According to the Law of Moses, every Jewish couple had to present their first-born son to God and offer a sacrifice, so the child would be “holy to the Lord.” As Mary and Joseph obeyed this ruling from the Torah, the Holy Spirit urged a devout man named Simeon to enter the Temple, where he saw the Baby Jesus and took Him into his arms.
People did not expect the Anointed One – the Messiah, the Christ – to come as a newborn, but Simeon immediately recognized the Baby as The One. Since the Lord had promised the aging man he would not die before seeing the Messiah, Simeon blessed the family and burst into praise and this prophetic prayer:
Luke 2:29-32 – a prayer of Simeon
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant
depart in peace, according to thy word:
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared
before the face of all people;
A light to lighten the Gentiles,
and the glory of thy people Israel.
From the Book of KJV Prayers – actual Bible prayers collected by Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2019, from the King James Version
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Luke 2:29-32 – a prayer of Simeon
And now, Lord, Your bond-servant
can go in peace,
for You have kept Your word,
and my eyes have witnessed Your
salvation –
the salvation You prepared
in the presence of all nations –
the Light You revealed to everyone,
the glory You have with Your people.
From the Book of Bible Prayers – actual prayers of
the Bible collected from a variety of translations and paraphrased by Mary Harwell
Sayler, ©2019
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