can't overcome this in themselves. 00:19:01.120 --> 00:19:04.700 They're incapable of gaining the victory. 00:19:05.580 --> 00:19:06.700 And so God shows up. 00:19:07.460 --> 00:19:11.740 Later on in chapter 5, we'll get there in just a second, but it tells us what happens. 00:19:12.620 --> 00:19:19.220 That God sends, in order to defeat the chariots, God sends a rainstorm. 00:19:19.560 --> 00:19:24.100 You see, where the battle would take place had been going through a dry season. 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:28.040 So think back to our summers here in South Carolina, right? 00:19:28.200 --> 00:19:39.300 Like, I'm glad that I've got sprinklers at my house, because when a dry season comes, I can just water a little bit more to take care of my lawn, to take care of my garden, and everything is taken care of. 00:19:39.420 --> 00:19:40.620 But they didn't have that. 00:19:40.700 --> 00:19:51.480 And so when they go through a dry season, when they go through a drought in this area, in this part of the world, we're not talking, right, about like two weeks. 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:54.320 We're talking about four to six months of no rain. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:20:00.460 And what happens during that time, if there was any grass that would be there, it would die away. 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:09.020 Any dirt that had any moisture in it, the moisture would evaporate, and it would become like this hard clay. 00:20:09.460 --> 00:20:12.800 And then when rain would finally come, right? 00:20:12.800 --> 00:20:14.740 We're not talking about mud. 00:20:15.120 --> 00:20:25.000 But what would happen, it was almost turning, like if you think about mixing clay with water, and what becomes is this very difficult substance to even move through. 00:20:25.840 --> 00:20:35.200 And so as the two armies come into the battlefield, the ground would have been like our tile floor, that hard that the chariots could just roll and dominate. 00:20:36.280 --> 00:20:37.940 But then God sends the rain. 00:20:39.140 --> 00:20:46.600 And all of a sudden, 900 chariots that would wipe out the army completely become useless. 00:20:48.180 --> 00:20:51.400 And Barak and his army succeed. 00:20:52.100 --> 00:20:53.440 But they don't get to Sisera. 00:20:54.440 --> 00:20:58.300 And so they're still held captive because the general is still there. 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:00.260 But Sisera flees. 00:21:00.920 --> 00:21:04.980 And he finds himself at a tent, the husband and a wife. 00:21:05.020 --> 00:21:07.140 And the wife's name is Jael. 00:21:07.740 --> 00:21:09.660 And she invites him in. 00:21:10.600 --> 00:21:12.800 And it's obvious that he's exhausted. 00:21:13.040 --> 00:21:14.600 It's obvious that he's tired. 00:21:14.600 --> 00:21:17.120 It's obvious that he is worn out. 00:21:17.380 --> 00:21:24.420 And without a ton of explanation from Scripture, what the Bible tells us is she brings him into the tent. 00:21:24.440 --> 00:21:28.400 She gives him something to cover up so that he can dry off. 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:30.860 She gives him something warm to drink. 00:21:31.060 --> 00:21:32.920 And then he lies down, right? 00:21:33.060 --> 00:21:38.980 And because of one of the more graphic parts of the Bible, we're just going to leave it to she kills him. 00:21:39.980 --> 00:21:40.160 Right? 00:21:41.800 --> 00:21:45.720 And who gets the glory? 00:21:45.720 --> 00:21:58.300 If we're there in the moment, if these seasons are playing out in front of us, if we're Deborah, if we're Barak, who gets the glory? 00:21:59.140 --> 00:22:00.460 Do we give it to ourselves? 00:22:01.340 --> 00:22:02.360 Look at what I did. 00:22:03.460 --> 00:22:07.580 Man, God told me what to do, and I did it. 00:22:08.320 --> 00:22:10.220 Look at how faithful I am. 00:22:10.940 --> 00:22:13.200 Look at how trusting I am. 00:22:13.880 --> 00:22:16.100 Look at me and what I've done. 00:22:16.740 --> 00:22:24.140 And so that in our obedience, we can become where we reflect the glory that was never ours back onto ourselves. 