"The Song of Moses" - Exodus 15:1-21

or salvador cala beretta if you weren't here this morning we did announce that he went home to be with the Lord just a few days ago and so our prayers and our thoughts are with the calibrator family and Elias and Elsa and and everybody else and so if you are able to make it and support the family here at the church at 10:00 a.m. there will be a memorial service for him let's turn to the passage we read earlier Exodus chapter 15 and we won't read it of course again it's a fairly lengthy passage a portion of Scripture that is entitled the song of Moses it is actually maybe should be entitled a song of Moses not the song of Moses there are actually three songs in all of Scripture that are attributed to Moses this is his first one and it is a very important actually part of Scripture and I'll mention a little bit more about that why it is a little bit later but thinking about this portion of Scripture this week I thought about how music plays such an important role in our society and culture there is not as far as I'm aware one culture or society on earth which does not have some form of music which is associated or connected to that part of the world I love again that I get to come to church with people from all over the world who originate from different parts of the world and thinking about the vast variety of musical styles and musical tastes and the way that music influences and is such a important part of every culture and learning to appreciate some of those as I get to know more and more people but you know I also can't think of any person that doesn't enjoy music you may not be you may not consider yourself be a musical person is in you don't know how to play music you may not be able to sing very well but I want to see I've never met a person who says no I don't I don't like music at all we all enjoy some form of music don't we you may think that you don't have a musical bone in your body but you actually do when you hear some sound or you hear a song that resonates with you because God has created you in His image and part of that means that you are a musical being which means that he is a musical being if you think about the I guess you could say the origin of music the far as we know it goes not back to human history but it goes all the way back into the presence of God into glory as a matter of fact many people believe that Lucifer who of course fell and became Satan that one of his main roles in heaven as he is somewhat sort of abstractly described in the Bible is that one of his main roles was to he was a musical being in in heaven before he actually fell but you think about how important music is I mean can you imagine life without music how bland and boring it would be but music being a part of God's creation it was his creation not ours like all other aspects of his creation is given primarily for his glory now it's also given for our enjoyment just like other aspects of his creation nature is created for his glory it's to explore the glory of God they reveal and they show us the glory of God all creation around us show us the glory of God but we also enjoy it don't we we get pleasure out of it and music is the same God's created it primarily for his glory and for our enjoyment as a matter of fact Martin Luther the great reformer who also wrote a number of Christian hymns that some of them we still sing today a mighty fortress is our God is a hymn that he wrote said this about music he said next to the Word of God the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world he also said this that beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can come the agitations of the soul I guess it depends on what type of music you listening to but he said it can calm the agitations of the soul it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presence that God has given to us it's interesting when I think about the time that an era that Martin Luther lived in a time where the church was really dead in many ways and worship was very dead and singing or congregational singing was not something which readily took place but often congregations or people would come to church and they would observe the priests or the the clergy and the clergy might sing they might be reciting some sort of song or something as they perform their various ceremonies in the churches but it wasn't until really the prot well was certainly in the early church but then in the Protestant Reformation is when you begin to see music becoming more and more a part of worship and the part of the church service in the Christian Church you know singing together which is what we've just done is something that Christians have done since the beginning of the church but you know what when I think about the act and the art of congregational singing or congregational worship through song this is actually something quite unique to the Christian Church now it's not to say that other groups of people don't sing we see this in all forms and lots of different forms of culture but for example to gather together and as a part of our worship service every single Sunday to gather together and a worship through song has long been a part of the Christian Church history and still is to this day and if you think about it the history of people worshipping through song actually has its beginning right here in our text this text here of Exodus chapter 15 passage that is known as the song of Moses modern-day Jews often refer to it as the song of the sea' is actually the first time in all of Scripture that we have recorded that God's people are singing this is the first song in all the Bible it may be the oldest song that we have recorded and left for us in all of human history now that's not to say that God's people while they were in Israel or sorry while they were in captive into Egypt they never sang a song but this is the very first time where we see the congregation of God's people all joining together to sing a song that is recorded for us