Psalm 80
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Bible Project Chart … Exile and Fall of David’s Kingdom
Promise of a Messianic Kingdom
Don’t forget your promise - Promise of a Kingdom … and a New King
Psalm
They awaited this in anticipation and Hopeful Faith
Closes with
But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will give thanks to you forever;
from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
Ps 79
opens with
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.
Psalm 80n = Rich Imagery
In it we are told of a Shepherd
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
WE are told of a Vine
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
seems to be an application or explanation of
“Joseph is a fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall.
The archers bitterly attacked him,
shot at him, and harassed him severely,
yet his bow remained unmoved;
his arms were made agile
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob
(from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
Genesis
In the Septuigent the translators added something to the Superscription:
A Psalm Concerning the Assyrians (Also )
Many commentators agree that the Background for is the Assyrian invasion and deportation of the Northern Tribes in 722 BC
Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it.
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
If this is so …
The Psalm song be set in a time of tragedy … Rooted in Defeat
Possibly the Fall of the Northern Kingdom - - To the Assyrians
This psalm seems to reflect the thoughts of the faithful in light of such a tragedy.
is to be considered a Community lament
English Standard Version Psalm 80
80 TO THE CHOIRMASTER: ACCORDING TO LILIES. A TESTIMONY. OF ASAPH, A PSALM.
According to Lilies - Literally - Lilies of the Oracle/revelation - Lilies may refer to God’s Love; They are appealing to God on the basis of His covenant love.
Heart of is that Divine Favour has been forfeited, resulting in a double portion of loss:
1) 1-7 – the Flock is in Danger
2) 8-19 – The Vine has been shattered
· Nothing can be remedied except by a restoration of divine favour … See Verses 3, 7, 19
· The Three Tribes of verse 2 are the ancient camp of Ephriam in the marching order of the Lord’s people in the Desert
Numbers 2:
“On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim by their companies, the chief of the people of Ephraim being Elishama the son of Ammihud, his company as listed being 40,500. And next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh, the chief of the people of Manasseh being Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, his company as listed being 32,200. Then the tribe of Benjamin, the chief of the people of Benjamin being Abidan the son of Gideoni, his company as listed being 35,400. All those listed of the camp of Ephraim, by their companies, were 108,100. They shall set out third on the march.
These Tribes of Israel belong to Joseph (Here symbol for God’s People)
Possibly the Fall of the Northern Kingdom - - To the Assyrians
2 Kings 17:
Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it.
Jerusalem is located in Benjamin’s Territory
This psalm seems to reflect the thoughts of the faithful in light of such a tragedy.
Benjamin’s name = Son of My Right Hand
is to be considered a Community lament
One last note before we get to Outline … Asaph - One of the Musicians of Israel - Chief Musicians
David made him leader of the choral worship (16:4–5). The ‘sons of Asaph’ remained the senior family of musicians until the Restoration (1 Ch. 25; 2 Ch. 20:14; 35:15; Ezr. 3:10; Ne. 11:17, 22; 12:35), primarily as singers and cymbalists.
Then he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. Asaph was the chief, and second to him were Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, who were to play harps and lyres; Asaph was to sound the cymbals,
3 Words
So they set out from the mount of the Lord three days’ journey. And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them three days’ journey, to seek out a resting place for them.
1.Desperation 1-7
1.Desperation 1-7
Henry David Thoreau wrote in “Walden.” “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”
Shepherd of Israel - Even in their despair … The Lord is Still their shepherd … even when they dont feel like
And he blessed Joseph and said,
“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day,
Genesis
yet his bow remained unmoved;
his arms were made agile
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob
(from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
Genesis
Enthroned upon the Cherubim - Their Shepherd Lord/King is enthroned in the Temple above the Golden Cherubim (Ark of the Covenant)
This Shepherd … Is the Covenant Keeping God who resides in their midst
yv. 2 “Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh” Rachel’s sons Joseph (v. 1) and Benjamin (v. 2) represent the Northern and the Southern kingdoms, respectively. Ephraim and Manasseh were Joseph’s sons.
