Sing to the Lord

Well, good morning.

I'm so glad to have all of you here today.

If you're joining in person, you're streaming in online or watching later on demand.

All of our friends that are joining us from First Lutheran and Alginac as well.

My name's Tim.

If I hadn't had the privilege to meet you, myself and some of the staff will be in the West lobby after the service.

We'd love for you to come and introduce yourself.

It just gives us a chance to thank you for being with us today as we are going through the book of Exodus.

Today we're going to be on chapter 15, the first two-thirds of it.

And then as you can see there, uh the next two weeks, we'll finish up 15 next Sunday, and then we'll be into Exodus 16.

Uh, if this is your first time here, we always encourage people to come three weeks in a row.

Just come for three weeks and see if this may be the church that God would have you call your home.

And as you've heard, today is uh is special in that we're really enhancing uh our worship time today because of the text.

And so the way that we approach this is is we go through chapter by chapter, verse by verse, and whatever the text is speaking about is what we want to be talking about and participating uh in the in the service.

Amen?

And so you guys have heard me talk about our fall spiritual challenge to be present in church every single week.

Uh, the only reason to not be in church is if you're dead or you're in the hospital, okay?

Uh to read the text before you come.

So hopefully, those of you that call this place home, you've already read what we're going to go over today.

And then to actually download the app so you can engage with the text and invest in your family.

Uh, if you haven't done that, it's the easiest thing on the planet to do.

When you download our app, all of the information for our sermon series is always front and center.

Uh, you click on that link, it tells you the reading plan, it tells you the dig deeper questions.

Those of you with families, it gives you the family questions as well to engage with your kids.

Uh, so we just would encourage you to do that.

Uh, if you weren't here last week, we handled a pretty big chunk of the text in that uh most people are familiar with Moses leading the children of Israel through the Red Sea, the Egyptians' uh army kind of following them, and then God causing the storm uh to happen.

Excuse me, and thus saving the children of Israel.

And so today, if you have your Bibles, if you want to turn to chapter 15, that's where we're gonna be, uh, where it tells us right after, right after they get through the Red Sea, right over, right after God closes it, it says this that then, so then, Moses and the Israelites, what did they do?

To the Where did they get the song from?

YouTube?

Did somebody already prepare the song?

I mean, they didn't really know what was gonna happen.

They didn't know the sea was gonna part.

And this is actually kind of fascinating.

This is the first time in Scripture there is a recorded song.

Nothing in Genesis.

There's musical instruments, there's mentions of singing, but nothing to this extent.

And so it's fascinating to read the song that they sang when they were delivered.

And so, as I say these words, realize it really they sang them.

Uh, and but we don't really know the melody, so that's what makes it difficult for us to see that.

But what I do think you will see are patterns in the song.

Because we believe God writes all of Scripture, and so just the way that God talked to Moses and told Moses what to tell the children of Israel, God's the one that gave Moses the words to the song that he then uh transferred to the children of Israel.

So it was this responsive song that he would sing and they would sing back to him.

And so it goes on to say this this is the song they're singing to the Lord.

I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted, both horse and driver, he has hurled into the sea.

The Lord is my strength and my defense, he has become my salvation.

Why?

Because he's the one that just saved us out of the situation we were in.

He is my God, I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.

The Lord is a warrior, the Lord is his name.

Who is this song focused on?

Who is getting all the credit?

Who did all the work?

And this is important because different churches have different philosophies when it comes to praise and worship.

And for us here at Shepherd's Gate, we believe that the scriptures teach that praise and worship is a response to the saving work of God in our lives.

In fact, this being the first song, there's other songs that are going to pop up throughout Scripture.

If you go to the New Testament, Mary, the mother of Jesus, she actually writes and sings a song.

Same thing with Elizabeth, her relative, writes and sings a song.

And there's other people with even the Christmas account that have songs that God put on their heart because they were so overwhelmed and overjoyed at his work.

And I tell you this because there are beliefs sometimes that somehow we can manipulate God or control God by our singing.

And we don't believe that as a church.

