Welcome to South! We're glad you joined us today! Below you will find some sermon notes and Bible passages, to help you follow along with Pastor Scott's message in our series entitled "God's Presence and Glory, in the Book of Exodus." We hope you will be encouraged by what is taught today.

The song praised who God is.

1) God is glorious.
2) God is personal.

Psalm 139:1-6: “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.”

What makes this knowledge about the personal nature of God so amazing is the fact that, because he is Yahweh, He is able to be a personal God to each and every one of us; and not just one of us at a time, but rather all of us at the same time.

3) God is unique.

His majestic holiness - which is a reference to how set apart God is from anyone or anything in ALL areas: power, might, perfection, etc.
His glorious deeds - which was a reference to deeds accomplished by a power beyond what any person or group of people are capable of - deeds requiring a supernatural power to be accomplished.

Psalm 89:6-7 - “For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord, a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him?”

The song praised God for what He did.

-> He redeemed/purchased them.

He purchased us, too! God heard our groaning, and took the initiative to graciously and mercifully act on our behalf. He did so by sending His only begotten son, Jesus, to this earth. As a result of his powerful death on the cross and his equally powerful resurrection from the dead, the debt that was accumulated because of our sin was paid in full. Because of that, if you and I place our faith in this mighty, redeeming work of Christ on our behalf, like the Israelites, our mourning can be turned into rejoicing, because rather than being separated from God, we instead become a son or daughter of God’s.

-> He led them.

The Israelites were amazed that after redeeming them, God did not just leave them to fend for themselves. Instead, He continued to work among them by leading them - a leadership that they declared as being marked by God’s steadfast LOVE and his STRENGTH.

-> He shepherded them.

And as our shepherd, we are told that one of his responsibilities in our lives is to LEAD us beside still waters so that our souls might be restored - which God does by LEADING us in paths of righteousness.

3. The song praised God for what He would do in the future.

Confident of this, the Israelites couldn’t help but praise Him for his future work - specifically the work of bringing them into Canaan and planting them in their own land. A work that this passage tells us would include God sovereignly ruling in the hearts and minds of those living in the land - filling them with terror and dread, causing them to be dismayed and defeated before one battle even began.