The LORD Goes Before You (Ex. 13:17-14:31)

[Sung Psalm: 18]

The story of the Exodus is the foundational story of the Old Testament. It is as central to the OT as the cross of Christ is to the NT.

You cannot read very far in the OT without finding references and allusions to the Exodus. Many of the Psalms retell the story of the Exodus – or the Triumph of the LORD at the Red Sea.

But many others use the imagery of the Exodus to speak of other events. For instance, Psalm 18 is a Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who addressed the words of this song to the LORD on the day when the LORD rescued him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.” Plainly Psalm 18 is not a song about the Exodus. It is a song about how God rescued David.

But listen to how David describes this rescue: “The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them. Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of your nostrils. He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.”

This language is drawn in part from the song of the Sea – the Song of Moses in Exodus 15.

When David wants to talk about what salvation means, he naturally thinks about God’s great victory at the Red Sea. And so he tells his own story in language that echoes the story of the Exodus.