God for Us,God against Us: Singing the Pentateuch’s Songs of Praise in Exodus 15 and Deuteronomy 32

Exodus 15: Praise When God Is for Us

The Song of the Sea in Exodus 15:1–21 actually includes two versions of the song, one sung by “Moses and the Israelites” (vv. 1–18) and another shorter version (a repetition of 15:1) sung by “the prophet Miriam” to “all the women” (vv. 19–21). This latter women’s song reflects an ancient tradition of women celebrating the return of victorious male soldiers after a battle (Judg 5:28–30; 11:34; 1 Sam 18:6–7). The inclusion of the separate women’s song immediately after the men singing in 15:1–18 underscores how the men of Israel have joined in and assumed the role of the women, singing the praises not of human soldiers but of YHWH. It is YHWH alone who fought and defeated the oppressive Pharaoh and his army. As Moses had reminded the Israelites earlier, “The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to keep still” (Exod 14:14, 25). ⁴

The longer version of the song in 15:1–18 may be divided into two major sections. The first section (15:1–12) praises YHWH as a mighty divine “warrior” (15:3) who uses the waters of the sea to drown and defeat “Pharaoh’s chariots and his army” (15:4). Images of mighty winds (15:8, 10) and chaotic floods and waters piling up and then crashing down on the Egyptians emphasize YHWH as “glorious in power” who acts “in the greatness of your majesty” to overthrow “your adversaries” (15:5–7). ⁵ The defeat of the enemy demonstrates the incomparability of YHWH among the other gods of the nations: “Who is like you, O YHWH, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders?” (15:11).

In the second half of Exod 15:13–18, the image of YHWH as a warrior (15:3) is muted and makes room for other divine metaphors: a shepherd who guides and protects (15:13), a family member who redeems (15:3), and a farmer who plants (15:7). YHWH shepherds Israel on its journey past various nations in and around Canaan (Philistia, Edom, Moab, Canaan). Frozen in fear before YHWH, these nations become “still as a stone” (echoing the earlier image of Egyptians drowning “like a stone” and “like lead”—15:5, 10) as the people of Israel pass by under YHWH’s protection. In a climactic triplet at the end of the song, Israel’s God plants the Israelites “on the mountain of your own possession / the place, O LORD, that you made your abode / the sanctuary, O LORD, that your hands have established.” “The mountain” is likely a forward-looking reference to the establishment of the temple of God’s presence in Canaan on Mount Zion in Jerusalem at some later point during the Israelite monarchy (1 Kgs 8; Ps 74:2). ⁶ The Song of the Sea concludes with the assurance that “YHWH will reign forever and ever” (15:18).

Deuteronomy 32: Praise When God Is against Us

Moses sings and writes down his final song just before his death (Deut 34:1–13). The song begins with a call to the heavens and the earth to listen in the expectation that the song’s “teaching” will have the power to give new life “like gentle rain” on dry grass (32:1–3). An enthusiastic word of praise to God follows: “For I will proclaim the name of YHWH; ascribe greatness to our God!” This word of divine praise sets up the introduction of the song’s overall theme in 32:4–6: the contrast between the justice, mercy, and faithfulness of YHWH and the foolishness, apostasy, and rebellion of God’s people Israel. The song’s primary actor is YHWH, as in Exodus 15. But the primary antagonist is not Egypt. This time the enemy of YHWH, the divine warrior, is, first of all, God’s own people.

The song begins to make its case as a lawsuit against Israel in 32:7–14 by emphasizing all that YHWH has done on behalf of Israel. The verbs pile up into heaps of blessing and care: created, made, established, sustained, shielded, cared for, guarded, took up, bore, guided, set atop the heights, fed, and nursed them. What follows in 32:15–18 are verbs of indictment, indicating what Israel has done in response: ate their fill, grew fat, bloated, gorged, kicked, abandoned God, scoffed, made God jealous, sacrificed to other deities, were unmindful, forgot. As a consequence, YHWH’s actions take over once again in 32:19–25: saw, was jealous, spurned his sons and daughters, hid his face, will make them jealous, provoke them, kindles a fire, burns, devours, sets on fire, heaps disasters upon them, and sends arrows and the teeth of beasts against them. In Exodus 15, YHWH had used forces of nature like the wind and chaotic sea as instruments of judgment against an enemy nation (Egypt) in order to protect Israel. In Deut 32:19–25, YHWH allows two instruments of judgment to attack Israel: an unnamed other nation called “no people …  a foolish nation” (v. 21) and various destructive forces of nature (fire, pestilence, beasts, creatures crawling in the dust).

A dramatic turn occurs in 32:26–42. YHWH confesses, “I thought to scatter them [the Israelites] and blot out the memory of them from humankind” (v. 26).

God, however, backs away from this drastic plan and realizes that the unnamed enemy nation might “misunderstand” its victory over Israel and arrogantly say to itself, “Our hand is triumphant; it was not the LORD who did all this” (v. 27). Thus, God’s judgment of Israel will turn to compassion when he sees that “their power is gone, neither bond nor free remaining” (32:36). YHWH proclaims what a chastened Israel has come to know (32:39):

See now that I, even I, am he;

there is no god beside me.

I kill and I make alive;

I wound and I heal;

and no one can deliver from my hand.

As Christians grafted into the root of God’s people Israel (Rom 11:17–24), what are some of the lessons we might learn from these two Old Testament songs as we sing our praises to God?

