Proper 19/Pentecost 17/Ordinary Time 24
Preaching The Lectionary Psalms for Cycles A, B, C
This alternate psalm follows immediately after this morning's Old Testament Lesson, the story of the parting of the Red Sea. It contains two ancient hymns -- known, respectively, as the Song of Moses and the Song of Miriam.
Of the two, the Song of Miriam is unquestionably the oldest. It is composed of just two lines -- lines which have been incorporated into the opening of the longer Song of Moses: "Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea" (v. 21).