All right, back in Exodus chapter
15. I once heard a preacher say when he died, they would probably
put on his tombstone, hold your place here. Because that's what
he was always saying. I do that, don't I? Hold your
place here in the reading. But back in where we read from
in Exodus chapter 15, look again at the first few words Verse
1, Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the
Lord. In our evening services on occasion,
before service starts, I've asked Louie, not seriously, but I asked
him, Louie, you want to lead the singing? And the reason I
quit being serious about it, because the first time I asked
him, he said, you don't want me to lead the singing. But tonight,
tonight, I want each of us to join in. Join in this song at
the Red Sea. Because as you're well aware,
just a reading of it, oh, isn't it such a clear and distinct
picture of what God does for his children? As we just sang,
he leads his dear children along. Now, there was a time not long
before this, before they began to sing this song as they were
led by Moses to do so, that they were told to be quiet, to be
quiet. Look, if you will, in chapter
14. at verses 13 and 14. Pharaoh's army is coming up behind
them. And in verse 13, Moses said unto
the people, fear ye not. Fear ye not. They've said, wasn't
there enough graves in Egypt for us to die in? And Moses said,
fear ye not. Stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord, which he will show to you today For the Egyptians
whom ye see today, ye shall see them again no more forever. The Lord shall fight for you.
The battles is the Lord's. The Lord shall fight for you.
What shall we do? Ye shall hold your peace. Just
be quiet. Salvation is of the Lord. Just
stand still and see what God Almighty can do. But now, as
we read in this song of Moses in chapter 15, he says, now speak. Now sing. Now praise God. There's a time to be quiet. Oh,
but now it's a time to sing. I sometimes get the two reversed. Speak when I should be quiet.
Be quiet when I should speak. But now Moses said, Moses leads
them rather in this song of praise to God. Notice that little word,
the very first word, then, verse one. Then, let the redeemed of
the Lord say so. As old Isaac Watson says, let
me read verses, a few verses to you. It said on page 514,
Come, we that love the Lord, and let our joys be known. Join
in a song with sweet accord, and thus surround the throne,
that those refuse to sing, who never knew our God, but children
of the heavenly King, may speak their joys abroad. We have a blessed privilege to
sing praises to our God, and also a duty to do so, do we not
then? Then, after experiencing God's
grace, God's powerful deliverance on their behalf, then they sang
this song. I remember a television program
years ago, perhaps you remember it, named that tune. You remember that song? Named
that tune. be it against each other, if
I remember right, that they could name the tune in the least notes
and whoever did so would be the winner. Oh, if we have experienced
God's grace, we can join in this song camp. We can name this tune.
Did it not find an echo in your heart just as we read it? All
these blessed, blessed works of our God on the behalf of His
people. Oh, as the psalmist said, the
Lord hath put a new song in my heart. Psalm 40. Let me read
a few verses there to you. Psalm 40. I waited patiently
for the Lord, and He inclined unto me and heard my cry. He
heard my cry. He brought me up also out of
a horrible pit, out of miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and
established my goings. But it doesn't stop there. And
he hath put a new song in my mouth. Name that tune, David,
the same one that Moses sang. Even praising to our God, many
shall see it and fear and shall trust in the Lord. Look again at that first word,
then. Then. Then sang Moses. And that takes us back to chapter
14. It refers back to what had just happened. The miracle at
the Red Sea. And Moses sums up that great
work in the last two verses of chapter 14, verse 29 and 30. These words just sum up what
has taken place. But the children of Israel walked
upon dry ground, dry land, in the midst of the sea, and the
waters were a wall unto them, this is verse 29, on their right
hand and on their left. Thus, thus, the entire chapter,
of course we won't read it, but the entire work, this entire
miracle by our miracle-working God, Moses sums up with this
word, thus. This is how it was. This is how
it happened. Thus, thus the Lord saved Israel
that day out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the
Egyptians dead upon the seashore, and Israel saw that great work
which the Lord did upon the Egyptians. And the people feared the Lord,
and believed the Lord and his servant Moses then. Then sang
Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord." That's
a good word, isn't it? Thus. It's not used much in our
day. I use it. I find it very helpful. Thus, that is, this is how it
was. It was like this. When I first
began working at UK, the fellow whom I worked with and was to
replace, he soon retired after that, but I was his protege for
a while. and very thankful. I learned
a lot from him in what time I was with him. But when the superintendent,
our boss, would come out and lay out a job for us, he would
deal with Lester. Lester Carmack was his name.