here in Scripture and they use music and singing as a form of worship to God and now they actually know who they're singing to and what they're singing about remember for 400 years all they knew of their God the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob was what had been passed down to them through the oral traditions of generation to generation but then Moses shows up with the name of God Jehovah Yahweh and he reveals God to the people through the great power of the plagues and of course ultimately through the mighty deliverance and salvation they received from Egypt and now they have literally seen God's power again part the Red Sea and they've walked across and they've witnessed their enemies for the last 400 years literally destroyed before them as they have fully realized their full salvation which God has provided for them and what is the first thing that they do they sing Moses under the inspiration of God writes a song Moses turns from deliverer to songwriter and they begin to they sing this song together now I want us to notice some aspects of this song and I think these are important for us to use and to remind ourselves of the importance when we think about singing and music when it comes to worship you'll notice first one of the aspects of this song is that it was sung congregationally it says in verse 1 it says then Moses and the children of Israel saying this song to the Lord so I don't know the timing of all of this in terms of how long it took Moses to write this song or how long these people were encamped on the other side of the Red Sea I don't even really know the logistics of how this took place can you imagine there's probably about 2 million people here and Moses is you know that's a lot of photocopies you have to make of this song to distribute amongst 2 million people obviously I can't imagine that Moses got up with a megaphone and said ok every guys follow me but somehow this song was written and distributed amongst the congregation because this song was a song that was to be sung together now this may have done been done in smaller groups as they broke up into smaller groups or tribes or or whatever I I don't know if all 2 billion people are singing and Moses is there you know directing the choir I doubt it but either way what we see here is that music written by Moses was to be sung congregationally this was not Moses standing up with his you know with his backup band singing and performing for the people but music was to be sung together it was to bring people together and be used as a form of worship I think this is important for us because I think one of the tendencies now I don't think I know one of the tendencies in modern-day so-called Church or Christianity is to adopt the practice of the world which brings performers onstage who sing for the congregation and don't sing with the congregation the idea of singing in church or singing with the people of God is not that you sit or stand and watch the people up on stage but that those you are up the front who are leading our leading us to sing together it's what ought to unite us together as Christians as we sing corporately or congregationally but you'll also notice something about this song yes it is something that was sung congregationally or corporately but it was also sung personally yes they were singing in a large group but you'll notice the very personal and intimate nature of this song he said the very first line is not we will sing to the Lord but it's I will sing to the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously the horse and it's rider is thrown into the sea the Lord is my strength and he is my song and he has become my salvation and he is my god and I will praise Him my father's God and I will exalt him so you see there's two dynamics going on here there's there singing as a group as a congregation of people and unified together in their worship of God and yet at the same time there is an immensely personal note and personal touch which is going on in this song as the the group is singing together the idea is that this is to be a personal testimony that every person in the group is singing and proclaiming as they sing that god is my salvation and my strength and he is my god and I will sing to the Lord in other words this is an immensely personal thing that the people are singing about you know when we sing when we sing as a group as a congregation the idea is not that we are just simply robots in a collective group simply reciting words that we are told to sing but rather that true worship comes from the individual expressing their love and their exaltation of God and so you can see even in this song you have this unity and there's this diversity so to speak and that each individual is singing as a part of this group of their personal testimony and experience of what God has done for them and who he is and so maybe this is something for us to think about as we sing together that is the songs that we sing are they our personal testimony or are we just simply reciting the words that are thrown up on the screen and following along the crowd so this song was song congregationally it was definitely a personal song as they sang it personally you'll also notice another quality of this song is that it was sung instrumentally at the very end of the song you see in verse 20 it says then Miriam the prophetess the sister of Aaron took the timbrel that would be like a tambourine type instrument in her hand and all the women went out with her with timbrels and with dances and Miriam answered them sing to the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously the horse and it's rider he has thrown into the sea well I can I know that there's quite a number of different Christian groups throughout history who would probably prefer that this verse was not in the Bible it says that she grabbed a timbrel or a tambourine which is a percussion style instrument and she began to dance obviously she was not a Baptist and she was excited