The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. The personal pronouns accumulate: my strength, my defense, my salvation, my God, my father's God. The God of the cosmic sea crossing is claimed in the most intimate possible terms. Isaiah 12:2 quotes this verse directly — surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid — connecting Israel's post-exile hope to the Song of the Sea. The phrase he has become my salvation uses the same root as Joshua/Jesus. The becoming language is significant: God has performed a specific act that has made Him Israel's salvation in a new and experiential way. The doctrine of salvation is grounded in the specific event of the sea. The song does not say God is theoretically salvific; it says He has become my salvation through what He just did.

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