The Power of Song and Praise

Both songs portray God with the metaphor of a warrior fighting against an enemy. The divine warrior imagery is present in every section of the Old Testament (Torah, Prophets, Writings) and in both earlier (e.g. Exod 15:3; Isa 30:29–33) and later (e.g. 2 Chron 20:29; Zech 14:3) texts. The divine warrior imagery continues into the New Testament in Jesus’ combat with Satan (2 Thess 2:8); casting out of demons and the fall of Satan (Luke 10:17–20); Jesus stilling the forces of chaos in storm, wind, and raging sea (Mark 6:47–52); the apocalyptic battles of Revelation (14–17; 19:11–16; 20–21); and other texts (Eph 6:12; 2 Cor 2:14–15; Heb 2:14–15; 1 John 3:8). ¹⁰

What do we do with this image of divine warrior? It is well to be wary and cautious. The potential for abuse is real when those with power over others adopt such an image as religious warrant for unjust human violence against vulnerable people and communities. The two Pentateuchal songs may provide some guidance. The two songs that praise God as warrior affirm that it is God alone who wins the victory over Israel’s enemies (Exod 14:14; Deut 32:39). The men of Israel do not join with YHWH in fighting Pharaoh but rather join the women in singing praises to YHWH (Exod 15:1, 20–21). That act of doxology, of singing and embodying the word of God’s victory over the oppressor, becomes in itself a nonviolent weapon, a verbal agent (like the watery agent of the sea) through which God continues to fight against the powers and principalities that threaten God’s people. In Exod 15:2, the Hebrew word zimrat may be translated either as “power” or “song,” and the poetry likely evokes both meanings at the same time: “The LORD is my strength and power/song (zimrat).” ¹¹ When future generations gather to sing the words of this song of praise in the context of a Passover celebration (Exod 12–13), YHWH’s power works again to defeat the oppressive Pharaohs of the day and to bring the singers into the orbit of God’s compassion and protection.

The song and praises of Exodus 15 were designed to be sung by God’s people when they suffered innocently and undeservedly at the hands of an oppressor like Pharaoh. The Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32 and its praise of YHWH likewise has its own power, but it operates in a different context. Deuteronomy’s song is designed for some future time “when many terrible troubles come upon” God’s people (31:21). Through this song, God’s people will discern that it is their own sin and allegiances to other gods that has brought on God’s judgment, a replay of their rebellions in the wilderness. According to Harold Fisch, the Song of Moses

will then act as a mnemonic, an aid to memory, because during the intervening period it will have lived unforgotten in the mouth of the reader or hearer, ready to come to mind when the troubles arrive. Poetry is thus a kind of time bomb; it awaits its hour and then springs forward into harsh remembrance. … The poem will come as a warning, even a kind of punishment, to a people that has broken the covenant. It will live in their minds and mouths, bringing them back, whether they like or not, to the harsh memory of the desert sojourn. Once learned it will not easily be forgotten. The words will stick, they will be importunate, they will not let us alone. ¹²

The Song of Moses reminds us that the God whom we praise is not unreservedly always on our side nor on the side of our enemies, but ultimately only on God’s side (Josh 5:13–14).

The Relationship of Vengeance and Praise

What about the language of revenge associated with the divine warrior in Deut 32:35, 43? Does not any notion of vengeance run contrary to the words of Jesus about turning the other cheek (Matt 5:38–42) or the apostle Paul’s admonition, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves” (Rom 12:19)? Ah, but then we remember that Paul goes on immediately to quote from the Song of Moses itself (Deut 32:35): “but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Rom 12:19). Walter Brueggemann comments on Paul’s teaching in light of those many psalms that ask God to take vengeance on the petitioner’s enemies (e.g. Ps 109):

When God is able to say, “Vengeance is mine” (Deut 32:35; Rom 12:19), it implies, “not yours.” The submitting partner is no longer free to take vengeance—may not and need not. So the submission is an unburdening and freeing from pettiness and paralysis for praise and thanksgiving. … It releases us and promises that soon or late, in God’s wisdom, the retaliation will be more sure and more profound than we could imagine. ¹³

Singing the praise of God who takes vengeance on the enemy on our behalf releases God’s people to give praise to God rather than carry out retaliation against another (Exod 14:14). Singing the Song of Moses keeps worshippers humble, ever aware of the possibility that they may easily and inadvertently slip into the category of enemy of God.

The Rich Mix of Metaphors for the God Whom We Praise

Biblical poetry is a theological goldmine of diverse and sometimes paradoxical metaphors, including metaphors for God. In Exodus 15, God as warrior combines with images of God as family member who redeems, a shepherd who protects, and a farmer who plants. Deuteronomy 32 portrays God as warrior but also as a “Rock,” a parental “eagle” caring for and protecting its young (32:12), “a father who created you” (32:6), a mother who “gave you birth” (32:18) and “nursed” you (32:13). No one image captures or exhausts the fullness of God’s character and actions (Exod 33:23; 1 Cor 13:12). Our songs of praise would do well to reflect this biblical richness of metaphor for God if they are to be truly biblical and truly reflect the God of Jesus Christ whom we know as both near and present but also holy and elusive.

Much more could be said about the poetry of praise in Exodus 15 and Deuteronomy 32, not to mention the Psalms and other songs of praise in Scripture. It is hoped that the insights suggested here encourage readers to immerse themselves more deeply into Scripture’s words of praise as inspiration for their own preaching, teaching, writing, singing, and living. Soli Deo Gloria!