A Horn of Salvation Raised Up For Us
Psalm 132
Blessed be the God of Israel, for He has visited His people and raised up a horn of salvation for us.
And so begins one of the most well-known songs of the Advent season, the Benedictus, the prophecy of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. His prophetic song is so perfect that many scholars have a hard time believing it actually came from him. They think Luke borrowed this psalm from some Jewish poetry and placed it in the mouth of Zechariah. In doing so, they miss the absolute beauty of the Benedictus. In this prophecy, this old priest who spent a life-time reading and learning the sacred writings from Abraham to Samuel to David to Daniel to Ezekiel was realizing that everything God had promised to them about the future was happening NOW. And, like most of us do today, when we are struggling to find words for our prayers, Zechariah was guided in his prayer by sacred text, specifically, Psalm 132.
We don’t know Psalm 132 very well, so let me give you a brief summary. This is a song asking the Lord to remember the promise He made to David, that “one of the sons of your body I will set on your throne” (11). The song begins by recounting David’s passion to build a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob (5), and how the residents of Judah heard the call to come and worship at His footstool (7).
But, there seems to be some crisis, some need, for the psalmist cries out for God to arise and go to His resting place (8), to let the priests be clothed with righteousness and the saints to shout for joy (9). For the sake of David, the song says, “do not turn away from the face of Your anointed one” (10). This is why the song reminds God of His promise to David (11), of His choice of Zion (13), of His desire to dwell (14) and bless (15). Yes, God will clothe His priests in righteousness and His saints in joy (16), but more importantly, God will make a horn to sprout for David for He has prepared a lamp for His anointed (17).
The messianic promise that God would one day cause a horn of salvation to sprout, to place His anointed one on the Davidic throne is woven all through the Scriptures.
When the barren woman, Hannah, was blessed with a child, she not only praised God for being her strength, her horn, but she also looked forward to the day when the Lord will judge the ends of the earth and exalt the horn of His anointed (see 1 Samuel 2.10).
The prophet Ezekiel spoke of a day when God would cause a horn to spring up for the house of Israel (see Ezekiel 29.21).
Psalm 89 is another psalm that speaks not only of God’s promises to David, to exalt his horn, but also of God’s promise to establish one of his offspring to sit on the throne forever. This “horn” will say to God, “You are my Father.” This horn is the firstborn, the highest king of the earth (see Psalm 89.24-29).
Putting the pieces together, we can see why Zechariah prophesied the way that he did. The angel Gabriel told him that his child would go before “Him” in the spirit and power of Elijah, and Zechariah knew exactly who the promised “Him” would be: “a horn of salvation raised up for us” (see Luke 1.69).
I doubt that Zechariah fully understood everything about the gospel of Jesus, but he knew that this horn of salvation would redeem His people (Luke 1.68), save us from our enemies (Luke 1.71), deliver us (Luke 1.74), give us light to shine in our darkness (Luke 1.79), and guide our feet into the way of peace (Luke 1.79).
But, we should not miss how Psalm 132 functions as an Advent song for us today.
Psalm 132 cries out for God’s people to be clothed in righteousness. Zechariah hopes that we can serve the Lord in holiness and righteousness before Him all of our days. And John, the child himself, calls God’s people to repent and be prepared for the coming of the Lord.
As the season of Advent begins, as we long for God to raise up a horn of salvation for us, may we prepare ourselves by turning away from our sins and seeking to be clothed in His righteousness so that we might serve Him without fear all of our days.