Exodus 15:1 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying, I will sing to the LORD… Unwonted interest attaches to this song — the earliest on record of all the sacred odes, and the very foremost in the annals of Hebrew anthology. To the Jewish people themselves, it is what they have long called it, "The Song"; a designation to which it is entitled, alike from its inherent pre-eminence and its unrivalled associations. 1. It is Israel's natal song. For, in crossing the Red Sea, they passed through the birth-throes of their national existence, and from this epoch dates a new chronology in Israel's calendar. The oppressed tribes have become a commonwealth; and a commonwealth of the free. 2. It is Israel's emancipation song, or song of liberty. It signalises a triple deliverance; marking the supreme moment of rescue from the threefold evils of domestic slavery, political bondage, and religious thraldom. 3. It is Israel's first National Anthem and Te Deum in one. The Exodus was not a mere effort on the part of the Hebrew race to achieve their independence and realize their aspirations after a separate nationality. The spirit of even this idea had yet to be created within them; but everything depended on their being first delivered from the corrupting influences of Egyptian fetichism and idolatry, no less than from the yoke of Egyptian bondage. Not that the mass of them could at all appreciate the full meaning of the grand event as a mighty religious movement, repeating on a larger scale the migration of Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees, and breaking away from idolatrous and debasing superstitions, to find a home for the free development of a higher creed and worship. But the eye of their great leader descried this Divine purpose; and he had gone with this first tentative proposal to Pharaoh from God "Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness." It is Israel's Te Deum, or song of thanks and praise to God. An overwhelming sense of the Divine interposition is the predominant sentiment in the song from first to last. It is no mere secular ode; no mere war-song or outburst of patriotic triumph; no exultant shriek of insult over a fallen foe; but an anthem of blessing and gratitude for a great deliverance, a devout and solemn psalm before God, to whom, of whom, and for whom it is sung. This high and sacred intent keeps it from degenerating into a wild strain of vindictiveness or vainglory. 4. It is Israel's Church-song; the type of all songs of redemption and salvation. The very words "redemption" and "salvation" are first introduced in connection with this great deliverance. "I will redeem you with an outstretched arm"; and again, "Fear ye not; stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord." The people had become unified into a worshipping assembly. It is Israel's triumph-song of deliverance. The note is that of joy and victory; and is prophetic of the success of every battle and struggle for the Lord's cause and kingdom, fought in the Lord's name and in His strength. This triumph is the precursor especially of that final and glorious one at the end of the ages, when the spiritual Israel, which no man can number, from every people, and tribe and language, "having gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name," shall take up a position like their prototypes of old not, however, by the shore of the Red Sea, with the mere emblem of God's presence before them — but as John saw them in apocalyptic vision, standing by the sea of glass mingled with fire; no longer led merely by Miriam and her chorus, but all of them having the harp of God in their hand, singing, not only "the Song of Moses, the servant of God," but "the Song of the Lamb." I. INTRODUCTION: OR THE TRIPLE AIM OF THE SONG (vers. 1, 2). Thus the song is, first of all, inscribed and offered to the Lord. He also is its great theme or subject; and it is His exaltation that constitutes its one and expressly avowed aim. To God, of God, for God — these are the three pivot-thoughts regulating and determining the movement of the opening strophe, and, indeed, of the entire hymn. Here, as not infrequently with later psalms, we have the whole song concentrated in the first verse. The occasion of the song, its subject, its design, are all indicated. First, there is here a singing to the Lord. The simplest idea we can attach to the opening words, "I will sing to the Lord," is this — I will bring myself into the immediate and felt presence of Jehovah, and will address and offer my song to Him! How near has He been to us during the eventful and stupendous transactions of the night! Under a realizing sense of that Dearness I will direct my song to Him. To what a pitch of solemnity this conception raises the singer I But, while this idea of singing to the Lord is expressive of the singer's attitude as immediately before the very face of the Supreme, it no less indicates that the song is an acceptable offering and oblation to the Lord. It is no self-pleasing exercise of gift and faculty, but "a sacrifice to the Lord, the fruit of the lips." "Singing," says one, "is as much the language of holy joy as prayer is the language of holy desire." How sublime a sight! The whole of a people singing before the one invisible God, and consciously realizing more or less their direct relation to the Eternal, under no outward form or image or material symbol! Secondly, the Lord is the subject or theme of the song. Underlying all is the sense of the Divine personality. Nothing but this could have kindled the soul to song. If God is to be the subject of hymning praise, it must needs be the thought of a living, personal One, to evoke the spirit of glorying in and praising His name. Thirdly, there is here a singing, not only to the Lord and of the Lord, but for the Lord. To extol and exalt the Lord is declared to be the ultimate end and aim of this song. And indeed this is the highest reach and the final