Ideas for
Worship Leaders
THE FIRST RECORDED WORSHIP SET

Exodus 15:1-21 is an interesting study on a
congregational worship event.  At first glance, one
could say, "Wait, verse one calls this a song which
Moses and the Israelites sang together".  True.  
However, there is plenty of historical evidence that
"songs" or "psalms" in Old Testament times were
responsorial in nature.  That means that a leader
would sing one section and then the congregation
would respond with another section and the pattern
went back and forth.  So, it is reasonable to believe
that this was the case in Exodus 15.  That could be
the reason there were changes in direction -
horizontal and vertical - in what appears to be one
song.

Reading the content carefully, the event actually
began with the "Call to Worship" section found in
verse 21.  Then, the remaining expressions come
from verses 1-18.  If we break the thoughts down into
separate "songs", we discover a very logical and
effective song set.

Song #1 (again) was Miriam's Call to Worship ,            
              horizontal in nature (v 21)

Song #2 was a testimony song, horizontal in nature.
           (v 1-2)

Song #3 was a declaration song about who God is
            and what he has done, also horizontal in            
            nature (v 3-5)

Song #4 was a worship song directed to God about       
              what he has done, vertical in nature.  Some
           would call it "praise" because it is about           
           God's actions rather than his nature per se
          (v 6-10)

Song #5 was also a worship song directed to God         
              about who he is, vertical in nature (v 11-12)

Song #6 was a proclamation song, vertical in nature.    
              The tone is prophetic and "preaches".  One   
              could hear an option for a sermon at this         
              point.  (v 13-17)

Song #7 was a closing song, horizontal in nature           
             (v 18).  This is a logical choice.  A horizontal    
             song has more of that "processional", "let's    
             get ready to go back into the world" tone.        
             The focus on the character of God makes it     
             declarative in nature.

Let me close with two additional comments about the
worship event of Exodus 15.

1)  There is a clear thematic focus throughout.
2)  God was the subject and object of most of the          
      content, with only three "I will" phrases.
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