Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America

Tuesday after Sexagesima Sunday

Posted on February 26, 2019 by Pastor Dulas under Devotions
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Scripture: Exodus 15:1-21 (NKJV)
 
15:1 Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying:
 
“I will sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!
 
2 “The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He 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 army He has cast into the sea; His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea. 5 The depths have covered them; They sank to the bottom like a stone. 6 Your right hand, O LORD, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces.
 
7 “And in the greatness of Your excellence You have overthrown those who rose against You; You sent forth Your wrath; It consumed them like stubble. 8 And with the blast of Your nostrils the waters were gathered together; The floods stood upright like a heap; The depths 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 be satisfied on 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, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
 
12 “You stretched out Your right hand; The earth swallowed them. 13 You in Your mercy have led forth the people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength to Your holy habitation. 14 The people will hear and be afraid; Sorrow will take hold of the inhabitants of Philistia. 15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; The mighty men of Moab, trembling will take hold of them; All the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away. 16 Fear and dread will fall on them; By the greatness of Your arm they will be as still as a stone, till Your people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over whom You have purchased. 17 You will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which You have made for Your own dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.
 
18 “The LORD shall reign forever and ever.”
 
19 For the horses of Pharaoh went with his chariots and his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought back the waters of the sea upon them. But the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea. 20 Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.
 
21 And Miriam answered them:
 
“Sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!”
 
Devotion
 
In the previous chapter God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, miraculously drowning Pharaoh and his entire army in the Red Sea. This deliverance points forward to Baptism, in which the sinner is forgiven of his sins through a miraculous use of water.
 
The Israelites react to God’s deliverance with a song of praise and thanksgiving. Their song tells what God did for them in specific language: “Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea.” Through the use of song, the Israelites would always remember the day in which God saved them from the Egyptians through water. In the same way, the New Testament Church employs hymns for worship. The best of hymns recall the specific works which God has performed for His Church—for example, that the Son of God became flesh, that He was crucified and rose again, for the gift of Baptism, and for the promise of the Resurrection of the dead. God wants to be praised for the works He has done. Likewise, the saints who have died sing to God for His works done on Earth; their song of praise is this: “You [Christ] were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9).
 
The Church of God has always employed song to retell the gracious acts of God. This recounting of God’s works is the substance of Christian praise, for God desires to be praised for His works.
 
We pray: O God, who seest that we put not our trust in anything that we do, mercifully grant that by Thy power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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