Mary’s Song

    “And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever. And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house” (Luke 1:46-56).

    After Mary heard the good news of Christ’s incarnation she went to visit her older, beloved cousin Elizabeth, who was six months pregnant with John the Baptist. When the two women met together, they talked of the marvellous things God had done for them and taught them. Both were full of faith and joy. They were mutually inspirational to one another.

    What a blessing good companions are! They help each other in the way. Happy are those family meetings where Christ is the theme of thought and conversation! When we meet with our families and friends, let us pray that our time together may be both pleasant and profitable. We ought to always try to be spiritually helpful to those around us, to those who come under our influence.

    Mary, the mother of our Lord, is held before us in the Book of God as a great example of God’s saving grace. Being taught of God, she was a woman of remarkable faith. She believed God’s revelation concerning a totally unprecedented matter, scientifically impossible, and believed it without any evidence to support her. The angel of the Lord said to her, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). In verse 45, after the baby in Elisabeth’s womb leaped for joy, because of the incarnate God in Mary’s womb, Elisabeth said of Mary, “Blessed is she that hath believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.” Let every child of God pray that the Holy Spirit might grant us the kind of faith he gave Mary.

    Mary was a woman of remarkable knowledge, too. She had a clear, firm knowledge and understanding of holy scripture. As we read Mary’s hymn, though she was but a young woman, we see she had a ready grasp of the Old Testament. She quotes the Psalms, refers to God’s works of old, refers to his goodness to Leah and repeats many of the words of Hannah’s prayer in 2 Samuel 2. All who have been made the recipients of God’s saving mercy should seek to become more and more fully and more and more experimentally acquainted with holy scripture. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16).

    Such a knowledge of holy scripture can never be attained without regular, daily study; but the benefits of such study will prove priceless. When she needed them most, Mary had a firm grasp of the promises of God in the Bible; and these strengthened her faith.

    That which Mary knew and believed caused her to be a truly humbled soul before God. True faith and spiritual knowledge never swell the heart with pride. Rather these are the things by which the Lord breaks his own and makes them humble and contrite before him. J. C. Ryle rightly observed …

    “She who was chosen of God to the high honour of being Messiah’s mother, speaks of her own ‘low estate’, and acknowledges her need of a Saviour. She does not let fall a word to show that she regarded herself as a sinless, ‘immaculate’ person. On the contrary, she uses the language of one who has been taught by the grace of God to feel her own sins, and so far from being able to save others, requires a Saviour for her own soul.”

    As humility is the daughter of saving faith, gratitude is the daughter of humility. All who experience God’s free favour and saving grace in Christ are filled with thanksgiving to God; and Mary certainly demonstrates such thanksgiving. That which stands out in this hymn, perhaps above everything else, is the fact that Mary considered herself a debtor to mercy alone. She sought to magnify the Lord her God, from whom all mercy and grace springs.

    Her knowledge of Christ as God her Saviour filled Mary with contentment. She was a poor woman. We have no evidence that she ever ceased to be afflicted with poverty. When the Saviour died, he committed his poor mother to the care of one of his disciples. Yet, Mary appears to have been perfectly content. In all that is written about her in holy scripture, the Holy Spirit never gives even a hint of dissatisfaction in her. Having Christ to be her Saviour, she wanted no more. She says, “My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour” (v. 47). In verse 56 we read that “Mary returned to her own house.” Though she was blessed in the most extraordinary manner, she was content to go back to her modest home and become the wife of a simple carpenter. May God give us that blessed spirit of contentment, so that we can say with Paul, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need” (Philippians 4:11, 12).

