Zechariah loves to sing! (Not my son, but Elizabeth’s husband, John the Baptist’s dad.) In Luke 1:67-80, he bursts out in an amazing song of praise and blessing to and hope in God. Why? Because he was witnessing God’s promises made throughout the story of Israel becoming God’s promises kept…right before his eyes! First in the birth of his own promised son and soon in the One whom John would prepare the way for…Jesus, God’s Rescuer, the son of Abraham, the son of David, the Son of God, the Messiah, the Son of Man, our Lord and our Savior.
I wonder what Zechariah would have sounded like when he sang out…
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us.”
I doubt he sounded bored! I bet he was as joyful and unabashed as a Red Sox fan in October 2004! His joy was real because the gospel was real to him. Of course he didn’t yet know all of the details of the gospel, but what he knew overflowed from his heart to his lips.
This Christmas season would you join me in asking God for a heart that sings like Zechariah? That is so convinced of God’s promises that we cannot keep to ourselves the good news of what God is doing? Even in the moments when God’s timing and ways don’t line up with our expectations? (Remember, Zechariah had been mute for 9 months!) To this end, let us consider these words from J.C. Ryle:
At this period of the world we can hardly understand the depth of this good man’s feelings. We must imagine ourselves in his position. We must fancy ourselves seeing the fulfillment of the oldest promise in the Old Testament–the promise of a Savior, and beholding the accomplishment of this promise brought near to our own door. We must try to realize what a dim and imperfect view men had of the Gospel before Christ actually appeared, and the shadows and types passed away. Then perhaps we may have some idea of the feelings of Zachariah when he cried out, “Blessed be the Lord”….
Let us learn to rest on promises and embrace them as Zachariah did. Let us not doubt that every word of God about His people concerning things future, shall as surely be fulfilled as every word about them has been fulfilled concerning things past. Their safety is secured by promise. The world, the flesh, and the devil, shall never prevail against any believer. Their acquittal at the last day is secured by promise. They shall not come into condemnation, but shall be presented spotless before the Father’s throne. Their final glory is secured by promise. Their Savior shall come again the second time, as surely as He came the first–to gather His saints together and to give them a crown of righteousness. Let us be persuaded of these promises. Let us embrace them and not let them go. They will never fail us. God’s word is never broken. He is not a man that He should lie. We have a seal on every promise which Zachariah never saw. We have the seal of Christ’s blood to assure us, that what God has promised God will perform.
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