Just As He Said
JUST AS HE SAID
Zechariah had had an interesting year, to be sure. He had been visited by a messenger from God, his wife got pregnant after years of trying, the baby would be a prophet leading the way for Messiah, and his young relative Mary came to visit, with news that she was carrying the child of God!
Oh, and the angel struck Zechariah mute until the birth of his son. Zechariah’s first words formed this Spirit-inspired worship song:
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he came and set his people free.
He set the power of salvation in the center of our lives,
and in the very house of David his servant,
Just as he promised long ago
through the preaching of his holy prophets:
Deliverance from our enemies
and from every hateful hand;
Mercy to our fathers,
as he remembers to do what he said he’d do,
What he swore to our father Abraham…”
—from Luke 1, The Message (emphasis added)
Some interesting things had happened in his life, but his song is fairly simple, and it’s one we can all learn from. It’s about one thing: that God keeps his promises. It tells the story of how God had been active in Zechariah’s life and in all the world, bringing salvation just as he said.
Sometimes we get so bogged down in all that’s gone wrong in our lives, that we easily forget what God has already done for us, and we forget that God is not done. God has made promises to us. God will keep them.
As we worship together, let’s remember all the ways God has kept God’s promises to us, just as he said he would. Let’s remember the love we have from God, the hope he’s given us, the joy that’s ours. Just as he said.