EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
3/17/2026 8:18 PM
My
Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “The Power of God is
Wondrous”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
“Luke
1:64-65
Message of the verses: “And at once his mouth was opened and
his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God. Fear came on all those living around them;
and all these matters were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea. All who heard them kept them in mind, saying,
“What then will this child turn out to be?”
For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him.”
“The phrase at once, as I (or the related term
‘immediately’) does frequently in Luke’s gospel, is associated with a divine
miracle (cf. 4:39; 5:25; 8:44, 47, 55; 13:13; 18:43). Unlike the so-called miracles of today’s
faith healers, New Testament healings were instantaneous…Immediately,
Zacharias’s mouth was opened and his tongue loosed—just as Gabriel had
predicted (1:20). All the pent-up
emotions of the past nine months burst forth, and he began to speak in
praise of God. Some of what he said
is recorded in verses 67-79.” Lord willing I will begin to look at those verses
in tomorrow morning’s SD as I begin the 9th chapter from John
MacArthur’s commentary entitled “Zacharias’s Song of Salvation—Part 1: The
Davidic Covenant” (Luke 1:67-71).
Now as a result of the shocking
display of God’s power demonstrated in Zachariahs’s miraculous healing here is
what happened, fear came on all those living around them; and all these
matters were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea. MacArthur writes “All the details of the
incredible story of John’s birth—the angel Gabriel appearing to Zacharias in
the temple, Zacharias becoming deaf and mute as a result of his unbelief,
Elizabeth conceiving a child despite her and Zacharias’s advanced age, the
birth of their child, who was to be the forerunner of Messiah, Zacharias’s
sudden miraculous healing—were a hot topic of conversation throughout the
region. Not just those present at John’s
birth, but also all who heard of ‘What then will this child turn out
to be?’ The speculation was rampant
about John’s future. Uppermost in people’s minds was the thought that if he was
to be Messiah’s forerunner, then the arrival of Messiah Himself was imminent. What was undeniable to all was that the
hand of the Lord (a phrase symbolizing God’s powerful presence; cf. Ex. 9:3; Deut. 2:15; Josh.
4:23-24; 1 Samuel 5:6, 9; 7:13; 1 Kings 18:46; Ezra 7:28; Isaiah 19:16) was
certainly with John from the
outset.” Now we will look at these verses
from above.
Ex. 9:3
“3 behold, the hand of the LORD will fall with a
very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the
donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks.
Deut. 2:15
“15 For indeed the hand of the LORD was against
them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.”
Josh. 4:23-24
“23 23 For
the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed
over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until
we passed over, 24 so that all the
peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may
fear the LORD your God forever."
1 Samuel 5:6, 9; 7:13;
6
¶ The hand of the LORD was heavy against
the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both
Ashdod and its territory.”
“9 But after they had brought it around, the
hand of the LORD was against the city, causing a very great panic, and he
afflicted the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on
them.”
“13
¶ So the Philistines were subdued and
did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the LORD was
against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.”
1 Kings 18:46
“46 And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah, and
he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.”
Ezra 7:28
“28 and who extended to me his steadfast love
before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty officers.
I took courage, for the hand of the LORD my God was on me, and I gathered
leading men from Israel to go up with me.”
Isaiah 19:16
“16 In that day the Egyptians will be like women,
and tremble with fear before the hand that the LORD of hosts shakes over them.”
MacArthur concludes “The inescapable
conclusion to be drawn from this account of the birth of John the Baptist is
that God acts graciously and savingly in human history. His veracity, grace, and power shine clearly through
the events recorded here. The display of
those attributes prompted Zacharias’s rich and instructive outburst of praise,
which Luke recorded in the next section of his gospel.”
3/17/2026
8:48 PM
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