(Freedom series) "Give me my theme Music!" (Exodus 15.1-18)
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Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:
“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and my might,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a warrior;
the Lord is his name.
“Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he cast into the sea;
his picked officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
The floods covered them;
they went down into the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power—
your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy.
In the greatness of your majesty you overthrew your adversaries;
you sent out your fury, it consumed them like stubble.
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.
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.’
You blew with your wind, the sea covered them;
they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in splendor, doing wonders?
You stretched out your right hand,
the earth swallowed them.
“In your steadfast love you led the people whom you redeemed;
you guided them by your strength to your holy abode.
The peoples heard, they trembled;
pangs seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed;
trembling seized the leaders of Moab;
all the inhabitants of Canaan melted away.
Terror and dread fell upon them;
by the might of your arm, they became still as a stone
until your people, O Lord, passed by,
until the people whom you acquired passed by.
You brought them in and planted them on the mountain of your own possession,
the place, O Lord, that you made your abode,
the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established.
The Lord will reign forever and ever.”
Intro:
What is most fascinating to me freedom is when we are gifted the opportunity to step into the mind of the artist
..as they begin to describe the wind behind the lyrics to their song.
(pause)
A lot of times we think we understand what a songwriter has written based on personal experiences.
(slight pause)
But it's not until they actually reveal what was in their heart or mind at the time the song was written that we fully grasp their intentions
(slight pause)
And even bigger than that is the reason that suggests why they write or sing the song in the first place.
(slight pause)
because there is always a backstory!
(pause)
Barrel:
I was watching an interview with (gospel artist) Fred Hammond
it was talking about how at three months before his mother passed she shared with him how she tried to have him aborted when she was pregnant with him.
(slight pause)
She went through the process and there was some bleeding but she never miscarried.
(slight pause)
so she went back to the doctors and told them it didn't work, and they confirmed that he was still there and shared how they were going to try a second time.
(slight pause)
But his mother said she could not go through with it a second time and got dressed and ran out of the facility.
(slight pause)
And....
Fred Hammond said,
“this is why I don't play with God”
because when the doctors were using tools to destroy me..
.... God reached in and guarded my head!
(pause)
And he went on to say......
God has hid me.....
.. and continues to cover me
... and I have been chosen to do some thing and I am going to do it to the best of my ability.
(pause)
you see freedom,
.... until you know the backstory
..... you don't really know who you listening to
.... and you don't really know what you listening to
(pause and expound)
In today's text we are diving directly into the backstory with Moses in Israel....
this percope or grouping of scripture is known as the song of Moses.
... and it is sang by a nation indicating the redeemer's role in their freedom from slavery in Egypt.
(pause)
The significance that we discovered immediately,
proportionately rests on the question of...
“ what has been the redeemer's role in our freedom?”
(pause)
and I wonder if any of you are aware that the redeemer has a role in your freedom!
(pause and expound)
Because....
.... there is a difference in worshiping a God that we are wondering,
“ God are you dependable?”
versus
worshiping a God that we know is dependable!
(pause)
And in my spiritual imagination I see Moses and Israel saying,
“ I am not worshiping with a question mark”
“We are worshipping with an Exclamation point!”
(pause)
Look at it.....
Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:
“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.
this is the first song of Israel on record
.. for 80 years or more prior to this point they have been bound in Egypt
.... and instead of joy and celebration they were confined to a sad song
.... A melody of pain a beat of sadness is all they have been able to find rhythm in.
(pause)
but in the last 24 hours.....
God has done something amazing....
(pause)
The text says....
.... The horse and rider was thrown into the sea!
(Slight pause)
meaning...
…this is a “Decisive”defeat....
and so God has settled the entire issue all together.
(pause)
Freedom....
Have you ever had a battle where God granted you, a “Decisive” Victory?
Moses said,
..... there wasn't even a question as to whether or not our enemies were defeated in this battle
(pause)
and then in verse two he says
The Lord is my strength and my might,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
“This is my God!”
My strength - Refuge or protection
My power - This is the way strength moves. {Power = force x velocity(speed)}
......so not only is God my protector, but God determines how fast my protection moves. Which ultimately decides what my protection looks like.
(pause and optional expound)
3. my salvation - Deliverance over my oppressor
4. My God - EL (The strong One)
5. The God of my ancestors [Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob]~ they all have a backstory of how El-Ohim has been mighty
(Pause)
Moses says.....
.. this is who I will exalt in praise
I hear Moses saying...
“Israel, we got our own backstory!”
(pause)
Look at verse 3....
The Lord is a warrior;
the Lord is his name.
The text says...
