…He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
Exodus 15:1-2
An experience like the parting of the Red Sea calls for – it demands – a pause in the journey to worship, acknowledge, to praise their deliverer – a time to stand in absolute of AWE of the magnificence of Almighty God, the El Shaddai – God Almighty. And that is exactly what the Israelites do. In verses 1 and 2 of Chapter 15, the Israelites sing with Moses and Miriam, “…I will exalt him.”
The Hebrew word for exalt means, “to rise, grow tall.” It’s not that God had gotten bigger– He is absolute. He is eternally majestic. Perhaps this means His people are finally beginning, as it says in Ephesians 3:18, “..to grasp how wide and long and high and deep..” is the love of God for them. They are in AWE of Him.
In verses 1 and 2, the Israelites exalt the Lord as they sing to Him. They praise Him as their strength and their song. What does it mean to EXALT God?
In his book, “Don’t Waste Your Life,” John Piper uses the analogy of a microscope and a telescope to illustrate what it means to magnify – or to exalt – God. One is wickedness and the other is worship, He says. A microscope is used to make something very tiny look bigger than it is, while a telescope makes something unimaginably huge and great able to be seen. In terms of worship, a microscope would be wickedness, but a telescope is worship.
Piper said, “We waste our lives when we do not pray and think and dream and plan and work toward magnifying God in all spheres of life.”
We are here—placed on this planet – to make much of Him. To bring glory to Him. To let others see Him in us. How does my love for God reflect His greatness to others? Is my AWE of Him – my love for Him – evident to others? Is yours?
A heart that is full and grateful overflows in love, devotion, and praise.
A heart that is thankful expresses itself in gratefulness to our great God.
A heart that is filled with wonder and anticipation – praises God.
That’s what the song of Moses and Miriam is doing. And that’s what the song on our tongue and in our heart should be doing.
How might you push pause on life and praise Him today?
The woman of God exalts God.
Teaching lecture for Exodus 15:1-21 —
http://fbcsiloam.podbean.com/e/ladies-bible-study-exodus-lesson-8-laura-macfarlan-10-30-14/
