Sing to the Lord | Exodus 15:1-21
Introduction
What is the most beautiful sound in the world?
Is there a sound you would consider to be more pleasant, more enjoyable, more refreshing, more soul-stirring than any other? Birds chirping and singing in the spring is a happy sound. A baby cooing and babbling is a sweet sound. The sound of water can be refreshing and relaxing—whether waves crashing or rain falling or the sound of a waterfall. Or what about a philharmonic orchestra performing a symphony by Mozart or Beethoven—the sound of 100 orchestral instruments in perfect harmony?
I would submit to you that the most beautiful sound in the world is a chorus of human voices—particularly a chorus of human voices expressing joy in song. There is no sound in all creation that compares in glory and beauty to that sound. And the reason, I would argue, is that humans have souls—souls that were made to perceive glory and express delight in glory. If the eyes are the window to the soul, singing is the sound of the soul. I think that’s why a stadium full of people singing acapella at a concert can move you to tears or send chills down your spine. Because we have souls, there is something spiritual (lowercase “s”) about the unison of our voices.
But if a chorus of voices is the greatest sound, what is the greatest theme for a song? Almost any human experience can inspire songs. People sing about everything from love and romance to bananas and guacamole. Again, I would submit to you that there is no greater theme for song than the glory of God, because there is no higher glory and no deeper joy.
Exodus 15:1–21 contains such a song. As we read, try to envision the scene. Two million Israelite men, women, and children standing on the shore of the Red Sea. Moments earlier, they were certain their lives were over. Now they stand safely on the other side, hugging loved ones, sobbing and laughing with joy and relief—sobbing because utter ruin was so real and rejoicing because they were suddenly delivered in the most impossible way. Around them, Egyptian soldiers and horses and chariots washed ashore. And Moses began to sing, and the song spread until hundreds of thousands of voices were lifted in song.
Imagine the sound!
Exodus 15:1–21
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.”
God deserves your passionate praise.
The main point of this text is that God deserves your passionate praise. For all he has done and all that he is and all he will do, God deserves your passionate praise.
God and God alone is the unmistakable theme of the Song of Moses. Verse 2 says, “This is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.” Moses is never even mentioned in the song. Pharaoh briefly appears in soaring pride, only to be hurled into the depths of the sea.
The song is about God, but it beckons you to join in heartfelt, full-throated singing in praise of the glory of God’s redeeming grace. The thing about songs is that they have a way of getting stuck in your head. It’s hard to hear a good song and not dance and sing along. Music moves you—literally.
Verse 1 begins, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously.” The passage ends in v. 21 with Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, singing the first line of the song, with a slight change: “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously.” Miriam beckons all who hear to join her in song.
Do you sing to God? I’m not asking, “Do you sing well?” I’m asking, “Does the glory of God move you to sing of God and to God from the heart?”
Your passionate praise is what God aims to secure through this text. Chapter 14 informs you of God’s glorious deeds at the Red Sea. Chapter 15 inspires you to sing to the Lord—to sing loudly and expressively; to sing from your heart and at the top of your lungs; to sing privately and corporately. Sing, sing, sing to the Lord because God deserves your passionate praise.
However, you can’t sing from the heart unless your heart is moved. Moses and Israel sang because they beheld God. Just like Moses and Israel, your passionate praise is the result of beholding 1) What God Has Done, 2) Who God Is, and 3) What God Will Do.
Sing because of what God has done.
The obvious inspiration behind Moses’ Song was the event of the Red Sea crossing. Chapter 14 ended with these words: “Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses” (Exodus 14:31).
What they saw with their own eyes stirred their hearts to fear and trust the Lord. It’s no surprise, then, that v. 1 begins, “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.’” They sang when they saw the power of the LORD displayed.
In fact, after the Song of Moses concludes in v. 18, the text adds this comment in v. 19: “For [i.e., this is why they sang] 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.”
Is that comment really necessary? All of chapter 14 was devoted to narrating the event of the Red Sea crossing. Then those events were rehearsed in song. And yet … v. 19 reminds us one more time that this was why they sang. Why did they sing? Because the LORD threw Pharaoh and his chariots and his horsemen into the sea, but he brought Israel through the Sea on dry ground.
