Praise the LORD - Exodus 15:1-21

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March 6, 2022 - Morning Service Faith Bible Church - Sacramento, California Praise the LORD - Exodus 15:1-21

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Well, good morning and welcome to Faith Bible Church. I see a few new faces out there and we're
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Really blessed that you're here to join us in our worship of the Lord this is the highlight of our week and we just our desire is to to show love for one another to honor the
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Lord and Gathering around his word because his word is truth and that is in Jesus Christ.
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And that's where we stand We don't deviate from that. We don't add to it. We don't take it away from it
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It's it's what our focus is. And so we're blessed that you're all here this morning Just a way of announcements.
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I Thank the men that came out yesterday morning what a blessed time that was to see the hearts of the men and to share their testimonies and just see the the desire to to walk with the
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Lord to know him better and In that we can know each other even better as well
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So it's a great that was a great time and thank you pastor for kind of wrapping up our term on evangelism
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Next month it will be in defending the faith starting the first Sunday of the next month at the
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Sunday school hour Really looking forward to that as well. We look forward to everything that comes forth.
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So, you know It's no surprise but defending the faith. That's something I think we all could use
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More girding up more building up to to defend our faith to know why we believe what we believe, you know
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We're just not just kind of meandering around but we have a purpose. We know why why we what why we do what we do and so on This evening there'll be a prayer meeting at 6 o 'clock in the evening and everyone is always invited to that I think it goes probably without saying that we're all
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We're being bombarded with with so much news about what's going on around the world and it can be discouraging it's it's heart -wrenching it's it's
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Seeing evil in its full display and it's it can be hard even for a believer
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But we need to keep an internal perspective of this throughout all of it. I remember how pastor
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Johnny he had a series of messages, but we'd He'd always repeat over and over we are in the last days
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We've been in the last days ever since God has sent Christ ascended. We are in the last days You have to remember this is this is kind of like not this is not a period to life
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This is a this is a stopping point This is a a transition a journey through this part of our lives before work with God and glory so we have to keep that perspective so that we don't get discouraged by that and I'd like to read
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Matthew 24 6 through 13 This was where the Christ was addressing the the the disciples
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They were asking him questions and kind of what the end times would look like and again, we are still in those last days, but as believers we need to remember and Don't be discouraged.
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You know, we have the hope of Jesus Christ You know, it can be overwhelming to think about the things that are physically going on in this world
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But we need to look vertically and and it says in Matthew 24 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars
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See that you are not troubled for all these things must come to pass But the end is not yet for the nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and There will be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in various places.
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All these are the beginning of sorrows Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you and you will be hated by all nations for my namesake
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And then many will be offended will betray one another and will hate one another Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many and because lawlessness will abound the love of many will grow cold
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But he who endures to the end shall be saved So we need to stand firm.
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We need to withstand the tidal wave of wickedness Reject false teaching and cling to the truth, you know
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That's what we have and praise the Lord for that and that is in Jesus Christ So that's what we want to do this morning and that is to encourage your hearts to Put your faith and trust in Jesus because that he is our resting place.
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We can take a deep breath and Reflect on his majesty. So would you please join with me in prayer?
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Lord God, we thank you for bringing us here together father that you make no mistakes that we are all here for a reason that God we are may we have attentive ears and hearts and desire to to listen to the truth of your word
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God, we know that there's so much tumult in this world Father and it's easy to get distracted from from our mission
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Lord but that is to bring you glory and all that we do father and may this morning as we
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Lift our voices in song and and hear your word preached and taught Lord that we would be
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Attentive listeners that Lord we would acknowledge your beauty and your grace and your majesty and just what a mighty
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God we serve and We rest in that so God be with us this morning. May the
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Holy Spirit work in us and through us father And so we thank you and we give you praise in all things in Jesus name.