purpose of all praise — to manifest and express the Divine character, the Divine working and ways, the Divine glory and honour. We are taught to pray for God as well as to Him; and to put this ever in the foreground of our prayers, as of all things the first, the best, the supremely desirable. "Hallowed be Thy name: Thy kingdom come: Thy will be done" — these petitions have the precedence over any for either ourselves or others. But not only to do this, but also to express it and set forth our purpose to do it — this is the special aim and function of praise, of which "Doxology," or the ascription of power, blessing, dominion, and every excellency, is the highest climax. It is the very anticipation of heaven itself and of all its worship. II. THE BODY, OR SUBJECT-MATTER OF THE SONG (vers. 3-13). The third verse seems to be designed for a great chorus — probably meant to be re-echoed by a body of deep-voiced warriors. It marks a transition from the declarative style of the introduction, to the alternation of recitative and ascriptive portions in the main body of the song. It forms also a suitable link between the two, being a fit climax to what precedes, because it sets forth why and in what character the Lord is to be exalted — "the Lord is a Man of War" — and a fit index to what follows, because it suggests, so strikingly, the nature of His triumph which is now about to be celebrated; a triumph involving struggle and conflict. He is "a Man of War" in accordance always with His sublime and sacred name Jehovah. The song proceeds to develop the three great qualities of the Jehovah-warrior, the Warrior who is Divine. 1. He is in power resistless. This power is seen first in the magnitude of the scale on which it operates — the sense of this being enhanced by the detail of particulars in verse 4. Pharaoh's chariots, and his host, and his chosen captains. Then, again, in the ease with which it effects its object as He "casts" them into the sea — it is as if He had caught up the whole host in His hand, and slung it like a stone into the deep; and finally, in the completeness of the overthrow and the irreversible and irretrievable nature of the result. Having thus signalized the catastrophe, the poet's inspiration seems to catch a new afflatus. The style suddenly changes in verses 6, 7, and 8; it ceases to be merely descriptive, and becomes directly ascriptive. The tone is now lofty and devout, God being addressed immediately in the second person, and the whole event being attributed to the interposition and miraculous operation of His power alone. 2. He is in equity and righteousness unchallengeable. The "equity and righteousness" is as manifest as the power. We are taught in verse 7 to regard the whole situation as intended for a display of "the Divine excellency": so true, so timely, and so exemplary it is in its manifestation. With consummate ease, but with no less consummate justice, the dread penalty is enacted; to show how "He is glorious in holiness and fearful in praises" while "doing wonders." For it is intimated that Egypt, in what it was doing, was not only "the enemy" of Israel, but it was "of them that rose up against Thee"; fighting against the Almighty and violating the first principles of Divine justice, truth, and mercy. The victims of the catastrophe were the fit subjects of a retributive and self-vindicating economy. Moreover, it was so well-timed. They were taken, as it were, red-handed, in the very act; at the very moment they were anticipating their revenge and gloating in its gratification. While they were intoxicated with insolence and pride: while they were breathing out threatening and cruelty, the Lord speaks to them in wrath; the Lord holds them in derision. 3. Yet, finally, He is in mercy plenteous. We have to note the goodness, no less than the severity, of God here. The reiteration in verse 12 of what has been said before, seems designedly made to enhance the sublime and suggestive contrast. III. THE THREEFOLD ISSUES (vers. 14-18). In this third and last wave of the anthem, the Divine mercy in the redemption of Israel is illustrated. The song becomes prophetic; and three grand issues are described and anticipated, an immediate, an intermediate, and a final one. 1. The immediate influence of the Exodus and passage of the Red Sea, on the tribes and peoples around, verses 14-16. A striking gradation is observed in describing the various effects: there is first a widespread panic and commotion in general, then the chiefs or "phylarchs" of Edom are paralyzed with terror; the mighty men of Moab tremble with uncontrollable fear; and finally the Canaanites melt away in despair. 2. There is an intermediate or remoter influence on the ultimate settlement and final destiny of Israel. So great an initial triumph was a happy augury and a sure prognostication of coming success. It was to be accepted as a Divine pledge of all needful aid and succour, until at length they should be firmly established in the promised land, as a nation, a race or family, and a Church. For in verse 17 we have a climax with three particulars, in which Israel is presented in three aspects, and their land is set forth in the triple character of an inheritance, a home, and a sanctuary, awakening the chords of patriotism, ancestry, and worship. 3. There is the last great issue of all, "The Lord shall reign for ever and ever." The prophecy of this song reaches thus onward to the end of all things; for the deliverance of Israel was not merely typical of, but actually a part and instalment of, the final redemption. And therefore, this song of Moses is not only the key-note and inspiration of the songs of the Old Testament Church, but a song of the Church in every age, celebrating as it does an event and deliverance not only pledging but vitally contributing to the last great acts in the onward triumph of Christ's complete redemption. (A. H. Drysdale, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. |
    |