Who is Your Song? (Exodus 15:1-21)

If you would, please stand for the reading of God's word.

We're going to spend the next couple of Sunday's looking at

this section of scripture in Exodus 15.

Called the song of Moses. So, the song of Moses the

Israelites and Miriam, it's an amazing Passage.

It tells us the experience of worship that the Israelites had

just as they had crossed the Red Sea.

One of the great challenges for us is that we already know the

end of the story and because we know the end of this story, we

don't enter into it in a way that allows us to be overwhelmed

by what they experienced and want you to think about this for

a moment. This people the Israelites

600,000 men plus women and children had their backs against

the water. There was no way out unless a

divine intervention, the Divine Miracle, Divine rescue would

take place and then those people, well, over a million,

I'm sure stepped onto dry land, that had been land, that was

holding the sea and they walked across as God Faithfully held

back, the wall. As of water on each side.

This is the story put to music at the people saying in

celebration of that Divine. Miracle that Divine rescue.

Listen now as I read, From Exodus 15 1221, 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, 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.

Board is a man of war. The Lord is his name Pharaoh's

chariots and his hosts. 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 and 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 at

the blast of your nostrils. The water piled up the flood

stood up and 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 likely Add in the

mighty Waters. Who is Like You?

O Lord among the gods who is like, you Majestic in Holiness.

Awesome and glorious Deeds doing wonders.

You stretched out your right hand the Earth swallowed them.

You have lad in your steadfast, love the people whom you have

redeemed. You have guided them by your

strength to your holy Abode. The people's have heard they

tremble. Pangs of sees the inhabitants of

philistia now are the the chiefs of Edom dismayed, trembling

seizes the leaders of Moab, all the inhabitants of Canaan, have

melted away Terror and Dread fall upon them because of the

greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone, till your

people, O Lord passed by to the people pass.

By whom you have purchased, you will bring them in and plant

them on your own Mountain. The place O Lord, which you have

made for your Abode, the sanctuary O Lord with your

hands. Established the Lord will reign

forever and ever for when the horses of pharaoh with his

chariots and his Horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought

back the Waters of the sea upon them.

But the people of Israel walked on dry ground and the midst of

the sea, then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron

took a tambourine in her hand and all the women went out after

her with tambourines and dancing and Miriam saying to them sing

to the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously.

SLI the horse and his rider. He has thrown into the sea.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God, please be

seated. Music is powerful.

It's personal. some of you would say you have a song, That's my

song. Some of you take bulletins on a

certain Sunday and highlighted and say to somebody that you

love loves you. I went to this him, this piece

of music at my memorial service. It's a privilege to sit with

families as they move through that.

And here, the different songs that one who's now going to be

with the warlord loves. This is my song, the summer.

Many of you will travel by yourself or with family and you

may have a playlist. I have them in my phone, when I

go on a mission trip, there's certain songs.

I want to listen to my song. I remember being on a date late

in high school. It was a second date.

The first date went really well and the second date was actually

going really well, too. We were driving.

I'm not sure where we were going but we were driving in the music

was light. I was speaking to her her name

is Becky and then she goes She shushed me.

And she said, this is my song Turned Up the Radio.

There wasn't a third days there wasn't because I couldn't get

over being shushed. It was the song that she'll

selected as her song. This is my song.

I want to ask you to do something today and actually

want to ask you to do something each day this week.

I want you to ask the Holy Spirit to help you evaluate.

Your own personal worship of the Lord.

Sunday after Sunday, we gather together in this place and what

a gift it is, and Sunday after Sunday, we all exit and go to

various places. There are lots of things that we

can think about. And evaluate we ask questions,

like what did you think of the sermon?

How was Sunday morning Community.

Today, there are lots of things that we ask and talk about but I

wonder how often do you and you have to have the holy spirit's

help. Ask him to help.

Up, you evaluate the way in which you worshipped.

If you are a member of our church, you made a vow of much

like the men this morning made vows.

And one of your vows is I promise to support this church

and its worship and work to the best of my ability.

So, Sunday, after Sunday, do you ever pause to say how?

