Through the Water
Remember the great works of the Lord, even in your despair. He parted the waters for His people and led them into the land He promised. The Lord is faithful, and He has not forgotten you.
Psalm 13
How Long, O LORD?
1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
How long, O LORD?
Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle in my soul,
with sorrow in my heart each day?
How long will my enemy dominate me?
3 Consider me and respond, O LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death,
4 lest my enemy say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes rejoice when I fall.
5 But I have trusted in Your loving devotion;
my heart will rejoice in Your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD,
for He has been good to me.
Psalm 42
As the Deer Pants for the Water
1 For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.
As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul longs after You, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, the living God.
When shall I come and appear in God’s presence?
3 My tears have been my food
both day and night,
while men ask me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
4 These things come to mind as I pour out my soul:
how I walked with the multitude,
leading the festive procession to the house of God
with shouts of joy and praise.
5 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why the unease within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him
for the salvation of His presence.
6 O my God, my soul despairs within me.
Therefore I remember You
from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon —
even from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
in the roar of Your waterfalls;
all Your breakers and waves
have rolled over me.
8 The LORD decrees His loving devotion by day,
and at night His song is with me
as a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God my Rock,
“Why have You forgotten me?
Why must I walk in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?”
10 Like the crushing of my bones,
my enemies taunt me,
while they say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
11 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why the unease within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him,
my Savior and my God.
Psalm 43
Send Out Your Light
1 Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case
against an ungodly nation;
deliver me from deceitful and unjust men.
2 For You are the God of my refuge.
Why have You rejected me?
Why must I walk in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?
3 Send out Your light and Your truth;
let them lead me.
Let them bring me to Your holy mountain
and to the place where You dwell.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my greatest joy.
I will praise You with the harp,
O God, my God.
5 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why the unease within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him,
my Savior and my God.
Psalm 77
In the Day of Trouble I Sought the Lord
1 For the choirmaster. According to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.
I cried out to God;
I cried aloud to God to hear me.
2 In the day of trouble I sought the Lord;
through the night my outstretched hands did not grow weary;
my soul refused to be comforted.
3 I remembered You, O God, and I groaned;
I mused and my spirit grew faint.
Selah
4 You have kept my eyes from closing;
I am too troubled to speak.
5 I considered the days of old,
the years long in the past.
6 At night I remembered my song;
in my heart I mused, and my spirit pondered:
7 “Will the Lord spurn us forever
and never show His favor again?
8 Is His loving devotion gone forever?
Has His promise failed for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has His anger shut off His compassion?”
Selah
10 So I said, “I am grieved
that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”
11 I will remember the works of the LORD;
yes, I will remember Your wonders of old.
12 I will reflect on all You have done
and ponder Your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is so great as our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders;
You display Your strength among the peoples.
15 With power You redeemed Your people,
the sons of Jacob and Joseph.
Selah
16 The waters saw You, O God;
the waters saw You and swirled;
even the depths were shaken.
17 The clouds poured down water;
the skies resounded with thunder;
Your arrows flashed back and forth.
18 Your thunder resounded in the whirlwind;
the lightning lit up the world;
the earth trembled and quaked.
19 Your path led through the sea,
Your way through the mighty waters,
but Your footprints were not to be found.
20 You led Your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Psalm 130
Out of the Depths
1 A song of ascents.
Out of the depths
I cry to You, O LORD!
2 O Lord, hear my voice;
let Your ears be attentive to my plea for mercy.
3 If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities,
then who, O Lord, could stand?
4 But with You there is forgiveness,
so that You may be feared.
5 I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait,
and in His word I put my hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning—
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
7 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
for with the LORD is loving devotion,
and with Him is redemption in abundance.
8 And He will redeem Israel
from all iniquity.
Psalm 73
Surely God Is Good to Israel
1 A Psalm of Asaph.
Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 They have no struggle in their death;
their bodies are well-fed.
5 They are free of the burdens others carry;
they are not afflicted like other men.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
a garment of violence covers them.
7 From their prosperity proceeds iniquity;
the imaginations of their hearts run wild.
8 They mock and speak with malice;
with arrogance they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongues strut across the earth.
10 So their people return to this place
and drink up waters in abundance.
11 The wicked say, “How can God know?
Does the Most High have knowledge?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked —
always carefree as they increase their wealth.
13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure;
in innocence I have washed my hands.
14 For I am afflicted all day long
and punished every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak this way,”
then I would have betrayed Your children.
