Worship in Judges

The book of Judges is full of stories and experiences that point to worship. Of those experiences, we are going to focus on one main point, fear and reverence for God. The reverence and awe we have of our Creator affects our worship in many ways and creates in itself a form of worship. 

The stories in Judges form a pattern of Israel going after and worshipping others gods and as a result of their covenant failure, they find themselves in war with surrounding nations. God then sends a rescuer to save them and bring them back to the covenant. Israel receives the curses of the covenant (most prominently enemy nations attacking), when they worship other gods. Their abandonment of the covenant with God does not mean they worship nothing. They continue to worship something (Baal), but it is not God. When they find themselves in these desperate situations of warfare, the reverence for Yahweh bestowed on them by their leaders brings them back. Our respect for God, can invoke a worshipful committed response within us. 

Judges starts with a generation that did not know God like the generations of Moses and Joshua. The stories were not passed down, the Scriptures were not read and communal worship was probably not as common. When we know God, his character and acts of mercy and love, it creates an environment to worship Him because of who He is. It is hard to give our life to someone we don’t know. We must know God and His word to worship Him. 

The book of Judges also concentrates on the places of worship. There were certain places dedicated to pagan gods and those places were not fit to worship Yahweh. PLaces of worship should be dedicated to God. Let us not gain a misunderstanding. I am not stating that there are only certain places where worship is acceptable. Worship can be done anytime, anywhere. What I am saying is that there are certain places that do not invoke an environment of worship. In today’s world, online churches are becoming prevalent. Since the New Testament teaches that God’s people are now the church, there is no specific place geographically that is correct. A correct place of worship is where there are others gathered of the same faith. That creates an appropriate place of worship. 

In Judges 5, Deborah’s song reflects the aspects of our praise in our songs, words, and prayers. Deborah’s prayer recounts God’s faithfulness through who He is and what He has done for Israel. This is a foundation for what praise is; thanking God for all his might acts for ourselves and others. It reminds us how blessed we are to call Yahweh our God and invites reverence for Him.