Sing A Song! Part III (Praise Exalts)

After 400 years of slavery, Israel finally tasted the beginning of freedom from the evil of their Egyptian captors. Moses was leading them out of Egypt, but there was a wilderness to face before true freedom would be theirs.

One of the wilderness experiences the Israelites faced was the Red Sea. Believed to be a large papyrus marsh, the Israelites saw this sea in front of them, and heard the hoof beats of their enemy’s horses closing in behind them. The Lord was with them through the whole terrifying ordeal, commanding Moses to simply stretch out his hand and watch the seas part. Surely the Israelites ran for their lives through the parted waters towering high above their heads. Then, when the Egyptian armies reached the shore in pursuit, they merely stepped onto the dry sea bed and the waters roared over them–not one was saved.

After this victory, Moses and his sister Miriam, tambourine in hand, led the people in songs of praise to their God exalting Him for the miracle of deliverance He provided. Exodus 15: 1-2 records the event: Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously, He has thrown both horse and rider into the sea. The Lord is my strength, my song, and my salvation, He is my God and I will praise Him.” (Living Bible) What a celebration it must have been with everyone singing praise to God!

The Israelites faced many other trials and tribulations on their way to freedom, but God had performed a miracle for them at the Red Sea. As it was with God’s people in the wilderness to freedom, so it is with us today. We all face trials, whether they are physical, emotional, mental, or come in the form of an enemy’s chase, we must praise God in the midst. Exalting Him above our circumstances will bring our deliverance, and like the Israelites, we can say “God is my strength, my song, and my salvation.”