16 When I tried to understand all this,
it was troublesome in my sight
17 until I entered God’s sanctuary;
then I discerned their end.
18 Surely You set them on slick ground;
You cast them down into ruin.
19 How suddenly they are laid waste,
completely swept away by terrors!
20 Like one waking from a dream,
so You, O Lord, awaken and despise their form.
21 When my heart was grieved
and I was pierced within,
22 I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before You.
23 Yet I am always with You;
You hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with Your counsel,
and later receive me in glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but You?
And on earth I desire no one besides You.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
27 Those far from You will surely perish;
You destroy all who are unfaithful to You.
28 But as for me, it is good to draw near to God.
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
that I may proclaim all Your works.
Psalm 114
A Psalm of Exodus
1 When Israel departed from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
2 Judah became God’s sanctuary,
Israel His dominion.
3 The sea observed and fled;
the Jordan turned back;
4 the mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.
5 Why was it, O sea, that you fled,
O Jordan, that you turned back,
6 O mountains, that you skipped like rams,
O hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turned the rock into a pool,
the flint into a fountain of water!
Exodus 14
Pharaoh Pursues the Israelites
1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. You are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal-zephon.
3 For Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, ‘They are wandering the land in confusion; the wilderness has boxed them in.’ 4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. But I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.”
So this is what the Israelites did.
5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.”
6 So Pharaoh prepared his chariot and took his army with him. 7 He took 600 of the best chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them.
8 And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out defiantly. 9 The Egyptians— all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops— pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon.
10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them, and they were terrified and cried out to the LORD. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Did we not say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
13 But Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Parting the Red Sea
15 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. 16 And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. Then I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army and chariots and horsemen. 18 The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I am honored through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
19 And the angel of God, who had gone before the camp of Israel, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 so that it came between the camps of Egypt and Israel. The cloud was there in the darkness, but it lit up the night. So all night long neither camp went near the other.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.
23 And the Egyptians chased after them— all Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen— and followed them into the sea. 24 At morning watch, however, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and cloud, and He threw their camp into confusion. 25 He caused their chariot wheels to wobble, so that they had difficulty driving. “Let us flee from the Israelites,” said the Egyptians, “for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt!”
26 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state. As the Egyptians were retreating, the LORD swept them into the sea. 28 The waters flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen — the entire army of Pharaoh that had chased the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.
29 But the Israelites had walked through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left. 30 That day the LORD saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore. 31 When Israel saw the great power that the LORD had exercised over the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and believed in Him and in His servant Moses.
Exodus 15
The Song at the Sea
1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD:
“I will sing to the LORD,
for He is highly exalted.
The horse and rider
He has thrown into the sea.
2 The LORD is my strength and my song,
and He has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise Him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.
3 The LORD is a warrior,
the LORD is His name.
4 Pharaoh’s chariots and army
He has cast into the sea;
the finest of his officers
are drowned in the Red Sea.
5 The depths have covered them;
they sank there like a stone.
6 Your right hand, O LORD,
is majestic in power;
Your right hand, O LORD,
has shattered the enemy.
7 You overthrew Your adversaries
by Your great majesty.
You unleashed Your burning wrath;
it consumed them like stubble.
8 At the blast of Your nostrils
the waters piled up;
like a wall the currents stood firm;
the depths congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy declared,
‘I will pursue, I will overtake.
I will divide the spoils;
I will gorge myself on them.
I will draw my sword;
my hand will destroy them.’
10 But You blew with Your breath,
and the sea covered them.
They sank like lead
in the mighty waters.
11 Who among the gods is like You, O LORD?
Who is like You — majestic in holiness,
revered with praises,
performing wonders?
12 You stretched out Your right hand,
and the earth swallowed them up.
13 With loving devotion You will lead
the people You have redeemed;
with Your strength You will guide them
to Your holy dwelling.
14 The nations will hear and tremble;
anguish will grip the dwellers of Philistia.
15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed;
trembling will seize the leaders of Moab;
those who dwell in Canaan will melt away,
16 and terror and dread will fall on them.
By the power of Your arm
they will be as still as a stone
until Your people pass by, O LORD,
until the people You have bought pass by.
17 You will bring them in and plant them
on the mountain of Your inheritance —
the place, O LORD, You have prepared for Your dwelling,
the sanctuary, O Lord, Your hands have established.
18 The LORD will reign forever and ever!”
19 For when Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters of the sea back over them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.
20 Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing. 21 And Miriam sang back to them:
“Sing to the LORD,
for He is highly exalted;
the horse and rider
He has thrown into the sea.”