in her response to what God has done as she repeats the very first verse of this song with other women now I want us to get this very clear and understand this that when it's talking about dancing it is not at all I don't think at anyway that it is referring to the overly sexualized and sensual type dancing that we see in modern pop culture but it was certainly a movement of the body which was responding to and praising God and exalting him with an instrument in their hands there is some who have sighs or even banned musical instruments from corporate worship yet here we see instrumentation and throughout all the Psalms used as a form of worship of course you could also say I don't have it as a point but they of course sung this song exuberantly as Miriam and the dancers and the other women saying unto the Lord with all their heart but of course the most important thing about this song is that it was sung worshipfully you see music although music brings enjoyment and pleasure and excitement and color to our lives and it's a wonderful gift that God has given to us all things that God gives Satan tries to destroy Satan tries a ear he had to try he has distorted all the good gifts that God has given to mankind but here we see that the very first song recorded for us in all the Bible is a song of worship it's a song which is directed to God its sole purpose amongst the people of God and this is what music music although it brings enjoyment and it's exciting and it should bring joy to our lives its primary purpose is to bring worship and glory to our God just like all other aspects of creation he says I will sing to the Lord I will sing to the Lord so that got me thinking and looking at this song here about what is it that makes a song a song of worship well there's a principle that we apply when we interpret Scripture and that's called the first mentioned principle in other words when you find a doctrine or a word or a concept in the Bible the first mention of it really does in some way set the principle or the tone for that doctrine through the rest of the scriptures and here we have is the very first song recorded in all the scripture and so I think it's worth looking at this song and analyzing it at what principals are here for us in terms of what makes a song an actual worshipful seong because this is the inspired Word of God this is not just simply a song that is chucked in there that they found somewhere lying around and thought this was a good song this is the inspired Word of God now while not all songs are exactly carbon copies of this song it gives to us some very important principles which I think we ought to consider as Christians so the first thing what makes a song worshipful well I think the first thing that we notice about a song which is actually a song of worship is that first of all it is directed to God exclusively it is directed to God exclusively he says I will sing to the Lord in other words the audience of this song was not the people the audience of this song is the heavenly host we will sing to the Lord in other words we're not singing to each other we're not singing about each other we're not singing about ourselves but we are singing to Jehovah to Yahweh he is the one who is the recipient of our praise he is the one who hears this song and the God who the people now knew by name and by his own power he was the one whom they were singing to and who the one that they were singing about you'll notice throughout this song yes of course they mentioned the personal nature of God and the personal influence I guess you would say and the effect that God has had on them but it is all directed and given praise to God they sing about his his works his character his nature and everything and they are singing to the Lord it's certainly worth stating that this song that they sing unto the Lord only came after their Redemption and salvation there's a reason for that you see the unregenerate sinner now we know as we've seen that this whole past this whole store or um exodus through the passover and the redemption and the salvation of the children of israel is a beautiful picture that God gives to us of our spiritual salvation in Christ and the first response that they have to their full and complete redemption is to sing into worship and to give God the praise you see the unregenerate sinner the one whom the holy spirit does not end well the one who is in love with the world who walks in the world who adores the world who has no time for God has no reason nor desire to sing to the Lord why would he but those who have experienced his salvation have every reason to sing to the Lord think about the psalmist who says he has put a new song in my mouth praise to our God many will see it and fear and trust in the Lord can I ask you tonight do you have a new song in your heart do you enjoy the praise of God is there a new song in your heart do you love the worship of our God through music through song you see music as a form of personal enjoyment and entertainment don't get me wrong does have its place but do you enjoy to sing to the Lord is there a new song in your heart is your heart excited to sing to God I remember distinctly on my wedding day it reminded me of it I guess yesterday is the wedding of Daniel and gentle place and I actually mentioned it to Daniel while we were standing up waiting for Jen to come down the aisle not as she was walking down his way before but he he said to me he said you know Ryan there's there's quite a lot of my unsaved friends and family hears he was really excited that they would come and I remind told him that I remember on my wedding day that we got married my wife and I got married it stand more about this we weren't attending there but we just used the church if you've ever been to stand more Baptist Church in the states it E it's one of those old churches that was built before there was amplified so the acoustics are phenomenal because there was no amplification when they built the church so they