00:22:25.340 --> 00:22:27.800 Can we give the glory to someone else? 00:22:28.600 --> 00:22:30.100 Oh, well, we were there. 00:22:30.200 --> 00:22:31.300 We were almost there. 00:22:32.280 --> 00:22:33.240 But Sisera fled. 00:22:34.420 --> 00:22:42.380 But if not for Jael, if not for her faithfulness, if not for what she would have done, then where would we find ourselves today? 00:22:42.800 --> 00:22:45.720 Thank you to all that she has done. 00:22:46.340 --> 00:22:54.740 And so we take the glory that was never intended to be cast onto another individual, and we do that. 00:22:55.800 --> 00:23:09.420 Or, or maybe even more confusing, but probably more problematic of our hearts, is do we give glory to chance? 00:23:11.020 --> 00:23:23.560 Well, thank goodness that that rain came out of nowhere, because if not for the rain, then where would we find ourselves today? 00:23:24.840 --> 00:23:35.720 And church, as I read this this week, as I studied through this, what I found was that so many times in my life, I'm given glory to chance. 00:23:36.420 --> 00:23:44.940 I'm given glory to so grateful this happened, it came out of nowhere, I didn't see this coming, and God stopped me. 00:23:45.980 --> 00:23:49.780 And he said, who do you think sent the rain to begin with? 00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:55.120 Who do you think called the battlefield in which it would take place? 00:23:55.660 --> 00:24:01.440 Who do you think stopped the rain six months ago so that the ground would become this way? 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:09.360 Who do you think allowed them to function in their arrogance so much that only 900 chariots came, and so their troops would be limited? 00:24:09.660 --> 00:24:12.620 Who do you think did all of that? 00:24:12.820 --> 00:24:18.040 Do you think it was by chance, or do you think it was God who did this? 00:24:19.500 --> 00:24:23.560 I don't know about you guys, but as I read through this this week, 00:24:24.060 --> 00:24:32.820 what I find is that in my life, time and time again, in the mountaintops and in the valleys, 00:24:33.720 --> 00:24:35.660 in the victories and then the defeats, 00:24:36.420 --> 00:24:41.180 I'm looking around, and what I'm doing and where I'm placing my glory 00:24:41.180 --> 00:24:45.160 is on myself and on others and on chance. 00:24:45.900 --> 00:24:47.000 But it's God. 00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:48.820 Verse 23. 00:24:51.520 --> 00:25:01.900 So on that day, God subdued Jabin, the king of Canaan, before the people of Israel. 00:25:02.340 --> 00:25:10.660 And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin, the king of Canaan, 00:25:10.900 --> 00:25:15.020 until they destroyed Jabin, the king of Canaan. 00:25:15.020 --> 00:25:16.080 Who did it? 00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:18.100 God. 00:25:19.060 --> 00:25:20.260 Who did it? 00:25:20.980 --> 00:25:21.740 God. 00:25:22.420 --> 00:25:25.340 Time and time again. 00:25:26.820 --> 00:25:31.720 So yeah, through Deborah, through Barak, through JL, 00:25:32.560 --> 00:25:37.400 what we see, what we begin to understand is God is faithful. 00:25:38.220 --> 00:25:42.460 God is trustworthy, and God is sovereign. 00:25:42.460 --> 00:25:47.080 And we respond by giving glory to him. 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:49.780 So what does that look like for us, right? 00:25:51.120 --> 00:25:55.780 Giving God glory is a, that's kind of a churchy phrase, right? 00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:57.620 Like we talk about that a lot. 00:25:57.700 --> 00:25:59.500 Like it's in the songs that we sing. 00:25:59.640 --> 00:26:01.720 It's on bumper stickers that we have. 00:26:01.860 --> 00:26:04.220 I just want to go and give God glory. 