“This was the calling of Moses. His apprehension of his own unworthiness was removed, and the Lord made known his name unto him; I WILL BE THAT I WILL BE. He began the great work, and at the first step had to contend with the unsteadiness of Israel, which, during the remaining forty years of his life, occasioned him no less trouble than the assaults of their enemies. Pharaoh refused to let the people go, and nine plagues in succession, which Jehovah denounced by Moses, and then brought upon the land, were able only for a time to overcome Israel’s fickleness and Pharaoh’s obstinacy. At last the tenth was inflicted, and on the fourteenth of the month Nisan, Israel, with their wives and their children, and all their possessions, came out from the house of bondage in Egypt, and passed through the Red Sea, in which the Egyptians, following them, were drowned. This is, of all the events in the history of our nation, the most important, from its connection with the giving of the law which immediately followed. We keep the feast of the Passover in remembrance of this event. Our great leader was also a poet, and sang the following song, the oldest and the noblest ode of victory that the world can show: I sing unto the Lord for he is great— Chariot and horse he hath thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength, my song, my salvation: He is my God, and I will sing praise unto him, My father’s God, and I will exalt him. Jehovah is mighty in war, Jehovah is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea, His chosen captains are drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them, They sank to the bottom as a stone. Thy right-hand, O Jehovah, is become glorious in power, Thy right-hand, O Jehovah, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. In the greatness of thy might thou overthrowest them that rise up against thee, Thou sendest forth thy wrath which consumeth them as stubble. With the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, The floods stood upright as a heap, The waves were congealed in the depths of the sea. The enemy said,— I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, My desire shall be gratified upon them, I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. Thou didst blow with thy breath, the sea covered them, They sank like lead in the mighty waters. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like unto thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Thou stretchedst out thy right-hand—the earth swallowed them. Thou hast led forth in thy mercy thy redeemed people, Thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy place;