The Song of Moses
15 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying,
“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3 The Lord is a man of war;
the Lord is his name.
4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea,
and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
5 The floods covered them;
they went down into the depths like a stone.
6 Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,
your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
7 In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries;
you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.
8 At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up;
the floods stood up in a heap;
the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.
I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’
10 You blew with your wind; the sea covered them;
they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
11 “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
The Song of Moses – the people sing this song of deliverance and hope because of the salvation that God has brought to them in their flight from slavery in Egypt. In vs. 11 Moses declares God’s holiness as being majestic, the word also meaning, to make glorious. Moses asks a rhetorical question, “Who is like you, O Lord?” The answer, of course, is that no one is like you. There are no other gods besides you. This is pure praise and adoration that Moses offers unto God. God is to be worshipped and adored as a being of infinite perfection that no one can be compared to Him. His holiness is His glory. His holiness appeared in the destruction of Pharaoh because God hates sin and His wrath is wrought upon those who are obstinate in their sin. His holiness appeared also in His deliverance of Israel out of which He promised a deliverer, a Messiah, who would ultimately be Jesus. God is faithful to His promises because He is holy. Thomas Watson said, “Holiness is the most sparkling jewel of His crown; it is the name by which God is known.”
The holiness of God means that He is separated from His creation. He is wholly other. He is distinguished from everyone and everything else. There is no one like Him. The holiness of God is His glory as His grace is His riches. Holiness is a glorious perfection belonging to the nature of God. In Scripture He is often called the Holy One such as the Holy One of Israel. This is His greatest title of honor.
Paul Washer puts it this way, “Holiness is the preeminent attribute of God… Every divine attribute that can be studied is simply an expression of His holiness in that it demonstrates that He is distinct from His creation, absolutely separate, and a completely different being.” There is no other. Everything about God is absolutely holy and His holiness defines all other of His attributes. His love is holy love, His justice is holy justice, His mercy is holy mercy and so on.
“Power is God’s hand and arm, omniscience His eye, mercy His heart, eternity His duration, but holiness is His beauty.” Stephen Charnock