00:26:04.420 --> 00:26:06.300 But then we say, well, how do we do that? 00:26:06.920 --> 00:26:12.840 And I think oftentimes we make it more complicated than it needs to be. 00:26:13.180 --> 00:26:16.440 We try to think of all of these things that need to be done. 00:26:16.700 --> 00:26:21.780 We try to think through these religious requirements that we place in on ourselves. 00:26:21.780 --> 00:26:26.660 But what I want us to begin to understand is that in the moments in time, 00:26:26.940 --> 00:26:33.340 what it looks like as you and I are responding to God in the everyday moments of our lives. 00:26:33.520 --> 00:26:39.500 Because right now, whether you know it or not, God's drying up a field so that six months later, 00:26:39.600 --> 00:26:40.520 he can send the rain. 00:26:41.380 --> 00:26:50.680 What we don't understand is that right now, God's sending a Deborah so that we can be Barack and be a part of this. 00:26:51.340 --> 00:26:57.600 That right now, God is working and moving in everyday moments. 00:26:57.940 --> 00:27:01.320 And if you and I aren't careful, we completely miss it. 00:27:04.440 --> 00:27:06.360 I'm online, we're here. 00:27:06.360 --> 00:27:10.300 You know, guys, I have a hard time just being truthful and blunt sometimes. 00:27:11.080 --> 00:27:16.360 But I found over the last six months that what I'm struggling with, 00:27:16.420 --> 00:27:18.620 I've kind of branded for myself, Eeyore Christianity. 00:27:20.320 --> 00:27:20.720 Right? 00:27:21.820 --> 00:27:25.280 I mean, things aren't going the way that I hope they would since March 15th. 00:27:26.940 --> 00:27:27.240 You know? 00:27:28.180 --> 00:27:30.380 Like, let's watch the news. 00:27:31.760 --> 00:27:33.220 Let's jump on social media. 00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:37.020 Let's have conversations with our neighbors. 00:27:37.980 --> 00:27:42.060 And here's the breaking story that's going on. 00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:44.800 There's a lot of nasty out there. 00:27:45.800 --> 00:27:47.700 There's a lot of evil out there. 00:27:48.520 --> 00:27:51.400 There's a lot of brokenness that's out there. 00:27:52.360 --> 00:28:01.440 And the sin that I've been struggling with for the last six months that I feel like God is trying to open my eyes to and bring me to repentance. 00:28:01.640 --> 00:28:05.340 It's like, man, man, man, you're wandering from me. 00:28:05.560 --> 00:28:07.460 And I'm just letting this dry up. 00:28:07.600 --> 00:28:09.740 And one of these days, I'm going to send the rain. 00:28:09.920 --> 00:28:13.700 And I'm going to set you free from what you're incapable of even seeing what's going on. 00:28:14.700 --> 00:28:16.800 But we just won't stop and acknowledge it. 00:28:17.640 --> 00:28:19.440 Because we're lost in the junk. 00:28:19.860 --> 00:28:21.320 We're lost in the weeds. 00:28:21.600 --> 00:28:23.080 We're lost with what's going on. 00:28:23.300 --> 00:28:26.220 And in doing that, we've taken our eyes off of God. 00:28:27.560 --> 00:28:30.980 Quick little survey for everybody here and everybody at home. 00:28:31.120 --> 00:28:32.960 For everybody here, I'd like you to raise your hands. 00:28:34.200 --> 00:28:36.980 How many of you went to sleep last night? 00:28:37.460 --> 00:28:38.000 Raise your hand. 00:28:40.860 --> 00:28:48.060 How many of you took the time and stopped and ate this morning or had a cup of coffee or something, right? 00:28:49.540 --> 00:28:55.300 How many of you sometime today just paused? 00:28:55.620 --> 00:28:57.720 Like you just kind of had a moment where you did nothing. 00:28:58.140 --> 00:28:58.800 Raise your hand. 00:28:59.180 --> 00:29:03.240 Like some of y'all, the people that got their kids here, you're like, no, I ain't paused in months, right? 00:29:04.200 --> 00:29:07.460 God doesn't do any of that. 00:29:09.280 --> 00:29:10.780 God doesn't do any of that. 00:29:11.700 --> 00:29:18.580 Every day, he's working, he's moving, he does not stop. 00:29:20.100 --> 00:29:22.820 And maybe you're like me, right? 