.....Our God showed up as a brave, experienced fighter!
..... and Adonai is His name
(slight pause)
Freedom.... you must understand,
.... culturally speaking during this time frame when people spoke about their god in the ancient near east they would describe them as warriors
(slight pause)
So in my spiritual imagination....
I see Moses sticking his chest out saying....
“Our God is the warrior of all warriors, and let me break it down for you as to how that is”
(pause)
“Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he cast into the sea;
his picked officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
The floods covered them;
they went down into the depths like a stone.
Moses said......
“If you take a stone and dropped it in the middle of the sea....
......the same way you watch that stone fall all the way down to the bottom
.....is the same way we watched those who thought they could mishandle us!
(slight pause)
Every officer that yelled “Beat’em”
Every soldier that laid his hands on us.....
God said........
“I’ll handle this!”
(pause)
Moses exactly what did God use to handle these oppressors?
Baker........
God did it with God’s “Right” hand!
(pause)
What does that mean Pastor?
Anytime the bible is talking about God’s Right hand.......
.....it’s symbolizing God’s power!
(pause)
And so Freedom.....
When God means business.......
....God doesn’t throw out the left hand
but instead....
......God throws out that Right hand!
(pause and expound)
And......
.....for the Right hand to be called “glorious in power” in the text
.....it has to suggest that the strength of God is impressive with beauty or dignity!
(pause)
Barrel:
One day earlier this week I was taking Kennedy to school in the morning and she looked up in the sky and said,
“Daddy look at all these stars!”
.....and what my babygirl was really saying is that,
“She was impressed with God’s.....
........Right hand!”
(pause)
On another day earlier this week I was walking Braxton to the bus stop and she said,
“Daddy, look at how that stick looks like its hanging in mid air because of that spider web!”
....and what my other babygirl was really saying is that,
“She was impressed with God’s.....
.......Right hand!”
(pause)
What’s your point Pastor?
What I’m trying to explain to you family is that whether we are talking about the stars.........
........or spider webs!
The Right hand of God........
.........is absolutely IMPRESSIVE!!!!
(pause)
And Moses says.....
It was the tremendous force of God’s Right hand that.....
......Crushed their enemy into pieces!
(pause)
And then in verse 7 Moses says,
“But hold on, because I got more to talk about in my backstory!”
In the greatness of your majesty you overthrew your adversaries;
you sent out your fury, it consumed them like stubble.
In other words.....
....God you have gained great honor by defeating your enemies, and destroying them.
(pause)
Freedom don’t miss this.....
....because if you’re not careful you might think that the enemy that is trying to oppress you is yours!
(pause)
But Moses says.....
.....you need to rewrite your sont if it says “My enemies!”
(slight pause)
Because.....
.....what it should say is,
“God you defeated YOUR adversaries”
See......
.....they thought they were attacking you
.....but because God’s hand was covering you!
(slight pause)
They were in actuality......
......making themselves an adversary of God...
(pause)
That’s why you rearely see me fighting......
.....because when my adversary attacks me
.....I just look up and say,
“God this one is yours!”
(pause and expound)
Moses said.....
God you released your agner that was so hot it....
.....burned them up like pieces of straw!
(slight pause)
And then in verse 8.....
......the poet uses this Anthropomorphism that says,
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.
In other words....
You blew the “Ruach” or the wind out of your nose.....
....and used it to pile up the waters of the sea like a wall
....and then you caused the deepest part of the sea to become frozen like ice.
(pause)
And then in verse 9 Moses says....
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.’
The text says,
The soldiers and Pharoah were running after us as if......
.....they were convinced that they were going to catch us and get rid of us.
(slight pause)
But notice Freedom.....
.....that what the enmy planned to accomplish against Israel are all incomplete actions in this stanza of Moses’s song!
(pause)
They said they were going to pursue.....
They said they were going to overtake.....
They said they wanted to divide Israels possessions.....
They said they were planning to pull out their sword and destroy them.....
(slight pause)
But the song says.......
.....although they planned to do all of that
.....It NEVER happened!
(pause)
And.....
.....some of us need to write our song in a way that says,
“You wanted to...............
...........but you didn’t!”
(pause and expound)
And in verse 10 Moses says,
“But let me tell you what is Complete!”
You blew with your wind, the sea covered them;
they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
The text says.....
You blew with the “Ruach” again.....
…and this time you put the enemies to bed
.....by covering them with the comforter that was woven together with waters
.....as they dropped to the bottom of the sea!
(pause)
And then in verse 11 Moses says,
“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in splendor, doing wonders?
In other words....
…after hearing the backstory!
