Song Story: Man of War
Man of War
Exodus 15, Psalm 24, John 10, Colossians 2
“The LORD is a man of war;
the LORD is his name. ”
The song Man of War came from the last sermon in Part 1 of a series we did in Exodus. Exodus 15 is the song Moses sang as they witnessed the final blow from a God who promised deliverance to His people. Coincidentally, one of our elders, Ronnie Jenkins, and I wrote a song on the first two verses from Exodus 15 that we also sing on Sundays. The first fifteen chapters of Exodus are an epic family fight—oppression and death that eventually leads to the deliverance of Israel from Egypt.
I can imagine this song being a sobering yet liberating refrain ringing in the ears and echoing in the throats of the once-oppressed Israelites on the far side of the crashing waves of the Red Sea!
“I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. 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. The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name.” - Exodus 15:1-3
We all were born into a fight. And we were not fighting for the right side, as Paul states in Colossians 1:21 - “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds.” What is more, we had and still have an enemy who comes to “steal and kill and destroy”. BUT! The delivering God we see in Exodus had an ultimate plan—long before the Exodus story—to put that enemy down, to right all wrongs, and to rescue and reconcile those who once opposed Him by making us His adopted sons and daughters through the death and resurrection of Jesus! The way that our God would ultimately end the fight would be through the very offering of Himself up to death. What a sobering, yet glorious truth! It reminds me of a sobering, yet glorious truth that we see in Exodus 15.
So, what do you do with a wonderful truth that comes from such a sobering circumstance? The same thing that Moses did in Exodus 15: you sing about a warrior God who wins.
In the Bridge, we used the language from Psalm 24: “Who is this King of glory? Strong and mighty?” The psalmist answers that it is the LORD! Our God went to war for His glory and for our good. It is this aspect of His nature that we sing about together!
Musically, this song started out pretty grungy:) It ended up having serious vibe (ever heard of a vibraphone?).
Verse 1
The enemy comes
To steal, kill, and destroy;
Mocking our broken state
Thorns and thistles sown at the fall.
He’s in pursuit,
Murder on his breath,
You stretch out Your hand,
Shut his mouth and put death to death.
Chorus
The LORD is a man of war,
The LORD is His name.
He fights for His sons and His daughters.
With justice He reigns!
Verse 2
Our record of debt
Now has no demands.
You set them aside,
By nailing them to Your own hands.
The wage for our sin
Was a death we deserve to die.
You stretched out Your arms,
Robbed the grave and gave us life!
Bridge
Who is this King of glory?
Strong and mighty?
He is the Lord!