Deborah asks it with vehement contempt.
That victory is certain. Are you to have part in it?
The question will be asked on the judgment day by Christ, and by our own consciences. 'And he was speechless.'
To be neutral is to be on the side of the enemy, against whom the 'stars fight,' and whom Kishon sweeps away.
'Who is on the Lord's side?'—Who?
'ALL THINGS ARE YOURS'
'They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against
Sisera.'—JUDGES v. 20.
'For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.'—Job v. 23.
These two poetical fragments present the same truth on opposite sides. The first of them comes from Deborah's triumphant chant. The singer identifies God with the cause of Israel, and declares that heaven itself fought against those who fought against God's people. There may be an allusion to the tempest which Jewish tradition tells us burst over the ranks of the enemy, or there may be some trace of ancient astrological notions, or the words may simply be an elevated way of saying that Heaven fought for Israel. The silent stars, as they swept on their paths through the sky, advanced like an avenging host embattled against the foes of Israel and of God. All things fight against the man who fights against God.
The other text gives the other side of the same truth. One of Job's friends is rubbing salt into his wounds by insisting on the commonplace, which needs a great many explanations and limitations before it can be accepted as true, that sin is the cause of sorrow, and that righteousness brings happiness; and in the course of trying to establish this heartless thesis to a heavy heart he breaks into a strain of the loftiest poetry in describing the blessedness of the righteous. All things, animate and inanimate, are upon his side. The ground, which Genesis tells us is 'cursed for his sake,' becomes his ally, and the very creatures whom man's sin set at enmity against him are at peace with him. All things are the friends and servants of him who is the friend and servant of God.