The Tender Mercy of God

Day 8 - When the power of fear is broken

“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.” -Luke 1:67-79

(Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash)

It would have been a major shock when, after nine months of silence, Zechariah suddenly began to speak again, especially for Zechariah himself! Not only did he begin to speak but he launched into a full-blown prophetic declaration about the purposes of God for Israel and his infant son, John. There are three major themes that come from this prophecy that are important for us to consider.

The first theme is that Israel’s hope for a Messiah is becoming a reality. The Savior has come, the one that so many prophecies have promised, and salvation for God’s people is now at hand. Hope for a Savior had lived in the hearts of a nation, through many generations and now the promise is being fulfilled. The light of life is dawning and the grip of death will be broken. Together, as God’s people, that light still shines and during Advent we focus on the ways in which God’s light would guide us into God’s peace and rest.

The second theme is the mercy of God toward His people. In v. 72 and 78 we hear Zechariah speak of God’s divine mercy in a way that tells us that everything that God is doing flows from His heart of mercy.

“We find mercy as the primary motivation behind God’s activity. This mercy is active: literally (it says) God has ‘done mercy’” -Joel Green

If we look for it, we can see this same active mercy of God touching our lives today. A great prayer for us to pray is, “God, open my eyes to see the ways and places that your mercy is active in my life”.

The third theme is the declaration that God is making it possible “to serve him without fear” (v. 74). Michael Card points out that “nine months earlier Zechariah (the priest) had gone into the holy place with the knowledge that if he was not ritually clean, he might very well die in the temple”. This makes it all the more significant to hear Zechariah prophesying that God’s desire is for the people to serve Him without fear! God, being motivated by tender mercy, is coming to break off the power and grip of fear from the lives of His people, thereby making it possible for them and us to serve God not out of fearful obligation but from a heart of confident love for God.

Amen!