And I would just stand and listen, which was my place. But Joe,
our superintendent, was always trying to impress folks with
big words and so forth and making things more complicated than
they really needed to be, but Lester would always just stand
there, mm-hmm, right, got you, Joe, understand perfectly, we'll
take care of it. And then when Joe would turn
around and go back in his office, Lester looked at me and said,
do you understand what he just asked us to do? And I said, no,
didn't you? But after that, when I had to
deal with Joe myself, one-on-one, up close and personal, and he
would do the same thing. try to make things complicated,
and I would stop him and say, well, Joe, you mean thus? Thus? Like this? Yeah. And I would
think, well, why didn't you just say so? Thus. This is what Moses
tells us. Thus God saved Israel that day. God did it all. It was exactly
as He ordained it. It was exactly as He did it. Notice again verse 30 in chapter
14. Thus the Lord saved Israel. This day, that day rather, it
was His doing and still so today. What this is a picture of, what
this is a type of, it's so concerning God's salvation. It's thus. Still today, God saves people
by His grace, by His power, by His mercy. It's the Lord's doing. Thus God saves us this day and
every day. It's always a matter of grace. Every time a sinner is saved,
Our Lord taught in Luke chapter 14. He said there's rejoicing
in heaven. There's rejoicing in the presence
of the angels every time a sinner repents, every time a prodigal
returns home, every time the great shepherd finds one of his
sheep. Verse 31 again of chapter 14. And Israel saw that great work,
which the Lord did. again, the Lord, upon the Egyptians. And the people feared the Lord
and believed the Lord and his servant Moses. The Lord did it
all and he gets all the praise, gets all the praise. They've experienced his grace,
his mercy, his power. And it seems to me, and it's
not hard to understand, that they just can't help themselves.
They've got to sing. They've got to sing. And it's
a song with praise to God alone. And as I've said, and as you're
well aware of, just about every verse, every verse is such a
clear picture, such a demonstration, such a type of God's mercy and
grace in the salvation of a sinner. And is it not the proper thing
to do? Is it not just right? And of
course, it's a response of the renewed heart. We want to do
it. As the hymn writer put it, When
I think that God His Son not sparing sent Him to die, I scarce
can take it in that on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, He
bled and died to take away my sin." Really? It required the
death of Christ to take away my sin? There was none other
way? that God could be just and yet
justify a guilty sinner like me? And the answer is, no, there
wasn't. No, there wasn't. And therefore,
the Son of God willingly, willingly took my burden, took my load
of sins on Himself and was made sin that I might be the righteousness
of God in Him. Oh, wonder of wonders! Wonder
of wonders. And the hymn writer went on to
say, then, then, just like here in verse 1 of chapter 14, then
sings my soul, my Savior God to thee, how great thou art,
how great thou art. That's worth singing about, isn't
it? That's worth singing about. That's
the title of my message. Worth singing about. Turn if
you will to Revelation chapter 15. I want to read a verse there. And you've probably guessed where
I'm going. The verse that I'm going to read. Revelation chapter 15, verse
3. Concerning the redeemed in glory. that have been brought through
the Red Sea of the blood of Christ and been washed and made pure. Verse 3, And they sing the song
of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
Great and marvelous are thy works. It sounds much like they sang
at the Red Sea, doesn't it? Great and marvelous are thy works,
Lord God Almighty. Just and true are thy ways, thou
King, of saints. Moses sang the same thing, didn't
he? Who is a God likened to our God? Verse 11 of Exodus 15. Who is
likened to thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious
in holiness, fearful in praises, and doing wonders? Oh, the glory
of God's grace. When it says we'll sing the song
of Moses and of the Lamb, It means that we'll sing the same
praises to our God just like Moses did. There won't be no
division of the glory. Oh no, it's all due to the Lamb
and to the Lord our God. That was the theme of Moses'
song. And the same theme will be carried
on in glory. This is the first song that we
come across in God's Word. I'm not saying that it was the
first song ever sung, but it's the first one that we have a
record of. This is the first song that we have recorded in
God's Word, and I think that in itself is significant, it's
important. Because usually, usually, the
first time we read of something in Scripture, that's how it is
throughout. And this first song, this first
record that we have of a song in scripture, the theme continues
all the way through the Word of God. To the book of Revelation,
we sing, worthy is the Lamb, the same theme, the same credit
due to our God who loved us and saved us with an everlasting
salvation. Look again at verse 1. We may
not get beyond this, but that's all right. Then sang Moses and
the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying,
I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously."
