The Song of Moses

BY Jasmine Holmes

My husband and I love to sit down and recount the story of how we met and married. 

(Okay, so I love it, and my husband tolerates my romanticism.)

There were so many things that had to work together: other relationships beginning and ending, a last-minute decision to go to a conference, a spur-of-the-moment trip to California,and a daring text message sent by an awkward homeschooled girl (me) who is hilariously bad at flirting to this day. We look at all those puzzle pieces and see God’s faithfulness in bringing us together.  

I’ve learned that, if we stop to notice them, those opportunities to marvel at God’s orchestration are all over every single one of our stories. Whether it was the way we ended up at our church or our job, in our friendships or romantic relationships,, we can see the fingerprints of God all over our lives. 

It makes sense, then, that this all-mighty, minutely orchestrating God would show His faithfulness in such a grand way in the details of Israel’s story. Starting with the promise of fertility to a one-hundred-year-old man, weaving through the son born to the “wrong” sister, building to a favorite son who was sold into slavery then perfectly positioning him to later bless his family in Egypt, crashing into the valley of 400 years of slavery, and singing to full crescendo a harrowing escape through the parting of the Red Sea—God’s story of faithfulness to His children is writ large, even in the tiniest details. 

And Moses will spend his near-dying breaths to continue to remind those “stiff-necked” children of what they seem so eager to forget: this promise-keeping God is worthy of their undaunted worship. 

In his final prayer, he reminds the children of Israel to ask their fathers about God’s faithful sustenance (Deuteronomy 32:6–7), because their fathers and their father’s fathers all the way back past Jacob have seen it (Deuteronomy 32:9). He reminds them of God’s tender care throughout generations (Deuteronomy 32:10–14)—and, also, of Israel’s continued rebellion against God and God’s subsequent punishment of these rebellions (Deuteronomy 32:19–22)

He reminds them that Israel was chosen out of the kindness of God’s heart, not out of anything deserving in them (Deuteronomy 32:28). And yet, even after recounting their folly, He reminds Israel that God will purify them (Deuteronomy 32:43). He will always, in the end, be victorious. 

God is worthy of praise because He is God alone. And yet, He gives us even more reason to praise Him through His sustained faithfulness to a rebellious and stiff-necked people. Looking at His fingerprints in the providence of our stories is just one reason we are called to praise and honor Him (Psalm 86:12). It is just one way that we see His faithful love for us (Psalm 86:13). He will always, always prove to be our rescuer.