Judges 5 contains a song from Deborah and Barak recounting the battle with the Canaanites. It is a song of praise to the Lord. Israel remains at peace for 40 years.

Judges 6 opens with the people again doing evil in God’s sight. God sends Midian to rule over them for 7 years. The Midianites destroy the crops and livestock in Israel leaving it impoverished.

The Israelites cry out to the Lord. The Lord replies that they need to be faithful to Him. God sends his angel to a young man named Gideon and tells him that God has chosen him to deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Gideon replies that he is not powerful. But God says that He will be with Gideon.  Gideon asks for a sign.

Gideon prepares a meal for the angel. The angel tells Gideon to pour broth on the meal. The angel then makes a fire that consumes the meal and the angel vanishes.

Gideon is afraid and calls out to God. God tells him not to be afraid. Gideon builds an altar to the Lord. God has Gideon tear down the altar and sacred pole of Baal, build an altar to God and offer a burnt offering of a bull using the sacred pole for fuel.

That night Gideon does as God commands. The next morning the people see what Gideon has done and tell his father to bring him out to be killed. But his father says that if Baal is a true god, he will have to contend with Gideon himself. Gideon is renamed Jerubbaal which means “Let Baal contend with him.”

The Midianites and Amalekites gather for battle. Gideon gathers the people of Israel for battle. Gideon sets out a fleece of wool to see if God wants him to deliver Israel. If there is fleece on the wool but not on the ground then he will know it is God’s will. In the morning the fleece is wet and the ground is dry. Gideon tests God one more time asking God to make the ground wet and the fleece dry. The next morning it is just as Gideon asked.

God can be very patient with us. We are often uncertain whether we are reading God’s will correctly. God will make it clear to us if we ask, even if it takes us several times for clarification.

Psalm 40 sounds as if it were written by Deborah and Gideon. It includes a song of praise to God and a plea for deliverance from the Lord.

Psalm 41 acknowledges that God protects the poor and heals those who are sick. The writer asks God to forgive him of his sins and to deliver him from his enemies. He is confident in the Lord’s mercy and deliverance.