To add to my previous post, and in keeping with the spirit of Advent, here's the second O Antiphon with accompanied passages of Scripture.
"With righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth." Isaiah 11:4
"For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our ruler, the Lord is our king. He will save us." Isaiah 33:22
O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel,
qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti,
et ei in Sina legem dedisti:
veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.
O Lord, and leader of the House of Israel,
who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush,
and gave him the law on Sinai:
Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.
"The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble" Psalm 9:9
"God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish." Psalm 9:18
"You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat." Isaiah 25:4
As the One who made Himself present to Moses He is the just law-giver who rescues the oppressed people from the land of their captivity. He is the God who stands in the midst of the needy, and rises up on behalf of the poor, the hungry, the unloved, the marginalized, and the weak.
During Advent we reflect on the great messianic hope of those from before in readying ourselves for Christmas, but we also reflect on the great day when, indeed, it can be said that the earth is full of the glory of the Lord and justice and peace flow like a river.
We ready ourselves for that sacred feast of Christ's Nativity, that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And He shows Himself to be the One who stands beside the least of these.
If we are paying attention then we have no excuse to say such a thing as "God is God because of His power", because that's entirely wrong.
"Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though being in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied Himself, becoming a slave, born in human likeness. And being found in human form, humbled Himself, becoming obedient to the point of death--even death on a cross." Philippians 2:5-8
We want "God" to be the supreme self expression of ourselves--a superman, the great power that is basically us, just really huge. And that's what makes God God. But that isn't how God actually shows Himself, God shows Himself in weakness, not in strength; humility, not in power. God shows us who He is by being nailed to a Roman cross.
Missing that is to miss the whole point of the Gospel.
-CryptoLutheran