The LORD is a warrior, the LORD is His name. (Ex 15:3)
His strength is unchanging, forever the same.
His name is exalted; He shatters all wrong. (Ex 15:1,6)
He is my salvation, my strength, and my song. (Ex 15:2)The LORD is a warrior; He drowns all our woes. (Ex 15:4)
He parted the waters and swallowed our foes. (Ex 15:8)
The horse and its rider He hurled to the sea; (Ex 15:1)
His right hand delivers in bold victory. (Ex 15:6)The LORD is a warrior; the nations have heard.
They tremble before Him and quake at His word.
His dread reputation has brought them dismay;
The rulers of darkness have melted away. (Ex 15:14-15)The LORD is a warrior; His army a throng. (Ex 15:16)
No evil can stop Him, no matter how strong.
His people will triumph as He leads them in; (Ex 15:17)
His reign is forever and ever. Amen. (Ex 15:18)
This hymn is a paraphrase of the Song of Moses (Exodus 15), sung by the Israelites after the crossing of the Red Sea.
Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and said,
I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted;
The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.
The LORD is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation;
This is my God, and I will praise Him;
My father’s God, and I will extol Him.
The LORD is a warrior;
The LORD is His name.– Exodus 15:1-3, NASB
The seed for this song came in 2010 during my senior year at Florida College. Buddy Payne gave a chapel talk that included Exodus 15, and he said something like, “I wish we could sing this song, don’t you?” So, I went to the Pouch after chapel and wrote out the first few lines of this hymn. Thus the tune name: PAYNE.
I found the original scribbling from that day:
It’s a triumphant and chilling image, picturing the children of Israel on that day, the bodies of their enemies littering the shoreline, as they sing about their Warrior-King, Yahweh.
Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. When Israel saw the great power which the LORD had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in His servant Moses. Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the LORD…
– Exodus 14:30–15:1, NASB
They were completely helpless until God came to their aid. And so are we.
– Stephen