Judges 10:10

Judges 10:10 says, And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.  Once again, after they were defeated, the people of Israel called out to God.  This cycle of obedience followed by turning to other gods repeats itself once more.  We too can be guilty of forgetting about God when things are good, simply to find ourself calling out to Him only when things go bad.  The people of Israel confessed to sinning against God, and so must we if we have allowed other things to become more important than God.  Verse eleven adds, And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?  Verse twelve continues, The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand.  God asked the people of Israel if He had not already delivered them from multiple oppressive groups. What we as followers of Christ need to realize today if we find ourselves to be oppressed physically is that God has already given us an everlasting victory spiritually, so we need to simply remain faithful to Him.  Verse thiteen states, Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.  God said that since they continually rejected Him that He was no longer going to deliver them.  We better hope we never find ourselves in that position.  Verse fourteen adds, Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.  God told the people Israel, His chosen people, to go to the gods that they had rejected Him for and ask them to deliver them.  Of course these false gods couldn't do it, any more than any false god we allow to come between God and us today can deliver us from the power of sin and evil in our life today.  Verse fifteen says, And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day.  The people of Israel once again confessed their sins to God and asked Him to do what He must to them, but to deliver them from the evil that they were enslaved by.  Of course, they didn't really need to tell God to do whatever He desired to do to them, because He always had that power.  We need to always remain faithful to God, in the good times and the bad.  Verse sixteen adds, And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.  Even though God had said He wasn't going to deliver them again, the people of Israel put away their strange gods, or idols, and served Him again.  Even if we don't feel like God is delivering us from a bad situation today, we must continue to be faithful to Him. We are also told that God grieved for their situation.  God will never delight in the suffering of anyone, especially those who are His people by their having accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.  Verse seventeen continues, Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves together, and encamped in Mizpeh.  The forces of Ammon gathered in Gilead, while the people of Israel gathered at Mizpeh.  The people of Israel were now united against their common enemy, and so must we be as Christians today.  Verse eighteen concludes. And the people and princes of Gilead said one to another, What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.  God had been raising up a Judge for the people of Israel, but now they were asking themselves who would lead them against the Ammonites.  God may not always simply appoint someone to be a leader in the church today, but He will always guide us to that person as long as we are being obedient to Him.