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Amen From the rising of the Sun unto the going down. The Lord is to be praised and let's stand and sing
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The mighty power of God That made the mountains rise
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That spread the flowing seas abroad
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And built the lofty skies I sing the wisdom that ordained
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The sun to rule the day The moon shines full at His coming
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And all the stars obey O worship the
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King All glorious above And we sing
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His wonderful love Our shield and defender
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The ancient splendor
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Our scripture for this morning is going to be in Psalms 33
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Psalms 33 I think it's a very good comfort to us when the world's in chaos
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And I may the Lord speak to your heart as he speaks through his word as we read
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Rejoice in the Lord O you righteous For praise from the upright is beautiful Praise the
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Lord with a harp Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings
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Sing to Him a new song Play skillfully with a shout of joy
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For the word of the Lord is right And all His work is done in truth
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He loves righteousness and justice The earth is full of the goodness of the
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Lord By the word of the Lord the heavens were made And all the hosts of them by the breath of His mouth
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He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap He lays up the deep in storehouses
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Let all the earth fear the Lord Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him For He spoke and it was done
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He commanded and it stood fast The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing
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He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect The counsel of the
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Lord stands forever He plans the plans of His heart to all generations
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Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord The people
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He has chosen as His own inheritance The Lord looks from heaven
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He sees all the sons of men From the places of His dwelling
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He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth He fashions their hearts individually
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He considers all their works No king is saved by the multitude of an army
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A mighty man is not delivered by great strength
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A horse is vain for hope and for safety
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I just stop and say, we can use the word tanks there instead of horses
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In this day and age Neither shall it be delivered by its great strength
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Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him On those who hope in His mercy
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To deliver their soul from death And to keep them alive in famine Our soul waits for the
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Lord He is our help and our shield For our heart shall rejoice in Him Because He has trusted in His holy name
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Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us Just as we hope in You And may the
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Lord encourage our hearts with this word today I will take the cup of salvation
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And call upon the name of the Lord And let's stand and praise the Lord with these songs
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Praise the Lord, for He is glorious Never shall
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His promise fail God hath made
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His saints victorious Sin and death shall not prevail
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Please turn with me to the book of Exodus Chapter 15, verses 1 -21
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Exodus 15, verses 1 -21
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Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the
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Lord And spoke, saying I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously
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The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea The Lord is my strength in song, and He has become my salvation
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He is my God, and I will praise Him My Father's God, and I will exalt
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Him The Lord is a man of war The Lord is His name Pharaoh's chariots and his army
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He has cast into the sea His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea The depths have covered them
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They sank to the bottom like a stone Your right hand, O Lord, has become glorious in power
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Your right hand, O Lord, has dashed the enemy in pieces And in the greatness of Your excellence
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You have overthrown those who rose against You You sent forth Your wrath It consumed them like stubble
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And with the blast of Your nostrils The waters were gathered together The floods stood upright like a heap
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The depths congealed in the heart of the sea The enemy said,
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I will pursue I will overtake I will divide the spoil My desire shall be satisfied on them
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I will draw my sword My hand shall destroy them You blew with Your wind
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The sea covered them They sank like lead in the mighty waters Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods?
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Who is like You, glorious in holiness Fearful in praises, doing wonders?
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You stretched out Your right hand The earth swallowed them You in Your mercy have led forth such people
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Whom You have redeemed You have guided them in Your strength To Your holy habitation
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The people will hear and be afraid Sorrows will take hold of the inhabitants of Philistia And then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed
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The mighty men of Moab trembling will take hold of them All the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away
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Fear and dread will fall on them By the greatness of Your arm They will be as still as a stone
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Till Your people pass over, O Lord Till the people pass over whom
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You have purchased You will bring them in And plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance
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In the place, O Lord, which You have made For Your own dwelling The sanctuary,
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O Lord, which Your hands have established The Lord shall reign forever and ever
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For the horses of Pharaoh went with his chariots And his horsemen into the sea
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And the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them But the children of Israel went on dry land
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In the midst of the sea Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron Took the timbrel in her hand
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And all the women went out after her With timbrels and with dances
