Moses: Day 17

Tuesday, September 21

Moses: Called, Challenged, Changed

Day 17—The Victory Song

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:

“I will sing to the Lord,

for he is highly exalted.

The horse and its rider

he has hurled into the sea.

The Lord is my strength and my song:

He has become my salvation.

He is my God, and I will praise him.

The Lord is a warrior;

The Lord is his name …”. Exodus 15:1-3

Suggested reading: Exodus 15: 1-21

Can you imagine both the awe and the elation of the Israelites when they witnessed the walls of the Red Sea collapse on their oppressors? God’s people were decisively FREE! Nothing was more fitting at this point in time than to stand on the shoreline and celebrate with a resounding victory song. The I AM was indeed with them! A roar of praise from the top of their lungs reached the heavens as the Hebrews declared the goodness of their God.

The sweetest thing to me in this scene is that Moses’ sister Miriam helped lead in the celebration. Remember Miriam? Eight decades prior to this miraculous event, she was a young girl who stood at the edge of another body of water, the Nile River, while she watched her baby brother float in a basket towards an unknown future. Now at approximately eighty-seven years old, this vivacious faith-filled woman took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing. Miriam sang to them:

“Sing to the Lord,

for he is highly exalted.

The horse and its rider

he has hurled into the sea.” (v.20-21)

Thoughts:

Today is a day in our study that I would like to designate as “Praise Day.” How important and appropriate it is to periodically (or quite often) stop our fast-track-living and consider all the great things God has done for us. In our mind, let’s join the Israelites on the edge of the Red Sea, and be overcome that God has provided a way of escape for our ultimate enemies of sin and death.

What is your favorite praise song? Will you share it in the comments below? You can share a link or some of the lyrics so that we can praise the Lord together. Anybody have a tambourine?

Here are some lyrics of an old hymn that I’ve been humming in my mind as I’ve been writing this post:

What can wash away my sin

Nothing but the blood of Jesus

What can make me whole again

Nothing but the blood of Jesus

Oh precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow

No other fount I know

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

A thought just came to me while I was typing the above lyrics, maybe the real reason the Red Sea is called the “RED” Sea is because it represented the future blood of the Messiah that was shed for the salvation of many souls? Praise God, you and I have walked through to the other side!

Going deeper and sweeter: John 14:6; Hebrews 10:19-20; Psalm 149:1-4

Dear Lord,

Sin and death were swallowed up and defeated by the precious overflowing blood of your Son. We praise you for making a way for us. You are our Valiant Warrior. You are our Strength and our Song. You are our Salvation. Amen.