Your Song

 

Judges 4: 4-5: 31 NRSV

⁴ At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. ⁵ She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment. ⁶ She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, ‘Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. ⁷ I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.’” ⁸ Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” ⁹ And she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. ¹⁰ Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and ten thousand warriors went up behind him; and Deborah went up with him.

¹¹ Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the other Kenites,^[a] that is, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had encamped as far away as Elon-bezaanannim, which is near Kedesh.

¹² When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, ¹³ Sisera called out all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the troops who were with him, from Harosheth-ha-goiim to the Wadi Kishon. ¹⁴ Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day on which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. The Lord is indeed going out before you.” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand warriors following him. ¹⁵ And the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his army into a panic^[b] before Barak; Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot, ¹⁶ while Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-ha-goiim. All the army of Sisera fell by the sword; no one was left.

¹⁷ Now Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. ¹⁸ Jael came out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. ¹⁹ Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. ²⁰ He said to her, “Stand at the entrance of the tent, and if anybody comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” ²¹ But Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, until it went down into the ground—he was lying fast asleep from weariness—and he died. ²² Then, as Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went into her tent; and there was Sisera lying dead, with the tent peg in his temple.

²³ So on that day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites. ²⁴ Then the hand of the Israelites bore harder and harder on King Jabin of Canaan, until they destroyed King Jabin of Canaan.

5 Then Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying:

² “When locks are long in Israel,
    when the people offer themselves willingly—
    bless^[a] the Lord!

³ “Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;
    to the Lord I will sing,
    I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁴ “Lord, when you went out from Seir,
    when you marched from the region of Edom,
the earth trembled,
    and the heavens poured,
    the clouds indeed poured water.
⁵ The mountains quaked before the Lord, the One of Sinai,
    before the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁶ “In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,
    in the days of Jael, caravans ceased
    and travelers kept to the byways.
⁷ The peasantry prospered in Israel,
    they grew fat on plunder,
because you arose, Deborah,
    arose as a mother in Israel.
⁸ When new gods were chosen,
    then war was in the gates.
Was shield or spear to be seen
    among forty thousand in Israel?
⁹ My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel
    who offered themselves willingly among the people.
    Bless the Lord.

¹⁰ “Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys,
    you who sit on rich carpets^[b]
    and you who walk by the way.
¹¹ To the sound of musicians^[c] at the watering places,
    there they repeat the triumphs of the Lord,
    the triumphs of his peasantry in Israel.

“Then down to the gates marched the people of the Lord.

¹² “Awake, awake, Deborah!
    Awake, awake, utter a song!
Arise, Barak, lead away your captives,
    O son of Abinoam.
¹³ Then down marched the remnant of the noble;
    the people of the Lord marched down for him^[d] against the mighty.
¹⁴ From Ephraim they set out^[e] into the valley,^[f]
    following you, Benjamin, with your kin;
from Machir marched down the commanders,
    and from Zebulun those who bear the marshal’s staff;
¹⁵ the chiefs of Issachar came with Deborah,
    and Issachar faithful to Barak;
    into the valley they rushed out at his heels.
Among the clans of Reuben
    there were great searchings of heart.
¹⁶ Why did you tarry among the sheepfolds,
    to hear the piping for the flocks?
Among the clans of Reuben
    there were great searchings of heart.
¹⁷ Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan;
    and Dan, why did he abide with the ships?
Asher sat still at the coast of the sea,
    settling down by his landings.
¹⁸ Zebulun is a people that scorned death;
    Naphtali too, on the heights of the field.

¹⁹ “The kings came, they fought;
    then fought the kings of Canaan,
at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo;
    they got no spoils of silver.
²⁰ The stars fought from heaven,
    from their courses they fought against Sisera.
²¹ The torrent Kishon swept them away,
    the onrushing torrent, the torrent Kishon.
    March on, my soul, with might!

²² “Then loud beat the horses’ hoofs
    with the galloping, galloping of his steeds.

²³ “Curse Meroz, says the angel of the Lord,
    curse bitterly its inhabitants,
because they did not come to the help of the Lord,
    to the help of the Lord against the mighty.