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And Miriam answered them Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously The horse and its rider
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He has thrown into the sea This is the word of the Lord Let us pray
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Father, we come before You with the song of praise Father, there are so many things going on in our lives
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But may our hearts be focused on who You are And what You have done
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Father, as we remember this We pray for our brothers and sisters in Ukraine Who are suffering
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Yet they have stayed to be a witness to Christ Because they no longer fear death
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Because they have been redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb Father, I pray that You would make their witness powerful
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And they would always lean on You Because You are the one who is the mighty warrior
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Father, I pray that You would keep them safe Both physically and spiritually And that You would use them well
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In that land of violence Father, we pray that Your will be done In Jesus' name,
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Amen Songs are very powerful
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Every civilization has a song Every nation has an anthem
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To show what is important in that people group
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Or that nation And in fact, the songs that we listen to Shape what we think about ourselves
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What we think about other people And what we think about even
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God This is why we have to be really, really careful
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In terms of what songs we sing The songs we sing, after all, develop how we view
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God The songs we sing change how we view ourselves
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For millennia, the song we just read in Exodus 15
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God's people have incorporated it into their worship For millennia,
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God's people have used beautiful and powerful songs In their worship of God Whether it's from the
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Psalter, the Psalms Or the hymns that they have written And those songs were like tutors
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Teaching them about who God is and who they are What God is like And that's because songs affect what we think about God And unfortunately, the opposite is true if the songs are defective
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If the songs that we sing have the wrong view of God If those praise songs portray
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God as a needy boyfriend Rather than the sovereign Lord who is self -sufficient and holy
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We approach God without any awe or fear of His holiness
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As if we are gracing God with our presence
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By gathering together to sing songs that sound good On the other hand, if our songs lack the compassionate love
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That God has for His people We approach
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God only in fear But do not encounter His grace and mercy
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The songs we sing affect how we encounter God This is why we're going through the book of Psalms for Sunday mornings
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The Psalms develop how we view God and His character
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The Psalms develop how we interact with God The songs of the
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Psalms clarifies our focus of the Lord and what He has done It recenters us
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And today's song is just as beautiful as any of the
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Psalms we encounter in the book of Psalms It's beautifully articulative
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And each line has a purpose and development of the precious themes
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Regarding who the Lord is and what He has done Today's song incorporates how
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God delivered His people And illustrates His wonderful characteristics
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That come from His deliverance The question this song answers today is
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How do we praise the triumphant Lord? What is the appropriate way of praising this
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God? The victorious Lord And that is answered with the main point
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From generation to generation We praise the Lord for His triumphant victories
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From generation to generation We praise the Lord for His triumphant victories
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First, we praise the Lord for His glorious victory over His enemy
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We praise the Lord for His glorious victory over His enemy Before we begin with the text
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Next, I would like to remind us about the structure of Hebrew poetry. Hebrew poetry is different from our
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English poetry. It doesn't always rhyme, but what it usually has is something called parallelism.
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Each line, from one line to the next, there's something parallel that continues.
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But it doesn't just continue. It doesn't just stay stagnant. It grows.
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It intensifies. It develops. And that's how we're going to read the text today, by looking at the parallelism and how
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Moses composed this song to grow, to paint a full picture of what
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God has done and who God is. So, the context here is that after Israel has witnessed the
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Lord's complete victory over Pharaoh and his army, they were swept by.
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The walls of the water closed in and they drowned. Moses composes a song of praise.
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Verse 1 tells us who sang the song of praise and the object of praise.
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That Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord. This song was a corporate worship song of praise, and it was sung to the
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Lord in celebration of his mighty act, right? A song of praise celebrates the
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Lord's mighty acts. And it was not Aaron, and it was not for Moses either.
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The song of praise, the hero of the song, is the Lord himself, who victoriously triumphed over Egypt.
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The second half of verse 1 starts with the reason for the song. And it's really important to grasp that this text, verse 1, starts with the reason for the song, and verse 19 ends with the reason for the song.
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The reason for the song surrounds the song itself.
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I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea.
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As mentioned before, the reason for the praise is the Lord's victory over Egypt.
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The reason for the praise is the Lord's single -handed victory over Egypt without any help from anyone else.
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The song develops in verse 2 to 3 by identifying who the
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Lord is. It's important to tell the full story.
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Who is the Lord that we're singing about? The first two lines of verse 2 characterize the
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Lord. It shows his character. The Lord is my strength and song, and he has become my salvation.
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First, recognizing the Lord as the strength and my song show a personal relationship.
