solemn rest, sharing in the joy of Messiah's coming, and perhaps in
the blessings which He brings. We may not too closely press the
phrase, but it is more than poetry or imagination. The next issue is
God's remembrance of His promises, or in other words, His fulfilment
of these. The last is that the nation, being set free, should serve
God. The external deliverance was in the eyes of devout men like
Zacharias precious as a means to an end. Political freedom was
needful for God's service, and was valuable mainly as leading to
that. The hymn rises far above the mere impatience of a foreign
yoke. 'Freedom to worship God,' and God worshipped by a ransomed
nation, are Zacharias's ideal of the Messianic times.

Note his use of the word for priestly 'service.' He, a priest, has
not forgotten that by original constitution all Israel was a nation
of priests; and he looks forward to the fulfilment at last of the
ideal which so soon became impracticable, and possibly to the
abrogation of his own order in the universal priesthood. He knew not
what deep truths he sang. The end of Christ's coming, and of the
deliverance which He works for us from the hand of our enemies,
cannot be better stated than in these words. We are redeemed that we
may be priests unto God. Our priestly service must be rendered in
'holiness and righteousness,' in consecration to God and discharge
of all obligations; and it is to be no interrupted or occasional
service, like Zacharias's, which occupied but two short weeks in the
year, and might never again lead him within the sanctuary, but is to
fill with reverent activity and thankful sacrifice all our days.
However this hymn may have begun with the mere external conception
of Messianic deliverance, it rises high above that here, and will
still further soar beyond it. We may learn from this priest-prophet,
who anticipated the wise men and brought his offerings to the unborn