Alameda Bible Church
The Song of the Sea
A sermon from Exodus 15.
"I will sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!”
"The Song of the Sea is easily misread as pure triumphalism: “God is on our side, he hates our enemies, and he destroys them!” But to think in this way is to miss the theocentric outlook of the entire song. It is from the beginning praise to God for his power. The enemies he destroys are his enemies, no ours. The salvation he offers to his people is a gift; their virtue, and indeed even their faithfulness, never enters the song. The pride, violence and greed of the Egyptians are reasons for him to destroy them, but it is the evil of these men, not the goodness of their intended victims, that provokes God. The Canaanites, similarly, tremble because of God, and not because of Israel." - Duane Garrett, Commentary on Exodus.
Themes
1. A personal confession of faith (v2-3).
2. The Lord is a man of War (v4-8).
3. The arrogant claim of the wicked (v9).
4. The mighty wonders of God (10-12).
5. The selection and guidance of the redeemer (v13).
6. The coming dread upon the current inhabitants of the Promised Land (v14-16).
7. The promise of the inheritance (v17-18).