Sun, Jun 11, 2023 – “The Lord is my Strength and my Song” (Exodus 15:1-21)
Scott Wakefield
Part of Exodus: Freed to Worship and Serve—Jan 2023

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“Exodus: Freed to Worship and Serve”

Series Outline & Memory Verses

1. Oppression in Egypt and an Unlikely Savior (Exodus 1:1-7:7)
Memory Verses: Exodus 6:7-8 – 7 “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.”

2. The Exodus: 12 Miracles/10 Plagues (Exodus 7:8-15:21)
Memory Verse(s): Exodus 15:2-3 – 2 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. 3 The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name.

3. The Journey to God: Grumbling in the Desert & Preparing for Sinai
(Exodus 15:22-18:27)

4. The Sinai Covenant (Exodus 19:1-24:11)

6. The Worship of God (Exodus 24:12-31:18)

7. Sin and Restoration (Exodus 32:1-40:38)


Follow Along with Today’s Sermon Manuscript (sort of, mostly, kind of)

  • Our preachers don’t always follow word for word, (especially Scott, Lead Pastor), but it will help you follow the train of thought and prepare for your study below.
  • Scott

  • Daily Bible Readings On Sun-Fri, the first passages listed (before the semicolon) are related to this sermon, while the second passages listed help you read through the whole book of Exodus each week. The Sat reading is for the next day’s sermon, to help you prepare.
    Sermon Notes
    “The Lord is my Strength and my Song” (Exodus 15:1-21)

    Memory Verse – Exodus 15:2-3 – 2 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. 3 The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name.

    Previous Series Theme – Exodus is part of the progressive unfolding of God’s promise to fight for the redemption of a people for His glory by freeing them to fulfill His intent for creation—to worship and serve Him as He deserves!
    New Series Theme Exodus concretizes is part of the progressive unfolding the redemptive trajectory of God’s promise to fight for a people for His glory by freeing them to fulfill His intent for creation—to worship and serve Him as He deserves!
    Psalm 106:8-12 – 8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,that he might make known his mighty power. 9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry, and he led them through the deep as through a desert. 10 So he saved them from the hand of the foe and redeemed them from the power of the enemy. 11 And the waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left. 12 Then they believed his words; they sang his praise.

    Exodus 15:1 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.

    15:2-3 – 2 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. 3 The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name.

    15:4 – “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.

    15:5 – The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone.

    15:6 Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy.

    15:7 – In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.

    15:8 – 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.

    15:9 – 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.’

    “Asyndeton” = “not connected together” or “not bound with”
    15:10 – You blew with your wind; the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters.

    15:11 – “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?

    15:12 – You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them.

    15:13 – “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.

    15:14-15 – 14 The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia. 15 Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.

    15:16 – 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.

    15:17 – 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.

    15:18-19 – 18 The LORD will reign forever and ever.” 19 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.

    15:20 –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.

    15:21 – And Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”


    Application Thoughts
    (1) Yahweh alone is Lord. Yahweh alone is capable of salvation. Yahweh alone is worthy of the praise of our hearts.

    (2) What is Jesus if not God’s promise to save perfectly fulfilled and made personal?!

    John 1:14-17 – 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

    (3) If Yahweh is your Lord, you have an enemy, you know it, and you make war—against sin and for peoples’ souls—by treasuring, embodying, and proclaiming the truth of God’s supernatural power to fight for us in Christ.

    1 John 1:1-3 – 1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.


    Takeaway Question(s)

    Is your life pointing to and singing of God’s supernatural power and might, or are you still singing your own praises?! Are you telling your story rightly—a là Exodus—such that your salvation required actually saving grace?! Where are you functionally lying about yourself and how is it holding you back from praising Christ as He alone deserves?

    Revelation 15:1-4 – 1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished. 2 And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! 4 Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, or your righteous acts have been revealed.”


    Inductive Bible Study Questions
    To prepare for Life Group, Pillar breakout groups, or personal use, answer the following inductive study questions based on the sermon and a few other resources we suggest (See “Mostly Trusted & Free Resources” below.)

    Inductive Bible study is about going from particulars to principles by prayerfully studying the details—both in the text and the larger Scriptural context of a passage—and allowing them to determine meaning and application.

    Observe: What does the text say?

    1. Read the passage at least once, preferably multiple times.

    2. Answer the 4 Ws: Where? When? Who? What? (Ex: author, location, original audience, cultural setting, etc.)

    3. Are there any literary cues worthy of note? (Ex: key words/phrases, transition, repetition, parallel, comparison, contrast, etc.)

    • It’s helpful at this point to consult a few resources: Study Bible notes, commentaries, Bible dictionaries/encyclopedias, etc.


    Interpret: What does the text mean?
    1. How does the wider context help inform our understanding of this passage?

    2. Are there any other passages that help provide a framework for understanding?

    3. What are the passage’s main points?

    4. What is the one main principle God intends to communicate to the original audience?


    Apply: What is the text saying to us?
    1. What doctrinal or theological truths does this text teach or reinforce?

    2. What questions does it elicit for you?

    3. Which of FCC’s 7 Habits (or a spiritual habit/practice) does the principle in “Interpret” #4 highlight most?

    4. What is the most important application of this passage to… the original audience? Our world? Our church? Your relationships, family, marriage, parenting, etc.? Your plans, career, schooling, etc.?

    5. What is God trying to tell you?

    6. What is your Next Step of “everyday boring faithfulness”? Or, when it comes to the 7 Habits (or the aforementioned spiritual habit/practice), what do you need to stop doing, keep doing, start doing?


    For Further Study: Some Mostly Trusted & Mostly Free Resources
    • ESV Study Bible – Our #1 recommendation. The English Standard Version, which we use for preaching, has *really good* Study Notes, maps, introductions, mini-systematic theology, etc. Available in hardcopy at cost in *The Hub* at every campus (or for Logos Bible Software below.) The ESV Bible text is free on our app under “Bible” or at ESV.org, where the Global Study Bible Notes are also free.
    • NETbible.org – Free Bible (various versions, incl ESV with lots of helpful textual notes and a few decent resources and commentaries.
    • IVP New Bible Commentary – Good basic one-volume commentary. Available in The Hub at any campus.
    • Logos Bible Software – Download 40+ free resources here to get started, incl 6 Bible versions, ESV Audio Bible, Faithlife Study Notes, Lexham Bible Dictionary, and Easton’s Bible Dictionary, as well as some classics like Charles Hodge’s *Systematic Theology*, JFB Commentary (Critical/Explanatory on Whole Bible), Matthew Henry Concise Commentary, Spurgeon’s *Morning and Evening* Devotions, Bunyan’s *Pilgrim’s Progress*, Augustine’s *Confessions*. ESV Bible and Study Notes available for purchase at logos.com, along with basically any other important biblical and theological resource you could possibly imagine. (Scott’s favorite resource. He says, “I’m in and out of Logos dozens of times a day.”)
    • *Systematic Theology* by Wayne Grudem – Good overall and highly readable introduction to Christian doctrine. Available at cost in *The Hub* and also for Logos Bible Software. This is what Scott and Mark Liebert often use as a guide on our biweekly *Brown Bags & Bibles* podcast.
    • Free Online Whole Bible Commentaries (By Dead People) – Albert Barnes, John Calvin (missing some books), Adam Clarke, Matthew Henry (Concise), Matthew Henry (Complete), Alexander MacLaren, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
    • Free Online Dictionaries/Encyclopedias – Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Holman Bible Dictionary, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia