THE SONG THAT BREAKS THE SPIRIT OF BARRENNESS!

Are there promises that God has quickened to your heart that you have not seen fulfilled? Are you in the midst of a very dry period in your spiritual life? Does it seem that your prayers get no higher than the ceiling? Has there been a withering to little or nothing of an area of your spiritual life or ministry that in the past has been extremely fruitful? If you answer yes to any of these questions, then the prophet Isaiah has a word of instruction and help for you!

“Sing, O barren,
You who have not borne!
Break forth into singing, and cry aloud,
You who have not labored with child!
For more are the children of the desolate
Than the children of the married woman,” says the LORD.
(Isaiah 54:1)

When we hear that something is barren, we tend to think of landscape such as the surface of the moon or perhaps parts of the desert in the southwestern U.S. Actually, those thoughts are accurate. In the Bible the word barren means “sterile, no forthcoming life” or it means “to be rendered useless and unfit for work.”

When the prophet Isaiah tells the barren to sing, to break forth into song, he is not suggesting that we burst out into a medley of our favorite Beatles hits or a rousing chorus of “Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall.” No, he is exhorting us to sing exuberant praise to the Lord in a ringing cry of exaltation, joy and rejoicing.

When we are in a battle against fruitlessness, breaking out and singing is an act of faith that releases the power of God. Worship and praise will lead the way to victory!

Many of us are reserved and we immediately think, “How could this ever work? Surely I have done something that has caused this unfruitfulness and I really should do penance for my mistake. Singing and shouting praise and worship is just too simple! The answer must be more complicated than this. And, frankly,” our minds tell us, “this just doesn’t seem too classy!” That’s just the point.

The breaking of the barren spirit is typified in the destruction of the walls of Jericho. In Joshua 6:20 we read, “And the people shouted with a great shout . . . the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up . . . and they took the city.”

The shout spoken of here is the shout of joy and rejoicing. It is the “faith song” of triumph over barrenness and resistance. There was nothing classy about what the people of Israel did. Their conduct defied good sense but they were obedient. Then when they were instructed to, they broke forth in a shout of joy that broke the back of the resistance that had held them back from possessing their inheritance.

The story of Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail is well known (see Act 16:19-40). “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. . . . Suddenly there was a great earthquake . . . and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed” (verses 25-26). The apostles were not having an “all-night sing” in the midst of their confinement, but they were praying and worshiping God. As they sang, God’s power was released and they were set free to continue their miraculous missionary journey.

Take a careful look at what the prophet Habakkuk says about barrenness and securing the victory through praise and worship.

Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls—
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The LORD God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills.
(Habakkuk 3:17-19)

In other words, Habakkuk is declaring that when he was surrounded by barrenness, by faith he began to sing and rejoice. The prophet knew that praise and worship would bring the presence of the Lord and with it would come His strength. Further, the prophet understood that it would be the strength of the Lord that would establish the breakthrough and set him to walking in victory! Can you say amen?

A higher level of loudness on the decibel scale is not important or necessary. We are just to stay intently passionate and focused with our singing of praise and worship. “I will rejoice . . . I will joy in the God of my salvation.”

I think it is time for the choir known as the “Barren, Broken and Needy Chorale” to sing! Are you ready? Come, join me and let’s sing our song of praise and worship!