Hark! my lover–here he comes
springing across the mountains,
leaping across the hills.
The LORD is drawing near to us. What does it mean for a God who is at once everywhere to come close to a particular time and place? If the LORD is unchanging, it must mean something about the places and times and especially the people to whom he comes.
For see, the winter is past,
the rains are over and gone.
It must mean that he is not simply close, but close to us. He is not merely present, but he is active, revealing, loving, and filling us.
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Even if God is with us always, this season represents a special opportunity to be closer to him than ever before. God himself can chase away our winter and make us leap for joy. He wants to do this for us even more than we want it for ourselves. When he draws near to us he rejoices even more than we do.
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
and renew you in his love,
He will sing joyfully because of you,
as one sings at festivals.
Let us make him welcome to draw near to us, not as a faceless mass, but individually, and so share in his joy. Let us add to the joyful song that he begins.
But the plan of the LORD stands forever;
the design of his heart, through all generations.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
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