The Day-Spring From on High

Minister:
Date: PM
Text: Luke 1:78,79
Psalters: 9, 21, 373, Song of Zachariah
  1. What it is.
    1. “Day-spring” is “the rising” or “east,” so it refers to the sun as it rises, the dawn.
      1. The sun as it comes over the horizon in the morning can be very bright orange or golden.
      2. Zachariah seems to have Malachi 4:2 in mind here; he referenced Malachi 3:1 in verses 17 and 76.
    2. Jesus comes as the sun, giving light, warmth, and life.
      1. That the dayspring is “from on high” indicates Jesus’ source.
      2. The Day-spring comes equipped with “the tender mercy of our God.”
    3. The Day-spring has “visited us.”
  2. For whom does He arise and to visit? Those “that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.”
    1. “Darkness” is not the darkness of night, but the absence of any light.
      1. When one “sits” in darkness, then they are unable to move out of it; they are paralyzed by the great darkness.
      2. To sit in spiritual darkness is to be caught in the darkness of spiritual amorality.
    2. The Day-spring visits those who are conscious that they sit in darkness (the sick who know they need a physician).
  3. The purpose of the Dayspring rising and visiting is two-fold.
    1. First, to “give light,” that is to appear or reveal (Isa. 9:1,2).
    2. Second, the light He brings “guide our feet into the way of peace.”
      1. Those who had been sitting are now standing and walking, for they can see.
      2. The way of peace is beautiful harmony instead of confusion and war.
      3. God guides our feet in peace by disentangling us from the quagmire of sin and despondency and shows us perfect peace.