Summary
The Song That God Keeps Bringing to Mind
Scripture is full of songs—Israel's well-song in Numbers 21, the eighteenth psalm of David, the more than a thousand songs of Solomon, the Song of Songs itself. But the very first song recorded in Holy Scripture is the Song of Moses in Exodus 15, and it stands as a kind of pattern for everything that follows.
The setting is one of utter desperation. Israel had been driven out of Egypt after the tenth plague, only to have Pharaoh change his mind and pursue them with six hundred chariots, infantry, and cavalry. Mountains pinned them in to the west and south, the sea blocked them to the east, and Pharaoh's army bore down from the north. They turned on Moses: "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?" Exodus 14:11. Then God acted. An east wind dried the seabed, Israel passed through on dry ground, and a west wind brought the waters back over Pharaoh's forces.
Out of that deliverance came the song: "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" Exodus 15:1-2. Miriam took up a tambourine and reprised it Exodus 15:20-21, and from there the song never really stops. God brings it back again and again—in Psalm 106, Psalm 136, Deuteronomy 11, Joshua 24, Nehemiah 9, Psalm 78, Isaiah 51, and Hebrews 11. The redemptive act is rehearsed over and over so the people will not forget who their God is.
The remarkable thing is where this first song reappears at the end of Scripture. In Revelation 15, the throngs of heaven "sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb." The first song in the Bible becomes part of the last song in the Bible—two songs of redemption woven together. Moses' song celebrates God's deliverance of his people from Egypt; the Lamb's song celebrates Christ's deliverance of his people from sin. One melody, two movements, one Redeemer.
This is why the song belongs to the Christian as much as to Israel. We are sinners through and through—in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and left undone—and we deserve hell itself. Yet God sent his Son, and the shed blood of Christ delivers us from eternal condemnation. In the waters of Baptism God personally applies that gospel and makes his decision about us. The empty tomb declares the sacrifice accepted. The Lord is our strength and our song, and he has become our salvation.
That is why a believer can keep singing in every season. When circumstances are good and when they are not, when life brings discord and difficulty, the song of joy still rises—because God himself keeps bringing the melody to mind and carrying it from the heart to the lips. Amid the challenges, sing the song. He will not let his people forget it.
Video citations
- Joy: “Singing the Song” 7-21-24 — Would you open your Bibles, please, for our time and God's Word today, to Exodus 15th chapter. If you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that in the Old Testament page…