2-1-15. Exodus 15:1-21. Songs Of Thanksgiving And Praise-my devotional

Exodus 15:1-21                                                                 Kevin E. Jesmer

Key Verse: 15:2                                                                 2-1-15

“The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.”

Part 1: Do The Right Thing…Thank And Praise The Lord (1-18)

Nestled within these verses are some nuggets of wisdom concerning thanksgiving. Exodus 15:1-18 reads, “Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea. 2 “The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him,    my father’s God, and I will exalt him. 3 The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. 4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea. 5 The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone. 6 Your right hand, Lord, was majestic in power. Your right hand, Lord, shattered the enemy. 7 “In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble. 8 By the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up. The surging waters stood up like a wall; the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea. 9 The enemy boasted, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake them. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them.’ 10 But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. 11 Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? 12 “You stretch out your right hand, and the earth swallows your enemies. 13 In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling. 14 The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the people of Philistia. 15 The chiefs of Edom will be terrified, the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling, the people of Canaan will melt away; 16 terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of your arm they will be as still as a stone—until your people pass by, Lord, until the people you bought pass by. 17 You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance—the place, Lord, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established. 18 “The Lord reigns for ever and ever.” (NIV)

Moses and the Israelites celebrated the victory over Pharaoh and deliverance from Egypt with a song of praise to God for the greatness of his majesty, for his awesome power and glory. Moses sang about “God who is my strength, my song and…my salvation Any celebratory feast were secondary. Giving God thanksgiving, praise and glory was the top priority.

A practical application of this would be how we handle personal successes in our lives. We are facing so many “Red Seas” that the Lord has delivered us from. The Lord has delivered me from a life controlled by sin. My life was being eroded by sin. But Jesus forgave me of my sins and gave me a whole new life. He delivered me through five years of persecution. College studies were my nemesis. But Jesus helped me to pass a college chemical technology program and get my bachelor’s degree in nursing. I was a 28 year old bachelor with no prospects of marriage. The Jesus helped me to get married and stay married.  There are so many forces against having a large family. But God helped us to have five kids and support them. It is never easy to engage in Gospel ministry. But Jesus has helped us to do so for 29 years. He even helped us to head up a house church for 12 years. Now he is leading us to further spiritual adventures in ministry. It is not easy to keep engaged in family, work, life and ministry. But Jesus is helping Julie and I to navigate these waters as we enter middle age. The newest Red Sea is to find all of our kids possessing saving faith and serving the Lord. Serving Christ in middle age, providing for our needs and mentoring our five kids is our new Red Sea. God has brought us through all of our Red Seas in life and he will continue to do so. Knowing how God has delivered me and my family, how should I respond? From this passage, I learn it must be with thanksgiving and praise to the one who made deliverance for all that oppresses possible…Jesus Christ.

How a person handles success and victory is a test of his faith.  Thanks giving and praise must be the top priority. What did Noah do when he was delivered from the flood? Genesis 8:18-20 reads, “18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another. 20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.”  Noah could have chosen to have a feast. But he chose to make a sacrifice to the Lord, who delivered him. Then he had a feast. This response to the grace of God’s deliverance is consistent throughout the Bible.

In the New Testament there are exhortations to be thankful. Colossians 2:6-7 reads, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”  1 Thessalonians 5:18 reads, “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  May we all grow to be a thankful people, praising and thanking God for his deliverance from our “Red Seas” in life.

People of faith should give thanks to God, not just because of the things he does for us, but most importantly for who God is. In this passage are so many descriptions of who the God of the Bible is. Let’s review them together.

he is highly exalted. 1

The Lord is my strength and my defense; 2

He is my God 2

he has become my salvation 2

The Lord is a warrior; 3

the Lord is his name. 3

Your right hand, Lord, was majestic in power. 6

Your right hand, Lord, shattered the enemy. 6

In the greatness of your majesty 7

you threw down those who opposed you. 7

You unleashed your burning anger 7

By the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up. The surging waters stood up like a wall; 8

But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. 10

majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? 11

“You stretch out your right hand, and the earth swallows your enemies. 12

In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. 13

In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling. 13

The nations will hear and tremble; 14

By the power of your arm they will be as still as a stone—until your people pass by, 16

You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance—the place, Lord, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established. 17

“The Lord reigns for ever and ever.” 18

These references to God can be categorized into aspects of God’s character and his care for his people as their Chief  Shepherd.

God is…Highly exalted; majestic; Great; and reigns as Lord and God; has holy anger to those

who oppose him, he is strong; a savior, he controls nature.