In other words, the theme of their song was what God had done. “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11). God works wonders. He performs extraordinary feats. He acts, he asserts himself on earth. He is glorious and he achieves glory and fame on earth by doing glorious deeds. And it is fitting to sing about what God has done.
Consider the rich array of verbs in this song that have God himself as the subject, the doer:
He has triumphed gloriously (v. 1)
He has thrown [the horse and his rider] into the sea (v. 1)
He has cast [Pharaoh’s chariot and his army] into the sea (v. 4)
His right hand shatters the enemy (v. 6)
He overthrows his adversaries (v. 7)
His fury consumes like stubble (v. 7)
He blew with his wind (v. 10)
He stretched out his right hand (v. 12)
He led, redeemed, and guided his people (v. 13)
He purchased his people (v. 16)
The Lord reigns forever and ever (v. 18)
These are the glorious deeds of the LORD, his achievements and accomplishments. This is what inspires heartfelt, full-throated singing.
Do the glorious deeds of the Lord inspire you to sing? When you think about what God has done, do you sing your heart out to the Lord? You have all the reasons the Israelites did. Scripture records God’s glorious deeds so that you might see and fear and believe.
But to you, God has revealed even greater deeds. Listen to this vision John recounts in the Book of Revelation: “And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, ‘Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!’” (Revelation 15:2–3).
Clearly this heavenly vision is meant to evoke the scene in Exodus 15. Instead of Pharaoh, it’s the beast who is defeated. Instead of the Red Sea, the saints stand beside a sea of glass. And their song is called the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. And they praise God for what he has done: “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty!” As Greg said last week, God’s glorious victory over Pharaoh at the Red Sea points toward the most glorious victory in cosmic history—when Jesus triumphed over sin and death and the devil.
In Revelation 5:9, the theme of heavens song centers on one particular deed: “And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation’” (Revelation 5:9).
Your faith is anchored in the objective, historical reality of Christ’s work. This is our song. This is why we sing about the death of Christ again and again. Jesus has been the theme of more songs and symphonies than any other individual.
Does the death of Jesus for your sins receive your passionate praise?
Sing because of who God is.
Verse 2 says, “The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” My strength and my song. That means God is the source of my strength and the source of my song. God himself inspires song. He is the theme of my song. He is my song.
The Song of Moses is not merely historical; it is doctrinal and theological. God’s particular acts of salvation in history reveal universal truth about who God is. While the song mentions details unique to that particular event—Pharaoh’s chariots sinking in the Red Sea, the waters piling up in a heap—it is full of big and broad truths about God drawn from those specific events. For example, “The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name. … In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury…. Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:3, 7, 11).
These are universal truths about God—things that are true about God, not just at the Red Sea and not just for ancient Israel, but for all people in all places at all times. This is who your God is for you today.
He is eternal and unchanging, the Great I AM. God’s covenant name, Yahweh, is used nine times in this song—four times in the opening lines of the song. Remember the question Moses was afraid Israel would ask him? “‘If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they ask me, “What is his name?” what shall I say to them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’” (Exodus 3:13–14). God is no longer unknown to them. Now the whole nation sings: “The LORD is his name” (v. 3b). God has made himself known as the Great I AM, the God who is and was and will be, the unchanging, self-existent, infinite, and eternal God.
God is omnipotent. “The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. … Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy” (vv. 2 and 6). Verse 13 also sings of God’s strength, and v. 16 sings of “the greatness of your arm.” The song speaks repeatedly of the powerful forces of nature: the sea, the floods, the depths, the waters, the deeps, the wind, the mighty waters, and the earth (vv. 4–12). And the song celebrates God, who rules over the forces of nature and controls them to accomplish his purposes. After walking through the Red Sea on dry ground, who could doubt that God can do all things? Nothing is impossible for him!
God is a God of righteous wrath. “The LORD is a man of war …. Your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble. At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up” (Exodus 15:3, 6–8). (In Hebrew, “the blast of nostrils” is a figure of speech that refers to anger.) Of all God’s attributes, God’s wrath may be the most neglected attribute in our worship. But it is appropriate to praise God for hating sin and crushing evil. It is a glorious and praiseworthy attribute of God to judge wickedness, and it is good for your soul to sing about God’s wrath toward sin.
