Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying: “I will sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea! The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him” (Please read the rest of Exodus 15:1-13).
The overwhelming victory brought about by the Lord over the Egyptians left the Israelites overjoyed, and all, young and old, joined Moses in a spontaneous song of praise. This is the first recorded complete poem in the scriptures and it greatly extolled the Lord. For this reason, His personal attributes are prominent throughout the song, so we read of, “thy right hand; thy wrath; thy nostrils; thy wind, and thy strength.” The opening words proclaim that He, who had proved Himself many things to them already, had now become their salvation.
“My salvation” is essentially an Old Testament phrase, occurring there over thirty times, with some obviously being echoes of this song. On quite a number of occasions the Lord Himself was stated to be their salvation, in the sense of deliverance, liberation, rescue and victory. This gives rise to many practical thoughts, for example: “the Lord is . . . my salvation; whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1); “make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!” (Psalm 38:22), and, “he only is . . . my salvation . . . I shall not be greatly moved” (Psalm 62:2).
The idea of the Lord being strength, song and of becoming salvation is taken up again by the psalmist, “the Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation” (Psalm 118:14), and “I will praise You, For You have answered me, And have become my salvation” (Psalm 118:21). It is used yet again by Isaiah, “For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2).
Singing spiritual songs in the New Testament context is surely a spiritual person’s natural outlet of happiness, for as James says, “Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms” (James 5:13). The Greek word translated as “sing psalms” occurs about five times in the New Testament and is otherwise translated simply as sing. So singing is the spontaneous, scriptural and spiritual response of the cheerful Christian, in joy and thankfulness to God for all He has become to us
Adapted and modified excerpts from Day by Day: Bible Promises
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Roland Ledoux is Pastor of the outreach Ministry, Oasis Bible Ministry, specializing in Teaching, Encouragement and Intercession (both prayer and needs) since the early 1990s. He and his wife Sue, live in Delta, Colorado and have been married for over 50 years. They enjoy two adult sons, a grandson and a great grandson. He has been ordained since 1986. Fundamental Full-Gospel, Non-denominational. To learn more about Roland visit his website.
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