Right Song, Wrong Side (The Sacrifice of Joy)

Week 4 - Day 22

People of joy learn to rejoice in G*d's promises even before they have experienced the victory. Their gladness is not linked to circumstances, but it is rooted in trust in G*d.

There was a remarkable praise service tat is recorded in Exodus 15 after the children of Israel's miraculous deliverance from Egypt through the Red Sea. "Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the L*rd ...: 'I will sing to the L*rd, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!'... Then Miriam... and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them: 'Sing to the L*rd, for He has triumphed gloriously!'" (Exodus 15:1, 20, 21).

Listen however to what had happened before these miracles. "... the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid... Then they said to Moses, 'Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness?... Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, 'Let us alone that we may serve Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness'" (Exodus 14:10-12). It was not a pretty picture.

The merriment in chapter 15 was not wrong. Surely we need to celebrate radically after victories. Here though is the problem: they had the right song (praise), but it was on the wrong side of the Red Sea. They were out of Egypt, but Egypt was still firmly in them. Their grumbling was actually a bigger problem than the problem of the sea and the Egyptians.

What is the point of all this? Hear this: "And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore, I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes I will sing praises to the L*rd" (Psalm 27:6). One key for our lives is to intentionally stir up joy before we see the victory. It is called "the sacrifice of joy." Let's proactively give this sacrifice.

Declaration: I celebrate now. I rejoice now. I dance now. I declare the victory now. I don't wait for the sea to part, but I offer the sacrifice of praise - that is, the fruit of my lips, giving thanks to His name (see Hebrews 13:15).