God is to be praised for his holiness. “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11). God is unrivaled and supreme above all gods and dictators. We call that God’s holiness—his otherness. There is none like him. Everything else that exists belongs to a class of things: your dog is one of many dogs; your car is one of many cars; you are one of billions of humans. But God is one of … one. Therefore, God is of infinite value and worth. God alone is to be feared, adored, honored, and praised.
Moses’ Song also praises God for his steadfast love. “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.” (Exodus 15:13). The attribute of God displayed in leading and guiding his people is his steadfast love. “Steadfast love” translates the Hebrew word hesed. Hesed is also translated as “unfailing love” (NIV), “mercy” (KJV), “faithfulness” (NASB), kindness, or loyalty. Daniel Fuller is helpful: “Hesed represented an action far beyond what one would be obligated or expected to do, thus conveying the idea of performing a benefit that is merciful and wonderful beyond all that is customary or even imaginable.” So hesed is God’s exceeding kindness, his commitment to do “far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20). It is God’s relentless commitment to do “surprisingly wonderful” things for his people. When you are the object of God’s kindness and unfailing love, you cannot help but sing about the greatness of his steadfast love.
Every one of God’s attributes is a fitting theme for songs. Do you know him? Do you love him and praise him for all that he is for you?
Sing because of what God will do (vv. 13–18).
In verse 13, there is a discernible shift from the Red Sea to the Promised Land: “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.” (Exodus 15:13). Verses 14–16 then speak of the Philistines, the Edomites, the Moabites, and the Canaanites, the nations who now stand between Israel and the Promised Land. And verse 17 says, “You will bring them [“the people you have purchased”] 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.” The point is that God’s victory over Pharaoh and Egypt in the past proves that God will be victorious over the nations that stand before them in the future.
Think back to the opening verses of Exodus. Exodus 1:7 said, “But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.” That is unmistakably the language of Genesis 1 and the blessing God first gave to Adam and Eve and later repeated to Noah and then to the descendants of Abraham. So God was blessing Israel, but Israel was in the wrong place. They were exiled in Egypt, outside of the land God had promised to Abraham. What’s more, they are oppressed and enslaved with no way out of Egypt.
The Song of Moses celebrates and anticipates the fulfillment of God’s purpose to plant his people in his place. In fact, Moses’ song prophetically declares that God will finish what he has begun—he will bring his people into the Promised Land. As Israel stood on the shore of the Red Sea, the conquest of the Promised Land had not yet happened. But Moses sang about it with confidence and certainty: “You have guided them by your strength to your holy abode. … You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, the place, O LORD, which you have made for your abode …” (Exodus 15:13, 17).
The future hope of God’s people has always been that they would dwell with God forever. At the Red Sea there was decreation and destruction for Egypt. But God’s purpose was to plant Israel securely in his own place, his abode, his sanctuary, where he would manifest his glory. God destroys evil and delivers his people with a purpose—that he might dwell with them forever. God’s people in God’s place with God’s presence—that is the theme of the Bible.
Have you noticed this is also the way we sing? Most of the songs we sing have a final verse that focuses on our future and eternal hope. We sang “All Hail the Glorious Christ” this morning. The last verse says,
And on that day upon Your mountain
You will gather Your redeemed
And we will feast and give all glory
To the King, to the King
Or “Christ Our Hope” ends with this verse:
Unto the grave, what shall we sing?
"Christ, he lives! Christ, he lives!"
And what reward will heaven bring?
Everlasting life with him
There we will rise to meet the Lord
Then sin and death will be destroyed
And we will feast in endless joy
When Christ is ours forevermore
Singing about what God will do causes our hearts to rejoice now in the eternal joy that awaits. And even though we have not yet arrived, that future reality already produces joy in us as we rehearse and anticipate the inheritance that is ours through Christ.
Do you sing by faith about all that God will do for you?
Conclusion
It’s worth noting that, while all the people of Israel sang this song (v. 1), the lyrics are personal: “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.” (Exodus 15:2, emphasis added).
Do you know him as your God? Is he your song? Do you sing to the LORD? When you join your voice in the chorus of saints redeemed by the grace of God and blood of the Lamb, you participate in the greatest and most glorious sound in all Creation.
Singing is one of the most powerful and effective ways to meditate on who God is, what he has done, and what he will do. When you sing to the Lord, God is glorified and your soul is satisfied in him.
May you be freshly affected by all that God is for you in Jesus Christ.