FRIDAY 11th
Exodus 14 & 15
NIV (15:6) ‘Your right hand, LORD, was majestic in power. Your right hand, LORD, shattered the enemy.’
ESV (15:6) ‘Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy.’
We continue with what was yesterday’s theme summed up in the verse for today, everything that happened in chapter 14 was to bring glory to God (14:4,18).
In yesterday’s devotion, the people of Israel were in a state of DISTRESS as they saw the Egyptian army catching up with them, as far as they were concerned at that moment they would have been better off as they were back in Egypt, but God was about to DEMONSTRATE his glorious power once again.
Moses who was God’s man for the moment made this DECLARATION: ‘Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you only have to be silent.’ A little extra thought here, the day is coming when we will never be bothered by the devil again, for firstly we will be safe in the eternal presence of God, but secondly because the day is coming when he is going to bound and thrown into the eternal lake of fire! (Revelation 20:12)
As the people stood at the edge of the river, the Egyptian army pounding fast and hard behind them, God gave the order through Moses ‘Go forward’, you can imagine the people thinking, ‘you’re having a laugh, most of us can’t even swim, what on earth are we going to do?’ But another command comes to Moses, ‘Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and DIVIDE it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on DRY ground.’ No need for the trunks and swimming costumes, no need to worry you can’t swim – how often do we come to problems or DIFFICULTIES and we think we can’t do this or we can’t do that – forgetting that the God of the impossible, the God of miracles is with us. The account continues that as Moses obeyed, God caused a strong east wind to blow all night and the sea was DIVIDED and the people of Israel walked through to the other side on DRY ground. Wow, what an amazing sight this must have been, but there was more! The Egyptian army thought that it would be okay for them to cross as well and they continued to pursue and God withdrew the east wind and the DIVIDED sea walls were DEMOLISHED and the whole of the army were DESTROYED. The people of Israel alive, the Egyptians DEAD! And it says in verse 31, ‘The Israelites saw the great power (a DEMONSTRATION of great power) that the LORD used against the Egyptians . . .’ Truly the glory of the Lord was seen on that day.
We then get into chapter 15, the chapter before the Israelites were DISTRESSED and DISHEARTENED, but now in this chapter their hearts are full of DELIGHT, so much so that they begin to sing and DECLARE the glorious triumph that the Lord has had by throwing the horse and rider into the sea. Our text verse says that they sang ‘Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy.’ (v6) And the celebration continued, for not only did they sing, and make music with tambourines, it says that they DANCED before the Lord. (v20)
What a story from DESPAIR to DANCING, and so is your story and mine, we were as the Psalmist puts it in Psalm 103:4 in a pit of despair, but as the Lord lifted the psalmist out of the pit, so also he has lifted us up from out of the pit, and as the psalmist also said, ‘He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.’ (Psalm 40:3) So also he has put a new song upon our lips, a song of rejoicing, a song of DELIVERANCE, a song of praise and we echo the words of the psalmist again, ‘You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever! Psalm 30:11-12
I do not know your circumstances today, but remember the Lord knows and whatever they are, look to him, allow his glory to be revealed, allow him to DIVIDE whatever the need may be and allow you to walk through to the other side and to DANCE in victory with the high praises of God in your mouth.