OUR SONG

This message was preached at Grace Baptist Church in Westlake, OH on May 24, 2009. Where you see, in the message, that there were testimonies, I encourage you to consider going to our website (www.gbcwestlake.org), and listening to the message so you can hear these incredible testimonies of praise to God. I would not be able to do them justice. You have to hear them for yourself. It just seemed right, on Memorial Day Weekend, as we were in Exodus 15 in our journey through Exodus (Redeemed For Relationship series) that we would have a message filled with praise to God. So, I preached the text of Exodus 15 in 3 sections, and in each section we sang 2 praise songs to God and heard 2 testimonies, to immediately apply this teaching to our lives. We have so much to praise God for; and the entire service was a great encouragement to me. I hope it will to you as well.

OUR SONG
Exodus 15:1-21

Please open your Bible to the 2nd book of the Bible, the book of Exodus and find chapter 15…Exodus 15.

Do you like history? Whether you like it or not, it is there: history of the world, history of the United States, history of this church, history of your life and family, etc. Someone has said: “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Someone else noted: “You either learn from history or you ignore it.” The older I get, the more I appreciate history. A few years ago, my family looked back into our genealogy and tried to trace our family roots. It was very interesting to hear about. I like reading books and watching movies that are based on real life, historical events, rather than fantasy and myth.

When it comes to our spiritual growth, history is vitally important. In fact, the Bible tells us that if are not willing to learn from biblical history, then we are not going to be able to grow as God has intended. We must pay attention. And travelling through the book of Exodus together, we must remember how important this history is, for our present day application.

Romans 15:4 – “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

I Corinthians 10:1 – “For I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all the passed through the sea…”

The Apostle Paul was writing basically to Gentiles, and yet he connects all believers with the experiences of Israel, God’s people. He begins this chapter with talking to them about the experiences that Israel had, as they left bondage in Egypt and passed through the Red Sea, and then he talks about their wilderness experiences. But, I want you to notice what he says in:

I Corinthians 10:6 – “Now these things took place as examples for us…”

I Corinthians 10:11 – “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction…”

In our travels through Exodus, we read many interesting, historical facts about God, about Moses, about Israel, and about their enemies. We probably are learning things, I know I am, that we didn’t know before. But, we have to keep in mind what God says here in the New Testament. And that is…that a major reason these stories in Exodus are recorded are so that we can learn and change the way that we live. And so, as we come into Exodus 15 today, let’s learn from their example, and let’s apply it, right now, to our lives in our worship to God.

Exodus 15 is a song, written in response to what happened in Exodus 14 and the preceding chapters. And just in case you haven’t been here recently, let me brief you quickly: Israel was in bondage to Egypt for 430 years. God called an 80 year old shepherd named Moses to go and lead His people out of bondage. In order to do so, God sent 10 terrible plagues on the land and people of Egypt, as the king of Egypt (Pharaoh) continued to harden His heart, as God said that he would. The purpose of all of that was clearly explained by God Himself:

Exodus 3:7, 8, 20 – “Then the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey…”

Exodus 10:1,2 – “Then the LORD said to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD.”

Exodus 14:4 – “And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD…”

God wanted everyone to know who He was: the LORD (Jehovah), the promise keeping God who wanted a special relationship with His people. He was going to redeem His people, and bring them out of bondage, based on this relationship.

After the 10th plague, which was the death of the firstborn of Egypt, Pharaoh let God’s people go. They had not been gone long, when God led them to a “dead end” of sorts. And then, Pharaoh changed his mind and sent his entire army after the Israelites to bring them back and make them slaves once again. The people of Israel were trapped, it seemed, between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army, with no way of escape. They became afraid, and started to blame their leader. But their leader, Moses, re-assured them:

Exodus 14:13,14 – “And Moses said to the people, Fear not, stand firm, and 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.”

And that is exactly what happened. God opened up the Red Sea, allowed His people, all 2,000,000 of them to pass through on dry land; and then when the Egyptian army pursued them into the sea, He brought the waters down on them, killing them all. Let’s take a look at chapter 15:

Exodus 15:1 – “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.”

In our world, when something great happens, people write songs about it. Songs are written based on great love relationships, heroes of war, and victors in athletics. Songs are written to praise a product in a commercial, for a president, and for the worship of God. This practice began all the way back, when the people of Israel were saved by God, out of Egypt and through the Red Sea. They sang to Him a song of praise, recognizing who He was: Jehovah God (LORD). This mighty God overthrew the Egyptian army by His mighty hand. That is certainly a good reason to sing, isn’t it? Let’s continue:

Exodus 15:2 – “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.”

They make it personal. Yes, this was their forefathers God: the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It was the same God who gave those promises back then that was bringing the fulfillment of those promises to these people. Not only that, they could personally say: He is my God. And because of that, they would exalt Him (lift Him up). We need to do the same thing!

Exodus 15:3 – “The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name.”
Moses, back in the days that he was growing up in Egypt, was known as a man of war. Pharaoh, King of mighty Egypt, was known as a man of war. But now, this song puts in His rightful place, the real warrior of power, the real man of war: the LORD is his name.

