Judges 5:23 "Curse Meroz, says the angel of the Lord, curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty."

Two things occur to me: first, an entire city and all its inhabitants are being cursed for not coming to the aid of the Israelites. Most inhabitants of Meroz, I'm sure, had no say into whether or not the city went to the Israelites' aid. Many probably did not even know of their plight. But the whole city is cursed nonetheless. Even though we should all be striving towards building the Kingdom of God, this reminds us that nation-states remain important in our world. We are citizens of the countries in which we live, and we should strive to make them righteous places. This means taking a real interest in our leaders and their willingness to go to the help of those in need "against the mighty." It means being educated and aware of what is going on in our country and our world, and advocating against injustice. Remember that Ezekiel saw the foreheads of those who lamented what was happening in Jerusalem marked for their salvation before the city's destruction. God knows we can't always stop the evil our country or our leaders are doing, but we must be at least interested in knowing of it and trying to correct it.

Second, does God really need our help? This verse does not say that Meroz is cursed for not helping the Israelites, but rather for not helping the Lord. But God can do anything, right? Why would He need anyone's help? God created us to be His helpmates. We are supposed to be in tune with His ways and live our lives accordingly. When we do, the world runs more smoothly; evil is confronted, not tolerated; and justice is served. God does not step into every situation in a miraculous way, He wants us to structure society and the world in such a way that He does not have to, so that the poor, the persecuted, and the powerless are protected against the mighty without Him having to tell us to do it every time. That is how we can help the Lord. When don't do that, we become cursed just like Meroz.