Devotional Thoughts Based on the Glory to God Hymnal

Isaiah 9:2

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shined.

When I was serving as a solo pastor, I relished choosing the hymns for Sunday’s worship service and especially for Festivals of the Church, Christmastide, and Easter. I never was strict adherent, as are my Episcopal and Lutheran clergy, to waiting until Christmas to sing the carols and hymns of that season. With Christmastide being only 14 days, that was not nearly enough time to sing all of the great songs for that season, so by the third Sunday of Advent I usually introduced at least one Christmas carol or hymn in the Order of Worship.

Now our hymnals today have many more selections for Eastertide and that is good as there are seven Sundays in that season. Nevertheless, I regularly used two hymns for Easter Day. These were Christ the Lord Is Risen Today and The Day of Resurrection. The other Easter carols and hymns would find their way into worship services during Eastertide, but for that Festival Day, we always sang those two.

We see how Isaiah 9 is a scriptural allusion to The Day of Resurrection, particularly to verse 2 of that hymn. Read/sing:

Let hearts be purged of evil that we may see aright
The Lord in rays eternal of resurrection light,
And listening to his accents, may hear so calm and plain
His own “All hail!” and hearing, may raise the victor strain.

Prayer

O God, we thank You that we no longer walk in darkness and that our hearts have been purged of evil so that we may see a right. We have seen the light and that light is our Lord in rays eternal of resurrection light. We are blessed and we are most grateful. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.