# The Song of Moses



## Davidius (Apr 11, 2007)

[bible]Exodus 15:1[/bible]

What exactly is going on here? How did Moses and all of Israel begin to sing the same song all at the same time? Since the song is in response to what has just taken place, they can't have learned it before. This is commonly called the "Song of Moses" as if it's something he wrote and then introduced for use in worship but it seems more to be like the "Spontaneous song of Moses and the entire nation of Israel."

I'm not trying to get into an EP discussion but I do raise the question because so many often point to this passage to defend Inclusive Psalmody or Uninspired Hymnody. But this song seems to be sung under direct inspiration. If that's not the case, what is going on?


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## Chris (Apr 11, 2007)

I honestly don't see anything in Scripture that allows us to draw conclusions about how this event came about. 

(I clicked on the thread thinking it would be about Deuteronomy 32, For what it's worth....there's more than 1 'song of Moses'....)


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## Davidius (Apr 11, 2007)

Chris said:


> I honestly don't see anything in Scripture that allows us to draw conclusions about how this event came about.
> 
> (I clicked on the thread thinking it would be about Deuteronomy 32, For what it's worth....there's more than 1 'song of Moses'....)



I don't really, either. I guess I was just wondering if anyone had any speculations. I know this kind of language is pretty common in the bible. "They said" when referring to a large group, or in this case, "they sung." I figured some who are more versed in the bible's styles of literature could explain what these kinds of phrases should be taken to mean.

As far as the song in Deuteronomy 32 goes, that one was specifically commanded to be written by God about 15 verses earlier in verse 19 of chapter 31.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Apr 11, 2007)

Some comments which may be of interest:

Matthew Henry:



> Having read how that complete victory of Israel over the Egyptians was obtained, here we are told how it was celebrated; those that were to hold their peace while the deliverance was in working (Exod 14:14) must not hold their peace now that it was wrought; the less they had to do then the more they had to do now. If God accomplishes deliverance by his own immediate power, it redounds so much the more to his glory. Moses, no doubt by divine inspiration, indited this song, and delivered it to the children of Israel, to be sung before they stirred from the place where they saw the Egyptians dead upon the shore. Observe, 1. They expressed their joy in God, and thankfulness to him, by singing; it is almost natural to us thus to give vent to our joy and the exultations of our spirit. By this instance it appears that the singing of psalms, as an act of religious worship, was used in the church of Christ before the giving of the ceremonial law, and therefore was no part of it, nor abolished with it. Singing is as much the language of holy joy as praying is of holy desire. 2. Moses, who had gone before them through the sea, goes before them in the song, and composes it for them. Note, Those that are active in public services should not be neuters in public praises. 3. When the mercy was fresh, and they were much affected with it, then they sang this song. Note, When we have received special mercy from God, we ought to be quick and speedy in our returns of praise to him, before time and the deceitfulness of our own hearts efface the good impressions that have been made. David sang his triumphant song in the day that the Lord delivered him, 2 Sam 22:1. Bis dat qui cito dat—He gives twice who gives quickly. 4. When they believed the Lord (Exod 14:31) then they sang this song: it was a song of faith; this connection is observed (Ps 106:12): Then believed they his words, they sang his praise. If with the heart man believes, thus confession must be made.



Brian Schwertley:



> 2. Another objection to the exclusive Psalm singing position is based on a misunderstanding of how exclusive Psalm singers apply the regulative principle. A pamphlet by an Orthodox Presbyterian pastor sets forth the idea that the exclusive Psalm singing position depends upon proving that only the Psalms are commanded to be used in worship in the Bible. Psalm singers have always acknowledged that other divinely inspired songs besides the Psalms were used for worship before the close of the canon. However, Psalm singers do not sing the inscripturated inspired songs found outside the Psalter because they believe that only the Psalms were intended by God for perpetual use in the church. The Holy Spirit is the one who organized the book of Psalms. He did not include every inspired song in the Bible within the Psalter. The fact that God did not place every inspired song within God’s hymnbook probably indicates that some inspired songs were only used on a specific occasion or for a limited period of time. Keddie writes: “It is contended that other inspired utterances such as the songs of Moses (Ex. 15:1-19; Deut. 32:1-43) and Hannah (1 Sam. 2:1-10) in the Old Testament, and of Mary (Luke 1:46-55) and Simeon (Luke 2:29-32) in the New Testament, were exceptional effusions of praise, of an inspired nature, in connection with particular (and even absolutely unique, as with the Magnificat) ‘acts of God’ and not necessarily for perpetual use in the Church’s song…the whole book of Psalms…is to be considered as the final[ised] hymnbook of the Church. It satisfies the demands of divine provision, and is the only collection of songs of praise as such which can lay claim to primary and verbal inspiration.”71 One may disagree with this argument. One may consider it a weak deduction. But, since there is not a shred of biblical evidence that uninspired songs were ever used for the praise of Jehovah, if there is going to be a debate among Reformed believers it ought to be between exclusive Psalm singers and those Christians who want to include the handful of other inspired worship songs which are found outside of the Psalter.
> 
> 71 J. W. Keddie, Why Psalms Only?, p. 12.



