God’s people throughout history have always used the medium of music to express their praise, worship, and gratitude to God. 

And so it was when Israel’s fourth judge, Deborah, the “stout-hearted woman,” reflected on a glorious victory over the Canaanite Confederacy “against all odds” more than three millennia ago, the details of which are recorded in Judges, chapter four.  The next chapter provides a record of the song of praise that she wrote and sang on that occasion. 

The last verse—really the chorus—of the song is Judges 5:31:  “So may all your enemies perish, O LORD!  But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might.” 

In essence, Deborah is declaring that in every contest between God and man, between good and evil, the final score is always the same:  “God wins, and His enemies lose!”  So the question that begs to be asked of every one of us is:  “Which side am I on?” 

Many years after Deborah’s song, another song writer, Maltbie Babcock, reminded himself and all of us that, “Though the wrong seems oft’ so strong, God is the Ruler yet.”  A few years after that, Eugene M. Bartlett gave us his musical reminder of “Victory in Jesus”: 

I heard about a mansion He has built for me in glory, And I heard about the streets of gold beyond the crystal sea;  About the angels singing, and the old redemption story, And some sweet day I’ll sing up there the song of victory. 

So the question remains: “Who is on the Lord’s side?”   

And that is the title of this sixth and final episode in the series, “Stout-Hearted Men and Women:  Studies in the Book of Judges.”

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