Gloriously, the theme of their song is the Lord. I will sing unto him because
he hath triumphed gloriously. He's the Lord. triumphing gloriously
is what we would expect to read. We're not surprised by that.
That glorious, great, eternal God, He must triumph. He must triumph. Why wouldn't
He? Why wouldn't He? Does He lack
wisdom? Does he lack power? Oh, no. This is the same foundation on
which David again and again fell down upon and rested his tempted,
tried, and weary soul. Where is now your God, David?
Oh, our God is in the heavens. doing whatsoever he hath pleased. Isaiah, we're told, in the year
that King Uzziah died, kingdoms come and kingdoms go, but God
abideth forever. But in the year that King Uzziah
died, Isaiah said, I saw also the Lord. Just like Moses sang
about the Lord. And following that, he triumphs
gloriously. You find that throughout the
Word of God. Isaiah saw the Lord. And Isaiah,
where was he? The same place Moses saw Him.
The same place David saw Him. Where was He? Where He always
is. Setting up on a throne high and
lifted up, doing all things for His glory and the salvation of
His people. In Psalm 90, a psalm of Moses,
we read in verse 1, Lord, thou has been our dwelling place in
all generations. Before the mountains were brought
forth, before thou created the heaven and the earth, from everlasting
to everlasting, thou art God. hear any man, and I wouldn't
listen to any man, speak about the Lord, or claim to speak in
the name of the Lord, and makes Him to be less than He is? That
gives you any, even an inclination that He's less than God Almighty
and Lord over all? Don't listen to it. because that's
not the God of Scripture. Moses said, from everlasting
to everlasting, thou art God. Literally, thou art everlastingly
God. You're God always. You're God
over all. You're God forevermore. So when
we read the first verse of this song, it begins as it should,
with the Lord. And naturally, as we said, it
follows, He hath triumphed gloriously. Revelation 17, we read of the
Lamb of God who hath prevailed. They shall make war with the
Lamb, we read in chapter 17, but the Lamb shall overcome them
because He's Lord of lords and King of kings and those that
are with Him are called and faithful and chosen. He hath triumphed
gloriously. This is the foundation, the reason
for everything that follows. It's the Lord's doing. It's the
Lord's doing. It must succeed. It cannot fail
because it's the Lord's doing. That's why it must be successful. Redemption, that's the Lord's
doing. Their deliverance was His doing. Their preservation was His doing. Our final glory is His doing. And in all the doings of our
Lord Jesus Christ on the behalf of His people, all the victories
are His doing. Our great God and Savior. Look at verse 2. The Lord is
my strength and song and He has become my salvation. He is my
God and I will prepare inhabitation. My Father is God and I will exalt
Him. The Lord is a man of war. The
Lord is His name. Pharaoh's chariots and his host
had He cast into the sea His chosen captains. Oh, Pharaoh,
that great power. And those chosen captains, those
experienced men of war, Oh, but they're no match for our captain,
are they? Not the captain of our salvation. They're drowned in the sea. All destroyed. What it must have
been like that day for Moses and this multitude to look back
and see their enemies destroyed. Every enemy of our souls. will be destroyed. The world,
this flesh, the devil, my sins, all destroyed, all overcome. Look at verse 9. The enemy said,
I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide to spoil. My lust
shall be satisfied upon them, I will draw my sword, my hand
shall destroy them. But thou, the Lord, The great
God, that one who saideth, King forever, thou didst blow with
thy wind. That's all. That's all. That's
all it took. The sea covered them. They sank
as lead in the mighty waters. Paul cried out, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? And he said, I thank the Lord
Jesus Christ. He shall not fail. In Romans chapter 8, we read
that whom God foreknew, he did predestinate. Those he predestinated,
them he also called. Them he called, he also glorified. are justified and also glorified. He does each of those things.