In these three tribes marched directly behind the ark of the covenant and the Levitical priests. Cf. ; ; and 81:5.
vv. 3, 7, 19 Refrain In the increasingly emphatic refrain (note the progressive lengthening of the divine title), the psalmist voices the prayer of God’s people for their restoration.
vv. 3, 7, 19 Refrain In the increasingly emphatic refrain (note the progressive lengthening of the divine title), the psalmist voices the prayer of God’s people for their restoration. They need the restoring and refreshing of their souls that only the Shepherd can provide (cp. ). yv. 3 “cause Your face to shine upon us” God’s face “shining upon” someone is symbolic of His favor. Compare the Aaronic blessing in .
They need the restoring and refreshing of their souls that only the Shepherd can provide (cp. ). y
v. 3 “cause Your face to shine upon us”
God’s face “shining upon” someone is symbolic of His favour.
Compare the Aaronic blessing in .
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Numbers 6:
4 - How long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
THIS IS THE 100th Question in the book of Psalms
Unlike -
has no notes of confession or penitence
Were they asking for the wrong things?
Or did their conduct ensure that their prayers went unanswered?
When you spread out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
Or did they face the same situation many people today do? They just dont understand why their prayers are hindered?
All they knew … life was hard, harsh and painful
5 - Tears were their daily food and drink - This (Even in a time of siege … they had in great supply)
They were desperate
have you ever had to reach the end of your rope … or get knocked on your baCK BEFORE YOU LOOKED UP
2.Perplexity 8-15
2.Perplexity 8-15
They were not only desperate … they were also perplexed … Look over at v:12 … Key Word = WHY
is rooted in military defeat. It’s the prayer of a worship leader crying out to God on behalf of his nation: ‘Where have you gone, God? Why have you deserted us?’The Vine From Egypt? = Israel redeemed out of Egypt
The Vine From Egypt? = Israel redeemed out of Egypt
“Joseph is a fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall.
Use of Vine for Israel - The People of God is Common
Genesis 49:
The Lord will enter into judgment
with the elders and princes of his people:
“It is you who have devoured the vineyard,
the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
What do you mean by crushing my people,
by grinding the face of the poor?”
declares the Lord God of hosts.
Let me sing for my beloved
my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and he looked for it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
What more was there to do for my vineyard,
that I have not done in it?
When I looked for it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?
And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down.
I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and briers and thorns shall grow up;
I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.
For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
are his pleasant planting;
and he looked for justice,
but behold, bloodshed;
for righteousness,
but behold, an outcry!
In that day,
“A pleasant vineyard, sing of it!
I, the Lord, am its keeper;
every moment I water it.
Lest anyone punish it,
I keep it night and day;
I have no wrath.
Would that I had thorns and briers to battle!
I would march against them,
I would burn them up together.
Or let them lay hold of my protection,
let them make peace with me,
let them make peace with me.”
In days to come Jacob shall take root,
Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots
and fill the whole world with fruit.
Yet I planted you a choice vine,
wholly of pure seed.
How then have you turned degenerate
and become a wild vine?
Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
they have trampled down my portion;
they have made my pleasant portion
a desolate wilderness.
Israel is a luxuriant vine
that yields its fruit.
The more his fruit increased,
the more altars he built;
as his country improved,
he improved his pillars.
“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“ ‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.
Matthew 21:33-4
vv:10-11 - Probably refer to the conquests in the book of Joshua
The Sea = The Med
The River = Euphrates
12 = the Perplexity … It doesnt make sense to them
Verse 13 - the Boar from the Forest =
The boar might symbolize Assyria and her invasion of Israel and Judah.
Assyria carried the northern ten tribes into captivity (722 B.C.).
Ancient rabbis identified a letter in the Hebrew word translated “forest” as the middle letter of the Psalter.
vv:14-15
Vine, Stock, and son are all parallel here …
and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’ ”
Israel = Son
We have already seen Vine Images
v. 14 “O God of hosts” This verse is similar to the refrain of verses 3, 7, and 19.
3.Hope - 16-19
Their prayer is that the God of hosts (He can summon all the powers of heaven and earth to do His will, to help His people) will look down from heaven and take care of (provide for) “this vine” (8).
v. 14 “turn again now” “Verse 14 is … the crux of the psalm: a plea that in his mercy he will look on me again, and thus do for me something I cannot do for myself. … He must bring the straying sheep back, for they will never come back of their own accord.”—Michael Wilcock, The Message of , The Bible Speaks Today (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001), 35.
