Day 17 – September 23, 2023: Exodus 14-18 and Psalm 90

Can you see why these two Scriptures are joined together for our reading?  Whenever you read the Psalms it is always good to see what is in the beginning portion of the Psalm, before you get to verse 1.  Often there are hints as to who wrote the Psalm, the purpose for why the Psalm was written, and even at times what specific life event prompted the writing of the Psalm.  Keep in mind that the word Psalm simply means in English song.  So, the beginning of Psalm  90 states that this is a Psalm of Moses, which gives us the impression that Moses was attributed as the one who composed this Psalm.  Now, keep in mind that he wouldn’t have been writing with pen and paper, he probably didn’t write it at all.  Everything up to this stage is in oral history so as the people of Israel were sitting around their nomadic campfires and the stories of Moses and the Israelites leaving Egypt were being told, this Psalm, and his song in Exodus that we read, would have been attributed to him.

In the Exodus Scripture we find ourselves now at the time where the people of God have left Egypt and the Pharaoh decides to pursue them.  As you know from history this was not a good idea and he pays for it with his life, so that the glory of God could be revealed.  Do not forget that last part.  The glory of God being revealed is key to this entire story.  Pharaoh’s heart is hardened so God can be revealed, Pharaoh is defeated so that God’s glory can be revealed.  Remember what the disciples of Jesus ask him in John about the man born blind?  Why was he born blind?  Jesus answers, so that God’s glory can be revealed through him.

Well that happens in this story with the conquest of the Egyptians.  It also happens with the manna and the quail  It also happens with the defeat of the Amalekites and so on.  God’s glory is revealed in a way that the hope would be that all of the generations to come would remember.  Yeah, well, that doesn’t really happen.  But more on that later.