March 18, 2022: Day 59 – Judges 1-5 and Psalm 3

We find ourselves in a new book of the Bible and one that tells stories in a cyclical nature that manifests itself in 1:18 and following which shows this book of the Bible as one that follows a rhythm of God appointing a judge who watches over the nation and the Lord being with that judge, but then the judge dies and the people do what was evil in the sight of the Lord by worshiping other gods.  When that happens then God does not strengthen the Israelites in battle and they end up losing territory and find themselves constantly in battle with the nation around them.  This really won’t change until David comes along, but we have a number of judges to look at before that.

We find the first judge is Othniel who had the Spirit of the Lord rest upon him.  As a result he ruled and the land had peace for 40 years.  Forty years is a good number since it elicits the 40 years that the Israelites had to wander in the wilderness.  Then a couple other judges come into rule until we get to my favorite judge, Deborah.  Do not discount the importance of Deborah in Scripture.  Some would just pass over her as an anomaly, but I see here as an example of how God is able and willing to use all people in all capacities in his kingdom and here on the earth.  She ruled wisely and she captured the lands that many before her were not able to subdue.  

Psalm 3 brings us to a specific time in the life of David which is defined in the prelude to the Psalm.  It is described as a psalm that David put together when he fled from his son Absalom.  If you want to read the whole story you can find it in II Samuel 15-18.  It would be helpful to read that to situate the Psalm in history.  David asks the Lord for deliverance against his many foes but ends the Psalm with a recognition that deliverance does belong to the Lord.