Exodus 15:4,5 – “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host 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.”

What a powerful word picture of what they saw: the mighty Egyptian army sinking in the Sea that they had just crossed on dry ground. Remember what they just experienced?

Exodus 14:30,31 – “Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD…”

When they saw what God had done for them, they erupted in praise.
SO WHAT? Praise God for who He is

These verses mention what, specifically, God has done, but I think the key here, is the recognition of who God is. Remember: that is what God was after in the first place: that everyone would know His name. And not only that, the people were making it personal; which we must also apply:
· Make your praise personal

Let’s do that right now. Let’s apply this example from the nation of Israel, responding in praise to God. Several people have volunteered to give praise to God this morning, through brief testimonies. I have asked some of them to expand on their testimony a bit, in order to give you a fuller picture of what God has done for them.

· Sam Gray
· Alice Wills

This is not just about Israel’s God, or the God of our founding fathers, or the God of your parents or grandparents. This is about you and your God.
Pray remembering that you are actually talking to your God
Sing, keeping in mind that you are singing this to your God
Don’t talk about how Jesus just saved others; but praise Him for how He saved you

Would you stand with me please? (worship team up)
Notice that Moses and the people of Israel sang to God to praise Him for what He did for them, and to acknowledge who He was. It is the same for us today. You may not personally like the hymn we are about to sing; or some of the praise songs. Sing them anyway, because of your love for God and in order to express the gratefulness of your heart to Him.You may not even like to sing; or don’t have a very good voice. Don’t worry: Your’re not trying to win American idol here. We are corporately giving our praise to God through song, because we love Him; and He deserves our praise. This is not about the music that you like. This is about the God who deserves our praise, expressed in song! So, let me encourage you, as we sing throughout the message this morning, to sing out as you can, even if you are unfamiliar with the songs. Let’s praise Him, first, by singing about His saving us, becoming our redeemer. Let’s sing.

Songs of Praise:
· I will sing of My redeemer
· Mighty to Save

Thank you. You may be seated. The song continues:

Exodus 15:6-8 – “Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in 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 waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.”

The song talks about what God had done. The reference to God’s right hand goes back to how God Himself gave this picture of taking on human qualities and using His own hand to bring this about:

Exodus 7:4,5 – “Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”

Exodus 15:9– “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.”

This is a little insight into what was going on behind the scenes, in the palace of the King of Egypt. They were confident that they could simply use their military might, come after the Israelites and subdue them into bondage once again. Or, if necessary, they would wipe them out! For Pharaoh, this was about exerting his might and getting glory for he and Egypt. But, it didn’t quite work out that way. Listen to their song, in talking about God:

Exodus 15:10 – “You blew with your wind; the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters.”

You see: it was God who would get the glory. In fact, that is exactly what God said, when He was explaining to Moses why Pharaoh would change his mind and come after them. It was so that God would take the glory from Pharaoh, for good. Remember:

Exodus 14:4 – “…And I will get glory over Pharaoh…and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD…”

Exodus 15:11,12 – “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them.”

There’s a rhetorical question! Who is like you, O LORD? NOBODY! But, that was one of the issues all the way through the plagues. I mean, when Moses first went to Pharaoh, to tell him that the LORD (Jehovah) wanted him to let His people go, this is Pharaoh responded with:

Exodus 5:2 – “But Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.”

But, through all of this, God made Himself known. And although Egypt worshipped many false, dead gods, those gods were not able to save them from the plagues; and the LORD was shown to be the one and only true God. In each plague, what God did to Egypt was in direct judgment against particular gods that Egypt worshipped, and which should have been able to protect them. But, of course, they didn’t. And before the 10th and final plague, God said this:

Exodus 12:12 – “For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night…and I will execute judgments on all the gods of Egypt…”

The song continues:
Exodus 15:13 – “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.”

This reminds us of what I believe to be the major theme of Exodus. Of course, it is about God’s people getting out of bondage, leaving Egypt, and beginning toward the promised land. But, the main theme is about God’s redemption of His people. The title of our message series is: Redeemed for relationship. God redeemed them, brought them out of bondage with His mighty hand, and then led them to where He would dwell – in His presence. Soon, we are going to see in Exodus, how God is going to lay down rules for walking with Him – commandments so that His people would be in the right relationship with Him.

This is no different for us today. Atleast, the main theme is still present. God has redeemed us for relationship. He died on the cross for our sins so that we might have a relationship with Him. And everyone who places their faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation has a personal relationship with God, through Jesus, and has the assured hope of eternal life in Heaven. That is something to praise God for! And once we have that relationship, we then desire to grow in that relationship through humbly obeying His commands, found in His Word.

SO WHAT? Praise God for what He has done.
It is important to spell out what God has done for you. It is good to praise Him for His character qualities and the specific things He has accomplished in your life. Certainly, that begins with your salvation, but also includes the many other blessings and incredible miracles He has performed on your behalf.