The line continues the call for God to restore and care for what he has planted—Israel. Some translations emend it slightly to form a verb, as did the Greek Old Testament, making it a parallel appeal to God’s faithfulness to restore or reestablish what he had started with his people. Ultimately, for God to do this would require a new covenant, as the prophets make clear. - Ross, A. P. (2011–2013). A Commentary on the : Commentary (Vol. 2, p. 697). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic.3.Hope - 16-19
Ross, A. P. (2011–2013). A Commentary on the : Commentary (Vol. 2, p. 697). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic.3.Hope - 16-19
But now the vine is in great trouble and needs restoration. Verse 16 says that it is burnt with fire and is nothing more than rubbish: Israel has been destroyed and dispersed throughout other lands. Ross, A. P. (2011–2013). A Commentary on the : Commentary (Vol. 2, pp. 697–698). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic.
3. Hope - 16-19
3. Hope - 16-19
Ross, A. P. (2011–2013). A Commentary on the : Commentary (Vol. 2, pp. 697–698). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic.
In their despair … in their perplexity … they find hope … Hope to Go on ...
16 - But now the vine is in great trouble and needs restoration. Verse 16 says that it is burnt with fire and is nothing more than rubbish: Israel has been destroyed and dispersed throughout other lands. Ross, A. P. (2011–2013). A Commentary on the : Commentary (Vol. 2, pp. 697–698). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic.
17 - BUT - They turn to God in their despair and confusion
Let your hand (Power) be on the man of your right hand (Benjamin? Son of my right hand) … or Someone else?
Israel always hoped that every King would be the ONE … That one who would fulfill
To Restore David’s Dynasty
Every King in Israel at his Coronation heard ...
The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”
Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
A Commentary on the Psalms 1–89, Volumes 1 & 2: Commentary Commentary in Expository Form
After all, the prophecy was for the Davidic king to sit at the LORD’s right hand (Ps. 110:1). Parallel to “man of your right hand” is “the Son of Man.” This is the one whom God has strengthened for this great time of distress. In view of the present devastation, there may be a hint of messianic expectations here.
1.Desperation 2.Perplexity 3.Hope
3 Applications
Like ‘the servant of the Lord’, son or son of man was one of the titles the Messiah was to take to himself to fulfill his mission to the world. All this is prefigured by Israel and was a powerful argument for God to restore and look again with favour on them (v. 19).
Lane, E. (2006). : the lord saves (p. 357). Scotland: Christian Focus Publications.
The language of this petition appears to refer to a king, the “Son of Man” being a royal title, unless it is referring to humanity in general. The Targum sees this clearly as prophetic of “King Messiah.” Accordingly, this verse may have two separate concerns, the nation that God planted in the land, and the king whom God has strengthened.
Ross, A. P. (2011–2013). A Commentary on the : Commentary (Vol. 2, p. 697). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic.
The Term “Son of Man” Used of Jesus in the Gospels … Jesus’ favourite designation of Himself.
Psalms, Volume 2: (Psalms 42–106): An Expositional Commentary A Second Image: God’s Vine
The third view is that “the son of man” is the Messiah. This was the interpretation given to the text by the later rabbis. It is also the interpretation adopted by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who wrote, “There is no doubt here an outlook to the Messiah, for whom believing Jews had learned to look as the Savior in time of trouble.” And later, quoting other commentators in the section on “Quaint Sayings,” Spurgeon says, “To whom can the title apply but to him? For ‘to which of the angels said God at any time, Sit on my right hand?’ (Heb. 1:5); and much less has he said this of any Jewish king. … Though the phrase, ‘man of thy right hand,’ may have an immediate reference to the King who ruled in Judah when this psalm was penned, it must ultimately and most properly intend Jesus Christ, the great antitype of all the kings of David’s line.”
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
matthew 2:
3 Applications
1. Our God knows how to SHEPHERD and PRUNE us
1. Our God knows how to SHEPHERD and PRUNE us
Know this … Circumstances dont alter truth
Know this … Circumstances dont alter truth
Therefore:
Therefore:
TRUST Him
TRUST Him
Yes. Jesus said, “Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it, that it may bring forth more fruit” ().
Purge means that He “prunes it, or cleanses it by pruning”
Pruning is an important process in vineyards—some say it is the most important part of the entire operation.
