A $2 million Bugatti Veyron drives on the same roads as a 15-year-old Chevy Impala. When the roads are rough the millionaires ride may be smoother, but not by much. When the traffic is jammed, the road turns into a parking lot for everyone.

I have already noted that roads were important to God’s plans for Israel. But I failed to mention, or even make note of the way the song of Deborah makes the point that God’s plans do not play favorites to the rich and powerful.

When the wicked ruled the land, the rich were still able to travel the roads because they could hire bodyguards and they traveled with the military. Parallels to this in the modern world explains why the rich and powerful do not believe they need God. Many of the things that make life unbearable for the poor and weak do not have an immediate effect on them.

The rich and powerful, and the poor and weak all have some needs in common. They all need to eat and they all need to drink. In ancient Israel the roads were created with watering spots taken into consideration. Israel, with God’s help, won a victory over the Canaanites, and the roads were once again safe for everyone to travel. The rich and powerful, who rode on rare white donkeys and sat upon expensive saddle blankets that revealed their wealth, stopped to drink at the same watering places as the common villagers walking along the roads between towns. Deborah, in her song tells of singers reciting the victories of the Lord and the victories of his villagers in Israel.

I find myself wondering what God wants us to consider watering places today. Where can singers, messengers, or witnesses recite the victories of God to everyone rich and poor alike? Has our society driven Christian faith so far underground that there is nowhere to sing God’s praises? Perhaps effective witnessing will require us to meet earthly needs and spiritual needs in the same place.