Having witnessed God’s God-ness in such a manner, the Children of Israel were filled with exuberant praise. Their song did not only recount God’s victory story, but it also abounded with praise, offering us a blueprint for thanksgiving. 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 God, and My Forefathers’ God
Having had a profound deliverance experience, the Children of Israel were extremely happy to reaffirm their faith in YHWH. As God’s chosen people, these Children of Israel traced their faith back to Abraham, with whom God had covenanted for that land of God’s Promise. Singing of their faith, and referencing God’s relationship with their ancestors was perfectly natural. In fact, we recall that in Exodus 3:6, God introduced God’s self in that manner, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. It was an implicit reference to the covenants God had ratified with each, for themselves and successive generations.
The Hebrews’ reference to God in this way therefore suggests that they identified with the covenantal promise, and in one sense, were ready to be heirs to all those promises. In many spheres, one’s religious belief is hereditary. We follow the tradition passed on to us by our parents, and their parents’ parents. However, we are not necessarily all acquainted with the promises associated with the tenets of the faith.
Self-Check
How familiar are we with God’s promises to us?
Application
Sometimes, we simply continue in the tradition, it is not a decision that is questioned. This has resulted in nominal belief, that is like the chaff which the wind blows away (see Psalm 1). Now don’t misunderstand me – some nominal Christians are present in the worship space all the time. Nevertheless, because nominal faith is framed by others’ beliefs, God is not the focal point of our faith, and we fail to recognise Christ’s central role in our lives.
It becomes important, therefore, for God to become more than just ‘our parents’ God’. We must discover God for ourselves, building for ourselves a relationship forged through Christ, by Whom we have access to God’s covenants. Failing that, we might find our hearts being infertile soil – too hard, too stony, or too thorny – as per Y’shua’s parable of the sower in the Gospels of Matthew (13:3-23), Mark (4:1-20), and Luke (8:4-15).
When we can refer to the Trinity as, ‘My God’, we usually are making that claim based on personal experience with Christ. That is why we make our profession of faith, whether we are confirmed or make a confession for ‘believers’ baptism’. That confession, like that sung by the children of Israel after their salvation from Pharaoh, attests to our experience of God as our Saviour, Strength, and Song.
Point to Ponder
What will our praise say about our faith today?
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May all we seek be found in Christ
