SING IT OUT FOR THE LORD!
Opening Prayer
Gracious Lord, You are my hope and my salvation. By Your Spirit, enlighten Your Word to me.
Read EXODUS 15:1–21
The Song of Moses and Miriam
15 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:
“I will sing to the Lord,
for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
he has hurled into the sea.
2 “The Lord is my strength and my defense[a];
he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3 The Lord is a warrior;
the Lord is his name.
4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army
he has hurled into the sea.
The best of Pharaoh’s officers
are drowned in the Red Sea.[b]
5 The deep waters have covered them;
they sank to the depths like a stone.
6 Your right hand, Lord,
was majestic in power.
Your right hand, Lord,
shattered the enemy.
7 “In the greatness of your majesty
you threw down those who opposed you.
You unleashed your burning anger;
it consumed them like stubble.
8 By the blast of your nostrils
the waters piled up.
The surging waters stood up like a wall;
the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy boasted,
‘I will pursue, I will overtake them.
I will divide the spoils;
I will gorge myself on them.
I will draw my sword
and my hand will destroy them.’
10 But you blew with your breath,
and the sea covered them.
They sank like lead
in the mighty waters.
11 Who among the gods
is like you, Lord?
Who is like you—
majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory,
working wonders?
12 “You stretch out your right hand,
and the earth swallows your enemies.
13 In your unfailing love you will lead
the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them
to your holy dwelling.
14 The nations will hear and tremble;
anguish will grip the people of Philistia.
15 The chiefs of Edom will be terrified,
the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling,
the people[c] of Canaan will melt away;
16 terror and dread will fall on them.
By the power of your arm
they will be as still as a stone—
until your people pass by, Lord,
until the people you bought[d] pass by.
17 You will bring them in and plant them
on the mountain of your inheritance—
the place, Lord, you made for your dwelling,
the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established.
18 “The Lord reigns
for ever and ever.”
19 When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots and horsemen[e] went into the sea, the Lord brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. 20 Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing. 21 Miriam sang to them:
“Sing to the Lord,
for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
he has hurled into the sea.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 15:2 Or song
- Exodus 15:4 Or the Sea of Reeds; also in verse 22
- Exodus 15:15 Or rulers
- Exodus 15:16 Or created
- Exodus 15:19 Or charioteers
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
‘Fill Thou my life, O Lord my God, / in every part with praise, / that my whole being may proclaim / Thy being and Thy ways.’1
Think Further
The celebration of memorable moments or momentous milestones is often accompanied by music and, perhaps, by dancing too. In the sports arena, cheerleaders bring their own chants, cheers, and dance routines to the field. When God so decidedly trounced the Egyptians and their gods (v 11), it is hardly surprising that an exuberant song of victory rings out. The song has two sections: praising God for the past (vs 1–12) and affirming trust in Him for the future (vs 13–18). The Israelites’ praises focus both on who God is (vs 1a,11) and on what He has done (vs 4–10). The deliverance they have experienced inspires confident hope for the future; and so the second part of the song affirms by faith what is still unrealized, what God ‘will’ do in the future (vs 13,17). The faith community sings with one voice (v 1), but note also the first-person pronouns, which make the song deeply personal: ‘I will sing’ (v 1) to the Lord who is ‘my strength,’ ‘my defense,’ and who has become ‘my salvation’ (v 2, emphasis added).
Music is a veritable power tool for praise. When Paul exhorts the Colossians to ‘Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly’, one way he recommends doing so is by ‘singing to God with gratitude in your hearts’.2 The Exodus event – commemorated by the annual Passover – foreshadowed the greater deliverance won by the ultimate Passover Lamb, Jesus. One day, beside ‘a heavenly Red Sea!’3 – for it ‘looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire’4 – the victory song of Moses will have an encore! In celebration of the final triumph of the Messiah, a remix of this song will be released under a tweaked title: ‘the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb’.5
Apply
‘This is my story, this is my song, / praising my Savior all the day long.’6 What is your salvation story? What song will you bring to the Lord today?
Closing prayer
Father, it is good to bless Your name; to remember Your mercies each morning, and Your lovingkindness each night.
1 Horatius Bonar, 1808–89 2 Col 3:16 3 M. Kiddle, Revelation of St John, Hodder, 1940 4 Rev 15:2 5 Rev 15:3 6 F. Crosby, ‘Blessed assurance’
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