The Benedictus (The
Song of Zechariah)
Blessed be the Lord
the God of Israel,
who has come to his
people and set them free.
He has raised up for
us a mighty Saviour,
born of the house of
his servant David.
Through his holy
prophets God promised of old
to save us from our
enemies,
from the hands of all
that hate us,
To show mercy on our
ancestors,
and to remember his
holy covenant.
This was the oath God
swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from
the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship him
without fear,
holy and righteous in
his sight
all the days of our
life.
And you, child, shall
be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go
before the Lord to prepare his way,
To give his people
knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of
all their sins.
In the tender
compassion of our God
the dawn from on high
shall break upon us,
To shine on those who
dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet
into the way of peace.
Zechariah’s response to
the angel’s message is nine months in silent gestation. As a child born before
its time, before the lungs are developed, cannot draw breath, so too a word spoken
before its time does not grasp the life it carries in potential. Zechariah’s
song – of praise, of hope, of comfort, of commission – is still spoken and sung
every day two millennia later…
What is the word to
us today?
What response might
be shaped in us, as we wait, in silence, this Advent?
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