and



> 3. Victory Celebrations
> 
> Musical instruments are also used for victory celebrations. After God’s deliverance of the people of Israel from the armies of Egypt, the people celebrated and sang the song of Moses. “Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels54 and with dances. And Miriam answered them: Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!” (Ex. 15:20-21). It was the common practice of Israel to celebrate great victories with women dancing, singing, and playing musical instruments. “Now it had happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. So the women sang as they danced...” (1 Sam. 18:6-7). After the Lord delivered the people of Ammon into Jephthah’s hands it says: “When Jephthah came to his house at Mizphah, there was his daughter, coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing” (Jud. 11:34). The prophet Jeremiah spoke of the resettlement of the Israelites in their own land in terms of great joy and celebration: “Again I will build you, and shall be rebuilt, a virgin of Israel! You shall again be adorned with your tambourines, and shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice” (Jer. 31:4).
> 
> ...



John Girardeau:



> There remains, however, another class of cases to which attention may be fairly directed, cases in which public worship appeared to be offered. Into this class fall the instances of Miriam's playing upon the timbrel at the Red Sea, the welcome of Saul and David by the women with singing, dancing and instrumental music, the like instance of Jephthah's daughter, the accompanying of the ark by David and Israel with bands of music, and the minstrelsy of the prophets to whom Saul joined himself. In reply to the objection based upon these instances, the general ground may be taken that they are examples not of church-worship, but of public rejoicing on the part of the nation or of communities, with the exception of the prophets minstrelsy, which will be separately considered. Some special remarks are, however, pertinent in regard to them.
> 
> In the first place, it will be noticed from the account of the triumphant rejoicing on the shore of the Red Sea that the men sang only: "Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying," etc. [Exod 15:1] What can be gathered from this simple singing of the males of Israel, in praise of God for their great deliverance, in favor of instrumental music in worship, it is rather difficult to see.
> 
> ...



Also worth considering is the fact that Moses is the author of Psalm 90.


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## elnwood (Apr 11, 2007)

VirginiaHuguenot said:


> Also worth considering is the fact that Moses is the author of Psalm 90.



A more interesting question is this: if the doctrine of EP is true, what songs did Moses and the Israelites sing in public worship before the rest of the Psalms were written? Did they only sing Psalm 90 until the time of David?


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## Ginny Dohms (Apr 11, 2007)

> How did Moses and all of Israel begin to sing the same song all at the same time? Since the song is in response to what has just taken place, they can't have learned it before.



Perhaps he "lined it" for them, similar to what was spoken of in The Directory For the Publick Worship of God regarding the Psalms.

"That the whole congregation may join herein, every one that can read is to have a psalm book; and all others, not disabled by age or otherwise, are to be exhorted to learn to read. But for the present, where many in the congregation cannot read, it is convenient that the minister, or some other fit person appointed by him and the other ruling officers, *do read the psalm, line by line, before the singing thereof*."


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## MW (Apr 11, 2007)

elnwood said:


> A more interesting question is this: if the doctrine of EP is true, what songs did Moses and the Israelites sing in public worship before the rest of the Psalms were written? Did they only sing Psalm 90 until the time of David?



If the doctrine of sola Scriptura is true, what books did Moses and the Israelites read in public worship before the rest of the books were written?

If we are going to investigate a subject could we at least do so on the basis of principles we already maintain? E.g., the principle of canonical process.


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## Davidius (Apr 11, 2007)

armourbearer said:


> If the doctrine of sola Scriptura is true, what books did Moses and the Israelites read in public worship before the rest of the books were written?
> 
> If we are going to investigate a subject could we at least do so on the basis of principles we already maintain? E.g., the principle of canonical process.





We can't forget biblical theology/redemptive history.


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## elnwood (Apr 12, 2007)

armourbearer said:


> If the doctrine of sola Scriptura is true, what books did Moses and the Israelites read in public worship before the rest of the books were written?
> 
> If we are going to investigate a subject could we at least do so on the basis of principles we already maintain? E.g., the principle of canonical process.



Obviously they didn't read the Scripture that they didn't have. Sola scriptura concerns the doctrine of authority, not of what can be used in worship services. Most Reformed churches read their confessions in the service, and the confessions are most definitely not Scripture!

Interesting question, but I don't see how it has any relevance to my question.