And He does them all. Every one of them. And He does
them all successfully. As our Joshua said, all that the Father giveth
me shall come to me. Oh, that is sweet music to a
sinner's ears, isn't it? Thank God, all of his sheep hear
his voice and they can name that too. They shall come to me in
time. Notice how he speaks. All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. He speaks so matter-of-factly. There's no room for doubt. There's
no supposition about it. There's no possibility of failure. Not a hint of it there. They
shall come to me. They'll come to me in time. All
that the Father gave me, before they leave this world, I'll call
them by my grace. They'll experience my grace. They'll experience my salvation. and they'll come to me afterwards
in glory. All those that I give grace to,
I shall also give glory. Look at verse 18 here in Exodus
15. The Lord shall reign forever
and ever. Turn, if you will, to Revelation
chapter 7 and let's compare that to what we're told here. He shall
reign forever and ever. Well, that pretty much takes
in what little time we'll be here, doesn't it? Forever and
ever. In chapter 11 of Revelation,
verse 15, And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great
voices in heaven, saying, The kings of this world are become
the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign
forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders
which sat before God on their seats fell upon their faces and
worshipped God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty.
Sounds so much like the Song of Moses. We give thee thanks,
O Lord God Almighty, which art and was and art to come because
thou has taken to thee thy great power and has reigned. The salvation of all God's people
will show forth the glory of his grace in the ages to come. That's what Paul said in Ephesians
2, didn't he? How comforting that is. The salvation
of God's people has something to do with his glory. Is God's
glory important to him? Oh, yes. And our salvation will
glorify and does glorify our great God and Savior. Therefore,
will He forsake that work which glorifies Him? His own work for
His own glory? Any wonder that the song praises
Him? Is it not? There's no dividing
of the praise. Did you see any hint in those
verses as we read them? Did you see or hear Moses taking
any credit for anything? Did you? Did you hear any hint
of what we hear people that profess to know God say today? Well,
I let God, or I helped God, or me and God, me and Jesus. That nonsense. got her own thing
going. Oh, no. That's the song of devils. Oh, but this song, there's not
a hint about what Moses did or any of this multitude did. It's
all a song of what God did. It praises him. There's no dividing
of the praise. There's no taking credit for
God's doing. There's not a song unto the Lord
and us. No, we read, they sang unto the
Lord. The Lord and us? What a sour
note that is. That's not worth singing about.
This is a song of thankfulness and joy. This is a celebration
of God's redemption, of God's salvation, of God's deliverance
of all of His own. This is what it pictures. And
that again, I say, is worth singing about. A song of thankful praise
to our God. If it was about man's ability
or man's merit, what a sad song that would be. There's no joy
in this song. In Adam all die, oh but. In Christ all shall be made alive. That's a happy note. There's no joy in ye will not
come to me, oh but. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Martha and Mary found no cause to rejoice in
song of praise if Lazarus must take the first step. Martha and
Mary, you keep crying. You should, if that's true, just
continue to weep. I'll join you in your tears.
