The Song of Moses

Scripture passage: Exodus 15:1-18.

Introduction

Hallelujah. Today we’re continuing our studies in book 8 of the History of Redemption Series, Fulfillment of the Covenant of the Torch: Ten Plagues, Exodus, and Entry into Canaan.

And today we’re looking at the Song of Moses.

If you recall, the Israelites finally left Egypt. And soon after, the Pharaoh rallied his army and chased after them through the wilderness. And the Israelites found themselves backed into a corner, with the Red Sea before them, and the Egyptian army behind.

You know what happens next. The Red Sea parted, and they crossed through to the other side. And did the Egyptian army follow? Yes. They also went through the Red Sea. But unlike the Israelites, they didn’t make it to the other side. It says that the pillar of cloud that had been leading the Israelites through the wilderness actually came to their rear end and protected them from the Egyptians.

And before the Egyptians could cross out of the Red Sea, the waves came crashing down upon them.

And so the people of God saw the bodies of their former captors, and they responded by singing a song. It is, in fact, the first worship song recorded in the Bible. We call this the song of Moses. And by studying this song, we can learn about how to do praise and worship that’s acceptable to God.

Structure and Contents of the Song

So first, let’s look at the contents and structure of the song.

It’s a song about how the Lord saved Israel. So the main theme is salvation. And the focus is so much on God that Moses’ name isn’t even mentioned.

The song has four stanzas that follow an A-B-C pattern.

A: Praising God’s character/attributes

B: Description of God’s act of salvation

C: The outcome of salvation.

We can also reword it in the form of a question.

A: Who is God?

B: What has He done?

C: What does that mean for me?

Stanza 1: The Lord the Warrior who triumphed over Pharaoh (v.1-5)

A: God is a mighty warrior who fights for His people (v.1-3)

B: God cast the enemy into the sea (v.4)

C: The enemy drowned in the depths of the sea (v.5)

Stanza 2: The Lord the Creator who divided the sea at the blast of His nostrils (v.6-10)

A: God’s right hand is glorious in power (v.6)

B: God parted the Red Sea with the breath of His nostrils (v.7-9)

C: The enemy sank like lead in the depths of the sea (v.10)

Stanza 3: The Lord the King with absolute sovereignty (v.11-16)

A: God is the Lord who possesses absolute sovereignty (v.11)

B: God lovingly leads His people to His holy dwelling place by His strength (v.12-15)

C: Their enemies are stuck with terror and stand still as a stone (v.16)

Stanza 4: The Lord the Eternal Ruler over His people (v.17-18)

A: God plants His people on the mountain of His inheritance (v.17a)

B: God has prepared a sanctuary for His people, built by His own hands (v.17b)

C: God will reign forever and ever (v.18)

So from the structure of the Song of Moses, we learn how to respond to God’s self-revelation.

First, we see what God has done through His Word. Then we gain insight into God’s character. And finally, we reflect on what that means for us.

Usage of different perspectives in the Song of Moses

Now, there’s another thing about this song that I’d like us to notice. And it’s the usage of perspective.

There are three kind of perspectives or point of view.

First person point of view: I, me, my. “I surrender all” or “My heart sings praises.”

Second person point of view: You. “You are good” “You are mighty”

Third person point of view: He, God, the Lord. It’s singing about God rather than speaking to God. It describes God.

And the key thing to note is the usage of all three perspectives in the Song of Moses.

First-person voice: Singing about myself

Exodus 15:1 ESV

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.

Second-person voice: Singing to God

Exodus 15:6 ESV

Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.

Third-person voice: Singing about God

Exodus 15:18 ESV

The Lord will reign forever and ever.”

So when we worship God, we should choose songs that balance out the perspectives. What you want to avoid is having a whole worship set with songs only in one perspective, especially if it’s only the first person. Imagine singing for 30mins straight, “I feel this, I feel that. I will do this, I will do that. I promise this, I promise that.” That makes me the center of the worship.

Instead, we should learn from the Song of Moses and have a good balance between the three perspectives.

Purposes for the Song of Moses

There are three purposes for the Song of Moses.

Education

Worship

Hope

Purpose #1: Education

One of the purposes for the Song of Moses was education. Through songs, we take the great theological truths of who God is and make it a part of our collective understanding.

And the date of when this Song of Moses was sung tells us about who could sing it.

The Israelites crossed the Red Sea on the 21st day of the month, which was the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The unleavened bread symbolizes the pure undiluted uncontaminated Word of God. And if you didn’t eat this unleavened bread during those six days from the Exodus, you would be cut off from the people of God.

Exodus 12:18–19 ESV

In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land.

So what this means is that only those who receive the true Word of God can cross the Red Sea and sing the new song.

That’s why later on in the plains of Moab, when the Israelites were about to enter into Canaan, God gives Moses another song to teach the Israelites, so that they will remember the Word of God.

Deuteronomy 31:19 ESV

“Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel.

