Exodus 15 - The Song of Moses
The Lord is your strength and song, so make sure your life is in tune with Him!
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Exodus 15 (ESV)
1 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying,
“I will sing to the Lord,
for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God,
and I will praise him,
my father’s God,
and I will exalt him.
3 The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name.
4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea,
and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
5 The floods covered them;
they went down into the depths like a stone.
6 Your right hand,
O Lord, glorious in power,
your right hand,
O Lord, shatters the enemy.
7 In the greatness of your majesty
you overthrow your adversaries;
you send out your fury;
it consumes them like stubble.
8 At the blast of your nostrils
the waters piled up;
the floods stood up in a heap;
the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said,
‘I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil,
my desire shall have its fill of them.
I will draw my sword;
my hand shall destroy them.’
10 You blew with your wind;
the sea covered them;
they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
11 “Who is like you,
O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you,
majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds,
doing wonders?
12 You stretched out your right hand;
the earth swallowed them.
13 “You have led in your steadfast love
the people whom you have redeemed;
you have guided them
by your strength
to your holy abode.
14 The peoples
have heard;
they tremble;
pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
15 Now
are the chiefs of Edom dismayed;
trembling seizes the leaders of Moab;
all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
16 Terror and dread fall upon them;
because of the greatness of your arm,
they are still as a stone,
till your people, O Lord, pass by,
till the people pass by whom you have purchased.
17 You will bring them in
and plant them on your own mountain,
the place, O Lord,
which you have made for your abode,
the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.
18 The Lord will reign forever and ever.”
19 For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea,
the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them,
but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea.
20 Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing.
21 And Miriam sang to them:
“Sing to the Lord,
for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”
22 Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea,
and they went into the wilderness of Shur.
They went three days in the wilderness
and found no water.
23 When they came to Marah,
they could not drink the water of Marah
because it was bitter;
therefore it was named Marah.
24 And the people grumbled against Moses, saying,
“What shall we drink?”
25 And he cried to the Lord,
and the Lord showed him a log,
and he threw it into the water,
and the water became sweet.
There the Lord
made for them a statute and a rule,
and there he tested them,
26 saying, “If you
will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God,
and do that which is right in his eyes,
and give ear to his commandments
and keep all his statutes,
I will
put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians,
for I am the Lord, your healer.”
27 Then they came to Elim,
where there were twelve springs of water
and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.
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Exodus 15 Summary
After witnessing one of the greatest miracles in history in which the Red Sea was opened up so that Israel could pass through on dry ground only to immediately collapse on the pursuing Egyptian army, Moses led the people in a time of massive praise and celebration.
Not only does this song recount the greatness of what God just accomplished before their eyes, but it points forward to what God is doing as He guides His people (not just Israel) to the Promised Land:
You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, the place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established. (v17)
Unfortunately the praise and worship session doesn't last long, and by the end of the chapter the people are once more grumbling, and God once more miraculously provides for them and calls them to live in trusting obedience.
Unfortunately, this is a pattern we'll see often, both as we read Exodus and as we examine our own lives.
Dig Deeper
Notice the pattern the song follows and the topics it emphasizes:
God's mighty power & character
How God provides for His people
How the people respond in praise
In other words, most of the song is focused on who God is and what He has done. Contrast this to many contemporary Christian music songs in which so much of the emphasis is on our problems & issues and how God makes us feel.
Singing is a powerful tool that God has given us. It evokes strong emotion and helps plant words and music into our memories quickly.
It's important for you to surround yourself with good Christian music that follows the pattern set by the song that Moses & Israel so joyfully sang alongside the sea.
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: The Lord is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation (v2)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will praise and exalt God in all that you do and say (v2)
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
