Reflection: A Woman, a Bowl of Milk, and a Tent Peg
I like sweet things. I enjoy chocolate, pastries, and ice cream. I still take sugar in my coffee. And like many Christians, I like to sing ‘sweet’ songs of praise. Classics like ‘Just a Closer Walk with Thee’ and modern songs like ‘Shout to the Lord’. But have you noticed that many of the Bible’s songs aren’t sweet. They’re bloody, graphic, violent, and confronting because the salvation they celebrate was bloody and violent.
The song of Deborah which rejoices in Israel’s victory over the Canaanites isn’t a sweet song. One verse remembers and honours a woman called Jael. Sisera, the commander of the Canaanite army, fled to her tent. Being the perfect hostess, she put him under a warm blanket, gave him milk and while he slept drove a tent peg through his head! So, Israel’s victory was complete.
We shouldn’t apologise for singing songs which remind us of the horror of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. By pain and suffering, through flogging, a crown of thorns and nails driven through hands and feet, Jesus saved us. In the words of ‘Man of Sorrows’:
“Bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned he stood,
Sealed my pardon with his blood. Hallelujah what a Saviour!”
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, we praise and thank you that you loved us so much you gladly went to the cross, bearing the shame and suffering. Help us to always praise you for your sacrifice both with our lips and in our lives. Amen.