Luke 1:67-80 NIV
“His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: ‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. 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 ancestors 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.’ And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.”
I get the feeling that Zechariah had all this pent up in him for those long months of silence. He was ready to let the praise and prophesying begin.
He highlights a few prophesies that would be fulfilled. The Messiah would come from the house of David, prophesied only 700 years before that day. He makes reference to the covenant God made with Abraham. God tells Abraham He will bless Abraham with many descendants so that one of those descendants would bless all of us, that happened just about 2,000 years before Zechariah got his speech back. And he refers to the last chapter in Malachi which announced John the Baptist, only 430 years before John was born. Wow! And Zechariah is not only a witness to it all, but a player on the main stage.
Remember Zechariah was faithful to the Lord in the good times and the difficult times. Regardless of what kind of a time you are walking in today, praise the Lord. Follow the lead of Zechariah and give praise to the Lord!