    In Luke 1:46-56, God the Holy Spirit has preserved for our learning the song Mary composed and sang when she and Elizabeth met one another. It is a song of praise to God, arising from a heart of faith, humility, gratitude and love. Robert Hawker writes:

    “The song of Mary is full of the breathings of a soul under the influence of the Holy Ghost. How blessedly she speaks of God her Saviour; evidently showing, that she had a perfect apprehension of what the Prophets had taught, concerning the miraculous conception; and therefore knew, that the child then in her womb was, in one and the same moment, her Son and her Saviour! And how blessedly she speaks of the low estate, both in the temporal poverty of her father’s house, and the spiritual reduced estate, by reason of sin, to the whole race of Adam. And the personal dignity to which she, a poor, young, and humble Virgin, was exalted. He that is mighty (said she) hath done to me great things. Great indeed, and, until that period, never heard of before; and never to be again wrought in the earth. And how beautifully she ends her hymn of praise, in singing the sure deliverance of the Church, by this stupendous event. He hath holpen (said she) his servant Israel: meaning, he hath redeemed the Church of God, in the Israel of God, his chosen; thus confirming the Covenant made with Abraham, that in his seed should all the families of the earth be blessed (Genesis 12:3. with Galatians 3:16).”

    Notice, as you read this sweet song of praise, that everything spoken of in it is spoken of as though it had already been accomplished, though, as yet, Christ had not even been born. Why is that? The answer should be obvious: That which God has purposed was finished when he purposed it. Here are seven truths to learn from Mary’s song.

    First, Mary gives praise to the Lord God, who was in her womb, for being her Saviour. “And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour” (vv. 46, 47). If Christ is our Saviour, we have reason to sing! As she sang his praise, unlike most who pretend to sing his praise today, Mary spoke of her God with great reverence. Yet, trusting Christ, she claimed a personal interest in Christ. Thus, she magnified her Lord by acknowledging him as her Lord and ascribing greatness to him as God her Saviour. The word “magnify” here means to enlarge and make room for. Mary flung open the gates of her soul for the King of glory to come in! She rejoiced in her Lord. That word means “danced”. Like her great grandfather David, Mary danced before the Lord.

    Second, Mary’s song of praise was inspired by the wondrous mystery of Christ’s incarnation (2 Corinthians 9:15). Mary sang this song because she believed the report of the angel Gabriel. “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:30-35). Let sinners sing praise to God: Immanuel is come! (Matthew 1:21).

    Third, Mary particularly gives praise to God for his particular, distinguishing grace. “For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed” (Luke 1:48). God chose her to be the mother of our Redeemer. She was blessed of God in Christ. She was blessed because Christ was in her by a supernatural work of grace and power by God the Holy Spirit. She is called blessed because of God’s goodness to her as the object of his grace. We who are the objects of God’s special love and distinguishing grace have reason to sing his praise!

    Fourth, Mary gives praise to the Lord God because of his glorious holiness. She declares, “Holy is his name” (v. 49). That which caused Moses, Isaiah and Daniel to tremble caused Mary to rejoice, because she saw clearly that God in his holiness had provided a holy Sacrifice. Holiness seen through the blood shed at Calvary is the most comforting and delightful thing in the world. Let this heart sing God’s praise. I have seen mercy and truth meet together. I have seen righteousness and peace kiss each other.

    Then, fifth, Mary offers praise to the Lord for the great things he has done. “For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath showed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away” (Luke 1:49-53).

    God has done great things in providence, in the incarnation, in redemption, in the experience of grace. He puts down the mighty, exalts them of low degree, fills the hungry with good things and the rich he sends away empty. “Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men” (Psalm 107:31). “The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD” (Psalm 107:42, 43).

    Sixth, Mary gives praise to the Lord God for his unfailing help. “He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy” (Luke 1:54). The word “holpen” means to place one’s hand under the fallen, prostrate one, and lift him to his feet.

    God helps his elect. He always remembers mercy to his own. “I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations” (Psalm 89:1).

    Last, in verse 55, Mary gives praise to the Lord her God for his covenant faithfulness. “As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever” (Luke 1:55). In Christ God has fulfilled his promises to the fathers, and particularly his promise to Abraham; the woman’s seed (Genesis 3:15), the lamb provided (Genesis 22), the blessings of grace (Galatians 3:13-16).

    While God abideth faithful, I have reason to sing his praise. Let us each, from the depths of our hearts, join Mary in this song of praise to our great God and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Let us honour him for who he is, worship him for all that he has done, praise him for his distinguishing grace (1 Corinthians 1:26; 2 Corinthians 4:7) and magnify his great faithfulness!