Ver. 1. Then sang Moses.] Presently upon the deliverance, while their hearts were hot, and the mercy fresh. No part of the thank offering might be kept unspent till the third day. Benefits soon grow stale, and putrify, as fish.
Ver. 2. I will prepare him a habitation.] Or, I will adorn him i I will give him ornaments and trimmings. Such God accounts our poor praises.
Ver. 3. The Lord is a man of war.] Yea, he alone is a whole army of men, van and rear both. (Isaiah 52:12) He sends the sword; (Ezekiel 14:17) musters the men; (Isaiah 13:4) orders the ammunition; (Jeremiah 50:25) gives the victory: whence he is here styled by the Chaldee, The Lord and Victor of wars.
Ver. 4. In the Red Sea.] So called, haply, from that red man, Esau or Edom, who usurped the dominion of that sea, now called Sinus Arabicus.
Ver. 5. As a stone.] So shall Rome. (Revelation 15:5,18:21 Micah 7:19) The Jews, saith Montanus, took those things they abominated as filthy and unclean, and threw them into the sea. Ex lib. Misna. cap. de Phase.
Ver. 6. Hath dashed in pieces.] “It is a fearful thing to fall into the” punishing “hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31) For “who knoweth the power of his anger?” (Psalms 90:11)
Ver. 7. That rose up against thee.] Because against thine. There is a league, offensive and defensive, betwixt God and his people.
Ver. 8. And with the blast.] In celebrating God’s favours, we must be punctual and particular.
Ver. 9. The enemy said, I will.] They made account all was their own, but were soon confuted, as were likewise Sisera and Sennacherib. Where the beginning of a business is confidence, the end is confusion.
Ver. 10. Thou didst blow, &c.] Here it was that the arm of the Lord put on strength to cut Rahab, and wound the dragon. (Isaiah 51:9)
Ver. 11. Who is like unto thee?] One of the most stately descriptions of God that is found in Holy Writ. God is to be magnified: we must make room for him. This chapter Exodus 15 and Judges 5 are rightly called by one, “monumental chapters.”
Ver. 12. The earth swallowed them,] That is, the sea, which compasseth the earth about as a girdle: God having set the solid earth upon the liquid waters. See Jonah 2:6 Ps 24:2.
Ver. 13. Unto thy holy habitation.] Canaan, where God chose to dwell. This he is said already to have done, because he would certainly do it. God’s promises are his performances, and every former mercy a pledge of a future.
Ver. 14. So, now shall take hold.] So it did. (1 Samuel 4:8)
Ver. 15. Then the dukes of Edom.] See Deuteronomy 2:4. The mighty men.] See it fulfilled, Numbers 22:3. Shall melt.] So they did. (Joshua 2:9-11)
Ver. 16. Till thy people pass over.] Over Jordan; as now they have done over the Red Sea, into Canaan.
Ver. 17. Of thine inheritance.] Provided and purchased by thee for thy firstborn, Israel.
Ver. 18. The Lord shall reign.] Gaudeo quod Christus Dominus est; alioqui totus desperassem, writes Miconius to Calvin, upon the view of the Church’s enemies. The Lord Christ reigneth: or else I had been out of all hope of better.
Ver. 19. For the horse of Pharaoh.] A good soul is altogether unsatisfiable in sanctifying God’s name, and setting forth his goodness. Should I do nothing else all the days of my life, said that martyr, yea, as long as the days of heaven shall last, but kneel on my knees and repeat David’s Psalms; yet should I fall infinitely short of what I owe to God. Act. and Mon.
Ver. 20. And Miriam.] Souls have no sexes: and if souls follow the temperament of their bodies, as philosophy saith they do, women’s bodies consist of rarer rooms, of a more exact composition than men’s do.
Ver. 21. Sing ye to the Lord.] This seems to have been the burden of the song: as Psalms 134:1.
Ver. 22. And found no water.] Thirst and bitterness was their first bad omen on their journey.
Ver. 23. They could not drink.] Water they now had, but what the better? God can give us blessings, but with such a tang, that we shall have no great joy of them.
Ver. 24. Murmured against Moses.] He must bear the blame of all. Public persons are sure to have an ill life of it. Qui vitaverit culpam, non effugit infamiam. Seneca.
Ver. 25. Showed him a tree.] A type of Christ’s sweet cross, and easy yoke, that sweeteneth and facilitateth all our light afflictions. The Jewish doctors tell us that this tree was bitter, and give us this note; It is the manner of the blessed God to sweeten that which is bitter by that which is bitter. In Tanct. sive Ilmedenu.
Ver. 26. And said, If thou, &c.] This God premiseth as a preface to the law, to be shortly after given in Sinai. I am the Lord that healeth thee.] Both on the inside, by “forgiving all thine iniquities,” and on the outside, by “healing all thy diseases.” (Psalms 103:3) I am Jehovah the physician. And Omnipotenti medico nullus insanabilis occurrit morbus. To an almighty physician no disease is incurable. Isidor.
Ver. 27. And they came to Elim.] The heathens slandered the Jews, that they found these fountains by the means of certain asses that guided them. Whence they are called Asinarii by Melon and Appion of Alexandria; who affirmed that for this cause the Jews worshipped the golden head of an ass, &c. Corn. Tacit., Annul., lib. xii.