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My strength signifies that the Lord is the source of Israel's strength.
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For God's people, it is not their own strength they rely on, but the
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Lord's strength, the Lord himself. And my song shows that the
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Lord is the main theme of the song. The song is about the
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Lord and the Lord only. No other being takes the spotlight away from him.
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The second line of verse 2 illustrates what it means for the Lord to be my strength.
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The Lord has become my salvation. The implication of the Lord being our strength is seen precisely in his deliverance of his people.
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The Lord's strength is not just random purposeless strength that he boasts around, but his strength is purposefully for the salvation of his people.
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That's how his people witness the Lord's strength, when the Lord saves.
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The third and fourth lines of verse 2 confirm the Lord's relationship with his people.
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He is my God, and I will praise him. My Father's God, I will exalt him.
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Such an awesome God, who is the source of our strength, is also my
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God. He is the deity who has a covenantal relationship with his people who are praising him.
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And that is the fitting response for his people, to praise him for what he's done.
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And the fourth line tells us that he is not just some random God who appeared to Israel in the foreign land, but a faithful God of their fathers, their ancestors, my
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Father's God. He has been watching over his people all along since they were in Egypt.
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The Lord has not left them. The people of God have never left the side of the
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Lord at all in the grueling history of Egyptian slavery.
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The parallelism shows us again the fitting response is to exalt the
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Lord, to regard him highly, lift him up. Verse 3 identifies the
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Lord. The Lord is a man of war. The Lord is his name. In this song of praise, there's only one warrior, and that is the
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Lord. His mighty power is associated with his identity.
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The Lord is his name. That's his might, and that's who he is, and it's the might that saves.
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Verse 4 to 5 depict the Lord's mighty act against the Egyptians.
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After all, those who are going to be singing this song in the future need to know what has he done.
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Pharaoh's chariots and his army he has cast into the sea. His chosen captains also are drowned in the sea,
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Red Sea. The depths have covered them. They sank to the bottom like a stone. Again, we see the parallelism.
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What happened to the chariot and his army? Well, the Lord cast them into the sea.
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It's not just any army, it's the chosen army. It's the special forces of Egypt.
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It's the best of the best, the cream of the crop. And they're drowned in the
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Red Sea, not just any sea. There's a geographic location that they can pinpoint to.
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Not only that, the depths have covered them, and they sank into the bottom like a stone.
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A beautiful, beautiful writing that develops, that tells a story of what happened.
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Then verses 6 through 10 return to praising the Lord for his character and his victory by addressing him directly.
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This is not only the song about the Lord, but it's a song to the Lord, a song saying to the
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Lord. Verses 6 to the first half of 7 connect the
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Lord's characteristics to his mighty acts. Your right hand, O Lord, has become glorious in power.
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Your right hand, O Lord, has dashed the enemies in pieces. And in the greatness of your excellence, you have overthrown those who rose against you.
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It is out of the Lord's glory that he dashes his enemies into pieces, completely destroys his people's enemy.
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It is out of Lord's excellence, his majesty, that he overthrows the
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Egyptian slave masters. When praising the Lord for his mighty acts, it is impossible to separate who he is from what he has done.
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It is impossible to separate his character from his action. The Lord acts from his great character.
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The latter half of 7 to verse 8 show the effect of the anger of the
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Lord. You sent for your wrath, it consumed them like stubble. And the blast of your nostrils, the waters were gathered together.
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The floods stood upright like a heap. The deaths congealed into the heart of the sea.
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Although the modern man may have difficulty speaking about the wrath of the Lord, Moses and Israelites had no problem praising the
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Lord for his wrath, which delivered them. It was the Lord's righteous wrath that defeated the wicked army that pursued the former slaves.
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The metaphor of fire is prominent in these two verses. God's wrath consumed them like stubble, those little chaff.
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Empty, hollow husk that burns immediately upon contact with fire.
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That's how his wrath is shown. The blast of his nostril, not that the
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Lord has a nose, but rather the fire comes out of it, it illustrates what kind of wrath it is.
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It's a fiery one. And these metaphors intensify the
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Lord's righteous anger, which fueled his mighty act of salvation. And verse 9 shows a glimpse of what the enemy of God looked like, right?