If a vinedresser is good at pruning, he can make the same vines produce much more fruit. If he is a poor pruner, the harvest will suffer.
Pruning can either be relieving or painful:
Ahh or Ouch
Pruning can remove dead wood that breeds disease … The Vinedresser trims our excesses
Pruning can be painful … The vinedresser cuts back living vine
In His pruning God uses His word, his church, others, even the Assyrian Army
Pruning is intended to produce more fruit and growth
Trust Him … God knows how to shepherd and prune us
2. Our God is OK with our PERPLEXITY
2. Our God is OK with our PERPLEXITY
Therefore:
Therefore:
COME TO Him
COME TO Him
21st-century paraphrase of : ‘I don’t know what God’s doing with me, but I wish we could move on…he seems to be deconstructing me on every level. Whatever lessons he wants me to learn, I wish I could learn them quick and then be done with it’.
Lord, I’m drowning
In a sea of perplexity.
Waves of confusion
Crash over me.
I’m too weak
To shout for help.
Either quiet the waves
Or lift me above them—
It’s too late
To learn to swim.
—Ruth Harms Calkin, Tell Me Again Lord, I Forget
3. Our God offers HOPE
3. Our God offers HOPE
Therefore:
Therefore:
TURN TO Him
TURN TO Him
‘Being still is a lot different to doing nothing’
Waiting on God, humbling ourselves before him, being still in his presence is a long way from ‘nothing’. For in that place, regardless of our circumstances, he can turn our sorrows into joy.
1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching Hope for Nobodys
A little boy heard the noted American preacher, Howard Thurman, preach in India. One night after he and Mrs. Thurman had gone to bed, there was a knock at the door. Opening it, there stood a lad whose clothing marked him as an untouchable. In broken, but polite, English he said: “I stood outside the building and listened to your lecture, Sahib Doctor. Tell me, please, can you give some hope to a nobody?” Whereupon the Indian boy dropped to his knees in admiration and reverence as the compassionate black Christian attempted to communicate the meaning of Christ’s invitation: “Please come, everything is now ready” (Luke 14:17, NEB).
1001 Illustrations that Connect Illustration 327: Seeing Jesus in the Dark
SEEING JESUS IN THE DARK
Topics: Challenges; Circumstances and Faith; Doubt; Experiencing God; Faith; Fear; Hope; Jesus Christ; Light; Lostness; Mysteries; Overcoming; Presence of God; Promises; Reality; Security in God; Seen and Unseen; Suffering; Trust
References: Job 23:10; Psalm 23:4; 27:1; John 16:33; Romans 5:1–5; 8:28; James 1:2–4; 1 Peter 5:10
When I was a student at Harvard Divinity School, I learned preaching from Dr. Gardner Taylor, a pastor in New York City. I’ll never forget those lectures. I remember him telling a story from when he was preaching in Louisiana during the Depression. Electricity was just coming into that part of the country, and he was out in a rural, black church that had just one little lightbulb hanging down from the ceiling to light up the whole sanctuary. He was preaching away, and in the middle of his sermon, the electricity went out. The building went pitch-black, and Dr. Taylor didn’t know what to say, being a young preacher. He stumbled around until one of the elderly deacons sitting in the back of the church cried out, “Preach on, preacher! We can still see Jesus in the dark.”
Sometimes that’s the only time we can see him—in the dark. And the good news of the gospel is that whether or not we can see him in the dark, he can see us in the dark.
—Timothy George, “Unseen Footprints,”
1001 Illustrations that Connect Illustration 346: God’s Way in Tragedy
ILLUSTRATION 346
GOD’S WAY IN TRAGEDY
Topics: Comfort; Death; Dependence on God; Faith; Guidance; Helplessness; Hope; Loss; Overcoming; Presence of God; Tragedy; Trust
References: Psalm 23:4; 2 Thessalonians 3:16
Don Moen’s praise song “God Will Make a Way” affirms God’s sovereign involvement in our lives. Here’s how that song was written: Several years ago, Moen was awakened in the middle of the night. His mother-in-law called to tell him of a car accident involving his wife’s sister, Susan. Susan and her husband, Craig, and their four little boys were on a trip when the accident happened. Jeremy, age eight and the oldest of the four boys, was killed instantly. The others were seriously injured.
