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Advent Devotional for Tuesday, December 16
Psalm 125
A teenage girl, not much older than a child, really, is walking on the side of the highway. Not only is she young, but she is very pregnant. Her baby could come at any time, even before she gets to the next town. How dangerous! Her fiancé walks beside her, taking care of her as best he can. The couple is from Nazareth, and they are heading to Bethlehem, which is about as far as from San Antonio to Austin. Why are they out here on the side of the road? Well, Caesar is wont to lay tax on Israel, but to do so he must count the people. And so we find this young expectant mother out here on the side of the highway, groaning with the burden that calls the House of David home.
When she arrives in Bethlehem she will have no doctor, no health insurance, nor even a bed to lie in. Yet above her many worries she will lift her voice to sing. The Lord has promised to be with her, and the Lord abides within her. The proud will be scattered in the thoughts of their hearts, and the mighty will fall from their thrones, but the Lord lifts up the lowly. They who look to the Lord for deliverance will be delivered a baby, a little child to lead them. Our anxiety will be wrapped up in his cries and will find silence in a rapt and tender gaze and the warmth of loving arms. Comfort, O comfort my people! This child is our protection. More than walls or swords or ships or standing armies, this child will keep the gate against those who wish us harm. Can you believe it? Could it be? Zion draws near as our faith peeks over the horizon, and the very mountains gather ’round in loving embrace to keep us through the night.
May the scepter of wickedness and the temptation to despair depart from your people, O Lord. May your blessings flourish in the light of your Son, in whom the hope of righteousness and restoration cannot be moved, but abides forever.
John Harrison
Senior MDiv Student
For the glory of God and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary is a seminary in the Presbyterian-Reformed tradition whose mission is to educate and equip individuals for the ordained Christian ministry and other forms of Christian service and leadership; to employ its resources in the service of the church; to promote and engage in critical theological thought and research; and to be a winsome and exemplary community of God's people.
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