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The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil. My desire shall be satisfied on them.
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I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. Here, the enemy is represented by a singular whole, right?
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It's I, I, not we. It's because Moses groups the whole army, the whole enemy as a singular whole.
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The whole army of Pharaoh and Pharaoh are working together with one accord. So they're viewed as a singular being.
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And this happens a lot in Hebrew poetry. Now, whenever there is speech, it is important to slow down and unpack what it tells us.
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First, the enemy's speech is full of the first person pronoun. I, I, I, my, my, my.
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The song characterizes the enemy as self -confident, self -assured, and self -sufficient.
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After all, each line of verse 9 has at least one first person pronoun.
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I or my, there's there. The enemy of God is arrogant.
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The enemy of God relies on himself only. The enemy of God has nothing to do with the
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Lord. Second, the enemy of God seeks to destroy
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God's people. The enemy sees God's people as means of satisfaction, not as a human made in the image of God.
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God's people are merely good for their spoils. To this enemy,
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God's people are meant for his satisfaction of desire. To this enemy,
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God's people are utterly dehumanized. And verse 9 shows us why
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God was righteously angry and acted the way he did. After all,
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God's precious people were chased, pursued, hunted down by the self -sufficient, oppressive enemies who would dehumanize them.
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Who desired to inhumanely enslave them once again, to use them.
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In verse 10, concisely shows what
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God's righteous anger looked like. You blew with your wind, the sea covered them.
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They sank like, like lead in the mighty waters. Verse 10 shows that it was not just a natural disaster that drowned the
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Egyptian army. But a deliberative act, deliberate act of God to deliver his people once and for all from the
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Egyptian slave masters. And it is the Lord who effortlessly blew with his wind.
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The sea covered them, and they all drowned. Concise, there's nothing more to say.
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It ended there. The enemies didn't come after that. And the fact that the sea covered them and that they drowned, and they drowned like lead, is an ironic end for this section of Exodus.
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Especially for the Egyptians. Recall how this book began.
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In chapter one, it was the Egyptians who committed a male genocide against the
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Hebrew boys. What was their mean of, means of killing? Drowning them in the
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Nile. Here, in an ironic end, it will be the
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Egyptian male soldiers who will drown because the Lord collapsed the walls of water around them.
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And it's not the Nile, it's much deeper. It's the sea. Here we see what a glimpse of a proper praise to the
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Lord looks like. Praise to the Lord celebrates what the
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Lord has done. Praise songs are not focused on us, but the
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Lord's mighty acts. It is about him and his work, rather than us.
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When we praise and worship the Lord, the subject is the
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Lord, and the object of praise is still the Lord. And this is a crucial reminder today, because praise and worship bands have become celebrities.
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And their songs reflect who is truly at the center. And it is not the
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Lord. The spotlight is on the musicians, and the lyrics are filled with impressive solos that proclaim nothing about God, frankly.
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Today's text, however, shows us who is truly at the center of praise. It is not the singer, but the only object of praise, the
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Lord himself. And unlike the early
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Israelites, we actually have the privilege of seeing more of God's redemptive acts throughout history.
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We have seen the Lord deliver his people from various empires, various wicked men and women, various kings of their own people who were oppressing them.
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And ultimately, we have seen the Lord deliver his people from the greatest bondage of all, sin, and we beheld
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Christ's glory when he suffered on the cross for our sin.
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That was the ultimate deliverance, and that was for our sake, that we would not have to face the wrath of God.
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That we earned, and Christ triumphed over sin and death once and for all.
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And to this day, the world has not seen a victory to that grand scale. And all eternity is not sufficient to sing
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God's praise for what Christ has done for our sake. Second, we praise the triumphant Lord who is capable of saving his people to the uttermost.
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We praise the triumphant Lord who is capable of saving his people to the uttermost.
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In the latter half of the song, there is a transition from the past triumph to the future faithfulness on the way to the promised land.
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The Lord who is mighty to save, he will save to the uttermost.
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First, verse 11 starts with another set of praise of God's character in his mighty acts, which is fitting after verse 10.
