Much of the Old Testament points back to Israel’s exodus from Egypt and the entrance into the promised land. It is the key paradigm that helped God’s people understand two things: “this is who our God is” and “this is who we are.” Psalm 114 tells that story in shorthand form, referencing the flight from Egypt (v. 1), the crossing of the Jordan (v. 3), and the provision in the wilderness (v. 8). The story is told repeatedly in the Law, and the Prophets is told yet again here in Psalm 114. Why?

God has hard-wired humans to tell the same stories again and again. The best ones tell us the truth about ourselves and the world around us, helping us see how to live in the present. We can imagine a young boy learning Psalm 114 even before he fully understood the words, only to continue singing the song into his old age, when he would understand it more fully.

The pattern is the same for us today. We tell the Old Testament story of Israel’s exodus from Egypt recognizing it points forward to a greater exodus in Christ. What we flee is not enslavement to the Egyptians but enslavement to sin. We find not just seas turned back but the wrath of God. We find not just manna in the wilderness but every spiritual provision in Christ. When we sing scriptural songs like this (or any songs deeply rooted in Scripture), they remind us: “this is who you are” and “this is who your God is.”

May we, like the people of Israel, delight in singing songs of salvation well into our old age, to the glory of our unchanging God.

God Is Faithful (Psalm 114) by Sovereign Grace, from the album Unchanging God: Songs From The Book Of Psalms Vol 2. Reflections curated by Sovereign Grace Music.