built it in a way that the acoustics are great and most of the people at our wedding a majority of the people at our wedding were Christians but I had invited two of my unsaved work colleagues and they came to our wedding and as his most Christian weddings we stood to sing two or three songs and they told me distinctly afterwards they said Ryan we have never been to a wedding where we've heard singing like that before and you know we as we filled that building with songs of praise to our God they said we just had to sit and listen because we we were blown away out how people were singing you know we worship God exclusively and there was an example of a group of people who were excited to sing to the Lord and the unsaved saw a difference that these people aren't just singing because they are reciting some liturgy or anything like that but they were singing exuberantly and excitedly because they had a personal relationship with this God well you notice another thing about this song and what makes it an actual worship song is not only is it directed to God exclusively but also that it describes God accurately it says this he says the Lord is my strength and song and he has been sorry he has become my salvation he 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 a good song a song which is to be worship is which is worship must describe God accurately now no song can describe God comprehensively okay if you can imagine if one of the criterias for worship is that we had to describe God comprehensively every time we sung about him it'd be a never-ending song it would literally be the song that never ends because he is infinite but all songs if they're to be considered worship songs must describe him accurately and look at how it describes God he is my strengths my refuge my hiding place he is my song he is my salvation he is a man of war the Lord is his name the self-existent one Jehovah Yahweh so in order for a song to be worship it must it must it must contain accurate descriptions about God in other words it must contain accurate theology it must contain accurate theology music which is vague or just flat-out inaccurate in its portrayal and description of God should not be sung nor considered to be a song which is worship because remember that music is as much a tool of teaching as it is of worship you see this song was a song that was brought into as the other songs were in the in the the the I guess you would say that the Jewish hymn book that the people would learn and sing and as you would sing these songs not only are you directing worship towards God but you are also instructing your own soul and in your own heart and we do this don't we we do this with our children at a very basic level we teach them very simple songs that they can remember that they can recite and we want those to be accurate songs that describe God accurately even if it's in its very simple form such as Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so but as we get older that principle must stay it must describe God accurately if it is to be a truly worship full song then thirdly what we notice about this song is that it declares the works of God powerfully look at verse 4 says Pharaoh's chariots and his army he has cast into the sea his chosen captains are also drowned in the Red Sea the depths have covered them they sank to the bottom like a stone your right hand O Lord has become glorious in power your right hand O Lord has dashed the enemy in pieces and in the greatness of your excellence you have overthrown those who rose against you you sent forth your wrath and it consumed them like stubble and with the blast of your nostrils the waters were gathered together the flood stood upright like a heap and the depths congealed in the heart of the sea and the enemy said I will pursue I will overtake I will divide to spoil my desire shall be satisfied on them and I will draw my sword my hand shall destroy them and yet you blew your with your wind the sea covered them and they sank like lead in the mighty waters in this case of course this is a song of response to what has just happened not unlike what we just did there when we heard a testimony and then been chose to sing a song in response to the testimony that's was just shared but here this is actually something which has happened and they are singing about this glorious event the mighty act of God which has just occurred now of course for us as Christians as the church the mighty act of God that we often most often sing about is what is the crucifixion and the resurrection and the salvation that we have in Jesus Christ and you notice the description in the expression of God's Word God's works here as we see here Moses using the full force of language and all of its creativity and all of its power to try and describe the works of God he doesn't just simply recite facts and this is what's glorious is that he is allowed to use poetic language to describe the works of God and so this too ought to and can be used of course in our songs of worship but it describes it powerfully that God's salvation and God's character and God's works our works of his great power and notice in all of these works it is God who receives the credit and praise God is the center and the central theme of this song not the people not the congregation not the children of Israel there is nothing in here which ever draws the attention or the affection or the intent to look upon themselves but to see the power of God there is nothing man-centered about this song this is not some sort of hype machine used to motivate the people or whip them up into a frenzy but it is used to remind them of the mighty power and the mighty works of God and this is what our song is should do in in church and in worship shouldn't they they should remind us of the character of God the nature of God the works of God the glory of God it should all be about him as we sing to the Lord and then fourthly and lastly you'll see about this song is that it distinguishes God