00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:28.200 You're stuck in this Eeyore pattern of difficulty and frustration of life. 00:29:29.020 --> 00:29:38.640 And in the character and the nature of God, when it comes to you, maybe God wants us to be reminded of this, that God is all-knowing. 00:29:39.140 --> 00:29:44.600 With what's going on in your life right now, God's not waiting to find out. 00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:51.180 Maybe you need to be reminded in your life that God is all-powerful. 00:29:51.800 --> 00:29:58.740 That which you think you cannot defeat, that which causes you every morning to use this phrase, 00:29:58.940 --> 00:30:03.440 I just got to find the strength to get through today, he doesn't have to. 00:30:04.460 --> 00:30:06.780 He's all-powerful. 00:30:08.040 --> 00:30:15.020 Maybe you need to be reminded that God is everywhere, right? 00:30:16.180 --> 00:30:18.180 Like, he's with you. 00:30:22.820 --> 00:30:24.620 Barack said, Deborah, would you come with me? 00:30:26.440 --> 00:30:27.640 But God was with him. 00:30:29.400 --> 00:30:30.660 And God's with you. 00:30:31.740 --> 00:30:32.620 Right now. 00:30:33.800 --> 00:30:34.800 Right in this moment. 00:30:36.660 --> 00:30:39.340 He's with you. 00:30:41.160 --> 00:30:42.760 And he's not going anywhere. 00:30:44.100 --> 00:30:45.800 And he's not leaving you. 00:30:46.800 --> 00:30:48.200 Because that's who he is. 00:30:50.440 --> 00:30:53.900 And so God's people, they respond. 00:30:55.280 --> 00:30:56.680 They're going to give him glory. 00:30:57.940 --> 00:31:01.380 And I want us to look at what it means to give God glory. 00:31:02.620 --> 00:31:04.240 Judges 5, 1 through 3. 00:31:05.480 --> 00:31:07.720 It's a song, the whole chapter is. 00:31:09.060 --> 00:31:09.900 It says, 00:31:11.260 --> 00:31:16.840 Then sang Deborah and Barak, the son of Abinoam, on that day. 00:31:17.640 --> 00:31:21.660 That the leaders took the lead in Israel. 00:31:22.420 --> 00:31:26.200 That the people offered themselves willingly. 00:31:26.980 --> 00:31:27.680 Bless the Lord. 00:31:29.240 --> 00:31:30.160 Hear, O kings. 00:31:31.180 --> 00:31:33.980 Give ear, O princes, to the Lord. 00:31:34.060 --> 00:31:34.980 I will sing. 00:31:35.660 --> 00:31:40.200 I will make a medley to the Lord, the God of Israel. 00:31:41.340 --> 00:31:44.440 Church, let's give God glory. 00:31:45.660 --> 00:31:47.420 When we think about it, right? 00:31:48.240 --> 00:31:49.340 It's pretty simple. 00:31:50.480 --> 00:31:56.840 All throughout scripture, we begin to see moments and times of interactions with people 00:31:56.840 --> 00:32:01.800 when they begin to reflect the glory that they have back to God. 00:32:02.860 --> 00:32:05.420 And it's not filled with religious loopholes. 00:32:06.780 --> 00:32:09.100 It's just three things that we see. 00:32:10.080 --> 00:32:13.000 That if we continue to read all the way through chapter 5, 00:32:13.200 --> 00:32:16.420 we find this evident in this as God delivered them. 00:32:17.320 --> 00:32:20.380 First thing is, we give God glory when we pray. 00:32:21.160 --> 00:32:22.720 We give God glory when we pray. 00:32:23.180 --> 00:32:23.380 Right? 00:32:23.620 --> 00:32:25.900 The scariest word for so many Christians. 00:32:27.060 --> 00:32:27.380 Pray. 00:32:28.440 --> 00:32:36.280 What if we removed all the religious thoughts and false ideas about prayer? 00:32:36.360 --> 00:32:42.680 And we just acknowledged that to pray is to talk to God. 00:32:43.320 --> 00:32:48.800 To give Him glory in our communication with Him. 00:32:49.280 --> 00:32:56.320 To make sure that in our not missing Him that we're directing all that He has done to Him. 00:32:57.120 --> 00:33:03.160 Several weeks ago, Emma came up to me and she was talking to me. 00:33:03.900 --> 00:33:10.980 And she did something that I don't know that I communicated very clearly to her how much it meant to me. 00:33:11.240 --> 00:33:18.700 But she had been noticing, you know, just in the routine of life, of the busyness for Aaron and I. 00:33:19.100 --> 00:33:20.480 And she just thanked me. 00:33:21.840 --> 00:33:22.640 She said, thank you. 00:33:23.900 --> 00:33:24.760 She just said, thank you. 00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:31.360 And for me as a dad, in that moment, it clicked. 