November 16

1 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea

2 The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation; he is my God, and I will prepare him a habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.

3 The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.

4 Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.

5 The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.

6 Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed to pieces the enemy.

7 And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.

8 And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as a beak, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.

9 The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my last shall be satisfied upon them: I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.

10 Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.

11 Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

12 Thou stretchest out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.

13 Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.

14 The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestine.

15 Thou the dukes of Edom shall be amazed, the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them: all the inhabitants of Canaan shall meet away.

16 Fear and dread shall fall upon them, by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone: till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.

17 Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in: in the sanctuary, O LORD, which thy hands have established.

18 The LORD shall reign for ever and ever. 19 For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.

20 And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timberl in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.

21 And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

This matchless hymn of praise is presumably the oldest poem in the world. In sublimity of conception and grandeur of expression it is unsurpassed by anything that has been written since.

"Here the strain of all these allusions to the great deliverance is that 'not unto us, not unto us, O Lord, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy and for Thy truth's sake.' Nor did its echoes die away with the Jewish dispensation. As a triumphant celebration of God's victory over His enemies, it is even transferred in the Apocalypse to those who stand on the sea of glass mingled with fire, having the harps of God, and singing 'the song of Moses the servant of God, and of the Lamb.'—Cunningham Geikie, D. D.

But Moses and the people had not all the music to themselves, for his sister Miriam, catching something of the fervor of her brother's soul, led the women even as Moses led the men, and at every pause in the psalm they came in with the chorus, to the accompaniment of the timbrel and the dance, "Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea." It was a gladsome time. After deliverance there should come a song Gratitude is an imperative duty, and if we cannot sing with our lips we can do better still than that, "for we can set our daily deeds to the music of a grateful heart, and seek to round our lives into a hymn—the melody of which will be recognized by all who come into contact with us, and the power of which shall not be evanescent, like the voice of the singer, but perennial, like the music of the spheres."

Closet Promise.—The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him.—Psalm cii. 17.

Lord, many times I am sweary quite Of mine own self, my sin, my vanity, Yet be not Thou, or I am lost outright, Weary of me.

And hate against myself I often bear, And enter with myself in fierce debate;

Take Thou my part against myself, nor share In that just hate!

Best friends might loathe us, if what things perverse

We know of our own selves, they also knew; Lord, Holy One! if Thou who knowest worse Shouldst loathe us too!

—Richard Chesneix Trench.