What makes our song? What do we sing or why do we sing? Isn’t a song is something that is very common? From age to age, people sing and with the culture they are in, mood, the way they think then people makes music to be sung.
Here in Exodus 15, we see the first ever song lyric written in Bible chronologically. If we look back again on what happen before Exodus 15, we have observed that God has delivered Israel out from Egypt with His mighty act by sending the 10 plagues to Egypt, and lastly we have observed in Exodus 14, God once again delivered Israel from Egypt military that run after them, leads Israel crossing the Reed Sea. Not just that but Israel saw, that God crushed the host of Egypt before their eyes. This is a wonder that God made and shown to His people in history, and these wonders God has performed on behalf of His people, freely of grace, because it pleased Him.
When Moses and Israelites sees these wonders then in chapter 15, they sang this song. So we have in our text the song that Israel sang as they stood on the eastern shores of the Reed Sea, knowing that they were fully delivered from Egypt. Now let’s began to see what is in the text:
1Then 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[a] 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.
3The 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.
5The 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.
7In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries;
you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.
8At 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.
9The 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.'
10You 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?
12You 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.
15Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed;
trembling seizes the leaders of Moab;
all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
16Terror 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.
17You 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."
19For 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. 20Then 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. 21And Miriam sang to them:
"Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea."
Once again, this song is sung when Israelites had been given the victory. Therefore, victory is the key note of the song. By observing the structures, we will find that verse 1 and verse 21 are speaking about the same thing. It shows the purpose of the song, they sang to the LORD because: “…for He has triumphed gloriously”. God has achieved and gave them victory, and this song is a respond to what God has done. This songs contains lots of poetic imagery, thus we should imagine the words when reading those verses. The song describes God as the man of war, who won the battle by His strength alone. The song describes victory to a war, as for them (Israel), it refers to the war just fought. Verse 9 speaks to what the enemy says: “'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”. But God simply just blew His wind, and all His enemy is crushed. Verse 5 describes God’s enemy as a stone went down into the depth of the sea, when being struck by His power.
The victory here is God’s victory, and not claimed by Israel. The song wants to say that it is God, and He alone be the glory of this victory. Israel had the victory because of God. Verse 2 says about what God is for Israel: it says that God is my strength and song. What makes strength and song could be together to describe God? David Guzik says something very true about this that: When we let God be our strength, He will also be our song. We will sing because of the victory won by the great strength of the LORD. We will have a "singing joy" in our life because His strength will not let us down. It then said God is my salvation; it recognizes that we cannot save ourselves, but God must become our salvation. This is our God, and also our father’s God. The word “father’s God” there signifies that He is a faithful God; throughout generation He promises to save His people.
Rev. Doug Kuiper from Protestant Reformed Church in America said “Remember that these victories of God include the victories which we have every day over sin. Though delivered from the power of sin by Christ, Satan tries to bring us back into bondage again. He did so for Israel, too – Israel was given permission to leave Egypt, but then Pharaoh decided to bring her back into bondage again. This is a picture of Satan trying to bring us who are redeemed by Christ back into bondage again, through temptation. Also in these instances the child of God is given the victory. When we stand in the name of God, with the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God, and fight Satan with that Word, we will have the victory. Satan will not bring us again to bondage. Of these victories let us sing.”
So we today ought to sing for Him because He has given us victory over sin. Do we sing this kind of Song?
A song of victory here is also a song of praise. The song praises God of who He is. It tells us some reference of God’s character and power. Verse 11 proclaims the superiority of the LORD – Who is like you? This is worship: Worship should proclaim the superiority of the LORD God over anything else that claims to be god. He is able to do everything that He pleased, and all His wonders show us about His power. Verse 13 says that He is a mercy God, as by His steadfast love, He redeemed us and leads us to His holy abode. His faithfulness fails not, and for such we should praise Him by our song because He is worthy of praise. Let us sing of His mercy, power, and faithfulness.
Next, from verse 14-18, there are prophetic words in their song. There is an element of faith in the text of the song. What happen in the past gives them faith that God will complete the works in them to bring them to His holy abode. Paul to the church in Macedonia wrote the same thing: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ”. When we look forward to Joshua we will find that verse 14 comes to realization when Rahab said to the spies: “We heard what God did for you in Egypt, and we were afraid.” For verse 16 look at Numbers 22 where it is said that when Balak the King of Moab saw what Israel had done, they became afraid. These events have not happened yet, but Moses can see it by faith. In faith, Israel looks ahead and sings of the fact that God will bring them through the wilderness into Canaan and plant her in the mountain of His holiness and in His sanctuary. God did not take Israel out of Egypt and leave them die in desert, but instead He take Israel out as an assurance for them that He is certain to take them to the Promised Land: Canaan.
This is what should be our song: in viewing Christ’s death as a victory over our enemies, and praising God because of the victory He has achieved, we manifest our faith to God that will someday bring us to His everlasting presence in heaven. John writes this in Revelation 15 as an eschatological view that He saw, where all the saints will someday sing this “Songs of Moses” in Exodus 15.
Do we sing this kind of Song? A song of victory, praise and faith to our God? Have we had this kind of personal relation with God through our song and daily life? Do you believe in God, and in Christ, and His word of salvation in Christ alone? Then sing (and sing it throughout our life).
Soli Deo Gloria,
Paul Hartono
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