00:33:32.360 --> 00:33:33.240 She notices. 00:33:34.560 --> 00:33:35.760 And she cares. 00:33:37.100 --> 00:33:42.880 You know, when we talk to God, what would it be like if we just noticed? 00:33:44.540 --> 00:33:47.300 You know, today, the sun came up. 00:33:48.660 --> 00:33:49.600 Thank you, God. 00:33:51.120 --> 00:33:53.960 You know, today, your eyes opened. 00:33:54.860 --> 00:33:56.200 You continued to breathe. 00:33:57.120 --> 00:33:59.000 Your heart still beating. 00:34:00.060 --> 00:34:00.780 Thank you. 00:34:01.780 --> 00:34:09.660 Today, you sat down at your table and were able to do something that many people all over the world can't do. 00:34:10.600 --> 00:34:11.760 You ate a plate of food. 00:34:13.120 --> 00:34:13.860 God, thank you. 00:34:15.320 --> 00:34:19.980 Today, you find yourself here amongst God's people. 00:34:21.380 --> 00:34:22.040 God, thank you. 00:34:23.060 --> 00:34:26.360 The simplicity of the prayer for God. 00:34:27.440 --> 00:34:31.080 We see praise that is offered to God. 00:34:31.080 --> 00:34:34.220 We see here that it's offered in song. 00:34:34.560 --> 00:34:43.700 When we think of praise, what I want us to think through is the sacrifice of what it means to come before God. 00:34:44.060 --> 00:34:45.780 And here's what I mean by sacrifice. 00:34:46.880 --> 00:34:51.460 God, this which is mine, it's yours. 00:34:52.440 --> 00:34:58.880 God, these words that were mine, I offer them back to you. 00:34:59.820 --> 00:35:08.180 And so, God, this day that you have given me, God, let me praise you with it by sacrificing it, by saying, God, this day today is yours. 00:35:08.480 --> 00:35:09.660 Do with it as you please. 00:35:09.920 --> 00:35:16.260 God, this paycheck that you've given me, Lord, have me spend it in the way that is going to glorify and honor you. 00:35:16.260 --> 00:35:21.040 Lord, these children that you have given me, Lord, I present them back to you. 00:35:21.300 --> 00:35:22.220 They are yours. 00:35:22.440 --> 00:35:23.520 God, I praise you. 00:35:23.780 --> 00:35:26.780 And in that, I give you all of the glory. 00:35:28.200 --> 00:35:31.740 But then what this song does, we're called to pray. 00:35:31.880 --> 00:35:32.860 We're called to praise. 00:35:33.620 --> 00:35:34.780 But we reflect. 00:35:35.740 --> 00:35:36.480 We reflect. 00:35:37.300 --> 00:35:39.140 And when we reflect, we remember. 00:35:40.020 --> 00:35:41.800 That's what Deborah and Barack do. 00:35:42.420 --> 00:35:46.860 The whole song in chapter 5 is talking about what God did. 00:35:47.760 --> 00:35:50.900 And so, they reflect back and they declare of his goodness. 00:35:51.560 --> 00:35:53.360 They declare of all that he has done. 00:35:53.680 --> 00:36:01.220 But it causes them not only to remember, but when they reflect, it causes them to think ahead. 00:36:01.780 --> 00:36:02.840 Jump down to verse 31. 00:36:03.980 --> 00:36:08.040 Toward the end of their song, they sing of the future. 00:36:08.880 --> 00:36:12.880 So may all your enemies perish, O Lord. 00:36:13.920 --> 00:36:20.060 But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might. 00:36:21.000 --> 00:36:25.020 And the land had rest for 40 years. 00:36:26.960 --> 00:36:41.260 When we find ourselves in the weeds, when we find ourselves in the distractions, when we find ourselves standing there on the desert plains, praying that the rain will come. 00:36:42.260 --> 00:36:43.660 And God is faithful. 00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:52.740 When we reflect back on those moments, we have the great confidence in what the future holds. 00:36:53.240 --> 00:37:01.660 Because of the simple story that's being told from Genesis to Revelation, God wins. 00:37:02.960 --> 00:37:03.760 God wins. 00:37:04.220 --> 00:37:10.260 We're going to see more through Judges of the people forgetting. 