Today I am featuring a guest blogger... my momma! I asked Sally to write something about one of her favorite Christmas hymns, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." As usual, she did awesome. Here are her wise thoughts for you to enjoy!
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On December 1, 1990, our little family went to a Christmas play called Impressario/Celebration” at the Masonic Temple in Guthrie, Oklahoma. This was the first time I remember that the song “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” really sunk into my heart. To me the melody is so haunting and the words have come to mean more and more each passing Christmas.
When I started to study the Old Testament it helped me understand this song and have a richer understanding and appreciation of Christmas and the coming of the long awaited Messiah, Emmanuel (God with us).
Christmas hope goes all the way back to the beginning when God promised Adam and Eve, and all those who would come after them, a deliverer – one who would free them from their bondage. God’s faithful remnant, those who trusted in His promises, clung to this hope down through the years.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer
our spirits by thine advent here;
disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
and death’s deep shadows put to flight.
O come, thou Wisdom from on high,
and order all things, far and nigh;
to us the path of knowledge show,
and cause us in her ways to go.
O come, Desire of nations, bind
all peoples in one heart and mind;
bid envy, strife and quarrels cease:
fill the whole world with heaven’s peace.
Each verse features one Old Testament name for the Messiah:
#1 Emmanuel – God with us. - Isaiah 7:14
#2 Dayspring (morning star) - Malachi 4:2
#3 Wisdom – Isaiah 11:2
#4 Desire of Nations – Jeremiah 10:7
The verses of this song still have life application for us today. We want God to be with us. We need Him to free us from our bondage. We have all felt exiled, isolated. Things in our lives can be dark and gloomy and we want light. We want death to be conquered. Our lives are chaotic and we need God to order our lives. We want to know how to proceed in life. We want people in our family, in our community, in our world to get along; we’re tired of all the fighting. We long for heaven’s peace.
Christmas, the birth of Christ, was the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a Messiah – a Savior. He invaded earth with His presence. So we can sing the refrain:
“Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.”
And not just Israel, He came for everyone. Emmanuel, God with us: His presence is just as real today. He’s still touching lives and changing hearts.
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