Sing To The Lord Series

“I WILL SING TO THE LORD” Ex. 15:1-21

FBCF – 5/30/21

Jon Daniels

INTRO – Yogi Berra, catcher NY Yankees & Hank Aaron, Milwaukee Braves. 1957, World Series. As usual, Yogi was keeping up ceaseless chatter behind the plate – intending to pep up his teammates on the one hand – & to distract the batters on the other.

As Aaron came to the plate, Yogi tried to distract him by saying: “Henry, you’re holding your bat wrong. You’re supposed to hold it so you can read the trademark.”

Aaron said nothing. When first pitch came --he hit it into the left-field bleachers. After rounding the bases & tagging up at home – he made sure to tell Yogi Berra:

“I came here to hit baseballs – not to read!”

We’ve come here to worship God! Let’s talk about what that truly means.

EXPLANATION – Exodus 15:1-21

Praise & worship of God are always the right response to His work in our lives. And that’s exactly what we see Moses leading the people to do – sing praise to God for the blessing of His deliverance. Worshiping Him, praising Him, thanking Him, & acknowledging His blessings has to be a priority in our lives. It’s the natural outflow of a heart that is right w/ the Lord.

This song of praise in Exodus 15 is the first song to the Lord recorded in Scripture. There are at least 184 others in the Bible, mostly in the book of Psalms which is basically the hymnal in the Bible. Song of Solomon is another song in itself, an epic love song between a bride & groom. Lamentations is another songbook in the Bible w/ 5 songs that mourn the fall of Jerusalem.

Beyond those books that are exclusively songbooks, we can find 35 other songs in the Bible, many of them sung by the children of Israel in times of victory & celebration.

- Moses sings the 1st song in the Bible here in Ex. 15, & his song is also the last one referenced in the Bible in Revelation 15.

- There are songs that were sung when water was found for the people; when their enemies were defeated in battle; when God protected them; & when God judged them & when God comforted them.

- And in Revelation 5, there is a majestic & powerful song sung to the Lamb of God (remember from the Passover? That Lamb is Jesus!). Revelation 5:9-10 – “And they sang a new song, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll & open its seals, for you were slain, & by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe & language & people & nation, & you have made them a kingdom & priests to our God, & they shall reign on the earth.’”

This song in Exodus 15 sets a great example before us of what a song of praise to God should look like.

- Spurgeon – “It teaches us not only to praise God concerning the literal overthrow of Egypt but to praise Him concerning the overthrow of evil & the final deliverance of all the chosen. It is God’s intent that from the day of Moses onward, even to the hour when flames of fire will lick up human works, & the heavens themselves will be dissolved w/ fervent heat, that this will be the song of the chosen people everywhere: ‘I will sing to the Lord, for His is exalted.’”

This song is all about God from beginning to end. Look at all these direct references to HIM:

- V. 1 – “I will sing TO the LORD for HE has triumphed gloriously…” “…HE has thrown…”

- V. 2 – “The LORD is…”

- V.3 – “The LORD is…”

- V. 4 – “…HE cast into the sea…”

- V. 6 – “YOUR right hand, O LORD…”

- V. 7 – “YOUR majesty…” “YOU…”

- V. 8 – “…YOUR nostrils…”

- V. 10 – “YOU blew…”

- V. 11-13 – “YOU…YOU…YOU…”

- V. 16 – “YOUR people…”

- V. 17 – “YOU…”

- V. 18 – “The LORD will reign…”

That’s what praise does – It always points away from ourselves & points to God.

- The focus is HIM

- The emphasis is HIM

- The subject is HIM

- The glory is HIS

- The honor is HIS

- The fame is HIS

APPLICATION – Praise to our God is always right. It should always be on our lips.

I WILL SING TO THE LORD:

WHY? – Why sing to the Lord & praise Him? Might think, “Well, that just what we do.” There’s an element of truth to that b/c it IS what we do. But we need to think about real reasons as to WHY we do it.