As Don and his wife grieved and poured out their hearts to the Lord, they felt helpless at communicating hope and grace to Susan and Craig. Don says God helped him through the tragedy by giving him these words:
God will make a way when there seems to be no way.
He works in ways we cannot see. He will make a way for me.
He will be my guide; hold me closely to his side.
With love and strength for each new day, he will make a way.
—Don Moen, “God Will Make a Way,” © 1990 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music/ASCAP
1001 Illustrations that Connect Illustration 683: Saying Yes on Christmas
SAYING YES ON CHRISTMAS
Topics: Christmas; God’s Sovereignty; Hope; Incarnation; Providence; Salvation
Reference: 2 Corinthians 1:18–20
Songs, good feelings, beautiful liturgies, nice presents, big dinners, and sweet words do not make Christmas. Christmas is saying yes to something beyond all emotions and feelings. Christmas is saying yes to a hope based on God’s initiative, which has nothing to do with what I think or feel. Christmas is believing that the salvation of the world is God’s work and not mine.
—Henri Nouwen, New Oxford Review (November 1986)
Asaph’s chosen words were not new. For centuries, at the close of every worship service, the Levite priests had uttered a solemn benediction that called for God’s shining face. They would pray, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee, The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. Three times they would repeat the name "Lord" or "Jehovah", unknowingly expressing the great mystery of the Godhead—three persons, and yet one God. And for centuries they would make the same three requests of God…"bless and keep us"; be "gracious to us"; and "give us peace." They wanted to see God’s shining face.
God’s shining face…
Hadn’t God shone them His shining face when He set them free from their Egyptian captives?
Hadn’t God shone them His shining face when He fed them with manna from heaven?
Hadn’t they seen His shining face in every battle’s victory, from the Canaanites and Amorites all the way to Sennacherib?
And still they sinned.
God knew that another victory would, at best, render short-lived obedience once again. The world was in a dilemma. The cycle of sin had to be broken. But how?
So, on His mercy seat God sits, the Good Shepherd of a wayward people. We could neither expect the comfort of his love, nor the protection of his arm, because mankind was separated by sin and disobedience from God. How then could we partake of his converting and saving grace?
When God is displeased with his people, He must turn His face from them. We cannot blame God for our tears and our enemy’s triumph over us. Yet, Asaph knew that there would be no salvation apart from God’s favor; and no conversion apart from God’s grace. So he leads the people in a song of repentance, crying, “Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
God hears the cries of His people.
His love and mercy would not allow Him to turn away from them forever.
He knew the world needed a Savior who could be the turning point for sin. God had given them the Word in writing…and they had failed to keep it. But now God would turn His Shining Face toward them and give them the Word in the Flesh. God had answered the Levite prayer of benediction and KEPT them, but it would be Jesus, the manifestation of God in the flesh, who would be GRACIOUS unto them and usher in the Holy Spirit’s countenance of peace.
The pre-ordained dispensation of God’s unmerited favor would soon be unleashed in the shining face of a small baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger,
A baby who would face a foe too fearful for us to conquer;
A baby who would bear sorrows too deep for us to endure;
A baby who would fight a battle too hot for us to win.
A baby whose sole purpose would be to save man.
God’s shining face, donned in a robe of human flesh, more radiant than the sun, more splendid than the stars, was expressed to earth in the smallest of packages…a baby. And wrapped in that baby was all the goodness of God, all the grace of God, all the love of God, all the faithfulness of God, and all the salvation God would ever offer from sin.
The dew may sparkle with its glory,
The flowers may bloom in their glory,
The sky may gleam in its glory,
The mountains may tower in their glory,
But none can compare to the glory of God’s shining face in the embodiment of the Christ child on Christmas morning.
Jesus Christ – God’s shining face!
The doctrines that He taught declare His glory!
The miracles that He performs manifest His glory!
The assurance that He imparts bespeaks His glory!
The church that He is still expanding emphasizes His glory!
And the joy that He bestows justifies His glory!
Jesus Christ – God’s shining face!
He covers our sin with His salvation.
He soothes our grief with His gladness.
He calms our anxiety with His assurance.
He brightens our darkness with His light!
Jesus Christ…not just God’s shining face, but God’s shining hour!
Jesus Christ, the Light of the World.