Our Response to Deliverance

‍Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. (Exodus 15:1)

‍The nation of Israel had just experienced the power of God to deliver them out of bondage and through the Red Sea to safety. Their immediate response was to worship the great deliverer Himself – Jehovah Mephalti (Psalm 18:2).

I’ve been connecting these events to the sufferings of Christ and our own response of worship. Those waters which allowed His chosen people through, spoke of His discernment of evil, destruction of evil (in part) and the damage which evil has caused – death! Just as those waves came crashing down in judgement upon the soldiers of Pharaoh’s army, so the righteous judgement of God was poured out on His Son in a fullness we can never fully comprehend. But as Clarke Logan once said, “there are things we will never understand, but that is okay because it makes us wonder. And when we begin to wonder, we begin to worship… wonder leads to worship.”

So, we sing with the Psalmist, “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad.” (Psalm 126:3).

And when we consider the words of Exodus 15, we see a beautiful song of worship and exaltation worthy of consideration and meditation. There are five aspects of this song that I would like to consider, both in context of the nation of Israel and our current context today.

‍The nation sang a song of Direction – “I will sing to the Lord” (verse 1). The nation of Israel recognised where, or who, their praise and worship should be directed towards. It wasn’t by their own strength or might that they were delivered out of bondage, it wasn’t by their own devices that they had crossed the Red Sea and as such, it should never be that the theme of their praise was themselves. They rightfully recognised who it was that had provided for them and they brought their praise to Him, to Jehovah. Let us not forget the one who has bought us and brought us, by His blood, to the position we enjoy today as God’s people and seek to direct our praise to Him and to Him only, “…to whom be glory, for ever. Amen” (Romans 11:36).

The nation sang a song of Proclamation – “I will praise Him … I will exalt Him” (verse 2). The natural result for these people, upon consideration of what has taken place and what has been done for them by their God, was to bring praise to His name. It can be said that the man who has God for his strength, will have Him for his song and he to whom God has become salvation, will exalt His name. We, too, should want to praise our Lord for bringing us into a blessed peace found in no other but him.

‍The nation sang a song of Identification – “He is my God” (verse 2). There was a realisation here of their new identity, they were no longer the ‘slaves of Egypt’ but were now the ‘people of God’. There is a sense of belonging found in these words, they had come to a God who was personal. This wasn’t some abstract concept or distant being as seen in the hopelessness of Baal: “O Baal hear us! But there was no voice; no one answered” (1st Kings 18:26).

And that is true for us. The God we have come to know is a personal one – one who has revealed Himself to us, not just in His mere existence, but in His very nature and character. The loving character of our God that led Him to send His only begotten Son into the world, to save it, to save us. And it is because of that, that our identity is found in Christ (Galatians 2:20).

The nation sang a song of Adoration – “glorious in holiness” (verse 11). Here is the first mention of this idea of ‘holiness’. An attribute of God that has been hidden up until this point, not known or revealed. Note the time that such a characteristic of His person was revealed, it was at the time of Israel’s redemption. Not only is this one of His characteristics, but through grace we are made partakers of it through the true redemption in Christ. We have been made holy in His sight (Ephesians 1:4). 

The nation sing a song of Anticipation – “Till your people pass over, O Lord” (Verse 16). The people of Israel were looking forward to the time where they would dwell in the land which the Lord had promised them. There was something waiting ahead for them. But that did not mean that there was an emptiness in their current situation, no far be it! For they could sing to the Lord in verse 13 “…thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.” They were looking forward to the future blessing, “Thou shalt plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance” (verse 17).

What a prospect awaited them, what a prospect awaits the people of God. We have a hope where we will forever be with the one who is our redeemer; to go to the place that is being made ready, the mansions of glory (John 14:2-3). The nation would look forward to the day when they would possess the promise; but whilst they journeyed on towards it, they were already with Him. What a truth! For the believer has no need to wander along the wilderness of life, we have the great Comforter, the Holy Spirit, with us each step of the way. And we ever have access into the very throne room of God through the blood of Christ where we can cast our worries and cares upon Him.