Zacharias couldn’t believe the word of the Lord spoken through the mouth of his heavenly messenger, Gabriel. The Lord chastised Zacharias, and for many months, he couldn’t say a word. He spoke without faith and fell silent. But this changed the moment Zacharias stood side by side with Elisabeth and stood up to resist the people in his house. They wanted to call his newborn son after him, Zacharias! He then wrote on a tablet, “His name is John.” Here, he embraced God’s word. There was no doubt anymore. God is gracious, and he will do the impossible. Zacharias then begins to sing, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David.”
The Lord chose the people of Israel to be His people. The Lord’s choices stand unwavering. He chose a people no better than others; in fact, He chose the least of all people to be His people. His people forgot Him many times and didn’t serve and worship Him with gladness of heart. The Lord will never forget His people and redeem them.
The Lord visits His people time and again. He visited the barren woman to make her fruitful. He visited His people in Egypt, sighing under the burden of slave labor. Sighing under the burden of sin and misery, we might echo Psalm 80:14, “Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine.” But the Lord will never forget, and He visits to set free and redeem. Looking back in wonder, we then sing with Psalm 8:5, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?”
How does the Lord visit His people and set them free so they will worship Him? We read in verse 69, “By a horn of salvation raised in the house of David.” David sang in 2 Samuel 22:3, “The God of my rock; in him will I trust: He is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, My saviour; thou savest me from violence.” The horn is a symbol of power. Zacharias sings of a horn of salvation. He says that a horn is raised. That horn symbolizes the Messiah. As we read in Psalm 132:17 and 18, “There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed. His enemies will I clothe with shame: but upon himself shall his crown flourish.” The horn is therefore the Anointed One who will reign forever.
We live in Advent times, and we remember, in wonder, how the Lord visited His people. He reached out with His mighty arm in His Son, the Messiah, the Savior. He is a Savior mighty to save. With Him is complete salvation.