A Touch of Spiritual Nighttime

The long and enduring spiritual nighttime of seemingly unfulfilled promises from God had swept over the ancient nation of Israel for centuries. The promise that David’s throne would endure forever and never lack an heir seemed to have been dashed with the division of the kingdom and the exile. The devout waited in agony. The godly wondered if God would ever intervene again. Where was the seed of the woman that would crush the serpent’s head? Where was the seed of Abraham that would bless all the people groups and families of the earth? Where was the Prophet who would be like father Moses?
A chosen nation who had been called to be a kingdom of holy priests in the whole earth had been reduced to a powerless and religiously confused divided nation—occupied by a brutish and pagan empire. But in the darkness, a light of hope had flickered. Cryptic and mysterious prophecies had been dusted off and reinterpreted in the midst of the long season of disillusionment and doubting.
God cannot lie—"maybe we are the ones who had misunderstood the nature and true applications of what the old prophets had said." In the darkest night of the nation's history, a hope had somehow arisen of the coming of God’s Chosen king—the true and greater Son of David—Ha'Mashiach—the Anointed One—the only hope for Israel. The One who would restore and fulfill the promises to Eve and Abraham and Moses and David. The Everlasting Covenant of God to bless all humanity—updated and upgraded through the Messiah coming to the earth in Person.
On Christmas Eve it's good for us to open our hearts to the agonizing longings of a world to whom Christ had not yet come--even if only for a brief song. This exercise can also deepen our appreciation for Jesus the Christ and the renewal of the reality of His Spirit within us when we necessarily go through our own periodic and episodic spiritual nighttimes. It's not altogether unlike our present longing for His second coming.
May the Lord prepare your heart for the celebration of His visitation.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

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Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.

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O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.

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O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

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O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

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O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.

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O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree,
An ensign of Thy people be;
Before Thee rulers silent fall;
All peoples on Thy mercy call.

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O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.

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