Exodus 15:1-19
The Song of Moses (Exodus 14:13, 14; Psalm 78:12–14)
1 Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying:
“I will sing to the LORD,
For He has triumphed gloriously!
The horse and its rider
He has thrown into the sea!
2 The LORD is my strength and song,
And 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 man of war;
The LORD is His name.
4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea;
His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea.
5 The depths have covered them;
They sank to the bottom like a stone.
6 “Your right hand, O LORD, has become glorious in power;
Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces.
7 And in the greatness of Your excellence
You have overthrown those who rose against You;
You sent forth Your wrath;
It consumed them like stubble.
8 And with the blast of Your nostrils
The waters were gathered together;
The floods stood upright like a heap;
The depths 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 be satisfied on 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, glorious in holiness,
Fearful in praises, doing wonders?
12 You stretched out Your right hand;
The earth swallowed them.
13 You in Your mercy have led forth
The people whom You have redeemed;
You have guided them in Your strength
To Your holy habitation.
14 “The people will hear and be afraid;
Sorrow will take hold of the inhabitants of Philistia.
15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed;
The mighty men of Moab,
Trembling will take hold of them;
All the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away.
16 Fear and dread will fall on them;
By the greatness of Your arm
They will be as still as a stone,
Till Your people pass over, O LORD,
Till the people pass over
Whom You have purchased.
17 You will bring them in and plant them
In the mountain of Your inheritance,
In the place, O LORD, which You have made
For Your own dwelling,
The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.
18 “The LORD shall reign forever and ever.”
19 For the horses of Pharaoh went with his chariots and his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought back the waters of the sea upon them. But the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.
The song of praises and thanksgiving by Moses give us many things to emulate in our own prayers for our deliverance from the bondage of sin in which we were once held in captivity. Moses praised the LORD for His triumphant hand in defeating Egypt while defending His own people and leading them through the waters of deliverance as their baptism into His grace. He also praised and exalted Him for becoming his salvation to give strength to sing these praises to Him in response, just as we who are saved in His Son and Christ find strength in knowing He saved us by grace and not by the might or wisdom of our own design. The promises to his fathers reminded him of the complete faithfulness of their God to be set free after four hundred years (Genesis 15:13-14) and led into the kingdom promised in Canaan to Abram and the rest through the years. They had not been forgotten through the adversity of suffering and great affliction of enslavement as evidenced by their escape with the protection of God in the cloud by day and fire by night that led to the exodus through the parted waters which crushed their enemies under the waves when they safely reached the other side. The LORD was extolled as a Man of war who fought for them by annihilating the pursuing army of chariots by blowing the passage through the Red Sea open for His people and then blowing it back onto their pursuers by the breath of His nostrils as if it took no effort at all for the Almighty so as not to need a full blast of breath from His mouth to do such a small thing for Him. The right hand of His authority and power showed His glory in sovereign power by dashing the enemy in pieces before them to set them free. Egypt had risen against and defied the living God and was put down by the greatness of His excellence as His judgments of the plagues had done before this miraculous exodus from bondage, just as we have each personally witnessed this great victory of the Lord for us in our own deliverance from the bondage of sin (Romans 6:18, 20, 22-23, 7:6, 8:21, Galatians 5:1) and led through the baptism in Christ (1 Corinthians 10:1-2) and His righteousness. In the final judgment, the Lord will also end those who reject the word of this grace of the gospel to let His people go free and who oppose those who are being saved by that unmerited grace. They will be not drowned in the flood of judgment as in Noah’s day nor as the sea covered the Egyptian army here, but in a lake of fire whose flame is never quenched (Isaiah 66:24, Mark 9:43-44, Revelation 20:10) and where the suffering never ends. God will enact judgment and justice together for all whom He delivers. Yes, who is like our God, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, and doing such wonders as dying on the cross and rising from the grave to deliver us from this horrible end which we all deserve for our disobedience of sin? As it says here, “You in Your mercy have led forth the people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength to Your holy habitation.” He will lead us home at last to see His face (Job 19:25-27, Revelation 22:3-4) and spend forever in His presence to offer these same sacrifices of thanksgiving and praise forever and ever! The enemies Israel would face when entering the promised land would hear of these judgments of God in Egypt and how they were delivered though the parted sea and late the parting of the Jordan when entering into their promised land, and would tremble in fear and turn to worship Him or suffer the consequences. Fear and dread would consume their enemies as they heard of the mercy and deliverance of God’s people purchased at such a price with God’s mighty hand. We have been purchased at the highest price of all (1 Corinthians 6:20, 7:23, Galatians 3:13-14, Revelation 5:9), that of God’s one and only own Son, and should be eternally grateful with songs of praise and thanksgiving in our hearts and lives and on our lips as a witness to all around us who are opposed to the word and work and person of Jesus Christ in whose hands alone their judgment and deliverance lies. The Lord promises us our inheritance as Moses sang and where God will dwell with us in His temple in the end as He reigns with us forever and ever, amen. We enter through the waters of deliverance as the picture and foreshadowing of Israel through the parted waters ensures us of the poet and authority of the Lord to do so. May all of us who have been given this hope praise and honor Him by bearing witness of His work of grace in His Son for all who call on His name (Joel 2:32, Romans 10:9-10, 13, 16-27) and trust in Him by receiving the Lord and His work on the cross and out of death to life (John 5:24) through faith! Who is like You, wonderful Lord?
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