God did I bring you? Glory today we're tempted to

evaluate everything else. Whether we like the song or

didn't like a song, whether it makes it into our Stubby want in

a memorial service are not, but what about your own personal

worship of the Lord, as you've gathered collectively with the

larger body? Have you been distracted?

Horizontally by many things? Have you been distracted?

Internally by many things. Many burdens that you've brought

in. This is important.

And what I want you to do this week is I want you to come back

to Exodus 15 and like a song that you love that, you listen

to over and over on. Repeat I want you to read this

song, this song Exodus 15 12 21, many times during the week.

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you answer these two questions.

What informs the songs? We sing because there's a lot to

be seen in this text. What informs the songs that we

sing? Why do we select these songs and

sing them and desire to do? So with full voice for the glory

of God? The second question is what

informs the way you sing? What are the forms of the way

you sing from one Sunday to the next?

Is it always the same? Are there moments when there's

something sweeter or moments when it's not as sweet.

Because each day with Jesus is not necessarily sweeter than the

day before. What informed you this morning

as you entered into this place of worship, To bring God glory

at his invitation. I want to give you a few

observations from the text that I want you to take with you this

week. And next Sunday we're going to

be right back in this passage but I want you to have spent

time with the Holy Spirit thinking about what saturates

this song. What is it that this song really

is about? How can what we see in print and

this early section of the scriptures?

The book of Exodus that can inform the way we sing as well

as what? We sing.

So there's three things I want you to listen.

For first, it's fear and Freedom.

The second is, how God centered this song is.

And lastly how this song tells a story, more than that, it tells

our story. Let's begin by talking about

fear and freedom, There's two fears that are present in the

passage. The first has to do with fear of

the enemy, it's not printed in your bulletin.

So grab the blue Pew. Bible that is in front of you

and turn to Exodus 14. This is where Paul Goble was

last week in the excellent sermon that he preached.

That was so deeply encouraging to my soul.

They are a people that has experienced the Deliverance of

God away. From pharaoh and the Egyptians.

But now they was heart has been hardened.

He's changed his mind. And there is a fear that this

people is experiencing as their backs are against the water.

Look with me and X is 14, 10. When Pharaoh, Drew near the

people of Israel lifted up their eyes, this is important where

our eyes are greatly affects How We Worship the Lord, where our

eyes, go, where our eyes are fixed, greatly affects The Way

We Worship the Lord. When Pharaoh Drew near the

people of Israel lifted up their eyes and behold the Egyptians

were marching after them and they feared greatly the people

of Israel cried out to the Lord. So In Their Fear is their eyes

are lifted up. They see this the most powerful

Nation on Earth, the ones who kept them in slave for over 400

years. They see this Mighty Army coming

towards them and their backs are against the water.

There is no place. They can go.

There's nothing that they can do.

So they cried to the Lord. Then they speak to Moses in the

complaint, is it because there are no graves in Egypt that

you've taken us away to die in the wilderness?

What have you done to us? And bringing us out of Egypt, is

not this. What we said to you in Egypt,

leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians.

Do you see and Paul said the so well last week, how irrational

their minds have become and so quickly we would rather be in

Egypt as slaves. The now with our backs against

the water, facing this enemy, the Egyptians that are

approaching for, it would have been better for us to serve the

Egyptians than to die. In the wilderness verse 13 and

Moses said to the people fear, not stand firm.

See, the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today

for the Egyptians whom you see today.

You shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you and

you have only to be silent. Man serving as elders and

deacons in his church, there are going to be moments.

When you're shepherding an individual who feels as if their

life is back against the water moments, where they feel like

unless God does something Divine.

Unless there is a miracle that takes place, this isn't going to

work out. You're going to the privilege

like Moses of standing firm with them, and urging them to stand

strong. It might not be just an visual

it might be a corporate reality that we face as a church in this

country in this world where it's growing darker and darker and

more full of decay Where our eyes going to go, where RI our

eyes, as Leaders going to go, they've got to remain fixed on

Jesus. The first fear was the fear of

the enemy. But there's a second fear that

takes place with their bags, against the water.

With the Enemy approaching with the only thought that unless God

does something, we are all going to die here in the wilderness.

They cried to the Lord, they were afraid, they were

terrified. But God did show up.