So what does this mean for us?

We need to carefully consider the worship songs we sing at home and in the church.

As we’ve seen, the song of Moses in Exodus 15 is rich in theology that’s based on God’s truth. But contrast that with many new and modern worship songs today, and we see a big difference. “He loves us, oh how He loves us, oh how He loves us, oh how He loves.” You even get some songs that go astray from the Bible, and people sing it because it sounds nice.

So before we listen or sing any worship songs, we must first have a good look at the lyrics of the song, and determine if it’s biblical and helpful for renewing our minds.

Purpose #2: Worship

Now, more than being a vessel of God’s truth, the Song of Moses was a piece of creative musical poetry.

This means that there was some skill involved in the creativity process. At first you have the concepts and themes you want to sing about. Then you need to figure out the right words to powerfully convey those truths. Then you need to choose a tempo, you need to compose a melody, and make sure the tempo, melody, and words all fit together.

That’s creativity. And the creativity of the song became a means for worshiping the Lord.

Now, what happens when we worship the Lord with songs?

First, as we’ve seen, worship songs shape our minds according to God’s Word.

But secondly, when we praise the Lord with song, we fulfill our purpose as human beings.

Isaiah 43:21 ESV

the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.

As we live in this world, it’s a constant struggle to praise God and give thanks at all times. But good worship songs are easy to remember and help us to praise God at anytime. When you’re driving, cooking, studying, doing nothing. Worship songs help us to align our hearts with God, and they help us to fulfill our purpose according to God’s Word.

And the Bible tells us that when we use creativity for God’s work, we are working in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Remember in Genesis 1, who was the main character there? Who was the one hovering over the waters?

Genesis 1:2 ESV

The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

It was the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit.

And through the Holy Spirit, there came light, and the light was separated from the darkness. Then the waters were separated into the waters above and waters below. Then the land was separated from the waters below, so on and so forth.

So the Holy Spirit’s work is to bring things into accord with God’s order. Our lives were like the chaos before creation. Formless and void. But because of the Holy Spirit at work in us, our lives are brought into accord with God’s holy order. Do you see?

In the same way, this Song of Moses was a Holy Spirit inspired work of creativity that restored God’s order into the minds and hearts of His people. It gives them a way to fulfill their God-given purpose of praise God and giving thanks.

So then, why sing a song? Why not just put the words into a creed and recite it in normal voices, like the Apostles’ Creed?

Here’s the thing. It’s difficult for many people to read something with unity. Someone’s reading faster, someone’s reading slower. Someone can’t pronounce the word, someone adds an extra word. It’s just difficult to do.

But if it’s a song, many people can put their voices together nicely. It’s the same words in the same tempo in the same melody. And what that does is it really allows us to appreciate the voices that God has given us.

Everyone has a unique voice. Some people have an angelic voice that’s crystal clear. Some people are a piercing trumpet with incredible volume. And many times, your voice reflects your personality also.

And when our voices are united together in praise, it shows our unity as individual personalities coming together in worship. And that creates a beauty that reflects the spiritual reality of the saints and angels singing in heaven. So the truth is that we’re doing what we will be doing in the new heavens and the new earth.

Purpose #3: Renewal

The third purpose for the Song of Moses is renewal. It renews our hope, it renews our love, and we gain new strength to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Christ.

The Song of Moses contains in its lyrics an assurance of God’s promises regarding the future. God promised to bring the Israelites into Canaan, and now the Israelites are singing with certainty about entering Canaan and having victory over the tribes.

Exodus 15:13–15 ESV

“You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode. The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia. Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.

Exodus 15:17 ESV

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.

Although God’s promise regarding Canaan had yet to be fulfilled, they sang as if it had already happened. That’s what it means to sing with faith. So we too must offer songs of praise, full of thanksgiving for what God has done and what He will do.

Conclusion

Finally, in conclusion, when we truly sing praises to God, we reveal our identity as the 144,000 who stand on Mount Zion.

Revelation 14:1–3 ESV

Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.

What is this new song? It is a song of praise sung by saints who have experienced a new depth of God’s grace and mercy, and who have been made into a new creation.

It says that their foreheads have been sealed with the seal of God. This is the seal of the Holy Spirit upon each believer, that unites them to Christ and makes them one.

And it also means that the eyes of their heart have been opened, and their minds have been renewed by the Word of God. So God has given them a new heart and a new spirit, and they walk in newness of life. And when they sing praises, it is a new song. They worship in spirit and in truth.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

The incredible reality is that our praises are received by the Father because they are praises from a new creation, made one with His Son. That’s the new song. We worship and praise the Father not as ourselves, but as us in Christ. And so our praises are received as praises from the Son of God to His Heavenly Father. 

So are you a new creation? Then when we sing, let us sing a new song of praise that declares the goodness of God and the hope we have because of Him. And let us sing with the assurance and certainty of faith that He has prepared a place for us, and one day, He will come to bring us home. Amen?