A Prayer about the Rising Sun of Righteousness
A Prayer about the Rising Sun of Righteousness
But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. Malachi 4:2
Lord Jesus,
By this time in the Christmas season,
we’ve probably sung “Hark the herald angels sing”
around 20-30 times,
depending on our playlists.
One of my favorite lines is,
“Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Risen with healing in His wings.”
But sometimes we sing
without knowing what it means.
After all, we know Jesus isn’t an angel,
and he doesn’t have wings.
But then we remember the poetic allusion
to Jesus in Malachi, and things fall into place.
The image of the rising sun with its wings
(rays spreading throughout the earth)
was also used by Isaiah
to describe God’s glory
rising over the earth:
“but the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will be seen by you” (Isaiah 60:2).
Oh, Lord Jesus,
how we need your light to come,
your glory to spread over us!
We long for the freedom of forgiveness
that truly heals our hearts, minds, and bodies;
we long for the healing
that fills us with the kind of joy
that sends us bounding about like calves
leaping from their stalls (Malachi 4:2).
How we look forward to the day
when you return
and your glory covers the earth
and your healing is complete.
In your righteous name. Amen.
Read Malachi 4:1-3; Isaiah 60:1-3.
Get Elizabeth’s Advent devotional for free here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/34no8c805q.
![What do you know about yourself?
So if anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being! 2 Corinthians 5:17
All-Knowing God,
When we begin to know you,
and when we begin to understand
the hope, joy, and relief
of being known by you,*
then and only then are we ready
to begin trying to know ourselves.
What do we need to know about ourselves?
We need to know our sin:
not only generally, but specifically:
some of us always want to be right;
some of us need to feel love and approval from everyone all the time;
some of us need lots of money and stuff to feel secure;
some of us get angry easily when they don’t get their way
…and on and on we could go.
[Stop for a moment and ask the Holy Spirit
to search your heart and reveal some of your specific sin tendencies.]
But if we stopped at only knowing our sin,
we would remain in despair.
As we prayed yesterday,
you knew our sin—
past, present, and future
when you sent your Son to die for us (Romans 5:8).
We must also know
who we have become
and who we are becoming in Christ:
In Christ, we already have become (unbelievably to us),
“the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).
In Christ, we already have become “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17).
In Christ, we are “being sanctified” (Heb. 10:14),
becoming more and more like Christ every day.
That means that we are recognizing and repenting more quickly
when we put our trust in
being right,
or needing approval,
or trusting in riches,
or getting our way
[Name some things you are recognizing and repenting of more quickly.]
Oh, Lord, what good news
your Word gives us about ourselves!
The truest truth about us
is not that we are sinners
but that we are redeemed sinners.
You have saved us for a purpose,
and you have sent us to tell others
the good news of our hope in Jesus Christ.
Thank you for giving us our identity
as adopted children,
servants of the King,
Christ’s ambassadors.
In Jesus’ freeing name. Amen.
Read Psalm 51; 2 Corinthians 5:11-21.
*See the prayers from the last two days for more on this.
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