In Exodus 14–15, God mightily saves Israel by bringing them safely across the Red Sea and destroying their enemies. The people then respond in a song of worship.

Understanding the Passage

We are to be people of the Word. We are to study how to interpret and understand this text. In this passage, we find a literary technique called juxtaposition. There is a long stretch of narrative to explain what happened historically followed immediately by a poetic section to explain how we are to respond. In this way, the chapters inform one another. In a way, chapter 14 focuses on our heads while chapter 15 focuses on our hearts.

The poetry doesn’t simply recount the same series of events as the historical narrative. It presents a kaleidoscope of images intended to show us that God is the One accomplishing all of these amazing acts.

Applying the Passage

We didn’t see these things happen, but they were true events. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Moses is telling us what really happened and what our response should be. When you hear this Word, you are hearing God speak. Although it happened long ago, it was prepared for you. It’s like a house God began building when you weren’t there that now has a room for you.

The God who did those things is the God we still serve today. He has not changed. He has promised to be with us, and He always keeps His promises. We, too, are to sing to God like this. Our praise is to be like theirs.

This tells us not only what the nature of our song is to be but also what our song is supposed to do for others. We are to commend God to others with our speech. We must figure out how to talk to our specific audience, telling them who God is and urging them to come to Him.

This is why it’s important for us to become educated in a variety of things: not only theology but also history, music, literature, and philosophy. This will allow us to engage culture in a meaningful way to understand what they think — both what they’ve got wrong and what they’ve got right — so we can share the news of God with them. As we become better readers, interpreters, thinkers, storytellers, and singers, we will also become better witnesses.

To tie all this together, we must think about what values we are expressing when we make the mundane decisions of everyday life. These small choices tell us how we’ve allowed the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. Invite Him in, ask Him to help your unbelief, and make the song of Exodus 15 your song.

Exodus 14:31 says, “Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses.” Let that be true of us today.