Praise the Lord! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Moses

"I will sing to the LORD,
for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
he has hurled into the sea."

These are the opening lines of what is commonly referred to as the Song of Moses. It goes on from verse 1 to 18 of Chapter 15 in Exodus. The Israelites had just escaped from the clutches of the Egyptians by walking across the Red Sea and when the Egyptian soldiers tried to follow them, the waters closed over them and drowned them. Moses then leads the Israelites in song to praise and thank God. Later Miriam, the sister of Moses, took up the timbrel and led the women and sang -

"Sing to the LORD,
for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
he has hurled into the sea."

Answer: No

At two previous occasions, the Israelites had grumbled about the lack of water and God had led Moses to produce water from a rock to satisfy them. In this instance, which is found in the book of Numbers, the Israelites appear to have finally learnt from their earlier exhibitions of unbelief.

Instead of grumbling, they gathered at the well in Beer and sang as God commanded them to and then received water.

Answer: Deborah

Deborah is the only female judge mentioned in the book of Judges. She, along with her officer, Baruk, led the Israelites in battle against Sisera, a commander of the Canaanites. The Israelites defeated Sisera's army and Sisera himself was killed by an Israelite woman while he slept in a tent. After they were victorious, Deborah and Baruk led the Israelites in praise and thanksgiving.

Answer: Samuel

Hannah's husband, Elkanah, had two wives. The other wife, Penninah, had borne him many sons while Hannah remained barren. Elkanah loved Hannah but she was disturbed by the taunts of Penninah. When all of them went up to Shiloh to offer sacrifices to God, Hannah prayed deeply for a son and promised to offer him to God's service. Seeing her fervent prayers, Eli, the high priest, blessed her and a year later she gave birth to Samuel who went on to become a mighty prophet to the Israelites.

Hannah went on to give birth to three more sons and two daughters.

Answer: David

David has written many, many songs of praise which make up the majority of the book of Psalms. When this particular song first appears in 2 Samuel, David is thanking God for delivering him from the hands of Saul. Saul had heard the people praising David over him and become jealous of the young boy.

He later realized that he had lost God's favour and his kingdom would pass on to David instead of one of his own sons. David then spent a lot of time hiding from Saul to preserve his life.

Answer: Yes

There are twelve psalms in the book of the same name that are attributed to Asaph and his family. They were first appointed as worship leaders by David at the commissioning of the building of the Lord's temple. They went on to serve in this position for generations. The song sung by Asaph at the temple's commissioning is found in chapter 16 of 1 Chronicles as well as Psalm 105. The first verse is given below:

"Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always."

Answer: The Ark of the Covenant is brought to the temple.

Solomon was the one to build the temple of the Lord. When it was finished, he called all the priests and elders to bring the Ark of the Covenant and place it within the holiest inner sanctum. The Ark contained the two stone tables that God had given Moses and which were inscribed with the ten commandments.

After the Ark had been placed within the inner sanctuary, the musicians and singers led the people in praise and worship. Incidentally, the sons of Asaph, the family appointed as worship leaders by David, led this worship.

Answer: Jehoshaphat

Jehoshaphat was worried as the armies of the enemy were significantly larger than that of the Israelites. He gathered all the people together and then prayed to God to help them in the battle. When he finished praying, a Levite stood up to deliver a message that God gave him - "Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.".

Hearing this all the people gathered there worshipped the Lord. The next day, Jehoshaphat had singers leading the Israelite army into the battle as they sang songs of praise.

As promised, God delivered them and granted them victory.

Answer: Mary

The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her she had been chosen by God to give birth to his son, the Messiah. Mary was also told that her cousin Elizabeth was pregnant at the same time with another special child. When Mary went to visit Elizabeth, the latter greeted her with words of praise. Mary then expressed her own thanks to God in the verses that are now commonly referred to as 'Mary's song' or the Magnificat.

Answer: True

Chapter 15 of Revelation begins with a description of seven angels holding harps. It is then said that they "sang the song of God's servant Moses and of the Lamb" (verse 3). The following verses then contain the song which is similar in message to the song of Moses - giving praise to God for conquering the enemy, in this case, the devil.

"Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
King of the nations.
Who will not fear you, Lord,
and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed."