Yesterday, we heard some assertions made by Moses and the Children of Israel. We focused primarily on their proclamation of Elohim as their God and the God of their father. There were other assertions in that one verse. Let’s reflect on them some more as we consider Today’s Holy Nougat.
Exodus 15:2 AFV
[2] The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will glorify Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.
My Strength and My Song
They might have left with all Egypt’s wealth and their unpaid labour force, but the Children of Israel had no traditional weapons. As former slaves, as newly emancipated people who’d literally just left the plantation, the Children of Israel were not in a position to be wholly independent.
But God.
God’s intervention and direction were a game-changer. The people who were perhaps the most vulnerable and defenceless in that era had God on their side.
However, they were not alone. They soon realised that God was genuinely on their side. With God, they were in a position of power. That’s what they sang about. They sang of how God prevailed in their time of difficulty.
Self-check
Can we recall any experience of God’s grace so profoundly in our lives?
Digging Deeper
In the good times, it is so easy to lose sight of who and whose we are, especially when we are living in individualistic societies. Some of us might be familiar with the concept of pulling oneself up by the bootstraps, which is another way of celebrating self-made persons.
The catch is, when we’re self-made, we fail to acknowledge God’s presence or influence on our lives and fortunes. We don’t have room for YHWH Azzi, God our strength. For then, we would have to acknowledge our vulnerabilities. Yet, in those moments we’re reminded, as was Paul, that God’s strength is visible when we’re weak. Claiming YHWH as Oz is also acknowledging God’s might and power.
Having to choose between worldly concepts of strength and capacity, I propose that we look to God. God’s strength, wisdom, vision, presence, presience, and protection can and will take us through. And since we are literally created by God, we’re actually God-made not self-made!
That’s grounds for praise, extreme joy, and the confident assurance in every situation that would present itself for us to be vulnerable. And when we look at the Source of it all, once again, God is there. One songwriter declares, God puts a light in my eyes, a smile on my lips and a bubble of joy in my heart. As we identify with those praise points, we realise that that’s song. We sing praises to God, Who is the Source of all that we use to worship. God is our song. God gives us a new song in times of distress.
Point to Ponder
Can we find our new song in seasons of distress?
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May all we seek be found in Christ