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Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
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Verse 11 points out the supremacy of the Lord in two rhetorical questions because of his act of deliverance we just saw.
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And the obvious answer to these two questions is no one is like the
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Lord. No one is like the Lord among the other gods. He is incomparable to other gods.
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He alone can do what he did to the Egyptian army. The other gods are no gods at all.
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The second question highlights his glorious holiness. There is no one who can compete with the
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Lord in his glory. He is completely set apart from all other beings.
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There are no angels, there are no demons, there are no rulers who come even close to his glory.
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No one is like the Lord. No one can do what the
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Lord does. The Lord is utterly other. Verse 12 reminds us of God's past victory over the
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Egyptians, and it helps us transition to the future faithfulness in verse 13.
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So, verse 13 begins with, you in your mercy have led forth the people whom you have redeemed.
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Here again, the Lord's action is derived from his character. The Lord does because of who he is.
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First, the Lord leads his people in his mercy. The word for mercy is the same word for steadfast love.
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Loving kindness or covenantal love. This is a type of special love that Lord has, especially for his very own people.
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And this is comforting to us because the Lord does not lead in anger that we just saw in the few verses back.
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The Lord does not lead in his wrath, but rather in his mercy.
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The anger and wrath were reserved for his enemy, but toward his people, his very own, those who belong to him, it's loving kindness.
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He leads with his loyal love, faithful love. And the ones whom he leads are the redeemed, the very people whom he purchased, whom he has purchased.
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The Lord leads the very people he purchased out of slavery in his loving kindness, in his steadfast love.
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The second half of verse 13 illustrates what that looks like in the shepherding metaphor.
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You have guided them in your strength to your holy habitation. Here, the verb to guide is the same verb that would be used for a shepherd leading his flock, guiding his flock.
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The same verb is used in Isaiah 40, verse 11, in the same metaphor of the
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Lord shepherding his people. He tends his flock like a shepherd.
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He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart. He gently leads those that have young.
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The verb here is gently leading. It's not just any leading, it's with gentleness.
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This is how the Lord leads his people. And we need to see that kind of God in our praise song.
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Not just the might and wrath, but compassion and care. And we see the same verb used in one of the most famous psalms, which we went over recently,
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Psalm 23, verse two. He makes me to lie down in green pastures.
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He leads me beside the still waters. When the Lord leads, it is characterized as gentle.
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It is not harsh or critical. It is caring and compassionate as a shepherd caring for his sheep so that the sheep might get something to drink from a safe, calm water.
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Not the running water, but calm water, non -threatening. It is tender and loving, and ultimately for the good of his sheep.
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Although most translations do not render this, but the word for holy habitation is actually holy pasture.
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The word is pasture. The greenery that provides abundant food for his sheep.
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The shepherding metaphor is impossible to avoid in this verse. It beautifully captures the
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Lord's tender and gentle heart when he is leading his people.
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And similar to the first half of the song, verses 14 through 16 describe the reactions of the enemies as they travel to the promised land.
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The first half of verse 14 starts with the general reaction. The peoples have heard and they tremble.
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The reaction of the pagan tribes by the promised land is that of fear and trembling.
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Then the second half of verse 14 and verse 15 describe the specific reactions from specific tribes of people.
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The order in which the song progresses is the order in which Israel will encounter these tribes.
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So it's very well thought out. The first one on the list are the
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Philistines. Sorrows have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
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The Philistines lived close to the northeastern border of Egypt. So Israel would have passed through their land first.
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And the direct translation of the reaction to the news of the
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Lord delivering his people is that the pains, birth pains, have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
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Pains are the pain of childbirth, probably one of the most painful physical experiences humans can experience.
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And this metaphor is often used in various judgment passages to portray the excruciating pain that the wicked nations will face for oppressing the people of God.
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And what we see here is that upon hearing the Lord's triumph, Philistia is so scared that it's screaming in pain like a laboring mother.
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That's the type of fear that the Lord instills through his mighty act.
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The second reaction is that of Edom. Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed.
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From the general inhabitants of Philistia, the song moves to the chiefs of Edom.
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This is an intensification because the chiefs are often meant to be sturdier than the general population.
