Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, "I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name. "Pharaoh's chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea. The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone. Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble. At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, 'I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.' You blew with your wind; the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters. "Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them. "You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode. The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia. Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone, till your people, O LORD, pass by, till the people pass by whom you have purchased. You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, the place, O LORD, which you have made for your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established. The LORD will reign forever and ever." For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea. Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing.
Exodus 15:1-20
This passage records the triumph-song of Moses. It is the first song recorded in the Scriptures, and as such should have particular significance for us. It certainly has a great deal to teach us. But first of all, we must deal with a problem that exercises some in the very thought of rejoicing over a downfall such as Pharaoh's was. Can it be right, or Christian, they ask, to exult in this way over such a judgment? Well, we must be quite clear that this is not something belonging to a primitive and barbarous age which later religious development in New Testament times regards as unthinkable. It is not without significance that the Book of Revelation uses the Song of Moses as the norm for its own rejoicing and triumph (Revelation 15:3). It is not wrong (how could it be?) to be glad when evil is vanquished; it could only be wrong if there could be no such thing as righteous judgment. But if the judgment of God is righteous, as it always is, then it is not only right to rejoice in it, but it would be wrong not to, for not to rejoice would be to take sides against God in His rejoicing. There is a divine perspective from which it is seen that the destruction of evil is seen to be not only a necessity but something to exult in when it is accomplished. The full-throated rejoicing that rings throughout this song is neither vindictive nor unchristian, but in the truest sense spiritual. It is ironical that the moral values of our generation should have become so distorted as to make it seem that, in our objection to the idea of divine judgment, we are more moral than God, and more kindhearted than He. We must beware of entertaining a secret sympathy with sinners in their sin.