This transcript was generated by whisper.ai. This is our last day, day five of week three of our study through the book of Exodus, last day this week. We're looking at Exodus chapter 15. In Exodus chapter 15, you have the praise song of Moses for what happened at the Red Sea. There's a tremendous lesson here for God's power in your life. When God does something, when God does something miraculous, the power of what he has done is not released in your life just because he did it. The power of what he's done is released in your life through praise, through you and I praising him for what he did. You look around, everyone has the greatness of God at work in their lives. Creation expresses his greatness. Every one of us can see his creation. The fact that he created you expresses his greatness. But many people walk right by that power every day of their lives with no impact on their life at all because there's no praise, no praise for the God who did it. The power is in our praise for what he's done. He split the Red Sea that day, a few million were there. But over the century since that day, billions have gained spiritual power and strength because of what God did that day through praising him for what he did, setting the people free, the miracle of the Red Sea. Same thing is true in your life, in my life. When God does something wonderful in your life, you can praise him not only once but again and again and again and again, even for the rest of your life. And that praise brings power, the power of Christ's freedom into your life. One of the keys to the life of freedom is praise. And you may look at your life and think, I don't have much to praise God for right now. I've got a lot messed up in my life. The question is, what one thing can you praise him for? You start there. You build on that. Yeah, we've faced tough times. What one thing can you praise him for? Now this day in Moses' life, he had a lot to praise him for. He'd just seen the Red Sea split. He'd just seen the people of Israel walk through on dry ground. And then when the Egyptian armies tried to chase after them, to kill them, he'd seen the Red Sea come together again and that entire army destroyed. And Moses sings a song about it. He gives a praise to God about it. And in this praise to God, you and I learn some things, some specific things about praise. In fact, we're going to look at six specific things you and I can learn about how to praise God from the example of Moses in this chapter. Just what we can learn and then read some of the verses of his praise song to God. What do you learn about praise from Moses' song? Number one, you learn to thank God immediately. Moses didn't wait to thank God. He didn't say, let's get further away from the Red Sea. Maybe more Egyptians are coming and we've got more important things to do. When we get to the promised land, I'll write a song. No, immediately he wrote a song of praise. You thank God. When God does something great in your life, you thank him immediately. Verses one to three. "Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord. I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation. He is my God and I will praise him. My Father's God and I will exalt him. The Lord is a warrior. The Lord is his name. " Moses immediately thanked God for what he had done. He didn't wait one moment. Because of that, you and I can still thank God today for what he's doing in our lives, for what he did in their life. You thank God immediately. A second way to thank God is to thank God specifically. Thank God specifically for what he has done. Listen to verses four and five. "Pharaoh's chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh's officers are drowned in the Red Sea. The deep waters have covered them. They sank to the depths like a stone. " Moses specifically thanked God for what he had done that day. Now it's interesting as you read through this praise song of Moses, you and I when we think about the Red Sea, we think mostly about the people walking through on dry ground. So Moses' greatest praise again and again and again in this song is the fact that this powerful Egyptian army is destroyed. Of course it's his greatest praise. That army was getting closer and closer to the people of Israel and they were going to entirely destroy the nation of Israel, kill every man, woman, and child. And so Moses says, "I specifically thank God, thank you God, that that enemy that was out to destroy us, that you have destroyed that enemy. I specifically thank you that the officers even were killed. I specifically thank you that you have rescued us. " How about your life? Your life is probably not some kind of destroyer or army like this is chasing after you, but it may be. You may be in the military. You may have faced a battle just this day and God rescued you somehow. Have you specifically thanked him? Oh I know he gave you tools, I know he gave you things to work with, but have you specifically thanked him? You thank God specifically. How about your family? How about your ministry? How about your work? Instead of just saying thank you God, sit down and get specific. God, thank you that we made it once again one more month. Thank you that we had enough money to pay our house payment and that we had enough money to buy some food and we had enough money to make sure the kids had what they needed as they started school. Lord, thank you specifically. The more specific your praise, the more powerful it can be in your life. You thank God immediately. You thank God specifically. A third way to thank God that we've learned from Moses is you thank God personally. Listen to verses 6 and 7. "Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic in power. Your right hand, O Lord, scattered the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty, you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger. It consumed them like stubble. " Moses talks to God very