Waiting For Christmas

COME, THOU LONG-EXPECTED JESUS

Come, thou long-expected Jesus,

Born to set thy people free;

From our fears and sins release us;

Let us find our rest in thee.

Israel’s strength and consolation,

Hope of all the earth thou art;

Dear Desire of every nation,

Joy of every longing heart.

Born, thy people to deliver,

Born a child and yet a king,

Born to reign in us forever,

Now thy gracious kingdom bring.

By thine own eternal Spirit

Rule in all our hearts alone;

By thine all sufficient merit

Raise us to thy glorious throne.

CHARLES WESLEY

Psalm Link

Psalm 62:5-6

5I wait quietly before God,

for my hope is in him.

6He alone is my rock and my salvation,

my fortress where I will not be shaken.

You may have fond memories of when you were a little child pressing your nose against the windowpane, eagerly awaiting the arrival of your grandparents at Christmastime. Of course, they would be bringing presents. The excitement was almost more than you could stand.

Do you ever remember taking a long trip with your parents and asking, after you had traveled about ten miles, “Are we there yet?”

Everything seems long for children, whether it’s ten minutes or ten miles. But the truth is, waiting never comes easily for anyone. And after pressing your nose to the window for an hour or asking, “Are we there yet?” for the umpteenth time, you may have begun to lose hope.

Biblically speaking, however, hope is the expectant awaiting of that which is sure to come. It is not a wild stab at uncertainty, like “I hope I win the lottery.” It is a sure thing.

When the psalmist said, “My hope is in him” (verse 5), he was saying what the songwriter was saying: “Come, thou long-expected Jesus.” And when Charles Wesley wrote about Israel’s strength and consolation, it was something like saying, “My rock and my salvation,” because the word often translated “consolation” is the word for “advocate,” “intercessor,” or “comforter.”

As you approach the Christmas season, what are you waiting for? The deepest need of your heart is met in the one whose name is Immanuel, God is with us, the “Dear Desire of every nation.”

Bible Networking

Simeon the priest knew that the infant Jesus was Israel’s long-expected consolation. See Luke 2:25-32.