There's not a man not even Moses who could have imagined what was

about to happen. There wasn't a person.

Who in their wildest imagination could have thought.

This see that we are backed up against is about to part and it

will be wide enough and dry enough for us to move through to

the other side. But God does show up.

The waters part. The fear of the enemy.

Is now going to be replaced at least for a little while.

Buy a greater fear. And that is the fear of the one

who is able to do immeasurably more than we imagined, ask, or

think this is where you begin to see how profoundly saturated.

This song is with the glory of God, this song is god-centered,

it's not centered on them, it's not centered on Moses for sure.

Centered on God and you see as this god-centered focus makes

its way into the lyrics of the song.

How powerfully they describe him?

Look with me at verse 6 of Exodus, 15, your right hand.

Oh Lord, glorious and power. Your right hand.

O, Lord shatters the enemy verse 7, in the greatness of your

majesty, you overthrow your adversaries, you send out your

Fury. It consumes them like stubble.

Forsake at the blast of your nostrils.

Is that an amazing description at the blast of your nostrils?

Holy God at the blast of your nostrils.

The waters piled up the flood stood up in a heap, the deeps

congealed in the heart of the sea.

Look with me at verse 12, you stretched out your right hand

and the Earth swallowed them, the very same.

God that That you have been singing to today is the same.

God, they were singing to the very same God that you are

crying out to you as your back is against.

The water is the one they were crying out to this.

God, overwhelmed them, overwhelmed, the sea, and

ultimately overwhelmed, the enemy, the Egyptians.

So what happened? Look with me back into Exodus.

14 go to verse 31 Israel saw the great power that the Lord used

against the Egyptians. Now, let's not run over that too

fast. This God, this power.

This reality is not a metaphor for some neat story, it's a real

story. It's our story the Living God

did this to that. See the Living God did this.

For the people of Israel. The Living God did this against

his enemy. He swallowed them up.

The NIV says he hurled them into the sea.

So what did this do to them back to 1431?

Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the

Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord

and they believed in the Lord. And in his servant Moses, That's

the second fear. The first fear was the fear of

the enemy. Their backs are against the

water, the only place they can turn and go as into the water.

That's not an option, they will drowned, they can't move

forward, and fight this enemy, it's too powerful.

Their backs are against the water, but now the Lord has done

it. the only one who could this great God leads them over a

million of them through this wall on both sides of water and

they get to the other side and it says they were fearful, the

fear here is a fear that is of reverence and awe and shock and

frankly what is profoundly missing in the church today.

The intimacy we have with God, which is real.

He lives in us should never minimize the awe and wonder we

have of who he is. Remember.

And I think Paul alluded to this last week when Jesus was on the

boat asleep and the storm came, they eventually cried out to

Jesus. Don't you care that we are

drowning Jesus stood up and he hush the storms and the Sea and

they were calm, he was powerful over it.

And Mark tells us they said in fear who is this man who is this

man that even the wind and the Sea obey?

every song we sing together in this church, every song you sing

to the glory of God in your own private time.

Should lead you to that place. It should lead you to that

place. We see here in Exodus 15:11,

Exodus 15:11

they cry out in their song. Who Is Like You?

O Lord, among the gods who is like, you Majestic in Holiness.

Awesome. And glorious Deeds doing

wonders, who is like him? Every song We Sing, the ones, we

sing this morning, the ones, we'll see you next week.

Every one of those songs should lead us to a place where we say,

who Who is he? Who is like him and there should

be a holy fear a reverence and all that's why when you enter

into this place is our desire that immediately you recognize

that there's something different.

There's something different about this moment and this space

as we come to worship him, we want to experience the familiar

intimacy with god without ever losing the And wonder of his

Transcendence and his Holiness. That's why fear and freedom Mark

our worship. Go back up to verse 1.

Now listen for the freedom that is in the voice of Moses, the

Israelites and then later from the voice of Miriam, 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 is thrown into the sea, that's the

opening line. It's also.

What Miriam sings go to the last text, the last verse in the text

were looking at this morning, Miriam sang to them, sing to the

Lord for he has, triumphed gloriously the horse and his

rider, he is thrown into the sea.