²⁴ “Most blessed of women be Jael,
    the wife of Heber the Kenite,
    of tent-dwelling women most blessed.
²⁵ He asked water and she gave him milk,
    she brought him curds in a lordly bowl.
²⁶ She put her hand to the tent peg
    and her right hand to the workmen’s mallet;
she struck Sisera a blow,
    she crushed his head,
    she shattered and pierced his temple.
²⁷ He sank, he fell,
    he lay still at her feet;
at her feet he sank, he fell;
    where he sank, there he fell dead.

²⁸ “Out of the window she peered,
    the mother of Sisera gazed^[g] through the lattice:
‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?
    Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’
²⁹ Her wisest ladies make answer,
    indeed, she answers the question herself:
³⁰ ‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil?—
    A girl or two for every man;
spoil of dyed stuffs for Sisera,
    spoil of dyed stuffs embroidered,
    two pieces of dyed work embroidered for my neck as spoil?’

³¹ “So perish all your enemies, O Lord!
    But may your friends be like the sun as it rises in its might.”

And the land had rest forty years.

 

A Message

“Your Song”

 

In 1967, 17 year old aspiring musician Bernie Taupin moved in with his best friend, 20 year old Reginald Dwight, and Dwight’s parents. The two were poor as paupers, innocent of the ways of the world, but full of promise. As they sat in a small house in London, in front of some scrap paper, they started scribbling down ideas for song lyrics. Seeking some rare glimpses of London sun on the roof, Taupin came up with a simple yet meaningful line: “I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss.” Thinking of the brighter future that must be out there somewhere, he went on with the introduction of what would soon be his very first single: “It’s a little bit funny this feeling inside. I’m not one of those who can easily hide. I don’t have much money, but boy if I did. I’d buy a big house where we could both live.” By 1970 this number, at last titled “Your Song”, was topping the charts—of course, that’s after Taupin’s best friend and long-time writing partner decided “Reginald” wasn’t the most marketable stage name and changed it to Elton John. Little known dude, you’ve never heard of him, right? Though “Your Song” brought them both fame and fortune, it did not bring them glory, as prophetess Deborah warned Barak a few thousand years earlier. It was a moment of triumph surrounded by the trappings of the world that surrounded and consumed them both—drugs, paparazzi, lawsuits, and eating disorders. But then, perhaps there is no better title to lead you into the infinite messiness of life in this world than “Your Song.”

 

Song writing is as old as humanity itself. And we are richly blessed in that some of the world’s most ancient song writers and musicians had their work preserved for all time in the pages of our Hebrew Scriptures. When Moses led the Hebrew people across the Red Sea into freedom, and watched their Egyptian enslavers drown behind him, his sister Miriam immediately took out her tambourine and sang a victory song. It was a brief moment of brilliant light, followed by forty years lost in the wilderness, with many of the people who left Egypt never making it to the Promised Land themselves, but rather raising children who would. When Hannah, after years of suffering from infertility, finally gave birth to a beautiful son, she rejoiced in what some remember as a song, and thanked God for Divine justice. It was one bright moment, after which she immediately gave up her beloved first born in order to keep her promise to God and have him raised in the Temple. But despite the bittersweet emotions swirling through her, she still felt compelled to sing. King David, our scripture’s most brilliant musician, penned the Psalms in his highest moments as well as his lowest. After he defeated Goliath, I’m sure he went straight to his lyre. After his disastrous affair with Bathsheba, after he engineered the death of her first husband Uriah, and after their first born son died, David turned, in the depths of sorrow, to song. When he won in battle, he sang, and when he feared his enemies would soon overtake him, he wanted nothing more than to lift his song to the Lord.

 

Today, we have another of these joyous songs, in the midst of the world’s brutality. In a time when the Kingdom of Israel had no monarch, and most people were left to do what was right in their own eyes, a few devout, wise people led the Hebrew people to moments of light in an otherwise dark time. The foremost of those people was Deborah, a prophetess and judge. Topping the list of Bible heroes, Deborah is organized, shrewd, resourceful, realistic, faithful, and an excellent leader. Not for nothing, but in a sociopolitical landscape where we see men, one after another, lead the people of God to devastation and ruin, Deborah’s story is this wonderful shot of girl power. That’s not the point of this sermon, but if you take a little feminism out of this sermon, you know, I’m cool with that.