Or that if we just sing more and more and more and more and more, that eventually then all of a sudden God's going to move.

No, no, no.

We we don't sing to force God's hand.

We don't sing to try to get something from God.

The reason we sing is to proclaim who He is and what it is that He's already done for us through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

This is so important.

I can't tell you how important this is to know this and why we gather and how we gather on Sunday mornings and even the songs that we pick and that we sing.

And so as I continue reading this song this morning, I want you to see some of the themes that we actually even sang already today.

And what's so fascinating about this is they're actually fulfilling what God actually destined them to do while they were still enslaved in Egypt.

If you go back to Exodus chapter 8, God's the one that came to Moses and said, Moses, you're gonna go to Pharaoh and you're gonna tell them that he has to let my people go, that he has to release them from slavery.

Exodus 8 · chapter mention

And the reason that they need to be let go is not only to be freed up, but why do they want to be freed?

So that they can do what?

So God's actually fulfilling what he originally started from the very beginning.

Fascinating.

So here's part of the song.

Pharaoh's chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea.

The best of Pharaoh's officers are drowned in the Red Sea.

Remember last week that they had the best chariots?

The deep waters have covered them.

They sank to the depths like a stone.

Your right hand, Lord, was majestic in power.

Your right hand, Lord, shattered the enemy.

Well, what does that mean?

Does God have two right hands?

What is going on in the text?

In the Old Testament, whenever you see this expression, and you're gonna hear it repeated, the right hand of God, first and foremost, it means that God is doing all the work.

It also means that he is the one who is the creator.

He is the one that can command the sea and the storms and all of nature, because he is the one who in fact created it.

And not only can he do all those miraculous things, he with his mighty right hand is the one who shatters the enemy.

And do you know that God is still shattering your enemies and my enemies today?

That God continues with his mighty right hand to protect us as his children, just as he protected the children of Israel.

The song goes on to say, In the greatness of your majestry you threw down those who oppressed you.

You unleashed your burning anger, and it consumed them like stubble.

By the blast of your nostrils the water piled up.

The surging water stood up like a wall, the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.

The enemy even boasted, I will pursue, I will overtake them, I will divide their spoils, I will gorge myself on them, I will draw my sword, and my hand will destroy them.

It's a pretty wordy song, isn't it?

Some of you are like, man, sometimes we sing songs and you're like exhausted when you're done singing them.

Remember, God wrote this song.

Then it says this, but you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them.

The same breath of God we find in Genesis that created the world.

They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

Who among the gods is like you, Lord?

He put yourself at the scene.

We've encouraged you as you read the scriptures to engage and to use your five senses and to act like you're an active participant in the text.

I mean, you can imagine how overwhelmed they were looking back, seeing dead bodies all along the shore, knowing God had miraculously saved them.

Of course, the response automatically was singing worship to God.

Who is like you?

Majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders.

You stretched out, where is it?

Here it is again, your right hand, and the earth swallows your enemies.

And it says this in your unfailing love, you will lead the people you have redeemed.

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

The nations will hear and tremble.

Anguish will grip the people of Philistine.

The chiefs of Edom will be terrified.

The leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling.

The people of Cana will melt away.

Terror and dread will fall on them.

And what's fascinating about these verses is that this is prophetic language.

See, God already told Moses as soon as they exited Egypt that they were going to inherit the promised land.

And now God is putting that same prophetic message in this song.

And he's saying that even though I defeated the Egyptians, there are still more enemies that you are going to have to overcome.

That life isn't going to get easy from this moment forward.

There's going to be future obstacles and there's going to be future challenges, but don't ever forget that I am the Lord your God and I am the one that's going to help you defeat the future enemies that you haven't even encountered yet.

The Philistines and the Edomites and the Moabites and the Canaanites.

And so you imagine as you're singing these words, and the reason that that music is so powerful, and the reason you repeat what you say is because it helps you get it from your head down into your heart.

That He wanted them as the trials and the circumstances are coming toward them, just like in our lives, when we come to faith and God does his work in our hearts and our lives, it doesn't mean that life all of a sudden is easy on planet Earth.

