Miriam: Sing to the LORD
Day 1, from week 5 of Beautifully Surrendered, A Love God Greatly
Today’s Reading: Exodus 15:1-21; SOAP verse 20-21
Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine and led all the women as they played their tambourines and danced. And Miriam sang this song:
“Sing to the Lord,
Exodus 15:20-21
for he has triumphed gloriously;
he has hurled both horse and rider
into the sea.”
Observations:
Remember, from our earlier encounter with Moses’ mother, Miriam is Moses’ sister. She is the same one who watched to make sure he was safe after their mother put Moses in the river. We learn here that she was a prophetess, which simply means she was a woman who spoke about/for God. As we see here she was also one who encouraged or exhorted people with words of praise, telling or singing what He had done for His people.
How Then Should We Live?
Without question we should praise God for what He does, making sure to stay focused on Him and what He has done. When we lose sight of these details and His role in our life and the world around us we put ourselves in jeopardy of forgetting what He’s done. The danger in this is then we will fail to give Him the praise that He is worthy of. We should follow the example of Miriam who sang praises. Not only did she sing with Moses and the Israelites but she reverberated the praise the others had given – she kept the praise going – which is exactly what we should be in the habit of doing.
Remember the old song from the 70’s, “Pass It On”? Verse one went like this:
“It only takes a spark to get a fire going,
And soon all those around can warm up in its glowing;
That’s how it is with God’s Love,
Once you’ve experienced it,
Your spread the love to everyone
You want to pass it on.”
It’s that first line that came to mind as I was writing this. In today’s passage we read “Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD ….” Then in our focus verses we read that Miriam sang in response to what had been sung … someone started the song and when they had finished she kept it going. Praise is contagious!
Background NOTE:
Our passage starts out with the word, “then”, meaning what’s about to happen – happened because of what came before it. In this case – what prompted the praise song. According to what we read in chapter 14 they are singing praises to God because He has just delivered them through The Red Sea – on dry ground – and then watched as God released the water, bringing it crashing down on the Egyptian Army that was pursing them. Certainly worthy of the praise they gave!
Prayer Response:
Father, all praise and glory are due Your Name! May praise continually flow from my lips and may my life bring You glory. May I be alert to Your work in and around me. May I not lose sight of what You do and what You have taught. For You are worthy O God of continual praise and honor – Let my lips, as the Psalmist said – glorify You forever! Amen!
Your Turn:
What’s your take away from Miriam’s story?
Reflection Questions:
Miriam led the Israelite women with singing and praised God for the miracle He performed in Exodus 15.
- What can we learn from her example?
- Why is it important to praise God?
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