Today’s Reading: Exodus 15:1-21, Psalm 105

Then the waters returned and covered all the chariots and charioteers—the entire army of Pharaoh. Of all the Egyptians who had chased the Israelites into the sea, not a single one survived. But the people of Israel had walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, as the water stood up like a wall on both sides. That is how the Lord rescued Israel from the hand of the Egyptians that day. And the Israelites saw the bodies of the Egyptians washed up on the seashore. When the people of Israel saw the mighty power that the Lord had unleashed against the Egyptians, they were filled with awe before him. They put their faith in the Lord and in his servant Moses. – Exodus 14:29-31

They had experienced great fear that day; they had run for their lives as their enemy pursued them. But this was also the day when they stood on the edge of the Red Sea and watched the bodies of their enemies wash up onto the shore. If the plagues had not convinced them, they were now certain that their God was mighty and powerful. They lifted up their voices in praise to the God who knew EVERYTHING they had gone through in Egypt and EVERYTHING they dreamed their future might be.

THEY HAD BEGGED GOD TO DO SOMETHING AND FOUND OUT THAT THEIR GOD CAN DO ANYTHING!

“Your right hand, O Lord, is glorious in power.
Your right hand, O Lord, smashes the enemy.
In the greatness of your majesty, you overthrow those who rise against you.
You unleash your blazing fury; it consumes them like straw.
At the blast of your breath, the waters piled up!
The surging waters stood straight like a wall;
in the heart of the sea the deep waters became hard.

“The enemy boasted, ‘I will chase them and catch up with them.
I will plunder them and consume them.
I will flash my sword; my powerful hand will destroy them.’
But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them.
They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

“Who is like you among the gods, O Lord—
glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor, performing great wonders?
You raised your right hand, and the earth swallowed our enemies.
With your unfailing love you lead the people you have redeemed.
In your might, you guide them to your sacred home.” – Exodus 15:6-13

Imagine what this experience at the Red Sea was like for Miriam, the woman who had once been a young girl watching her mother place a basket containing her little brother in the Nile River (Exodus 2). As her mother walked away that day, it became Miriam’s responsibility to watch from a distance. I am sure she had come to love her baby brother over the last three months, and now she was part of her parents’ plan to save him from those who had been ordered to kill all the baby boys. Imagine the emotions that she might have experienced as the royal entourage came down to the riverbank to bathe — fear, worry, love, hope.

When the princess saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it for her. When the princess opened it, she saw the baby. The little boy was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This must be one of the Hebrew children,” she said. – Exodus 2:5b-6

Miriam watched as the princess recognized that this was one of the babies who had been sentenced to death. When I place myself in Miriam’s position, I imagine her heart must have been racing and her palms would have been sweating as she watched in anticipation of what the princess would do next. She boldly approached the princess, volunteering to find a Hebrew woman to nurse the crying baby. Her bravery and smart thinking resulted in the reunion of her mother with her precious baby brother.

THE LORD GOD HAD PROVIDED THEN AND HE WAS PROVIDING NOW.

Fast forward, now Miriam is again standing on the shore of the water, her heart racing from what she, too, had experienced when God provided a dry path for the Israelites to walk across the Red Sea. She had watched as the same uniforms that had gone door to door yanking babies from the arms of their mothers were now lifeless on the surface of the water and on the sand of the seabank. As Moses and the people around her finished their song, Miriam grabbed a tambourine and sang these confident lyrics:

“Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
he has hurled both horse and rider into the sea.” – Exodus 15:21

Generations later, the psalmist retold the story of that special day in the history of God’s people — a story that continues to remind us of EVERYTHING our God is capable of. Let’s stand on the shore of all God has done for us, and join the psalmist in singing God’s praise this morning.

Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.
Let the whole world know what he has done.
Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.
Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.
Exult in his holy name; rejoice, you who worship the Lord.
Search for the Lord and for his strength;
continually seek him.
Remember the wonders he has performed,
his miracles, and the rulings he has given,
you children of his servant Abraham,
you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones.
He is the Lord our God.
His justice is seen throughout the land.
He always stands by his covenant—
the commitment he made to a thousand generations. — Psalm 105:1-8