A Song of Praise – Thanksgiving Day
Exodus 15:1-21
In times of victory, offering praise to God through song is always appropriate. In 1792, a group of more than a 1,000 people travelled to Africa to settle there, all of them from African descent. Some were former slaves; others had fought in the British army and moved to Canada. The plan was to build a new community in Sierra Leone on land bought to be a province of freedom. They were all Christians, and as they landed, they sang a hymn written by William Hammond called “Awake, and Sing the Song”: Awake, and sing the song Of Moses and the Lamb! Wake every heart and every tongue, To praise the Saviour’s Name.… Sing on your heavenly way! Ye ransomed sinners, sing! Sing on, rejoicing every day In Christ, the eternal King!
The people felt like the Israelites here in Exodus 15, they had been freed, crossed the sea, and now felt like they were entering the Promised Land, so they sang this hymn about Moses, who led Israel out of Egypt, and to Jesus, who had set them free so they can serve God in a new land. Everyone standing on the shore of the sea had been born into slavery, all of them, except for Mose had been oppressed and raised as slaves; freedom had probably never crossed their minds. Slavery is still with us today. Sexual slavery is prevalent in Canada, in our province, and even in our own community. Addiction is a form of slavery, being caught in a relationship of abuse can become like slavery, and when you talk to those caught in these situations, freedom can feel so far away, something for someone else and never for themselves. This was where most of Israel was at on the other side of the sea with the army of Pharaoh bearing down on them, and now the reality that they’re free is settling into their hearts and minds. They’re no longer slaves!
Singing a hymn of praise to God was a natural joyous response to what God has done. As you read through Scripture, you discover it’s filled with songs of praise for what God has done, and for who God is. These songs of praise began already at creation, Job 38:7 tells us that when God made the world, “the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy.” David is probably the greatest song writer in Israel’s history, the psalms, many written by David, are songs of praise, often songs of praise in hard times. A powerful example is Psalm 40, in which he describes how God lifted him out of the slimy pit and set his feet on the rock. Then David sings, “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God” (v. 3a).
Moses begins his hymn of praise with, “I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea. “The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.” Israel praises God for being their salvation, the warrior who defeats Pharoah, Egypt’s godman on earth. This echoes ahead to Jesus, who is God become man and comes and declares that he is the Lord, setting himself up against Caesar who declared himself lord. Jesus’ defeat of Caesar and the other gods come through self-sacrifice, he becomes our salvation through offering himself up to wash away the sin that holds us in chains of slavery.
Israel praises God for what he’s done for them, “Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea…. Your right hand, Lord, was majestic in power. Your right hand, Lord, shattered the enemy…. But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters…. You stretch out your right hand, and the earth swallows your enemies. In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.” Whenever God does something great, he deserves to be praised. This is why so many of our hymns are hymns in praise of the mighty things God does for us.
The commentary writers P.G Ryken and R.K. Hughes pick up on how God’s acts of salvation lead us to singing songs of praise, “Then God sent his Son into the world, and all the angels sang for joy, with Mary, Zechariah, Simeon, and others joining the chorus in Luke 1–2. Now in the church we are singing all the time, praising God for the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Scripture says in Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly … as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” We are singing a song that will never end. To prove this, the Bible ends with “Holy, holy, holy,” “Worthy is the Lamb,” and other lyrics from Heaven’s hymnal as we find in Rev. 4–5.”
Moses and Israel praise God in this song, not just for what he has done for them, but also for who he is, “The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name…. In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you…. Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” God is Lord, he is majestic, holy, glorious, and working wonders. The song begins with “I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted.” When we sing praise to God, we’re able to express our deepest heart responses to God and to Jesus. There is something about song that is helps us to exalt God, not only with our voices, but also with our heart and soul. This is also why song and prayer are so closely connected in Scripture and Israel’s history, people like Moses, Miriam, and David knew the power of song, and then as God’s people embrace these songs like the psalms, they also began to be used as prayers, ways of talking to God that opened our hearts and souls to his presence in more powerful ways.
We sing praise to God for who he is: our creator, redeemer, sustainer, redeemer, Father, friend, brother, guide, and more who loves us so much he sends his own son into our broken world to bring healing and hope, to invite us into a closer relationship with our Father, and so takes our sin to the cross so that our relationship with our father is renewed and restored. Jesus becomes like us, showing us who the Father is through his life and teaching.
We sing praise to God for the gift of his Spirit who makes our hearts its home, always with us. We belong to a God like no other god, a God who sacrifices himself for us, a God who pours into us so that we can pour his love and his invitation into the world. We praise a God who is in the process of renewing all creation, even if we can’t see his plan of redemption and renewal playing out in ways we can see or understand. Because of who God is, we live with confident trust in him as we seek to walk the way of Jesus, giving praise and thanksgiving in all circumstances because we know God is with us and will guide us in all things. In response to who God is, in a spirit of thanksgiving, we respond with the generosity of God to care for each other and to be a blessing to our community, inviting them to come to meet and know our redeemer God.
