“I will if you will” are not words of courage. If Barak had been filled with courage, his response would have been, “I will do it.” The Scripture does not make clear why Barak insisted that Deborah go with him. There are many possibilities. Just think of the different times you have said, or have heard someone say “I will if you will.”

People say this when they know that what they are about to do is stupid, foolish, or doomed to failure. Young boys especially are willing to appear stupid and foolish, but they hate to do it alone. There’s something about sharing our embarrassment, failure or shame with others that makes it more bearable.

I do not believe fear of failure was behind Barak’s statement. I think he believed that if Deborah was with himm, the plan would succeed, but without her he would fail. He was suffering from a lack of confidence. However when you analyze it, his lack of confidence was not just in himself, it was a lack of confidence in God. Deborah had told him that God would go with him. He did not quite trust God, but he did trust Deborah.

He may have also suffered from a failure of faith in the Israelite people. He would have felt foolish and ashamed if he had put out a call for the people, and nobody showed up to follow him. In truth even with the presence of Deborah, many of the Israelites did not answer the call to come to battle. God, did not even ask some of the tribes; He knew they were faithless.

Whatever his reasoning, Barak’s failure to go on his own was sin. While not a deliberate act of rebelliousness, he most definitely missed the mark that God had set for him. Hitting the mark has rewards, and missing the mark has consequences. Barak missed out on the honor that the victory would have brought him. Missing the mark doesn’t break our relationship with God, but it always costs something.