As you look at this song and play it over and over this week,

in your mind with the spirits help.

See the freedom that is here. Ask God to show you and enable

you to feel the freedom that they felt when they were on the

other side of the sea. And their eyes look back across

the water. They saw the Egyptians who have

been in golfed by the water that had been split apart for them

and they were dead. The enemy that had enslaved

them. The enemy that had brought down

tremendous oppression for over 400 years was no longer a

threat. They had been set free and in

Freedom, they lifted their voices.

Fear of the holy God, freedom in him.

The holy God, this him. So god-centered.

It tells a story. And the great hymns and the

great pieces of music in the church that we sing ones.

That will be newly, written ones that are ancient the great ones.

All, tell a story, but the story isn't like a bland history book.

The stories actually more like a musical.

It's like this narrative that has been written where God who

created us, the sing brings us into moments of incredible

pressure and fear when we have our backs against the water.

And when we do, and there's nowhere else to go, and we're

coming to the end of ourselves. We cry out to the one, and only

one who can save us. And he does what only his Divine

hand can do. He rescues us.

Our worship. Must be saturated.

Out of that kind of desperation, where we don't forget, what we

have been saved from for as great as this story of The

Exodus is for, as great as this story of the Red Sea.

Being part of it is, it's not the greatest story of the Bible.

The greatest story of the Bible is that this same Father, Son

and Holy Spirit are going to do everything that's necessary.

To purchase his people once and for all.

Is that unfolds Jesus is going to find his back against the

cross. And the walls of God's Wrath

that have been held back until that moment are going to be

poured out on Jesus. What you and I deserve to be

engulfed in in the very righteous pure wrath of God,

it's not going to hit us It's going to hit his only son.

His only son knows it's coming and so in the garden, he prays

father. If you were willing take this

cup from me yet, not my will be done but yours and it was the

will of the father to pour out all of his Wrath.

Wrath poured out for the sin of his people. that we could walk

safely and its presence forever. Friend.

When you consider as a believer in Jesus, what it means to

worship Him to the best of your ability?

The only way that's possible is, if God gives you and gives me an

overwhelming sense of who he is, what should create holy,

reverence all and fear. But at the same time of Freedom

that we come into this place, knowing that we are singing to

the one who has done everything necessary to set us free now and

forever. As you play this song over and

over this week. Listen for fear.

Listen for Freedom. Look at how saturated it is, how

god-centered it is. And then see something that is

amazing to me. And the question of what is your

song? Is better asked of Christians,

who is your song? For that, opening stanza verse

to the people cried out. The Lord is my strength and my

song. Our Song is not just theology.

Its identity. What we deserved we haven't

received when we just go through the motions.

Of worship. It is not pleasing to the Lord.

What's pleasing to the Lord. As we read, when we recognized

by his work in our lives, our desperation for him, our backs

were against the water. The water of God's Wrath.

It was poured out on his son. All of it.

And that's why Jesus said it is finished.

One person in history, we know that was profoundly impacted by

the reality of the shore. Was Peter for before Christ said

it is finished. Not long before Peter denied

that he even knew him. Then not long after after.

Jesus had rose from the dead there on the shoreline is Jesus

cooking breakfast for the disciples.

Do you think it was just familiarity that led Peter to

jump out of the boat? Or do you think there was an

amazing awe and reverence and fear, fear and freedom?

Those are important parts of our worship.

Seeing how sinnard it must be on God.

And seeing the story that we are a part of is really important, I

cannot wait to see what the Lord shows you this week.

As you plan to enter back into this place to worship the same

one. Moses, the Israelites and Miriam

were singing to Father in heaven.

Spend a beautiful morning. We have raced to this place and

are tempted to race away because that's the world that we live

in, and it's so easy to conform to it.

Father, I do pray through the powerful work of your spirit

that even as we lift our voices in this final Anthem, we really

would take the heart. Exodus 15, we really would spend

time in touring into it asking, your spirit to illuminate.

What's there that? It might inform us.

In what we should sing. But also the way we should sing.

We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

Please stand. In what we should sing.

But also the way we should sing. We pray this in Jesus name.

Amen. Please stand.