That there's still challenges that we face and there's future enemies that you and I have before us, but thanks be to God, God already knows who they are.

God already knows the challenges that we're going to face in the future.

And he goes before us and he fights our battles for us.

Amen?

Now look at what it says.

By the power of your arm, they will be as still as stone until your people pass by, Lord.

Until your people you brought pass by.

You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance.

This is the promised land.

I'm going to get you there.

And you're just going to be marveled at the fact that I did this for you.

This is the place the Lord, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established.

Don't forget the promises of God.

And as you think of that mighty right hand of God, where is Jesus currently sitting?

Right hand of the Father.

And do you know what our promised land is?

Do you know the promise that God has given us that we eagerly await for?

Is that the day is going to come that's been appointed by the Father when He's going to look at the Son and give him the nod that he is to come back to this earth once and for all.

And we will be with Jesus for all eternity.

That's what we have to continue to look at and look toward.

That is our promise, as their promise was the promised land.

And because we know that eternity with Jesus awaits for us, the only proper response is the Lord reigns forever and ever.

The Lord reigns forever and ever.

The Lord reigns forever and ever and ever.

Now, I know music in a church, especially.

A lot of people have a lot of different opinions on music.

Amen?

And some people say it's too loud.

It's not loud enough.

It's too wordy.

Some people even say, how come the songs are so re uh repetitive?

Anybody ever thought that?

Anybody ever heard of what's called a 7-Eleven song?

You guys know the 7-Eleven songs?

This is when people pick on contemporary worship.

They say a 7-Eleven song is when you say the same exact seven words 11 times.

Why can't we just sing the hymns?

They're so rich in theology.

Well, here's a little preview.

There's a hymn coming later in the service.

So, you know.

Hold on.

That's why I love about Shepherd's Gate.

We do all types of music here.

If you're new to Shepherd's Gate, Shepherd's Gate was started in 1980 to bring modern worship with our theology, and we've been functioning in that from the very beginning.

And God, by his grace and mercy, has blessed us.

We don't know how to do any other type of worship.

This is how we've always been.

Sometimes you go to churches, we have sister congregations, they have multiple styles of worship on a Sunday morning.

I pray for those pastors.

Those pastors have it way harder than I do.

Sometimes they have to do wardrobe changes in the middle of Sunday.

You know what I mean?

Here we just have the one style, and you come to 9 or 11, they're identical services.

In fact, this morning was funny because a lot of our seasoned ticket holders for the Lions, they come to the 9 o'clock service.

Which is interesting, right?

Because today at 1 o'clock, Ford Field is going to be full of thousands and thousands of people screaming at the top of their lungs.

And then they're going to play a song that they play at every game by some band called Journey.

And they're going to get to the line that says, born and raised in South Detroit.

And it's so frustrating because there's no such thing as South Detroit.

But as Lions fan and as Michiganders, we're just knuckleheads.

You know South Detroit is Canada.

We're kind of in a little, you know, tizzy with them right now.

We need some missionaries to go to Canada and hug those people and tell them, hey, we just want you to be on Team Jesus.

Amen?

And so when you think of the 7-Eleven, you're like, oh, why do we keep repeating the same things over and over again?

Newsflash, the first ever song written, but was written by God in Exodus, repeats over and over again.

Look at how many times we have said chariots.

Look at how many times we have said God's mighty right hand.

In fact, in the last three verses, it says this when Pharaoh's horses, chariots, and horsemen went into the sea.

I mean, he's told us this how many times.

The Lord brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.

Then all of a sudden it says this.

This is fascinating.

Then Miriam, the prophet, who's Aaron's sister.

And if she's Aaron's sister, who else?

Moses' sister.

Moses' sister.

Because Moses and Aaron are brother and brother.

So she takes a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her in timbrels and dancing.

If you don't know what a timbrel is, a timbrel is an animal skin, any animal skin that is stretched over some type of surface, and it often involved having a stick in your hand, and you would beat that instrument, which is why we have the drums.

The drums go all the way back to Exodus chapter 15.

