Alleluia from head to foot

Exodus 15:20 and 21 describes the response of Miriam after the Israelites crossed the red sea and were delivered from the armies of Pharaoh. It reads, “Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. And Miriam sang to them: ‘Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”

Picture Miriam with her back to the waters still churning behind her, throwing her head back to sing to God. Picture the people of God face to face with a miracle, delivered from a multi-generational oppression in Egypt. In the quiet that followed the waters crashing back into place, Miriam gives the only proper response; she worships.

Augustine once wrote, “A Christian should be an Alleluia from head to foot.” In response to the magnificence of creation, to the redemption of our lives, to the hope that we have in Christ, to the future that he has secured, and for the promises he has given, we should rightly join Miriam in worship of God. Where has God delivered you?

What does it mean to be an Alleluia from head to foot where you are today?


Exodus 15:20,21