uniquely I love this verse here and there's other verses in scripture like it verse 11 says who is like you O Lord who is like you O Lord among the gods who is like you glorious in holiness fearful in praises doing wonders you stretched out your right hand and the earth swallowed them you in your mercy have led forth the people whom you have redeemed you have guided them in your strength to your holy habitation can you see again the subject of this song the object of this song it's you it's God it's him who is like you O God who is like you O Lord among the gods now I think it's worth noting that when he says who is like you a Lord among the gods he is not at all saying that God is simply the best of all the other gods it's not unlike you know the first commandment which says you shall have no other gods before me that's not implying that there are other gods literal deities that you can actually have before him it's simply using this language this comparative language in other words that God transcends is far above all of these false creations that man has dreamt up who is like you O God - who shall we compare him this is what Isaiah 40 verse 25 says isn't it to whom will you liken me or to whom shall I be equal says the Holy One lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these things who brought out their hosts by number and he calls them all by name by the greatness of his might and the strength of his power not one of these things is missing you see the distinction here is not being made that Yahweh or Jehovah is simply the best of all the other gods that are existent but it distinguishes him as the one true and living God in other words what else or who else is there really worth singing about and if you think about all the the the main subjects of songs that have been written there are songs written about love and there are songs written about death and there are songs written about parties and their songs written about fun their songs written about all kinds of things but none of those compared to the songs written about our God because who is there like God he is glorious in holiness that refers to his transcendence his separateness his uniqueness there is no one like our God he is fearful in praises and he does wonders and when you know that personally you cannot help but sing even if you can't sing you sing you love to sing you enjoy singing it always grieves my heart sometimes when I come to church and don't get me wrong I'm not saying that every time I come and I worship and seeing that my heart is always in the most perfect place and the best place for worship there are times when even during singing God convicts me and challenges me about my relationship with him but it does grieve my heart when I come and I watch and I look and there are people who just are not singing and I wonder and I'm not trying to be judgmental here at all don't get me wrong but I wonder why aren't you singing is it because you haven't fully experienced his great graces salvation is it that you don't enjoy the worship of God with other brothers and Christian and sisters in the faith what is it that's stopping your heart from singing I hope it's not fear of man because the reality is most of us can't sing very well but if everybody sings loud nobody can hear you anyway but God can because isn't that the intense personal nature of this song I will sing to the Lord not to the person sitting next to me not to the people up on the stage but I will sing to the Lord God has given us this wonderful gift of music and congregational worship began right here in Exodus chapter 15 this is where it all started and so we would do well to look at this song and although we don't know the tune or the style if you would as to how it was sung or how they did it it's certainly not written like the way that most of our songs or our ear is attuned to in the way that we sing there's no sort of chorus verse chorus verse or the way that we've structured most of our songs but the principles still apply that our worship should be sung to the Lord that it should declare his attributes his person accurately as the Bible describes him and yes we can describe him in all the unique and creative ways that the Word of God describes him it should declare his works what he has done powerfully and it should be him and him alone that receives all the glory and the praise we have a beautiful gift in music don't waste it use it for his glory and for our joy let's pray our Heavenly Father we thank you so much for this song I thank you Lord for the way that you have given it to us the gift that it is to us and Lord for the things that it teaches us about worship and about music and about singing and about praise but most of all the things that it teaches us about you I thank you Lord that you are a God who has given us this wonderful gift I can't even imagine a world without the gift of music without the gift of song and without the ability to write creatively and express ourselves in these wonderful ways and I thank you that Lord you've you've allowed us the privilege of doing this Lord let us not put music in a or singing in a place where it shouldn't be in a place of idolatry but I pray that it would be a place where a thing that we use to glorify your name and to lift your name high and to teach us truths which are true we pray these things in Jesus name Amen servus about where we going and he asked for a song that had something like splash splash or something in it there based on that that song yeah we don't have that one tonight but we're gonna sing oh great god of highest heaven occupy my lowly heart let's sing and direct this song of praise to a great God together let's stand and we'll sing

Channel: Emmanuel Baptist Church

Views: 312

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Sermon, Gospel, Bible, Christian, Emmanuel Baptist Church, Exodus, Worship, Moses, God

Id: OPSAU0FMIns

Length: 37min 5sec (2225 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 08 2020