“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.
Praise is always directed to God. Sometimes we say, “I praise you b/c of what you’ve done. And sometimes we say, “I praise you b/c of who you are.” Moses did both of those & we should, too.
B/c of all the great things He has done – This entire passage points to the great things that God did for His people & for Moses.
- He caused them to triumph & be victorious
- He caused them to be safe & set free
- He let them see His amazing power on display
How true are all of these things for us, too! He’s given us:
- Victory – 1 Corinthians 15:56-57 – “The sting of death is sin & the power of sin is the Law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”
- Safety – Psalm 4:8 – “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, Lord, make me live in safety.” (CSB)
- Freedom – 2 Corinthians 3:17 – “…where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.”
- Power – Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
B/c of who He is – Moses was clear in his praise of who God is:
- V. 2 – “…my strength, my song, my salvation, my God…”
- V. 3 – “…a man of war…” – Simply put: The Exodus showed that you don’t mess w/ God. He will put you in your place & show you that He is God & you’re not.
The power of God, the majesty of God, the might of God are all reasons to sing to Him & praise Him.
B/c He is unique – This event was certainly a God-thing & showed God’s superiority & sovereignty over all the false Egyptian gods. Lincoln Brewster - “There is no one like our God, There is no one like our God; There is no other God who can save, there is no one like our God.”
What makes our God unique?
- All other religions make man reach up to their god & appease him through their self-effort – Our God reaches down to us.
- All other religions are a system of do’s & don’ts. Our God wants a personal relationship w/ us.
- All other gods are dead, lifeless deities as the Psalmist said in Psalm 114:4-7 – “Their idols are…the work of human hands…mouths, but do not speak…eyes, but do not see…ears…noses…hands, but do not feel…feet, but do not walk; they do not make a sound in their throat.” Our God is ALIVE! The resurrection really did happen! Angel said, “He is not here! He has risen, just as He said” (Matthew 28:6).
B/c He is not finished w/ us – Moses didn’t just recall what God HAD done – He looked forward to what God was going to do in the future.
- V. 18 – “The Lord WILL REIGN forever & ever.”
- This echoes all throughout Scriptures & reaches all the way to us here today!
B/c He created us to WORSHIP! – Psalm 95:6-8 – “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, & we are the people of his pasture, & the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness.”
Worship God! Bow down to Him! Kneel before Him! Why? B/c He is our God & has created us to worship Him. He hasn’t created us to harden our hearts toward Him or rebel against Him.
o TRADITIONAL & REFUGE
o Worship @ Frandtzy’s church
WHEN? – There are a couple of more obvious times when we need to sing to the Lord & praise Him:
When you know that He has saved you – God rescued, delivered, & saved His people. And He has done the same thing for all those who’ve been saved by His GRACE! What an incredible thing to know – that, even though you are a sinner who cannot do anything to safe yourself; even though you deserve death & hell; out of His amazing love & amazing grace & mercy, God has saved you & saved you FOREVER!
- If you DON’T have this incredible knowledge, then now is the time for you to call out to Him & be saved!
When you know that He has protected you – When is last time you know God had His hand of protection on you? Storm? Sickness? Accident? Bad decision? Intense temptation?
- Chuck Swindoll – Canada years ago – Gone from home over a week – Lonely & tired – Late supper at hotel – Got on elevator to go to room, when 2 women stepped in w/ him. He pressed 6th floor where his room was. Asked ladies, “Which floor?” “Six is as good as any for us. Have any plans this evening?” Verses of Scripture flew to his mind – “Reap what you sow” – “Put on full armor of God” – “Dead to sin but alive to God.”
- Praise God for those times of protection!
When you don’t know how He is working – But then there are those times when you DON’T know how He’s working – can’t see His obvious hand in your life. What do you do then? Praise Him anyway b/c He’s ALWAYS worthy of our praise!
- 1 Corinthians 2:9 – “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.” (NLT)
- When you can’t see Him – can’t hear Him – can’t imagine what He’s up to – just know that He has plans prepared for you! So praise Him!
HOW? – So, we know why we sing to the Lord & worship Him. And we know when we sing to the Lord & worship Him. But HOW do we sing to the Lord & worship Him? This has NOTHING to do w/ our personal preferences. This isn’t about being a musician, or hitting the right notes, or being in the choir or in the Refuge band. How we sing to Him & worship Him has to do w/ these 3 things:
With truth – We focus our mind’s attention & heart’s affection on the truth of God as revealed in His Word & in our lives.
With humility – We recognize that our God is “majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, & doing wonders” (v. 11). And when we compare ourselves to Him, it drives us to our knees in worship.
With excitement – Time to grab a tambourine & go to dancing! When Miriam & all the women saw what God had done, saw how awesome He is, & saw that they were truly free, their response was pure joy & excitement as they worshiped Him! Miriam led out & all the women followed.
CONCLUSION/TAKEAWAYS
