And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me--holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants for ever, even as he said to our fathers."Luke 1:46-55
Here we see a key to a powerful prayer life -- Praise and Worship of God. We are to praise Him and Worship Him. Psalm 22:3 states that "He inhabits the praises of His people." Another version puts it this way -- "He is enthroned on the praises of His people." Does not that just make you wish to praise the Lord! If you are depressed --Praise the Lord! If you need help, Praise the Lord! If someone you know needs help, Praise the Lord!
Here we see Mary, the Theotokis, the God bearer in her womb, praising the Lord. In Luke 1:46-55 we find the portion of Scripture called "Mary’s Magnificat." This great worship hymn of Mary is called the Magnificat because it begins in the Latin Bible in verse 47 with the words "Magnificat animum mea Dominum," which means "My soul magnifies the Lord."
When you open the gospel of Luke, you notice it is filled with music, especially the first two chapters. There we find five "hymns": the hymn of Elizabeth (Luke 1:42-45); the hymn of Mary (Luke 1:46-55); the hymn of Zechariah (Luke 1:68-79); the hymn of the angels, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests," (Luke 2:14); and the hymn of Simeon in Luke 2:29-32, which he prayed when he saw the infant Jesus Christ and realized that God’s promise that he wouldn’t die until he saw God’s salvation had just been fulfilled.
The Christmas season is a time of great singing and joy because of the divine announcement of good news of great joy to all the people of the world. As sinners, we need a divine Savior, and the message of Christmas is that God has given us such a competent Savior in his Son who became man, the Lord Jesus Christ.
This divine announcement first came to a poor Jewish teenager, a peasant girl who lived in the despised town of Nazareth in northern Israel. The divine Savior made his grand entrance into history by being born, not in the famous cities of Rome or Jerusalem, but in Bethlehem; not to a famous queen mother, but to a poor Jewish teenager betrothed to the town carpenter; not in a palace, but in a stable and placed in a manger.
The angel Gabriel told Mary that by the power of the Holy Spirit, she would conceive and give birth to a son who would be heir to the throne of David, the Holy One, the Son of God, the Son of the Most High, the King of Israel. Mary and Joseph were to call him Jesus, for he would save his people from their sins.
Mary was puzzled at this stupendous announcement the angel made to her. "How will this be," she asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" In other words, "How can a virgin conceive without the aid of a man?" Mary knew that the recent miracle of her elderly relative Elizabeth conceiving was not unique, because such a miracle had happened previously, when God enabled Sarah to conceive Isaac. But for a virgin to conceive and give birth to a son was unique, so Mary asked the angel, "How will this be?"
"The Holy Spirit will do it," Gabriel told Mary. "The Holy Spirit will come upon you," he said in Luke 1:35, "and the power of the Most High will overshadow you." Then he added in verse 37, "For nothing is impossible with God." Nothing is impossible with God! We must keep this in mind always. How did the universe come to be? The answer is God. How are we going to be raised from the dead? The answer, again, is God. How could old Zechariah and old barren Elizabeth in their old age have a son through natural human reproductive processes? The answer is God. How could a virgin conceive and give birth to the Savior, Jesus Christ, who is eternal God? The answer is God. God is sovereign, and he alone does what he pleases. Nothing is impossible for him.
Mary’s confusion disappeared at this great answer that she received from the angel. She told Gabriel, "I am the Lord’s servant." Then she said, "May it be to me as you have said." Mary believed God.
Mary’s Song of Praise
After the angel left, Mary got up quickly and traveled to Judea to visit with Elizabeth, who was six months pregnant. When Elizabeth saw Mary, an amazing thing happened: through the Spirit of the living God, she recognized Mary, this unmarried teenage girl, as "the mother of my Lord," and began to prophesy.
When that happened, Mary also began to sing in the Spirit, exalting and worshiping God. It is this song that is recorded as the Magnificat, and at this point I want to note something: Although Mary was just a poor peasant girl, she had been brought up in a godly home, where Mary was thoroughly versed in the Holy Scriptures. Like Zechariah, Simeon, Anna, and others, Mary was looking forward to God’s redemption of Israel. So when she heard Elizabeth’s greeting, she was filled with the Holy Spirit and Scripture came pouring out of her heart.
Mary praised the Lord from the depth of her being, and it is a great witness to us of the power of praise!
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