Word of the week - Deliverance

Then Moses and the the people of Israel sang this song to God, giving voice together, "I'm sing my heart our to God - what a victory! God is my strength, God is my song, and, yes! God is my salvation. This is the kind of God I have and I'm telling the world! This is the God of my father - I'm spreading the news far and wide. - Exodus 15 (The Message)

The picture above is from the vantage point of the defendant in the court case. The guilt of the offense, the uncertainty of the verdict, the isolation in the courtroom, and the concern of the punishment are a tremendous burden on any defendant. If guilty, the defendant cannot change the past. He or she can only express their regret to the judge and jury.

Moses could have felt the feelings described above because he had murdered an Egyptian citizen. However, instead of facing some sort of judgement, he fled to the desert. Completely isolated, he had time to consider the tremendous pain that his family and his people had felt for so many years. As a newborn, he was placed in a basket and sent down a river by his mother. She had no choice because the Egyptians threatened to kill every male born to her people. Fortunately, he was found and raised by Egyptian royalty. Unfortunately he was cut off from his own people. As an adult Moses witnessed an Egyptian beating a slave, he snapped, and he killed the Egyptian.

Following the incident, everything in Moses' life was devastatingly bad. He was cut off from the royal family that raised him, his people were still enslaved, and he had a life sentence of exile in the desert. Moses thought he was finished, but God intervened.

Moses was called by God in the form of a burning bush. God suggested that Moses was exactly who God wanted to save his people. God inspired Moses through the negotiation with Pharaoh, helped Moses lead God's people out of Egypt, parted the Red Sea so the people could flee the pursuing Egyptian army, and slammed the waters back on that army to eliminate any threat to Moses and his people.

Overwhelmed with joy, Moses sang to his God and the people joined with him. He was free, his people were free, and he felt a tremendous sense of relief. Moses did not have the strength - "God is my strength", he did not have the voice - "God is my song", and he did not have a perfect record - "God is my salvation". Moses knew that God had delivered him, and he wanted everyone else to know it as well.