Luke 1:67-80
Doctor Luke’s careful account of the birth of Jesus included this detail that the other writers left out. Once Zechariah had named his miracle baby John - and as a result regained his ability to speak - he sang an amazing Holy Spirit inspired song of praise. I wish I knew the tune - don’t you? But we do have the lyrics recorded for us here at the end of Luke’s first chapter -- “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.” (1:78-79)
Obviously our man Zech knew his Old Testament -- in just this short section of his song he riffs on Malachi’s prophecy about the sun rising with healing in its rays, and he alludes to Isaiah’s words concerning the light shining on those who lived in the land of darkness. (Mal. 4:2, Isa 9:2) Great hymns and classic scripture passages provide a spiritual vocabulary to enrich and inspire our faith. Treasure them.
For centuries God’s people have celebrated his presence with singing. This Christmas make sure you take time to sing songs of praise to Christ the King.