 

In this calamitous time in Israel’s history, where the rutterless people fall into one war after another, Israel faces a significant military threat from the land of Canaan, at the hands of an army led by a man named Sisera. The odds are stacked against the Israelites. Sisera is mighty and ruthless, with many allies and an army of chariots. Israel is disorganized, distracted, unmotivated, and poorly armed. Barak, preparing to face Sisera in battle, pleads with Deborah to stay by his side because his fear is so overpowering. Deborah assures Barak everything will be ok, not because she has some winning battle plan up her sleeve, but because her army has one ally with a hundred times the strength of Canaan: God. The Israelite people have been abysmally inconsistent in keeping their promises to God. They barely know the Holy. They have worshipped idols, broken sacred laws, and hurt themselves and one another. Barak has little reason to believe Deborah when she declares that a deity he has little to know relationship with will deliver them in battle. But God’s love is stronger than that, and, as Deborah will lift up at the end of all of this in her song, the good actions of a few people can do a whole lot to reverse the harm done by many.

 

Barak defeats the chariots, but Sisera runs, believing he still has many more friends than the Israelites, and those connections will save him. He flees to the tent of Jael, married to a Canaanite ally. Exhausted, he slumps on her lap while she feeds him milk and sings him to sleep. And when he least expects it, Jael decides to switch sides mid-lullaby. She picks up a hammer and a tent peg, and soothes him into his own demise: lullaby, and goodnight, go to sleep little Sisera…*bam bam bam*. Once again, a voice lifted in song despite the ugly circumstances, and the second victory of this story delivered by the mind and hands of a woman.

 

Deborah celebrates, once again, in song. And unlike the innocent love ballad that I referred to at the beginning of this sermon, these lyrics are far from what you would expect to hear in a Billboard chart topper. They won a war, they obliterated an army, Jael impaled Sisera with a tent peg. Where’s Elton John with his piano? I think this one’s winning a Grammy!

 

It’s an unlikely song. Deborah came to this point because of Israel’s infidelity, violence, and idolatry. The words themselves are filled with graphic details of warfare. And, though the Israelites enjoyed forty years of peace after this victory, we know from reading the rest of the Hebrew Bible that that Pax Israel didn’t last forever, and the worst moments of Israelite history were yet to come.

 

But this is real life. And Deborah decides the victories of a real life of faith are worth celebrating, fleeting though they may be. This is her proudest accomplishment, her best day, and she wants to rejoice in it for whatever it is. This is her song, the song of her heart, the song that perfectly describes her relationship with God and God’s people.

 

What would you lift up to God and the people around you in song? If you sat down at your kitchen table and shoved aside a pile of bills on your right and a newspaper full of terrifying headlines on your left, what would you scribble down on a piece of coffee-stained scrap paper? What are the lyrics of Your Song? Where are your victories, however small? What are your triumphs, even if they happen in odd ways that most people wouldn’t think highly of? What are the moments that are very important to your day to day life, even though they bring you no glory?

 

I have to think My Song, the song of the young mom, wife, and minister, would go something like this (to the tune of “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana): “I got only five hours of sleep yet, somehow I’m still alive! Thank God for caffeine! I wish my three kids would stop throwing temper tantrums, but since that’s not very likely, I guess I’ll just go eat some ice cream. Every day has stress, still I do my best, every day we grow, and then we regress, still I try again, because every day is full of second chances. I love my kids, and my man, and my church, and my life. It’s not much but, I’m very blessed. I’m a child of God and even though I’m not perfect, I don’t give up, I always try. Even though it’s hard there’s no end to how much God loves.”

 

The greatest lesson we learn from a complicated and war-stricken story like this one from Judges is that God loves us even in the thick of disaster. God sees us embroiled in messes of our own making and loves us, not in spite of them, but because of them. Because we are. And, no matter what wars we face today, big or small, God delivers us. The best way that we can thank God for such faithfulness is to take small moments, even if it feels a little weird to us, and use whatever tools we have at our disposal to sing our song to God. Happiness, sadness, anger, heartbreak, victory…God makes it all, God honors it all, and God loves to hear us sing. Amen.