When Israel Came Out

First You Go. Then You Sing.

When Israel came out of Egypt...

— Psalm 114

I will sing to the Lord...

— Exodus 15

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy Name.

— Psalm 103

“When Israel came out of Egypt...”

What an opening.

Some words announce immediately that what follows is going to matter.

“Four score and seven years ago...”

“The Eagle has landed.”

“Let there be light.”

Or perhaps something much closer to home. Your grandfather begins, “When I was young...” and everybody leans forward.

When establishes a moment. There was a before. Something happened. Everything that follows will somehow be different because of it.

“When Israel came out of Egypt...”

And the rest is history.

But before there could be a rest of the story, Israel had to come out.

God was delivering them. God would do the impossible things. But Israel still had to move. They had to walk. Trust. Obey. Leave what they knew and step toward something they didn't.

Yesterday we reflected upon God moving behind Israel and giving them room to go forward.

Today, they go.

And then something happens.

They sing.

“I will sing to the Lord,” begins the great song in Exodus 15.

Now we're looking at Israel from the other side. The frightened people have become the singing people. They have experienced something they could not have experienced while remaining where they were.

Psalm 103 carries that praise into another familiar song:

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy Name.”

Those words eventually found their way into Andraé Crouch's beautiful gospel song “Bless His Holy Name.” I've heard and sung that music many times. But today I find myself thinking about what has to happen before a person can sing like that.

Sometimes you have to leave Egypt.

Sometimes you have to take the step you were afraid to take. Trust when you don't know what happens next. Walk forward when the road isn't obvious.

And then—sometimes—you discover what God was doing.

Then you sing.

But even that isn't the end.

The praise becomes part of the next act of faith. We remember what God did before, and that memory helps us trust Him again. Yesterday's deliverance becomes today's song, and today's song gives us courage for tomorrow's journey.

Trust.

Go.

Discover.

Sing.

Trust again.

That's a pretty good rhythm for a life of faith.

Perhaps that's why Psalm 114's opening feels so momentous.

“When Israel came out of Egypt...”

There was an Israel before those words.

There was an Israel after them.

Sometimes the difference begins with one very simple thing.

Go.

The singing may come next.

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