Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem
The Names and Titles of God (Dayspring
Luke 1:78
78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
King James Version
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Every morning, precisely at 5:30AM by the Digital Clock, Tippy the Cattle Dog takes a running leap onto my bed and wakes me up. When I see that it's only 5:30, I push her aside and catch another half-hour of sleep before I get up, get dressed, and give her a walk. (2-4 miles, depending upon how I feel about it at the time). This time of year, it is already light when I get up, but in the Winter, 6:00AM seems like the very depth of the Night. It is DARK outside. And Cold. But to Tippy, a walk is a walk.
In the early Spring and Later in the Fall, we get treated to a Sunrise. Since we head Southeast for the first part of the walk, it can be blinding, but usually we are rewarded with the breathtaking colors of the Dawn. This time of year, the days are long enough for me to start my walk in full light, but, about a month ago, Tippy and I were treated to some spectacular sunrises, when the timing was just right.
The Elizabethan English of the King James Version has some Archaic words in it. For example, when Jesus said "Suffer the Children to come unto Me", he wasn't saying that children caused suffering! The word "suffer" used to mean "allow" or "permit", so all Jesus was saying was "Let the children". I wish I had known that when I was a child, because when I heard that verse, I had envisioned a horde of bratty, snot-nosed, kids climbing all over Jesus, pulling His hair and just being obnoxious!
The word "Dayspring" is another one of those words that meant something else 500 years ago. In Luke 1, we are treated to a rapturous prayer from Zacharias upon the Birth of his son John. After having been silent for the nine months of his wife's miraculous pregnancy (he and his wife were elderly), Zacharias knows that the baby in his arms will grow up to be the Forerunner of the Messiah. Zacharias has been waiting for his baby for nine months, but his People have been waiting for Millennia to have the Messiah break through the Darkness like a blinding sunrise. The Archaic Elizabethan word for Sunrise was Dayspring, and was in common usage in those days.
Like the sunrises Tippy and I witness on our walks, there is a forerunner. The sky turns a little pinkish-purple as the edge of planet earth anticipates the arrival of the brilliant sun. If there are clouds in the sky, they catch the rays before I do, and glow brilliantly with reflected fire. Then...I have to avert my eyes. The Sun breaks over the horizon, and seems to pierce me through with its rays.
But only when the time is right. That's what Paul meant when he said:
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,(Galatians 4:4)
And remember: It's always darkest befor the Dawn.
Come and Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.
For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. (Mark 4:22)
God Bless America.
Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.
Hallelujah and Amen
ML/LTOS