Do you really believe that there’s any other god greater than our God?
(slight pause)
Moses says,
Glorius in Holiness
meaning.....
Essential in Nature
Divinely Perfect
Entirely Sacred
(slight pause)
ii. Fearful in Praise
meaning....
There is a reverential fear that angels and humanity have of God..
....because of the fearful miracles we have watched God perform.
(slight pause)
iii. Greater in Doing Wonders
meaning....
God is eternally doing wonders in Creation, Redemption, and Providence.
(pause)
Moses says,
“Who else has a God like this?”
(pause)
Look at it now....
You stretched out your right hand,
the earth swallowed them.
According to the text.....
There was an earthwquake that made......
.......long, narrow openings in the bottom of the Red Sea that swallowed up the Egyptians.
(pause)
And Freedom......
....when I looked at this I thought about how we see God affecting nature in our lifetime.
(slight pause)
And it could just be me.....
.....but I am almost convinced that we don’t give God as much credit anymore.....
We have intellectualized God out of natural happenings around us.
We have appropriated in error what is extraordinary to the category of oridinary
(slight pause)
If you don’t believe me.....
.....just listen to how we talk the next time something extraordinary happens in our lives.....
We do our best to explain how it happened without even mentioning God’s role
(pause)
But if you ask me......
......that’s a poorly written song!
(pause)
I want my song to sound like Moses’s song!
I want my lyrics to say.......
God you led us!
......you grabbed our hand and said I’m here to “RESCUE” you
and....
With your power you guided us to your sanctuary.
(slight pause)
Freedom.....
....this lyric in Moses’s song is illustrating for us,
....how the shepherd leads the sheep to a watering place!
(pause)
And I wish we could write music with our lives again......
........that sounded like the sanctuary was our watering place!
(pause)
The Psalmists said it like this when he says......
“One thing I ask from the Lord......
This ONLY do I seek after.......
......that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
......all the days of my life!!
(pause)
{Closing Note: Come on Rod......I’m getting ready to close!}
Freedom......
.....Whatever you do
........never forget our Freedom song!
(pause)
If you keep reading in verses 14 - 16 the neighbors of the surrounding cities...
.....heard what God has done for Israel
(slight pause)
And.....
....based on the evidence of God’s strenght and love for Israel, everybody took notice!
(pause)
But what I love mose is that at the end of verse 16 it says.....
“They became still as stone, until your people passed by!”
Now.....
.....I don’t know where the exact spot is that they saw the people passing by.
It could have been that they were passing by them as they were standing in their yards
It could have been that they were passing by at the entrance of their cities...
(pause)
But wouldn’t it be powerful........
........if these neighbors in Moses’s song
......actually caught a glimpse
....of the REDEEMED crossing over dry land in the Red Sea!
(pause)
Freedom......
.....I don’t really know when they saw them crossing over!
(pause)
But here’s what I do know.......
.........They did see them!
(pause)
.......the same Israel that groaned for 80 years
......the same Israel that was under the yoke of oppression handed out by Egypt
(slight pause)
.....is the same Israel that God has RANSOMED in the last 24 hrs
The ones God Redeemed
The ones God has SET FREE
The ones God wants RELATIONSHIP with
(pause)
Freedom.....
.....I don’t know how you feel about it
(slight pause)
But this is why I need the DJ to........
“Give me my THEME MUSIC!”
(slight pause)
Because......
.....Moses aint just singing his backstory
.....but Moses is singing OUR BACKSTORY!
(pause)
We’ve got some FAITH STORIES......
....that are CENTERED on God’s SALVATION!
(pause)
“Give me my THEME MUSIC!”
(slight pause)
In Chains I was bound.........Now have been broken
Doors that were shut........have been flung wide open
(pause)
“On Christ the Solid Rock I stand.......
.....all other ground is sinking stand
(pause)
“Give me my Theme Music!”
(pause)
“Guide me o thou great Jehovah......
.....Pilgrim through this barren land
I am weak but thou are mighty....
.....Hold me with your POWERFUL HAND!”
(pause)
I don’t know about you Freedom family.....
but I got a life full of backstories that are written over Freedom lyrics!!
Let the REDEEMED of the LORD say so!!!
(pause)
This aint about.......Old School
and.......
This aint about.......New School
(slight pause)
But..........
.........this song got a BACKSTORY!
Lyrics like......
Lay hands on the sick.......and we shall RECOVER
By his stripes...........we shall be HEALED
But our God.......shall SUPPLY all of our needs
Our sight........has been RECOVERED
Our broken heart..........has been BOUND UP
..........COMPLETION...............