And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold,
henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things
for me, And holy is His name. And His
mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm; He has
scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their
thrones, And exalted the lowly. He has
filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped His servant Israel Luke 1:46-56 )
Hope
is founded upon the fact of a sovereign God who reigns over all, but that hope
is personally found only when we respond in faith to that sovereign God. He rules and His will shall be done, even if
we rebel against that will, but it is in submission to it that we enter the
blessedness of abiding in His kingdom.
Mary’s Magnificat—her hymn of praise—testifies of this. It is one thing to believe in the reality of
God’s sovereignty as she did—and we must—but knowledge without application
isn’t enough. How shall we respond to
God’s reign?
We ought to respond with REJOICING.
And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit
has rejoiced in God my Savior.” (Luke 1:46-47 )
We
can choose to rejoice at all times. Mary
does here in response to God’s reign. An
atheist said, “God’s redeemed don’t look like they have been!” May that never be said of us! Joy isn’t dependent on circumstances. It is not a natural emotion, but the fruit of
the Spirit. Do you have that joy
bubbling up inside of you? Then it will
come out on your face and in your voice.
Then,
we should respond to God’s reign with RESIGNATION.
For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For
behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things
for me, And holy is His name.” (Luke 1:48-49 )
Mary
resigned herself to the will of God. She
didn’t fully understand it, but she surrendered to it—as “His maidservant.” Since God
is God, then I am not—and need to yield my all to Him. The confession that Jesus is Lord should be
evidenced in my submission to Him.
Also,
we need to respond with REVERENCE.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him From
generation to generation. He has shown
strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their
hearts. He has put down the mighty from
their thrones, And exalted the lowly. He
has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away
empty. He has helped His servant Israel
See
that word, “fear”? This speaks of
reverence. It is more than an action, it
is an attitude. This goes straight to
the heart of who we are in relation to who God is. “Mary named three specific groups to
whom God had been merciful: the helpless (Luke 1:51 ), the humble (Luke 1:52 ), and the hungry (Luke 1:53 ).”[1] That is, I admit I am helpless to save
myself, humbly admit I cannot work my way to heaven and hunger for the
righteousness only God can give by faith in Christ.
Mary
speaks of, “my Savior.” Is that your testimony? Do you know Him personally? Have you cried for mercy? Have you surrendered to His sovereignty? If God is not your Savior, then He will of
necessity be your Judge. Bow to Him as
Your Lord and be saved today! Then you
will have a song like Mary’s which will echo through heaven eternally, and not
a wail of pain that will resound in hell in agony.
As
for me, “My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has
rejoiced in God my Savior.”
[1] Wiersbe,
W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition
commentary (Vol. 1, p. 173). Wheaton ,
IL
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