Oh, but thank God that's not so. How they must have rejoiced when
he who is the resurrection and the life, he who loved Lazarus
and Mary and Martha with an everlasting love, came to Bethany, went to
the tomb, and said, Lazarus, come forth. My soul, how their
hearts must have leaped for joy, bowed down in holy wonder. My soul, what manner of man is
this, Lord? Hallelujah, what a Savior. And we have the same reason to
rejoice because you had He quickened who were dead in trespasses and
sins. Jonah's song when he was in the
belly of the whale would be a mournful one indeed. Would be more like
worthy to be sung at a funeral if it was up to him to will himself
out. I perhaps told you Jack Shanks,
I remember preaching in Danville at one of our conferences one
time there in Danville. And he said, can you just imagine
some free will preacher getting in a boat and rowing out to where
Jonah is in the belly of that well and saying, Jonah, why don't
you just will yourself out of there? And Jonah would say, man,
it's my will that got me in here. If I get out, it'll be due to
God's will. Salvation is of the Lord. And
Jonah came out of the well's belly. Oh, but God. But God of all grace, oh, what
a happy tune that is, the children of Israel stand after crossing
the Red Sea. And they, at least for the moment,
know why. They know why, don't they? The
Lord hath triumphed gloriously. Otherwise, had it not been for
the Lord's doing, Pharaoh would have triumphed. Pharaoh would
have overcome us, killed us, and enslaved us again. He would
have drug us back to Egypt and we'd have been his slaves again.
Oh, but bless God. He that's begun a good work in
you will perform it in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. Once
we're His, we're His forever. Sin shall not have dominion over
you. Oh, no, no, no. God's grace is
more powerful than that. Once we're His, we're His forever. The devil won't have us again.
Oh, no, we've been bought with the precious blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And though we daily cry out,
with the Apostle Paul wretched man that I am, that's not the
only thing we say. We sing praises to our God. Often, often in this life, in
this journey, this pilgrimage that we're making, we sing through tears. We sing while our heart's breaking. But even then, it's our experience
that our God gives psalms in the night, doesn't he? He gave
us psalms in the night. When we're alone, feel alone, it's
not true, with broken hearts. Oh, what a demonstration of His
grace and power that even then He can come and give us songs in the night.
What a Savior. What a joy it must have been
for Moses to stand looking back on their enemies slain. But every
one of those with him has been led across through the Red Sea. Every one of those who were in
the houses that that Passover Lamb's blood was put upon, every
one of them are brought across the Red Sea. Thou has led forth
the people, they sing, that you have redeemed. And in the day,
When our Lord Jesus Christ, the captain of our salvation, makes
up his jewels, it will be his boast alone. Father of all that
you have given me, all those that I redeem with my own precious
blood, they've all been brought They're all here, and I've lost
none. Oh, with what unspeakable joy
and full of glory, each of us will gladly cast down our crowns
at his feet, the feet of that one who redeemed us with his
own precious blood, and we'll sing as we can't sing now. Worthy
is the Lamb. Oh, we and I Attempt to sing to his glory
and praise. Attempt to sing with a heart
undivided. But can't do it. Can't do it. Too much of self still there.
Too much of self gets in the mix. Oh, but then, then. when
we're no longer seeing through a glass darkly, but we see Him
face to face, when we love Him perfectly, see Him perfectly,
adore Him perfectly, in body, soul, and spirit, we shall sing
perfectly the song of Moses and of the Lamb. We'll sing it then
perfectly, but we don't have to wait till then, do we? We
can begin the song now, yes, through veils of tears, yes,
with a mixture of the flesh and the spirit, but still, we sing. You remember on that demoniac
that our Lord rescued and saved, cast out those legions of devils,
and when the Lord got ready to cross back over the sea, that
man wanted to be with him, and you recall what our Lord told
him. No, he said, you will better glorify me by doing this. And now that demoniac, that was
a demoniac, now he is in glory. He beholds the king in his beauty.
But then our Lord said, you can best glorify me by going home
to thy friends and tell them what great things the Lord has
done for you and have had compassion on you. Go and tell it. Go and
tell it. And when in scenes of glory we
sing the new, new song to obey the old, old story that I have
loved so long. The Lord hath triumphed gloriously. Thou and thy mercy has led forth
the people which thou has redeemed. and thou hast guided them in
thy strength unto thy holy habitation. That sounds familiar. Father,
I will also that those whom you gave me be with me where I am,
that they may behold my glory. Amen. Amen.