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Advent Daily Devotion

December 11, 2021

Read: Psalm 4


God rest ye merry gentlemen

Let nothing you dismay

Remember Christ our Savior

Was born on Christmas Day

To save us all from Satan's pow'r

When we were gone astray

Oh, tidings of comfort and joy

Comfort and joy

Oh, tidings of comfort and joy.

                     15th century Christmas carol


Even if you are one of those people who refuses to listen to Christmas carols until Thanksgiving has come and gone, you know the power these familiar songs have to prepare our hearts for Christmas and prompt us to reflect on the gifts of Advent — hope, peace, joy and love. Centuries before the birth of the Christ child, King David recognized the power of music to call us to prayer and reflection.


In Psalm 4, sometimes referred to as “The Evening Hymn,” David’s prayer for joy and peace is accompanied by a stringed instrument. As we spend our December days decorating our homes, purchasing, and wrapping gifts, baking cookies, running from one event to the next, the anxiety of having too much to do and too little time can make it hard to be still. The distractions brought by our “busy-ness” keep us from preparing our hearts to celebrate our Savior’s birth. In those moments we can find a blessing in David’s prayer for a heart “filled with joy” and in his confident assertion in Verse 8: “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.” What a blessing it is to turn off all the worries and concerns when our heads hit the pillow!


To take Advent seriously, we must carve out time for prayer, reflection and the sacred songs of the season.


Joy to The world! the Lord is come

Let earth receive her King

Let ev'ry heart prepare him room

And heaven and nature sing

And heaven and nature sing

And heaven and nature sing.

                   Isaac Watts, 1719


~Brenda Gorsuch