The Citadel and the Temple
B. Bailey. Exodus 15:1 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying, I will sing to the LORD… I. WHAT THE LORD IS TO HIS PEOPLE. 1. "The Lord is my strength," sang the enraptured host, when they saw how He had "triumphed gloriously" for them — and this has ever been the song of God's people as they have passed through dangers and tribulations in their way to the heavenly Canaan (Isaiah 26:4). 2. But if the Lord be the strength of His people, it must imply that they themselves are weak. 3. But the Lord is our strength; and if the Church be likened unto things which are weak, the figurative language of the Bible is equally strong in setting forth the Lord as her strength (Proverbs 28:10; Psalm 18:2). The Lord Jesus is called the Captain of her salvation, her Deliverer, Governor, Guide. 4. But the Lord is not only the strength of His people, but also their song. He is a very present help in trouble, and He sometimes raises the head, and cheers the heart, even in the midst of sorrows and trials (Habakkuk 3:17-19). 5. The Lord is also the salvation of His people. He sometimes saves them, in a miraculous manner, from temporal evils. 6. He is their God: and this is everything. Infinite power, wisdom, mercy, goodness, love, pity, truth, justice, are all exerted in their behalf; for, in one delightful word, He is their God — yea, and He will be their God for ever and ever, and their Guide even unto death. II. THE RESOLUTIONS WHICH A SENSE OF HIS GOODNESS LEADS THEM TO MAKE. 1. "I will prepare Him an habitation," alluding, probably, to the Temple which the Jews afterwards built. But it is in the humble, contrite heart that the Lord delights to dwell; and we prepare Him a habitation when we open our hearts to receive Him, when we devote them entirely to Him, and when we make Him the principal object of our desires. 2. "My father's God" — the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of all our pious ancestors — "and I will exalt Him." With my tongue will I praise His name, and my soul shall exalt in Him. (B. Bailey.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. WEB: Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to Yahweh, and said, "I will sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.