The Song of Moses
Notes
Transcript
The Song of Moses
Exodus 15:1-21
You may not know this about Moses, but he was a song writer. In fact, he wrote three songs that are recorded in the Bible:
Exodus 15
Deuteronomy 32
Psalm 90
This song can be easily outlined like this:
What God has done for His people (1-12).
What God is going to do for His people (13-18).
I’m going to pull some truths from this song that will teach us about singing to the Lord.
1. God’s people should sing together to the Lord (1; 20-21).
A. Singing should be congregational.
“Moses and the people of Israel”
In this song it appears there are four stanzas
1-5
6-10
11-13
14-17
The first two end with the enemy sinking into the sea (5, 10).
The second two end with a reference to believers being led into the presence of God (13, 17).
There is a chorus (21)
It says Miriam led the women in this chorus playing tambourines.
The Hebrew people often sand antiphonally.
That means they alternated parts. So, what probably happened is the men sang the stanzas and after each stanza the women would sing the chorus.
Imagine how beautiful it was hearing all those folks sing!
Not many of us can sing, but we sure sound good together!
Some of you may not like to sing because you don’t think you have a good voice.
“Let them sing, they have a better voice than me.”
They may have a better voice, but they don’t have a better salvation.
We don’t sing because we have a great voice.
We sing because we have a great salvation.
Does it get any better than hearing a Baptist church sing “Victory in Jesus?”
I’m not saying we can’t ever have a solo. In the Bible there are very few solos but there is a whole lot of congregational singing.
B. Singing should be directed to the LORD (1).
“to the LORD”
In this song the name of the LORD is mentioned ten times. Moses isn’t mentioned once.
In verse 2 he says the LORD is my song. He is the reason we sing.
I went to a megachurch once and they sang Frank Sinatra in the AM service.
People loved it. They clapped.
Some songs today you don’t know if it’s a love song or a church song. Our songs should be clearly directed toward the Lord.
YHWH, JHVH is mentioned ten times in this song!
The more general term for God is used in addition to the ten times the name of the Lord is used.
When I got saved one of my favorite songs to sing was:
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, There’s just something about that name
Master, Savior, Jesus like the fragrance after the rain.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, let all heaven and earth proclaim.
Kings and Kingdoms will all pass away, but there’s something about that name!
You know why I loved singing that song?
It was Jesus who saved me!
That makes sense don’t it?
We sing to the Lord because it is He who has saved us!
We all sing to the Lord because He has saved us all!
2. Singing is the natural response to our salvation.
A. This song was inspired by God’s actions for Israel at the Red Sea.
When they were on the other side of the Sea they were complaining.
Thought they were going to die.
Wanted to quit.
Mad at Moses.
When they got to the other side, turned around and saw what God did to Egypt they were happy!
I’m sure a lot of them said WOOOOH!
Clapping
Shouting
Crying
High Fiving
Look at verse 1:
“I will sing to the LORD for He has triumphed gloriously; the horse and rider He has thrown into the sea!”
These folks were so happy they couldn’t help but sing. It was only natural that they sang about the salvation God had given them.
B. Christians sing about the salvation Christ has given us.
We sing about being saved.
Psalm 106:12 says the reason they sang this song to the Lord was because they believed His words.
Obviously, their salvation was fresh in their minds. It just happened. We continue to sing about our salvation to keep it fresh on our minds.
I love to sing about being saved.
Years I spent in vanity and pride
Caring not my Lord was crucified
Knowing not it was for me He died
On Calvary
By God’s Word at last my sin I learned;
Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned
Till my guilty soul imploring turned
To Calvary
Now I’ve given to Jesus everything
Now I gladly own Him as my King
Now my raptured soul can only sing
Of Calvary!
Oftentimes when I’m singing, I think about when God saved me. You should too.
That’ll make you sing louder!
That’ll make you smile when you sing!
Look at verse 2:
The Lord is my strength and my song and He has become my salvation!
Some may wonder why we sing so much about being saved.
Because the greatest thing God has ever done for me is save me.
C. Christians are and always will be singers.
The song of Moses is the first song mentioned in the Bible.
The song of Moses is coupled with the last song mentioned in the Bible: The Song of the Lamb.
Interestingly it is found in Revelation 15.
Context:
Tribulation is over.
Those whom God has saved are standing beside the sea of glass.
They sing the song of Moses and the Lamb.
Song of Moses
Victory over Egypt & Pharaoh beside the Red Sea.
Song of the Lamb- Victory over Babylon and Satan beside the sea of glass.
In Exodus we see God beginning to save His people and they are singing. In Revelation we see God completing His salvation and His people are singing.
The glimpses we have of heaven include God’s people singing about their salvation.
Worth is the Lamb who was slain! (Rev. 5:12)
Why do we sing eternally about our salvation?
Because we are eternally saved!
3. Singing reminds us of the victory we have in Christ (6-10).
A. Israel saw God as the great Warrior.
A man of War (3)
Cast pharaoh’s chariots and his host into the sea (4)
He sunk them like lead (10)
The right hand of God is glorious in power and He shatters His enemies with it (6)
Overthrows His adversaries (7)
Too many people today view God as a grandfatherly figure.
He is a man of war.
In verse 11 we see “Who is like you O Lord among the gods?”
God had just defeated all of Israel’s gods through a series of ten plagues.
There is a great war going on in this world. God didn’t start this war, but He is going to finish it.
He’s not going to sit back and let Satan and evil people have their way. God will bring peace, but He will do it through war. God isn’t going to love the devil away.
Just as He proved Himself more powerful than the false gods of Egypt, He will show Himself more powerful than Satan and his host.
B. The Christian has an enemy who has been defeated (9).
He is defeated but he keeps coming after us:
I will pursue
I will overtake
I will divide the spoil
I will draw my sword and destroy them
The good news is I don’t have to do a thing he says.
He can tempt me, but he can’t make me.
He can threaten me, but he can’t hurt me.
This is why we sing:
He breaks the power of canceled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean;
His blood availed for me.
And
And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God has willed
his truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure,
for lo! his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell him.
Christ has conquered me!
Christ has conquered the devil!
Christ has conquered the grave!
Our Great Captain, the Lord Jesus Christ, spilt a lot of blood to give us victory. We ought to sing about it. We ought to live that victory!
C. Singing helps us in the process of sanctification.
We underestimate how much this world has influenced us.
Most of what we: Watch, listen to, and do throughout the week is immersed in worldly ideology.
Singing helps us ask ourselves the hard questions:
My Strength, My Song, My Salvation, My God.
Is this true Lord?
Do I have victory in Jesus?
I have heard it said that Christians may not tell lies but they sure sing them.
I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold…
Is that true?
Is it well with my soul?
Remember, when we sing, we are praying. We are talking to God. We should consider the words we are saying to Him. Do we mean them? Are they reality in our lives?
Do we sing about the forgiveness of God yet hold onto unforgiveness in our hearts?
Do we sing about the holiness of God yet live in sin?
Singing to the Lord while living in hypocrisy is like bringing an unworthy offering to the Temple. That offering was rejected. Our songs are only received by God when they come from a heart of sincerity and truth.
4. We sing about the great acts of God.
A. We should sing about what God has done.
This song is about a historical event. God parted the Red Sea. God destroyed Israel’s enemy. God saved Israel.
They sang the story of the Red Sea.
We are to sing the story of the gospel.
We have songs that simply tell the gospel story.
Victory in Jesus:
I heard an old old story, how a Savior came from glory
How He gave His life on calvary to save a wretch like me.
Because He lives:
God sent His Son, they called Him Jesus
He came to love, heal and forgive
He lived and died to buy my pardon
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives
Tell me the Story of Jesus:
Tell of the cross where they nailed Him,
Writhing in anguish and pain;
Tell of the grave where they laid Him,
Tell how He liveth again.
Love in that story so tender,
Clearer than ever I see;
Stay, let me weep while you whisper,
“Love paid the ransom for me.”
We sing the gospel story. There is no greater story.
B. We should sing about what God is going to do.
In verses 13-18 Moses speaks about something that hasn’t happened yet. He says the Lord is going to lead His people into the Promised Land. He speaks in the past tense because although it has not yet happened it is certain to happen because God said it would.
He paints a picture of Israel marching through hostile territory on their way to Canaan. Their enemies cannot stop them.
Look at verse 16. “they are as still as a stone”
You may wonder why we sing about heaven if we are not there yet. We sing about it because it’s a done deal. We are going to heaven. We are marching to Zion and there is nothing the devil can do about it!
We love to sing:
On Jordan's stormy banks I stand,
and cast a wishful eye
to Canaan's fair and happy land,
where my possessions lie.
I love that last stanza:
It captures the heart of a person ready to go to heaven:
When shall I reach that happy place,
I'll be forever blest?
When shall I see my Father's face,
And in his bosom rest?
We sing about a Savior who brought us out.
We sing about a Savior who is going to bring us in.
Folks:
There is coming a day,
When no heart aches shall come,
No more clouds in the sky,
No more tears to dim the eye,
All is peace forever more,
On that happy golden shore,
What a day, glorious day that will be.
What a day that will be,
When my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face,
The One who saved me by His grace;
When He takes me by the hand,
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be.
We ought to sing about heaven!
Our Father is there!
Our reward is there!
Our home is there!
Our family is there!
When Christ leads us over what a song we will sing!
In heaven we will look back at all Christ has done for us.
The Battles He fought
The Blood He shed
The Blessings He gave
We will sing to Him of all the things He has done for us.
The two greatest acts of God in your life are:
The day God saved you.
The day God will take you to heaven!
Has He saved you? Do you have something to sing about?The Song of Moses