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Exodus 15:1-18 – Praying through the Bible #28 – A Prayer of Singing
To experience the awe of prayer, lift up words of praise, and nothing but praise. Speak out loud of God’s holiness, power, love, faithfulness, salvation, exaltation, glory, wondrous deeds, majesty, reign, uniqueness, redemption, and eternity. Yes, even His wrath is praiseworthy. Pray without asking for anything. If the prayer is public, the “amen’s” should roar; and if private the “amen” should excite. In both there will be an experience of awed humility. This amazing God is our God. He is “The All-Everything.”
After their baptism, Israel is free. Freedom leads to amazement which leads to singing praise. Exodus 15 is the first recorded song in Scripture, being an example of a musical prayer praising God. These “All-Everything” qualities are found within “The Song of the Sea” or “The Song of Moses.”
The first section (vv.1-3) is divided into four parts: What “I” Will Do (v.1a); What God Did (v.1b); God’s Relationship to “Me” (v.2); Who God Is (v.3):
V.1a – Proper reaction of exaltation; V.1b – Grounded in history, based upon reality; V.2 – Total dependence upon God and a personal relationship with God: “my strength,” “my song,” “my salvation,” “my God;” V.3 – Assigning strength to God as a warrior harkening back to His defeat of Pharaoh’s warriors (i.e., when is the last time we called God a warrior?); along with the One God’s personal name, Yahweh.
The second section (vv.4-10) describes not only what God did, but how. It is my favorite because of some special touches. “Your burning wrath; it consumed them like stubble” (v.7). God made the Egyptians what Pharaoh made Israel gather. Did you ever wonder what the water was like as Israel passed through? “The watery depths congealed in the heart of the sea” (v.8). Kafaw means to thicken, curdle, or as some versions read, congeal. The Red Sea became like Jell-o!
The third section again glorifies and praises God, which naturally follows divine accomplishments. “Who is like You, glorious in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?” (v.11). After the praise, the prayer-song recounts again what God did to the offenders, as if the singers cannot stop being amazed and erupting with praise (v.12). I love the last verse in this section: “You will lead the people You have redeemed with Your faithful love; You will guide them to Your holy dwelling with Your strength” (v.13). After their baptism, the journey is just beginning; but it begins and ends with God, dependent on God, following God, living with God. There are two more sections, with the final line being praise, “The LORD will reign forever and ever!”
Prayer Challenge: Write a song-prayer (poetry or prose) patterned after this singing prayer, based upon something personal within your history with God.
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