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Yet upon hearing the Lord's victory, they're dismayed. The fear of the
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Lord led them to panic. The fear of the Lord made them lose their senses. Then the mighty men of Moab trembling will take hold of them.
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Now we move to the Moabite military leaders, the very people who are tasked to fight against the
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God's people. And they're physically trembling in fear. The ones who are supposed to be the bravest and the strongest are trembling because of what the
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Lord has done. They're seized with fear and there's no other option for them other than to tremble.
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Lastly, all the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away. From the specific leaders of these various tribes, the song moves to all the population of the
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Canaan. None of them can stand firmly because of their fear of the
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Lord. They will melt like a bar of chocolate left outside in the summer heat of Sacramento.
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None of them will be able to stand against the Lord. And verse 16 summarizes the reactions of God's enemies that Israel will face as they're led to the promised land.
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Fear and dread will fall on them. By the greatness of your arm, they will be as still as a stone.
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Till your people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over whom you have purchased.
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Here, we see the same figurative language using a stone to describe another set of God's enemies.
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While the Egyptians sank like a stone, the
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Canaanites, the Philistines, the Moabites, the Edomites, they're so scared they can't move.
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They're as still as a stone. And this is a brilliantly composed song to revisit the theme that was touched in verse five and then to revisit it at a different angle using the same word for metaphor, but in a different sense.
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And this would have been comforting for Israel as they're singing this.
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After all, only thing they knew was how to be slaves.
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They didn't know how to fight. And the only battle they've seen, the
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Lord handled it. But they know what the tribes that they're gonna face, what they're feeling, what they're going through, even before they see them face to face, even before they encounter them in the battlefield.
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And the ultimate comfort comes from what the Lord has done, not how numerous they are, not how advanced their weaponry is.
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It's simply what the Lord has done. Verse 17 then shifts the focus again to the
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Lord's people. You will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance in the place,
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O Lord, which you have made for your own dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.
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The Lord shall reign forever and ever. Toward his people, the
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Lord is ever so careful. He will bring them and plant them like a gardener planting the precious plants.
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The illustration of planting shows permanence and stability unlike the pagan tribes mentioned before who were all shaking and trembling in fear.
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There's a huge juxtaposition here. While God's people will be firmly planted in the promised land that the
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Lord carefully established for them, the current residents will be trembling.
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The current residents will be panicked. The current residents will be seized with birth pain.
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And it is a place that the Lord has prepared for them. This is not a random rest stop.
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The promised land is something that the Lord has promised and prepared for hundreds of years.
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And not only that, it is where the Lord himself dwells. The Lord will dwell with them.
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The Lord will be with his people. That's this longing that humanity has longed for since Genesis three, after Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden.
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Now in this promised land, the Lord's people will dwell with the Lord. And the
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Lord purchased his people so that they may dwell with him, to reside with him, to eternally be with him.
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And just as the song began, this section ends with the purpose of the song. For the horses of Pharaoh went with the chariots and his horsemen into the sea, and the
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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.
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The song praises the Lord's decisive victory against Egypt. And it adds one more.
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His people walked on dry land safely. The song grew.
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Israelites looked back to the Lord's past victory to look forward to the
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Lord's complete deliverance to the promised land. God's people knew that the
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Lord's mighty act did not stop after the Egyptians stopped pursuing them.
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For Israel, the Lord's first victory was a guarantee of the ultimate victory to come over all the nations that God would deliver from them in the promised land.
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And in a similar manner, us Christians, we look toward, look back toward Jesus' triumphant victory over sin and death on the cross to be assured of the complete deliverance in the future.
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When Jesus fully took on our sin and faced the wrath that we deserved on the cross, he triumphed over sin and death once and for all.
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This is why in Revelation 12, the saints sing the victory song of Christ.
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Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now salvation and strength in the kingdom of our
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God and the power of his Christ have come. For the accuser of our brethren who accused them before our
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God, day and night has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony.
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And they did not love their lives to the death. Those who are in Christ can proudly proclaim
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God's complete victory over Satan and sin by looking back to the blood of the lamb.
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We look forward to the complete salvation from sin, complete elimination from sin in this whole world because we know the faithful lamb who stayed on the cross for our sake.
