Friday, December 23, 2005

Zechariah's Song: Luke 1:68-79

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come and has redeemed his people.

He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David
(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us
to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,

and to enable us to serve him without fear
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,

to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace."
This was part of the advent reading for today. It is so beautiful that God revealed his salvation to Zechariah so that he understood that God's tender mercy had brought the fulfillment of the covenant. Tenderness seems to characterize God's voice in my life these last two months. I have been led out into the desert so that I am able to hear his voice whispering love, so that I can finally hear that I am His and He is enough. May the God who shines his light into the depth and scours out the cancer of our sin fill our hearts with faith, grace, and humility to serve him and all the people he brings into our lives with love.

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