Judges 5:2 “When the princes in Israel take the lead,
when the people offer themselves –
Praise the LORD!

The last verse of the book of Judges gives the tenor of the whole period between Joshua and Samuel: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” (Judges 21:25) In current political terms, you might say it was extremely Libertarian! That said, it was mostly a mess, because the people had no unified vision of who they were or how they should be. In that context, this verse makes a lot of sense. There will always be people with leadership gifting, but they don’t always exercise that gifting effectively. Deborah was celebrating the fact that such people were getting their act into gear. However, for there to be effective leadership, there have to be followers, and that is celebrated here as well. The people, seeing the need and seeing people standing up as leaders, were offering themselves to the cause. Even when we want something done, we have a tendency to say, “Let the other guy do it.” Nothing gets accomplished that way! For things to happen there need to be both leaders and followers, and when the cause is a good one, that’s reason to praise the Lord indeed.

I’ve struggled with the whole issue of leadership most of my life, and particularly since I became a pastor. Because my administrative gifts are on the low end of the scale I haven’t felt very effective as a leader, but the Lord has placed me repeatedly in situations where I was the only leader around. I don’t have room to complain, though, because Moses didn’t have administrative gifting either! As such a leader, I have been very aware of how different it is when the “rank and file” offer themselves willingly and when they don’t. That has given me real insight into how it is between God and man. He is of course the ultimate Leader, and certainly a unique one at that. It’s not at all that He can’t do whatever He wants, whether we follow or not. However, it is His desire and plan to involve us in what He is doing, because we are His children, and not just chess pieces on a board. When we offer ourselves willingly, we get to participate in what He is doing with great joy and satisfaction. When we rebel and struggle against Him, we lose all that and a great deal more besides. God, though He is certainly the ultimate authority, is not like a human dictator, acting on whims with no real thought of benefit to those under Him. Rather, He desires the very best for us, His children, so there is every reason for us to offer ourselves willingly to Him. I can’t control how the people in this church, for example, are going to follow, but I can govern how I follow God, and I must be fully dedicated to that task and privilege.

Father, thank You for Your gracious plan. I’ve complained about it far too much! Help me indeed offer myself willingly to You, whether in a leadership capacity or not, as an example and an encouragement to all who see me, and especially those who follow me, that we may all walk in joyful obedience to You, accomplishing Your will on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!