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We look forward to the complete elimination of evil by looking back to the shed blood of the lamb.
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If Jesus was able to conquer sin at its full force on the cross, there's no other sin that's on earth that will not be removed upon his return.
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Third, who will participate in praising the Lord? Who will participate in praising the
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Lord? All of God's people participate in praising the Lord's victory.
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All of God's people participate in praising the Lord's victory. After Moses' song is over,
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Miriam gathers all the women of Israel to teach them the song.
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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.
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Here, Moses describes Miriam as a prophetess. And this is a rare office for women to hold in both the
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Old and the New Testament. And the title signifies that the
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Lord gave words to Miriam. And she was probably a faithful woman of God.
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Next, the sister of Aaron shows that she is also the sister of Moses.
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Moses, in his humility, did not count himself to be more important than his older brother.
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So he identifies her as the sister of Aaron. After all,
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Moses was the younger brother. Miriam then goes out with the timbrel, which is a small drum, sort of like modern -day tambourines, used in celebrations.
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And she took all the women out to dance and play music together.
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The short snippet of Miriam's song is not to say that Miriam wrote a smaller song, shorter song, and it was less important, but rather, it is the same song that Miriam is teaching the women.
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The content of her song is the same as Moses' song in verse 21. Sing to the
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Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea.
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Rather, it is to show that Miriam took a part in teaching all the women the song of Moses so that they could celebrate the
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Lord's mighty act together. And there are two significant points to be made here about this scene of women rejoicing with tambourines.
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First, women going out dancing and playing the timbrel is an ongoing theme in the
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Old Testament to celebrate a major victory. We see this in David's time as well in 1
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Samuel 18 .6. Now, it had happened as they were coming home when
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David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet
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King Saul with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. Here, the women are celebrating the victory with musical instruments.
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In our text, Miriam and all the women are celebrating the Lord's victory, not any human victory.
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Second, Miriam teaching all the women this song signifies that this song must be passed down intergenerationally.
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After all, nursery rhymes and songs are often sung by mother to their children.
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This song is not meant to stop in the wilderness generation, but for any future generation to come, they will praise the
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Lord using this song. As they praise the Lord for his future victories, no matter how great the enemies may be, they will look back to this song.
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This song that was written over 3 ,000 years ago over the victory over Egypt is also the song for the church today.
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We look back at who the Lord is and what great things he has done when we praise him.
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And how successful were these women in raising the next generation? When we turn to Revelation 15, verses two through three, we see how successful they were.
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And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God.
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They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the lamb sang.
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In the context here, it is clear who the victor is. It is not the beast, but the
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Lord. Now what song do they sing in praise? Verse three tells us it's the song of Moses.
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The song which Israel sang in praise of the Lord's complete victory over Egypt is still the song that the
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Lord's saints will sing upon the defeat of the beast. Not only that, there's a new victory song that God's people will sing, and it is the song of the lamb.
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These two songs are not contradicting each other, but these two songs harmonize each other.
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The song of Moses, which reflect God's triumphant victory over Egypt, is a perfect duet song of the song dedicated to the lamb of God who triumphantly defeated sin and Satan by his blood.
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And for us today, we have the privilege of singing both. Let us pray.
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Father, we're thankful that we can gather here with brothers and sisters to praise you for what you have done, not only in Exodus, but in Christ.
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And Father, we sing both songs, and we long for the day to sing both songs together as brothers and sisters in Christ.
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In Jesus' name. ♪ Great and wholesome thou be ♪ ♪
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Our Savior will walk with thee there ♪ ♪
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And safely his great hand will lead thee ♪ ♪
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To the mansions he's gone to create ♪ ♪
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Surely goodness and mercy shall follow thee ♪ ♪
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Oh be mercy, shall for shall be ♪ ♪
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Oh spread for me, surely good ♪
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Praise the Lord all nations. Praise him all you people for his merciful kindness, is great toward us.
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And the truth of the Lord endureth forever. Praise ye the Lord, and thank you all for singing and for being here today.
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We are now dismissed. Amen. ♪ Amen, amen, amen ♪ Oh no,