Through the whole Old Testament runs the longing that God would 'awake'
to smite evil.
The tragedy of the drowned hosts in the Red Sea, and Miriam and her
maidens standing with their timbrels and shrill song of triumph on the
bank, is a prophecy of what shall be. 'Ye shall have a song as in the
night a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart as when one goeth
with a pipe to come unto the mountain of the Lord.' And at the thought
of that solemn act of judgment they who love the Judge, and have long
known Him, 'may lift up their heads' in the confidence that 'their
redemption draweth nigh.' That is the last, and in some sense the
mightiest, greatest act by which He shows Himself 'mighty to save His
redeemed.'
So we may, like the prophet, see that swift form striding nearer and
nearer, but, unlike the prophet, we need not to ask, 'Who is this that
cometh?' for we have known Him from of old, and we remember the voice
that said, 'This same Jesus shall so come in like manner as ye have
seen Him go into heaven.' 'Herein is our love made perfect, that we may
have boldness before Him in the day of judgment.'