Exodus 15 · chapter mention

Dave, who's my neighbor, he lives in myself, he's doing an absolutely fantastic job today on the drums.

Don't you think?

Praise God for him, right?

And there was an era in the church when they said you shouldn't have drums.

You should stop playing drums.

You're worshiping the devil.

And you're like, that can't be true.

Then these people are devil worshipers in Exodus 5.

No, it's not the case.

God gives us these musical instruments to use to glorify him and to bring the people of God into the presence of Jesus.

And so that's why Miriam sang these words.

God is the originator of the 7-Eleven song.

Okay?

Now another kind of cool Jewish custom thing is that in this time period, often the men would sing first and then the women would echo.

So there is a good chance that Moses is singing the song first, and then the people of God are echoing it here.

And when you get toward the end of this text, there's a good chance that the men are singing, which is pretty awesome, and then you hear about the women echoing what the men are singing.

If you did have the opportunity to grow up in church, or you were in church during the 80s and 90s, this actually was pretty popular.

There was worship songs where there were men parts and women parts.

Do any of you remember that?

It was kind of cool.

We probably should have picked one to do today.

Here's what's even crazier about this text.

We just got through all 21 verses.

Is that it shows up in another place in the Bible, this song.

Does anybody know what book of the Bible this song shows up in?

It's actually the last book of the Bible.

What's the last book of the Bible?

Revelation.

And there's a guy named John, he's one of Jesus' disciples.

And God takes him to an island and he downloads to John.

He gives him a vision, prophecy, of what the end of days will be.

And so John is trying to articulate what God is revealing to him, which will eventually happen.

What we're reading has not yet fully happened.

And so John sees in heaven another great and marvelous sign.

Seven angels with seven, look at this, last plagues.

Different plagues than what the children of Israel were just dealing with.

Because with them God's wrath is complete.

And so when this happens, it is over.

Jesus has come back.

He has separated the sheep from the goats, those that are going to heaven, those that are going to hell.

I mean, this is the grand finality of what happens to humanity.

And it says, I saw what looked like a sea of glass.

That's kind of fascinating, isn't it?

Glowing with fire.

And standing beside the sea, they had harps.

Who gave them the harps?

Clearly, he's good with musical instruments.

And as they're playing the harps, they're singing the song of God's servant, Moses, and of the Lamb.

Wait, what?

So when God comes, when Jesus comes back, and we are in a heaven with eternity, this scripture is telling us that we are going to go back to Exodus 15 and we are all going to sing the song that we just read this morning in church.

Is that not crazy?

How many of you would love to be next to Moses when you're singing the song?

How many of you are like, I prefer Miriam?

I'd like to, you know, bang on a timrole with her.

And here's the words, Revelation.

It even tells you what we're going to sing.

Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty.

Just and true are your ways, King of the nations.

Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name?

For you alone are holy.

All the nations will come and worship before you.

And that's because Scripture tells us every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.

All the nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.

I think it's absolutely fascinating that you and I one day will stand with the children of Israel and we will sing what we just read.

I think it's absolutely fascinating that when we get to heaven, that God is going to have for us a worship service that we will worship him and show our affection and our admiration to him by lifting our voices and worship and praise to him.

And so as you come in here today, and as you come in here Sunday after Sunday, why not sing?

Why not get ready for what awaits all of us?

I love worshiping.

I find that when I'm struggling with something in life, when hardships come in, when there's an obstacle in front of me, and I and I just can't figure out how to overcome it.

That something is released in me when I just take a deep breath.

And I begin to engage in the song, and I begin to repeat the words, and I enthrone God with the words of the song.

That God, in his grace and his mercy, somehow has this ability to wrap his loving arms around me.

And there's a peace that comes over me that only he can give.

Not that my obstacles aren't still going to be there when I get home or the next day or the next week or the next month.

But I know in that moment that God is going to lead me through it.

That he will never leave or forsake me.

And so my response is to worship him and to trust him and to know that he is at work in my life.

Amen.

And so that's what we're going to have the opportunity to continue doing.