Praise after victory
Exodus 15:1-21; 7/26/2026; BCBC/IOUC; Rev. Paul Wang
Introduction
When the waters returned, the Israelites looked before them, and the Egyptian army was nowhere to be seen. If you had been there, how would you have reacted? Would you have been amazed? Or would you have been at a loss for words? Now, let’s look at our first point.
Praise Him for His mighty power
Praise the Lord! The Bible tells us that Moses and the Israelites made the most important and the right choice of their lives. At the same time, this reveals a great mystery of spiritual life. First, sing to the Lord. Indeed, singing praises to God is a spiritual mystery. Unless you truly belong to Christ, you cannot fully understand it. David was only a shepherd boy. He had no formal musical training. Yet he continually sang and made melodies in his heart to the Lord. Many of us had the same experience. After we came to faith in Christ, we didn’t even know why, but we just wanted to sing hymns and praise God. Could we choose not to sing? No. Why not? Because the Holy Spirit stirs our hearts. It is like a burning fire shut up in our bones. The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. After David returned victorious from battle, he joined the people in singing praises to the Lord in the streets. But King Saul could not sing. His heart had become filled with Satan’s influence. Therefore, he could not lift up a song of worship to God.
Second, reverence for God. When Moses and the people witnessed God’s mighty power, their first response was to sing and to honor Him for His mighty deeds.
The best way to express our reverence for God is through singing praises to Him. It is wonderful to sing by yourself, but it is even better when God’s people sing together. It brings great pleasure to the Lord. Do you know this? In fact, singing hymns is one of the finest forms of prayer. As God hears His children singing in heaven, the angels present the prayers of the saints before Him like incense in golden bowls. Moses even declared, “The LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation.” Notice that Moses places song, strength, and salvation together. We could almost say that singing to the Lord is part of the very life of God’s children. If a person never sings praises to God, can that person truly possess the life of God?
Finally, reveal His glory. The Lord did a mighty work before the Israelites. It would not be an exaggeration to say it shook heaven and earth. Wouldn’t you agree? Have you ever wondered why? The answer is simple. Because through the crossing of the Red Sea, God revealed His glory. Moses declared, “Your right hand, O LORD, was majestic in power and glory. Your right hand, O LORD, shattered the enemy.” So how should people respond to the glory of God? By singing praises to Him. Moses didn’t just sing. He also composed the words and wrote the music for this timeless hymn, the Song of Moses. Unless we do not know God, and have never experienced or witnessed His glory, how could we not sing to Him? How could we not praise Him? Now, let’s move on to our second point.
Praise Him in faith
Actually, to say, “I praise God because of my faith,” is not completely accurate. Because faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. And this assurance and conviction cannot be produced by people on their own. First, praise gives birth to faith. In fact, the origin of faith itself is also a mystery. Who can truly explain where faith comes from? As Moses praised the Lord, faith was also being formed within him. Moses said, “I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; He is my father’s God, and I will praise Him.” The moment Moses praised God, he recognized by faith that the LORD was the God of his father. And by that same faith, he determined to exalt and honor God. Through the Hebrew poetic structure of the Song of Moses, with its beginning and ending reflecting one another, Moses revealed the pathway and the origin of how singing praises to God gives birth to faith. The first verse and the twenty-first verse both tell us this: When we sing to the Lord, it produces a victorious faith within us. A faith that declares: “For He has triumphed gloriously; the horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea.”
Second, trials test our faith. When life is too comfortable, our faith can easily become weak. Do you agree? This is also why God allows crises and even enemies to come into our lives. The Bible says: “The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil.'” The Israelites were very familiar with the strength of the Egyptians, their horses, their chariots, and their horsemen. The Red Sea was in front of them, and the Egyptian army was chasing them from behind. What was this? This was danger. This was a crisis. But where there is danger, there is also an opportunity. Isn’t that true? But where did the opportunity come from? It could only come if the Israelites truly believed that the LORD proclaimed by Moses would lead them through the Red Sea. But how would they cross? They did not know. They only saw Moses stretch out his staff over the sea, and the waters were divided. The seabed became dry land. And just like that, God’s work was accomplished.
Finally, look to God and stand firm in faith. How do we look to Him? Moses used one of the oldest forms of Hebrew poetry: parallelism. Let us look at verse 11:”Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” Moses repeats the question, “Who is like You?” twice. Then he begins with, “O LORD,” and rises upward to, “majestic in holiness.” Layer by layer, the words build higher and higher, leading God’s people to look up and behold the greatness and transcendence of God. This pattern— rhetorical praise, the listing of God’s attributes, and the expression of His mighty works— is a common structure in Hebrew worship songs, especially in songs of thanksgiving and praise. The purpose is to help God’s children, as they look to Him, continue to stand firm in faith. Now, let’s move on to our third point.
Praise Him for His sovereignty
When we talk about the sovereignty of God, verse 18 reveals the central theme that Moses’ song wants to express: “The LORD shall reign forever and ever.” First, the Exodus was God’s sovereign plan. God’s purpose had already been revealed more than six hundred years before Moses returned to Egypt. The LORD said to Abram: “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will serve them, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.” (Genesis 15:13) This is why Exodus 2:24 says: “God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.” It also includes God’s revelation of Himself to Moses, when He said:“I AM WHO I AM.” These words were not spoken only to Moses; they are also God’s declaration to all humanity.
Second, going to Mount Sinai was God’s promise. Verse 17 says: “You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance— the place, LORD, You made for Your dwelling, the sanctuary, Lord, which Your hands have established.” At this point, Mount Sinai was not yet the main focus of God’s revelation. It was only after chapter 19, and continuing through Numbers chapter 10, In fact, the theological structure of the entire Pentateuch—the five books of Moses—shows us that Mount Sinai is the central focus. Even the Book of Exodus itself can be understood as the introduction to the Pentateuch. The purpose of verse 17 is to bring us to the central message of Exodus: “The LORD shall reign forever and ever.” So let me ask you: Is the Lord Jesus Christ whom you believe in the one and only, supreme, and first Lord and Sovereign who reigns forever and ever?
Finally, the judgment of the wicked reveals God’s sovereignty. The salvation and judgment revealed in the Song of Moses come from the same source and are two sides of the same message. God allowed Moses to see:Pharaoh’s chariots and armies were thrown into the sea by the LORD; his finest officers and commanders sank into the Red Sea. God also allowed Moses to hear the words of the enemy: “I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my desire shall be satisfied upon them. I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them. God also caused Moses to remember and proclaim the judgment that had come, or would come, upon the peoples of Philistia, Edom, Moab, and Canaan. Fear, trembling, anguish, and terror would come upon them, until their hearts melted within them. The destiny of the wicked had already been determined. The LORD caused the waters of the sea to return and cover the Egyptians, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.
Conclusion
Praise the Lord! The “Song of Moses,” also known as the “Song of the Sea,” was not simply written and forgotten. It was passed down and sung among God’s people. The Bible says: “Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing.” It was not only singing; there was also dancing. They worshiped God with both song and dance. I also look forward to the day when we can rejoice and dance before the Lord. Why? There is only one reason: The Lord whom we believe in is worthy of all glory and praise. He is worthy that we lift our voices in song, and even worship Him with joyful movement, with tambourines and instruments, giving Him all our praise and worship.
Let’s pray together……
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[a] he has thrown into the sea.
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.
3 The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name.
4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
5 The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone.
6 Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
7 In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.
8 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.
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.’
10 You blew with your wind; the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
11 “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
12 You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them.
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.
14 The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
15 Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
16 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.
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.
18 The Lord will reign forever and ever.”
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.
20 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.
21 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.”