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## nicnap (Apr 12, 2007)

I have not read this thread in its entirety. 

That said, could he not have begun singing and then they joined in?...Maybe it was similar to a "praise chorus", and they sang it all 156.325587 times, so they would all have known the words by the end.


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## MW (Apr 12, 2007)

elnwood said:


> Interesting question, but I don't see how it has any relevance to my question.



If we accept the canonical process principle, we acknowledge that commandments pertaining to reading Scripture would also include books later incorporated into the canon. E.g., Paul tells Timothy to preach the Word. Revelation was probably not written yet. Nevertheless, because Revelation is the Word of God it may be preached. Ditto for the Psalms. There is a canonical process whereby the hymn-book of the OT church was developed over time. The idea of pitting exclusive psalmody against the practice of Moses is really nothing more than a failure to account for this canonical process, which we already recognise as implicit in Scripture.


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## elnwood (Apr 12, 2007)

armourbearer said:


> If we accept the canonical process principle, we acknowledge that commandments pertaining to reading Scripture would also include books later incorporated into the canon. E.g., Paul tells Timothy to preach the Word. Revelation was probably not written yet. Nevertheless, because Revelation is the Word of God it may be preached. Ditto for the Psalms. There is a canonical process whereby the hymn-book of the OT church was developed over time. The idea of pitting exclusive psalmody against the practice of Moses is really nothing more than a failure to account for this canonical process, which we already recognise as implicit in Scripture.



The thing is that exclusive psalter is not the same as Sola Scriptura. Sola Scriptura is all about the ultimately authority of scripture, not its use in the public worship service.

There is no exclusive scriptura principle that says that only scripture can be read, spoken or preached in a public worship service. The Word of God may be preached using the content of Scripture, and even of it's future fulfillment (to be written in future Scripture or otherwise). Confessions of faith may be read in a public worship service. Prayers are made that are not directly from the Scripture but are guided by Scripture and the Holy Spirit.

In contrast, exclusive psalter says that ONLY the 150 Psalms can be sung in public worship services, and no other songs may be used. Again, I ask, what songs did Moses and the assembly sing in their public worship services? This is a question of fact, not a question of theology.


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## MW (Apr 12, 2007)

If "preach the Word" can be understood to allow for the reading of uninspired words in worship then sola Scriptura means very little and it is little wonder if exclusive psalmody is misunderstood.


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## Dagmire (Apr 13, 2007)

Does the Hebrew give any idea of a time frame? I think the way it reads in English certainly leaves room for it to have been started by a few and slowly picked up by the rest. They could've repeated the verse for an hour, for all we know.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Apr 14, 2007)

Robert Jamieson says concerning Exodus 15.1:



> 1. Then sang Moses and the children of Israel--The scene of this thanksgiving song is supposed to have been at the landing place on the eastern shore of the Red Sea, at Ayoun Musa, "the fountains of Moses." They are situated somewhat farther northward along the shore than the opposite point from which the Israelites set out. But the line of the people would be extended during the passage, and one extremity of it would reach as far north as these fountains, which would supply them with water on landing. *The time when it was sung is supposed to have been the morning after the passage.*


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## Davidius (Apr 14, 2007)

Ginny Dohms said:


> Perhaps he "lined it" for them, similar to what was spoken of in The Directory For the Publick Worship of God regarding the Psalms.
> 
> "That the whole congregation may join herein, every one that can read is to have a psalm book; and all others, not disabled by age or otherwise, are to be exhorted to learn to read. But for the present, where many in the congregation cannot read, it is convenient that the minister, or some other fit person appointed by him and the other ruling officers, *do read the psalm, line by line, before the singing thereof*."



This is an interesting thought which I can't say I had considered. Thanks for sharing that!



elnwood said:


> In contrast, exclusive psalter says that ONLY the 150 Psalms can be sung in public worship services, and no other songs may be used. Again, I ask, what songs did Moses and the assembly sing in their public worship services? This is a question of fact, not a question of theology.



I can't say I know all of what they sang during their public worship services. Partially, I would say that we need not assume that they had worship services that look like tabernacle/temple worship services or Christian worship services. We must view these sorts of things through the lenses of progressive revelation and the redemptive-historical hermeneutic. That one thing was done at one time does not make said thing appropriate at all points of Redemptive History. 

Where did Moses and the people worship before there was a tabernacle? I suppose somewhere outdoors. But once the tabernacle was setup, public worship only took place therein. And once the temple was established, people didn't go erect tents anymore. The same question must also be raised regarding other elements of worship such as song and instrumentation. Exodus 15:1 can't be ripped out of its immedaite context or out of its context within Redemptive History if it is to be used correctly in a discussion of the theology of worship.


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