God is …a personal God who brings salvation; has unfailing love; defends his people; guides his

people to eternal destinations; establishes an eternal home for his people near to himself.

Brings his people to where they cannot bring themselves.

The God of the Bible completely defeats everything and any nation that opposes him. Look at the following verses in this passage…

“Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea. 5 The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone.” (4-5)

“In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble.” (7)

“9 The enemy boasted, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake them. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them.’ 10 But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.” (11-12)

“You stretch out your right hand, and the earth swallows your enemies.” (12)

Why is the effect of God’s defeat of the people that oppose him? I think the answer can be found in verses 14-16, “The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the people of Philistia. 15 The chiefs of Edom will be terrified, the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling, the people of Canaan will melt away; 16 terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of your arm they will be as still as a stone—until your people pass by, Lord, until the people you bought pass by.”

God wants his enemies to fear him. He wants to lead them to repentance and saving faith. These nations that oppose God and his people, the ancient Israelites, were very stubborn in their unbelief. It took so many fierce plagues for the Egyptians to relent and let the people of God go free. These nations suffered so much in their misguided religious practices. They needed to fear the God of the Israelites and think twice in opposing him and his people. They should also think twice about leading others away true worship. Turning to Jehovah, the God of the Bible was not an option. They could either do it willingly or God would help to turn their hearts for them. For the proud, this could be a very painful process. (Remember…it does not have to be.)

Part 2: Don’t Hold Back…Praise God With All Your Heart (19-21)

We are called to thank and praise Jesus with our whole hearts. Look at Exodus 15:19-21,” 19 When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots and horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. 20 Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing. 21 Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the Lord,    for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea.” (NIV)

There is a declaration of the grace of God in this passage. Look at verse 19. The waters of the sea covered Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and soldiers, and the Israelites walked through on dry ground. This is the grace of God’s deliverance. The people responded in thanksgiving and praise. This praise expressed itself in singing and dancing and playing musical instruments, like tambourines. This praise was led by Miriam and the women who sang and danced with tambourines.

Men and women, both, we celebrating the Lord’s victory with all of their hearts. This is in stark difference to the Muslim world where women are restricted in so many ways. I can not imagine women in burkas publically dancing and singing and playing tambourines. But, among the Hebrews, women did have certain freedoms that other societies did not provide. They even called Miriam a prophet. She played and vital function and had some high ranking among the people. This was revolutionary. I thank God for including women in the story of redemption revealed in Exodus.

Jesus’ grace to us is so abundant and overwhelming. Because of the grace of God our cup overflows. But do we give thanks with singing and thanksgiving with the intensity that these people shared? Rarely. We take the grace of God for granted. Think about what life would be like with the grace of Jesus Christ on our life and on our society. We don’t have to look too far to see. Just turn on the television and see what is happening in Iraq and Syria when people do not take hold of the grace of Jesus Christ in the Gospel. People are living in ruins and fear of death. Horrible things are happening. Libraries and being burnt and history is being erased. The entire populations of some people are being traumatized beyond belief. The kids will carry these scars forever. It is indeed a small taste of hell on earth. That would be any society who does not hold onto the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We should be very, very thankful for all that God has done for us in the Gospel. Mostly we should be thankful that all of our sins have been forgiven through faith in Jesus blood. We will indeed pass through the last of our Red Seas, death, and enter into the Kingdom of God. This must make us very thankful. We need to thank and praise Jesus. We need to sing and dance and play all kinds of musical instruments.

They were not afraid of singing and dancing in public. They did not hold back. It reminds me of King David as he presided over bring the ark to Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 6:12-16 reads, “12 Now King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. 13 When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14 Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, 15 while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.16 As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.” (NIV) When people looked down on King David for his unbridled celebration of Jehovah, he did not give into to peer pressure to be more reserved. Look at his response in 2 Samuel 6:21-22, “21 David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.” (NIV) King David did not hold back and nor should we.

But so often we have a “ho hum” attitude towards the grace of God poured out on us. We think that living in the grace of God is basic and a normal part of life. But it is not. We are living in a Fallen World. We have a propensity to sin. We are what we are because of Jesus. We are forgiven and God’s children because of God’s grace.

If our hearts are cold and dull towards the love of God, then we need new hearts. King David cried out for a new heart in Psalm 51:10-15 which reads, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. 14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,    you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. 15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.” (NIV)

Prayer: Lord, you  delivered us and keep delivering by the power of the Gospel. We thank you for you are God. You are our strength and song. You are my salvation. We thank and praise you with our whole hearts.”

One Word: Celebrate the grace of Jesus with our whole hearts.