The Waters of Marah
22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the Desert of Shur. For three days they walked in the desert without finding water. 23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the water there because it was bitter. (That is why it was named Marah.)
24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” 25 And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened.
There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them, 26 saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the waters.
Joshua 3
Crossing the Jordan
1 Early the next morning Joshua got up and left Shittim with all the Israelites. They went as far as the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over.
2 After three days the officers went through the camp 3 and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, you are to set out from your positions and follow it. 4 But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits between yourselves and the ark. Do not go near it, so that you can see the way to go, since you have never traveled this way before.”
5 Then Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” 6 And he said to the priests, “Take the ark of the covenant and go on ahead of the people.” So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of them.
7 Now the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you just as I was with Moses. 8 Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the waters, stand in the Jordan.’”
9 So Joshua told the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God.” 10 He continued, “This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that He will surely drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go ahead of you into the Jordan.
12 Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13 When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD — the Lord of all the earth — touch down in the waters of the Jordan, its flowing waters will be cut off and will stand up in a heap.”
14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of them.
15 Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed over the dry ground, until the entire nation had crossed the Jordan.
Joshua 4
Twelve Stones from the Jordan
1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 2 “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and command them: ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan where the priests were standing, carry them with you, and set them down in the place where you spend the night.’”
4 So Joshua summoned the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 you are to tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will be a memorial to the Israelites forever.”
8 Thus the Israelites did as Joshua had commanded them. They took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each tribe of Israel, just as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them to the camp, where they set them down.
9 Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant stood. And the stones are there to this day.
10 Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until the people had completed everything the LORD had commanded Joshua to tell them, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried across, 11 and after everyone had finished crossing, the priests with the ark of the LORD crossed in the sight of the people. 12 The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over before the Israelites, armed for battle as Moses had instructed them. 13 About 40,000 troops armed for battle crossed over before the LORD into the plains of Jericho.
14 On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses.
15 Then the LORD said to Joshua, 16 “Command the priests who carry the ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan.”
17 So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up from the Jordan.”
18 When the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD came up out of the Jordan and their feet touched the dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned to their course and overflowed all the banks as before.
The Camp at Gilgal
19 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 And there at Gilgal Joshua set up the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan.
21 Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’ 22 you are to tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, just as He did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over. 24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, and so that you may always fear the LORD your God.”
Psalm 98
Sing to the LORD a New Song
1 A Psalm.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for He has done wonders;
His right hand and holy arm
have gained Him the victory.
2 The LORD has proclaimed His salvation
and revealed His righteousness to the nations.
3 He has remembered His love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth
have seen the salvation of our God.
4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;
break forth — let your cry ring out, and sing praises!
5 Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,
in melodious song with the harp.
6 With trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn
shout for joy before the LORD, the King.
7 Let the sea resound, and all that fills it,
the world, and all who dwell in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands,
let the mountains sing together for joy
9 before the LORD,
for He comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness
and the peoples with equity.
Psalm 118
The LORD Is on My Side
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
His loving devotion endures forever.
2 Let Israel say,
“His loving devotion endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
“His loving devotion endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the LORD say,
“His loving devotion endures forever.”
5 In my distress I called to the LORD,
and He answered and set me free.
6 The LORD is on my side; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
7 The LORD is on my side; He is my helper.
Therefore I will look in triumph on those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes.
10 All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
11 They surrounded me on every side,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
12 They swarmed around me like bees,
but they were extinguished like burning thorns;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
13 I was pushed so hard I was falling,
but the LORD helped me.
14 The LORD is my strength and my song,
and He has become my salvation.
15 Shouts of joy and salvation resound in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the LORD performs with valor!
16 The right hand of the LORD is exalted!
The right hand of the LORD performs with valor!”
17 I will not die, but I will live
and proclaim what the LORD has done.
18 The LORD disciplined me severely,
but He has not given me over to death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter and give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD;
the righteous shall enter through it.
21 I will give You thanks, for You have answered me,
and You have become my salvation.
22 The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
23 This is from the LORD,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day that the LORD has made;
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 O LORD, save us, we pray.
We beseech You, O LORD, cause us to prosper!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.
From the house of the LORD we bless you.
27 The LORD is God;
He has made His light to shine upon us.
Bind the festal sacrifice with cords
to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will give You thanks.
You are my God, and I will exalt You.
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
His loving devotion endures forever.
Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain. Section headings are the BSB’s own.