The Song Of The Redeemed Series

A little more than 10 years ago (2011), comedian Steve Martin introduced the entire atheist hymnal (on one page of paper). He called it, “Atheists Don’t Have No Songs.” Take a look (show Atheists Don't Have No Songs—Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers).

Christians have their hymns and pages,

Hava Nagila’s for the Jews,

Baptists have the rock of ages,

Atheists just sing the blues.

Romantics play Claire de Lune,

Born agains sing “He is risen,”

But no one ever wrote a tune,

For godless existentialism.

For Atheists there’s no good news.

They’ll never sing a song of faith.

In their songs they have one rule:

The “he” is always lowercase.

(Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmwAD7nHqaY)

Atheists don’t have no songs, because they have nothing to sing about. On the other hand, believers have lots of songs, because they have a lot to sing about even when they face uncertain days.

If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Exodus 15, Exodus 15, where we have the first recorded song in the Bible. God’s people sang it after their escape from Egypt and before they began their long and perilous journey to the Promised Land. It’s the song of the redeemed of any age. And it can be your song through uncertain days as you make your way to heaven.

Exodus 15:1 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 (ESV).

God had just drowned the entire Egyptian army in the Red Sea after the people of Israel walked on dry ground through that same sea (Exodus 14:27-30). God had defeated Israel’s enemy, and Israel was free for the first time in over 400 years. Do you long to be free? Then listen to this song of the redeemed.

Exodus 15:2-3 The LORD is my strength and my song, 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 man of war; the LORD is his name (ESV).

The Lord is a Mighty Warrior, worthy of praise.

Exodus 15:4-7 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen 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, shatters the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble (ESV).

The Egyptians had forced the Israelites to scramble about for the “stubble” of straw to make bricks. Now, God reduced the Egyptians to “stubble” as He delivers the people of Israel from their oppressors (Coover-Cox, CSB Study Bible).

Exodus 15:8-10 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 (ESV).

The wind was not a natural phenomenon. It was the very breath of God, which opened a way of escape for the people of Israel and then blew the sea shut over her enemies. Try as they might, the people of Israel could not free themselves. They had to depend on the power of God to set them free. And that’s what you must do to be free.

RELY ON GOD’S SURPASSING POWER.

Depend on the Mighty Warrior Himself. Trust the strong arm of the Almighty to deliver you.

When our kids were little, I’d often grab their hand especially when crossing the street or walking into an area where the potential for danger lurked. Their fingers might clutch my hand, as well, but their safety did not depend on their feeble grasp of my hand. Oh no! Their safety depended on the strong grasp of my hand on theirs.

In the same way, you may hold onto God in tough times, but your well-being does not depend on your feeble grasp of Him. It depends on His strong hand grasping you and never letting go. If you want to be truly free, don’t depend so much on your own strength; depend on God’s mighty hand. When you do that, your fear just evaporates.

Just a few years ago (April 2019), the Washington County Sherriff’s Office responded to a 911 call from a woman who reported hearing a burglar locked in her bathroom. She saw shadows shifting under the door, and after officers appeared on scene, they heard a persistent rustling under the same door.