Lo!

Ever since I heard Derek Webb sing "Lo! How a Rose E'er Blooming" it has been a favorite of mine. And so, I will post the lyrics and chat about them a bit.

Lo! how a rose e'er blooming
From tender stem hat sprung!
Of Jesse's lineage coming
As men of old have sung.
It came, a floweret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half-spent was the night.

Isaiah 'twas foretold it,
The rose I have in mind;
With Mary we behold it,
The virgin mother kind.
To show god's love a right
She bore to men a Savior,
When half-spent was the night.

This flower, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor
The darkness everywhere.
true man, yet very God,
From sin and death He saves us
And lightens every load.

My favorite of the verses is definitely the second. The precious fulfillment of prophecy and a view of Mary seldom thought. She beheld the same miracle that we now talk about. She was there...she felt it. She knew it in a way that is indescribable. Truly, she found favor with God.

And those final words, to show God's love aright...she bore to men a Savior. Oh, how that needs to ring true in my own heart. God's love is aright, now. He has fulfilled all and made atonement and now is seated at the right hand. How glorious is the God who loves.

-joe