personally here. He doesn't talk to God as if he's someone who's very far away. He says personally, "God, thank you for what you have done. Your right hand. " He pictured God personally being at work in his life. Now he knew that God didn't actually have a right hand, but he was picturing the personal work of God in his life. Thank you, God, that you came down. You involved yourself in this situation, that you were at work on my behalf. Do you do that? Do you thank God personally? Or is it some prayer that seems so filled with big words and so distant from God that you don't feel your personal connection with him? Part of thanking God is thanking him personally. It's as if you're looking him in the eye and saying, "Thank you. " You thank God personally. Number four we learned from Moses. You thank God emotionally, emotionally. You're thanking him for something he's done, so your heart, your emotions should be in it. Listen to verses 8 and 9, and then verse 10, "By the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up. The surging water stirred firm like a wall. The deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy boasted, 'I will pursue, I will overtake them. ' But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. " This is no prayer of praise where Moses has no emotion. Many of our prayers totally lack emotion, "O most sovereign, holy, heavenly Father, we want to give you the most grateful thanksgiving and praise for all that you have done in our lives this day. " There's no emotion at all in it. Moses says, "God, thank you. " It was like the breath of your nostrils were blowing out, and that you blew with your breath, and this is what happened. Do your emotions get involved when you thank God? Jesus was emotional in his prayers. The New Testament prayers are emotional. The Old Testament saints, as they prayed, they were emotional prayers. Look at David's prayers all through the book of Psalms. Do you get your heart involved? One of the reasons sometimes our praise lacks power is we don't allow our hearts to get involved. We don't follow the example of all those in the Old and New Testaments. You thank God emotionally. There's a fifth way that you and I learn to thank God in these verses, and that is you thank God theologically. Listen to verse 11, and then verse 18, "Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? " Verse 18, "The Lord will reign forever and ever. " Moses thanked God theologically. He thought through the person of God, and as he talked to God about what had happened that day, he connected it to the person, to the character of God. So when you say, "God, thank you that I had enough food to eat this week for my family," you connect it to the character of God. Thank you for your faithfulness. You're a faithful God. Thank you for your kindness. You've taken care of us. By thinking through who God is and attaching that to your praise, you empower your praise. And that's often by calling to mind a character quality of God, a description of God, majestic in holiness, awesome in glory. When you put those together, you're thanking God theologically. That's to be part of our praise. And then a sixth thing is part of our praise. You thank God historically. You think about all that God is doing. Not just that moment, but all that he's doing and all the reasons he's doing it. Verses 13 to 15, and then verse 17, "In your unfailing love, you will lead your people you have redeemed. In your strength, you will guide them to your holy dwelling. The nations will hear and tremble. Anguish will grip the people of Philistia. The chiefs of Edom will be terrified. The leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling. The people of Canaan will melt away. You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance. The place, O Lord, you have made for your dwelling. The sanctuary, O Lord, your hands established. " Moses thinks and he praises and he reminds himself, "When I'm thanking God, when I'm praising God, thank you for what you did in this moment of my life. But now I lift my eyes above that just a minute and I realize what you're doing in all of human history. God, thank you that you met my daily need. But thank you also that you did that. I'm a part of the people of God, the kingdom of God. You've been doing this for not just hundreds of years, but thousands upon thousands of years. Being faithful to your people so that your people could faithfully declare your love, who you are to the people around you. Thank you that I get to be a part of that long train of people. And thank you for what my praise is going to mean, not only for me, but for my family, for the future of my family, for the future of those that I'm in connection with. I thank you, God. I look above and beyond even just the moment of now. I thank you for what you're doing. " One final thing here. When you thank God, it encourages other people to thank God. In verses 19 to 21, we see that immediately Miriam, Moses' sister and Aaron's sister, begins to sing. And you know what she's saying? One of the great things about praise is it encourages the people around you to praise. So let's pray. And as we pray, just say to God, "God, I praise you today. " And then call to mind what you want to praise him for. And even in this moment, whether you're driving, busy, other people are around you, even in this moment, take it beyond just a, "I thank you, God. " Thank him specifically. Thank him personally. Thank him theologically, calling to mind who he is, his character. Thank him historically, emotionally, all those ways that Moses taught us. Lord, we thank you now. In Jesus' name, amen. Well next week, we're going to see Moses praising God in this chapter, but by verse 24 of this chapter, which we didn't read, the people are already grumbling. How do you handle it when you get a negative reaction for doing the right thing? We're going to look at that together this next week.