00:37:10.980 --> 00:37:13.160 The people acting in evil. 00:37:14.040 --> 00:37:24.660 And what we find time and time again is the victorious God redeeming and saving his people. 00:37:25.540 --> 00:37:26.540 It's tough. 00:37:27.700 --> 00:37:29.700 Right now, we've all got our battles. 00:37:30.940 --> 00:37:39.680 And in those moments, what can happen when our glory and our eyes are fixed on anything but him? 00:37:41.060 --> 00:37:42.540 Those become our gods. 00:37:43.720 --> 00:37:45.300 And God says, I'm here to set you free. 00:37:46.280 --> 00:37:47.100 Would you pray with me? 00:37:51.160 --> 00:37:55.300 Lord, we thank you so much for who you are. 00:37:58.900 --> 00:38:02.980 Lord, if not for the dry season. 00:38:04.840 --> 00:38:08.620 If not for the numbers stacked against Israel. 00:38:10.400 --> 00:38:13.420 If not for the doubt that would have been to creep in. 00:38:14.420 --> 00:38:21.380 Lord, they wouldn't have been able to fully see your faithfulness of who you are. 00:38:21.720 --> 00:38:23.200 And what you've done. 00:38:23.500 --> 00:38:25.200 And what you're continuing to do. 00:38:26.680 --> 00:38:28.820 Lord, I pray for us as we are here. 00:38:30.380 --> 00:38:32.940 Some of us standing on the edge of the battlefield. 00:38:33.360 --> 00:38:35.560 Some of us standing in the middle of the battlefield. 00:38:36.000 --> 00:38:37.920 Wondering when the rain is going to come. 00:38:39.460 --> 00:38:42.940 And Lord, I pray that if that's where we find ourselves. 00:38:43.380 --> 00:38:46.080 That today we would not put our confidence in the rain. 00:38:46.180 --> 00:38:47.860 But the one who sends the rain. 00:38:50.740 --> 00:38:55.640 In you is where the victory is found. 00:39:06.420 --> 00:39:08.040 God, I thank you for who you are. 00:39:09.460 --> 00:39:11.060 For what you're doing. 00:39:14.040 --> 00:39:15.340 What you're going to do. 00:39:15.420 --> 00:39:16.220 And what you've done. 00:39:18.100 --> 00:39:19.060 Lord, in a moment. 00:39:19.280 --> 00:39:21.420 Lord, as we praise you. 00:39:22.820 --> 00:39:24.720 Lord, I pray that it would come. 00:39:25.320 --> 00:39:27.680 Out of the heart of understanding the victory. 00:39:29.660 --> 00:39:30.720 And in Jesus' name we pray. 00:39:31.440 --> 00:39:31.840 Amen. 00:39:33.620 --> 00:39:34.380 Just a second. 00:39:34.480 --> 00:39:35.380 We're going to stand. 00:39:35.480 --> 00:39:37.140 And we're going to sing a song. 00:39:38.040 --> 00:39:40.940 It may have been a long time since we've sang this song in here, right? 00:39:41.400 --> 00:39:43.920 But if you grew up in church, right? 00:39:44.060 --> 00:39:44.860 Some of us have. 00:39:44.940 --> 00:39:45.480 Some of us didn't. 00:39:45.520 --> 00:39:45.900 It's okay. 00:39:46.740 --> 00:39:48.160 You've sang the song before. 00:39:49.540 --> 00:39:53.060 And as I was having the opportunity to sit here during rehearsal this morning. 00:39:53.160 --> 00:39:56.800 There was a lyric that hit me this morning. 00:39:57.760 --> 00:39:59.740 That's never hit me this way before. 00:40:00.440 --> 00:40:03.320 And it was the power of the truth of it. 00:40:05.020 --> 00:40:07.240 And the writer of the song says, 00:40:08.760 --> 00:40:11.920 Morning by morning new mercies I see. 00:40:13.360 --> 00:40:16.220 Oh, the goodness of that. 00:40:17.720 --> 00:40:26.180 That we would have the eyes to see the mercies of God that he grants us today. 00:40:27.720 --> 00:40:28.900 Just don't miss it. 00:40:30.020 --> 00:40:32.080 We'll stand as we sing to him. 00:40:32.080 --> 00:40:48.140 Thanks again for listening to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:40:48.140 --> 00:40:50.760 We hope that you enjoyed listening to this week's message. 00:40:51.360 --> 00:40:54.780 If you'd like to learn more about who we are or explore additional resources, 00:40:55.360 --> 00:40:59.820 visit us online at www.willowridgechurch.com 00:40:59.820 --> 00:41:03.380 or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on Facebook and Instagram.