Week 27: Day 3

Intro: Hi guys, welcome to Orbit, from the team behind Satellites. I’m Naomi, and I’m a pastor based at SAINT, a church in East London. I’ve loved journeying through Exodus, and today we’ll be looking at Exodus 15:1-3 and 9-11.

Bible: So why don’t we read today’s passage, pray together, and talk about a practical thing that we can do today?

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:
‘I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea.

'The Lord is my strength and my defence; 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.

The enemy boasted, “I will pursue, I will overtake them. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them.” But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you – majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?

Thoughts: Now there’s a lot going on here! Singing, treasure, victory! But the thing that’s most important is that in this moment Moses is recognising that it is God who saves.

That we can come up with our own plans, and we can even do things in our own strengths. But when all else fails, nothing beats God stepping in for us! It’s in God’s nature to rescue and save us, because God IS love. God doesn’t just watch idly by, He isn’t disinterested in our struggles, or injustice, or wrongdoing. But rather he jumps right into all of it to protect us, and to provide for our needs. The Israelites couldn’t see a way through, they were intimidated and outmanned by Pharoah’s impressive army. But where they couldn’t see a way, God literally cleared a path!

Throughout this story, God was showing them that he was grieved by them being enslaved, that he was angry with the mistreatment from Pharoah and his leaders. So God got involved. Often the world around can seem really messy and unjust. It’s comforting to know that God has an opinion about that, because God cares about it. Probably even more than us, since he’s the one who made us and made this very world.

God is love, he’s not selfish or self-centred, but sometimes we can be. Verse 11 says who among the gods is like you lord? Today’s gods might look different from the gods of ancient Israel. Nowadays our gods are more like influencer culture, success, and body image. We put ourselves and what we want on a pedestal, even when it negatively impacts others.

But when we recognise how awesome and wonderful God is, it can really change our perspective. As it becomes less important about having the right stuff or the right clothes, and more important to us that we show this love of God to those around us.

Prayer: So why don’t we pray?

God thank you for the times you’ve looked out for me, for the things you’ve rescued me from, and the things you’ve helped me with. Where I feel overwhelmed would you remind me that you’re in control? Would you show me those who I can help and serve, so that they might glimpse your love to? In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Challenge: Today, why don’t you find one person who could show that love to? Maybe it’s someone in your class who’s always sat on their own, maybe it’s helping your parents out with the chores. Rather than putting what you want first, why don’t you see how you can help others?

Outro: Thanks for listening, I’ll be back tomorrow with another Orbit.