_v._ 2. _A mighty salvation_. In S. Luke (A.V.) horn of salvation: see Psalm xviii. 2. The horn is used as the symbol of strength. _v._ 6. The oath is in Gen. xxii. 16, 17, 18, _By myself have I sworn--that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven--and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed_. It is explained (Gal. iii. 16) that Abraham's seed is Christ: in Him all nations are blessed. _And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise_ (Gal. iii. 29). Thus the oath to multiply Abraham's seed is fulfilled in the increase of the Christian Family. _v._ 9. _Thou, child_,=John the Baptist. _The Highest_=God Almighty. _v._ 10. St John Baptist was to give people knowledge of Jesus--the Saviour. _v._ 11. The Dayspring is Jesus. The word for dayspring in Greek means "springing up," and is translated _Branch_ in Zech. iii. 8 and vi. 12, and Jer. xxiii. 5. _v._ 12. Read Isaiah ix. 2 (_to give light_, &c.) and Isaiah xlix. 9-11 (_to guide_, &c.). Also 2 Pet. i. 19 and Rev. xxi. 23 and xxii. 16. It will be noticed that although the occasion was the Birth of John, yet his father's Hymn is directed to the Coming of Jesus. Jesus is the Dayspring or {86} Branch--John is to be the herald of the Saviour. Not till the 9th verse does the father address his infant son: his mind is turning upon the greater Birth which was to come six months later. In verses 5, 6 and 7 there is a complex reference to the birth of Christ's forerunner. By a play on the names Zacharias, Elizabeth and John he sings that _God's remembrance_ was wedded to _God's oath_, and thence was born _God's mercy_: for as we said above the 'text' of the Hymn is John--God's mercy. This Hymn may be called a Hymn of the Advent; whatever is read in the Gospels as the Second Lesson will be sure to excite, in those who listen, Praise to God for the Advent of His Son. Nunc Dimittis. The Evening Service is supplied with a different Hymn of the Advent for its Second Lesson--that of the aged Simeon, when, having waited through his long life for it, he was blessed at last with the sight of the Infant Jesus. Holding Him in his arms when He was brought to the Temple, he used these words of praise. God was letting him depart in peace: notice the words _Thou lettest_: it is not the imperative, praying for release; but the indicative, praising God for His mercy. The other chief thoughts of this short Hymn are that Jesus is God's _Salvation--before the face of all people--a Light to Gentiles--and the glory of Israel_. Comparing these with the Hymn of Zacharias, we shall be struck with the correspondence of two very different compositions. {87} _Lighten_: not as in Te Deum 'to come upon,' but as in 3rd Collect at Evening Service, 'to give light.' _Gentiles--Israel_: making up together the whole human race. Jubilate Deo.