· Make your praise specific

Let’s apply this right now, and continue to praise Him in testimony:
· Dena Pincombe
· Kristen Smith (written testimony) [worship team up]

God makes Himself known in so many ways in our lives. He uses circumstances and He uses other people to show His incredible power and His uniqueness as the one and only true God. It’s your turn to respond in praise. Would you stand with us please? Let’s sing about our redeemer, Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah who came to save us from our sins. And then our song for this month: God Almighty; as we exalt the Almighty God who did incredible things for Israel, yes; but who does incredible things for us as well!

Songs:
· Jesus Messiah
· God Almighty

Thank you. You may be seated. The final part of this song seems to look ahead, past the incident at the Red Sea, to how that even was going to affect their future; and point to God’s control at all times. Keep in mind that God was not bringing them out of Egypt to just keep them wandering in the wilderness. There was a destination, a goal, a place they were headed. And as they headed to the Promised land of Canaan, they would be meeting and defeating nations and armies along the way. The song continues:

Exodus 15:14-16 – “The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia. Now are 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, pass by, till the people pass by whom you have purchased.”

As they moved through the wilderness and toward the Promised land, the other nations would already have heard about the incredible things God had done, in Egypt and at the Red Sea. The people of Israel were praising God for how His name and fame would be spread to all peoples, based on what He has done. If you have read through the Old Testament, you know that many times Israel doesn’t even have to fight, as God brings victory all on His own. And when Israel does fight, it is evident that it is the power of God. This song speaks of it in such a way that the other nations just stand in awe, as they see the power of God and watch the nation of Israel pass by.
When you get to the book of Joshua, with the people ready to cross the Jordan and take over Jericho, listen to what one of the residents of Jericho said to the spies from Israel:

Joshua 2:9,10 – “…I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt…”

God was spreading His own name throughout the world with His redemption of His people. Did you catch that last phrase of verse 16: “the people…whom you have purchased.” Here we have another word that is related to the idea of redemption. God purchased His people’s freedom by His mighty works. Jesus Christ purchased our redemption through His death (blood), burial and resurrection. Just as the people of Israel received their gift by walking through the Red Sea, so we receive our free gift of eternal life by placing all of our faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. The song continues:

Exodus 15:17 – “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, which your hands have established.”

God would keep His promise, lead them to their own land, and set up His own presence in Jerusalem. This was to be God’s dwelling, brought about by His power; and would serve as a visible presence of His holiness and glory. We will see a temporary tabernacle built that had the presence of God for their trip through the wilderness. But, eventually, they would set up a place in Jerusalem, where God would be worshipped.

Exodus 15:18 – “The LORD will reign forever and ever.”

Pharaoh was the king of Egypt, but would not rule and reign like God would. The LORD would rule over Israel forever, they sang. He was the one they were to worship and look to for guidance. Eventually, Israel would have their own human kings, but even then, they were to lead the people to follow God’s rule and obey Him.

And this even points us ahead to our future as well. Not only is God to be the King of our lives right now; but one day, when Jesus Christ returns, the reign of earthly kings will be over; and all will acknowledge that God is truly in control and they will worship Jesus Christ as their King. And He will rule forever. The final book of the Bible looks ahead to this time:

Revelation 21:3-5 – “No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face…and night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”

And then, the song here in Exodus 15 comes back to the place the song began: praising God because He had great victory over the Egyptians, bringing His people safely through the Red Sea:

Exodus 15:19 – “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 in the midst of the sea.”

This is the reason God will be worshipped, and why He will reign forever and ever. Miriam, the sister of Aaron and Moses, gathers the women, and leads them in singing the first verse again:

Exodus 15:20,21 – “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 sang to them: Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”

Later, in the book of Micah the prophet, God revealed just how important Miriam was, along with Moses and Aaron:

Micah 6:4 – “For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.”

This was the testimony of the people of Israel, concerning what God had done for them. What is your testimony of what God has done for you?

SO WHAT? Praise God for His future promises
Just like Israel who could sing about the future that God had promised for them; so we can sing about our future. It includes a home in Heaven, and forever enjoying the presence of God, face to face. There is nothing better than that! So:
· Make your praise continual

Don’t let this be a Sunday thing. Don’t let it be a singing thing. From now until you see Jesus Christ again, you have a reason, let alone the command by God, to praise Him. Let’s apply that right now with a couple more testimonies:

· Scott Tyson
· Shannon Dawson

Would you stand with us please? [worship team up]
Because of who God is and what He has done, it motivates us, it draws us, it compels us, to worship Him. Yes, worship is more than just Sunday mornings and singing. It is a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week living our lives in humble obedience to Him. But, when we gather together, one of the ways we are asked to worship God is to sing out with loud voices, young voices, old voices, good voices and those not so good…making a joyful noise to the LORD! There is no better way for us to end our message and service today, than to sing a couple more songs about our Great God.

Songs:
· How Great is Our God

We sing How Great is our God, as we consider what He has done; and we close by singing the hymn: Jesus Paid it All, to remember that the only reason we can have a personal relationship with God and be with Him forever, is because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross for us. Here is the reality for us today, who have trusted in Christ:

I Peter 1:18 – “Knowing that you were [redeemed]…not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”

Let’s praise Him for that!

· Jesus paid it all