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"And Mary said, 'My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on 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 for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.'"
(Luke 1:46-55)
If an angel came to you and told you that you would be the mother (or father) of the Savior of the world, what would your reaction be? One could only speculate, of course, but we know the way in which Mary reacted. "Mary's Magnificat" or Mary's song of praise shows us exactly what her reaction was. This prayer of Mary is a powerful and beautiful prayer from the mouth of a woman who has been told that very news, that she would be the mother of the Savior.
I included the entire text today instead of just highlighting a few key verses because I really want to invite you to read the entire prayer. Some of us might only ever look at this passage around Christmas, but may it be an encouragement to us every day!
There is one thing I noticed about this prayer for the first time today: Mary does not ask for a single thing in this prayer. Now, as we have already talked about this week, we are invited to bring all of our requests to God, big and small. There is absolutely nothing wrong with asking God for things; in fact, I think that He loves when we ask in faith! However, do we only ever pray when we have something to ask for? Maybe some of you follow the ACTS pattern of prayer (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication), which is a wonderful guide to help us think through four important components of prayer and to not rush into asking God for things before we thank Him. But I am just really challenged by this thought of praying a substantial prayer to God for no other reason than just to praise Him!
I remember being a teenager, and when I'd call out to my parents in a sweet voice, their response would be, "What do you want?" It is not that my parents were cold, they just knew that when I came to them in this tone of voice, soft and calm, it was only because I wanted something from them. What a tragedy! I am sorry for this time in my life when I sought things from my parents only instead of just enjoying them and being thankful for them.
Nowadays, I pray many small prayers of praise and thanksgiving, saying, "Thank you, Lord," for this or that. But I admittedly do not pray long dedicated prayers of only thankfulness, and this is a discipline and a joy which I would like to practice in my life. I noticed that Mary is thankful for three general things and emphasizes one.
Mary praises God for who He is. She calls Him "Lord" and "God my Savior". She begins by remembering who He is and praises Him by rejoicing in Him (verse 6).
Mary praises God for what He has done for her. She sees how he has shown her grace and says that he has done great things for her. She humbles herself and recognizes that all of the great things He is giving her are purely mercy.
Mary praises God for what He does for others. She recalls how the same mercy the Lord has shown her is available to all, throughout many generations.
Mary praises God for His justice and faithfulness. At the end of her prayer, I see Mary focusing on how the Lord's justice and faithfulness are causes for her thankfulness. The Lord has been faithful to His people and has brought justice for the lowly.
Would you join me today in taking some dedicated time to do nothing else but praise the Lord? You can praise Him with song, but how sweet it would be to use your own words to praise God for who He is, what He has done for you and others, and for some of His attributes which have particularly blessed you in this season of life. Praise the Lord!
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