Magnify the Lord with Me (Part 2)
Luke 1:49-50
In her song of praise, Mary has shown us how to magnify God by treating him as master. Though having a child as a virgin would compromise her social and religious standing, she embraced God's will for her life. The opening lines of her song make this clear. The words that follow highlight another important truth about magnifying God through our lives.
Mary magnified the Lord by fearing him.
Main Thought
As we saw last week, Mary began her song by pronouncing the inexpressible joy of her heart at the news that God has selected her to give birth to Messiah. She expands her magnification by expressing wonder at the thought that God would look on her in her lowly position. Finally, she rounds out this picture by sharing her faith in the prospect of future generations rejoicing with her at the coming of Israel's king. Let's pick up the telescope once again to see how Mary expands it even further.
Mary Magnified God's Attributes
Her words move beyond the realm of earth to the heavenlies. There, we find the source of her praise and the motivation for her song. She speaks of God and his majestic attributes. First, she delights in his strength. He is the mighty one who has done "great things" for her. You can imagine why she calls God mighty. No one else could conceive of such a miraculous thing, that a woman who never had a physical relationship could give birth to a son; but God did. At the announcement of her pregnancy, the angel Gabriel told her, "For with God nothing will be impossible" (Luke 1:37). In the hands of the Almighty, the impossible becomes possible, even a virgin birth. Mary believed that.
She also ascribes holiness to the God who has blessed her with this once-in-a-lifetime privilege. Not only is he holy, but his name is holy. This does imply his total separation from sin and all that is evil and depraved, but holiness should not only be considered in relation to sin. It is a word that means God is completely different from anything else. As a being, he is on a level totally distinct from all other beings; nothing else is like him.
On vacation, my wife and I explored the western part of our country. The rock formations out West are unlike anything you will find in the Northeast, the South, or the Midwest. Nothing we saw on vacation looked like home. Mary saw God as unlike anything else she could describe, yet he looked on her in her desperate state and had mercy.
Mary viewed Yahweh as the mighty and holy God, but she also saw him as accessible. He knows our frail frame, so he condescends to us. In his mercy, he withholds his righteous wrath against us and instead bestows blessing. Mary understood that blessing in its OT context. The word "mercy" that she uses is the Greek word often used for chesed in the Greek translation of the OT, the Septuagint. We studied this word over the summer. It's a difficult one to define, but a good definition is "God's loyal, merciful, faithful, covenant love." Many English translations use the word "lovingkindness."
Our language does not have a great equivalent for the Hebrew term, but as a Jewish girl, Mary understood it in light of Yahweh's unwavering faithfulness to Israel through the centuries. Despite the nation's ceaseless rebellion and idolatry, God remained true to her. Mary grew up in a nation ruled by a foreign empire, but she clung to the covenant loyalty of God to her people. Not only that, but she experienced that covenant loyalty herself. He demonstrated chesed to her by placing in her womb the seed of the God-man, the one who would be born the Savior of the world. We will note later on whom God shows his covenant loyal love to.
Mary Found Inspiration in the OT
We see in this song how Mary exalts three essential characteristics of God. But she did not originate these concepts about him. Rather, she drew from her vast knowledge and deep understanding of the OT Scriptures. Her Jewish ancestors, carried along by the Holy Spirit, thought deeply about the awesome nature of God. They recorded their meditations for God's people to have for all time. Mary benefited from them by adopting the language of the OT that communicates the power, holiness, and loving loyalty of God. By doing so, she shows us that these divine traits are timeless and ever applicable to God's people, no matter their situation.
God displays his power in incredible ways throughout the OT. From the beginning, we see his mighty hand at work in creation, bringing order out of chaos and darkness. As you continue reading in Genesis, you see his power at work in the womb of 90 year-old Sarah to give her a child. In Exodus, you see his power on display against his people's enemies as he not only delivers Israel through the Red Sea, but he also washes away the Egyptian army.
Mary could have drawn from dozens of OT examples and descriptions of God's unlimited power, but it seems likely her inspiration came from the Psalms and the prophets. King David described Yahweh as mighty and the doer of great things in many of his inspired songs and poems. In Psalm 24, he speaks of God's might in the context of describing a victorious king after a major conquest (vv. 8-9). Not only in this messianic psalm, but in the prophets, God declares his power. In the book of Zephaniah, he encourages the nation of Israel with his decisive victory over their enemies (3:17).
OT writers delighted in expressing their worship of Yahweh as the nation's Savior who delivered her from enemies. Mary applied this attribute of God to her situation. She was a poor, single girl from Nazareth. She had no influential family connections to speak of, nor was she marrying into such a family. But God was about to change all that in an incredible display of divine power by giving her a son. The miracle of virgin birth demonstrated his power not just for a sinful world, but also for a young Jewish girl in Nazareth.
Mary also exalted God's holiness, another attribute highlighted in the OT. Like Mary does in her song, many OT passages mention that God's name is holy. His name captures who he is, the essential nature of his person and character. It's difficult to boil down the attributes of God to one central trait, but holy certainly seems to be high on the list in significance.
The Psalms especially emphasize this (95:1-3; 111:9). Taking her cue from her ancestor King David, Mary also blessed the Lord and his holy name (103:1). She acknowledged that the great miracle he had done set him apart from all other gods. His name, person, and character deserve special attention and praise. The writer Luke further underscores this emphasis later in his Gospel when he recorded the Lord's Prayer - "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name" (Luke 11:2). Because God is wholly other in his person and perfections, his name merits the highest accolades. As the maidservant of the Lord, Mary gladly gives him the worship that belongs to him alone.
In verse 50, she also puts the mercy of God on a special pedestal. All of God's attributes deserve praise, but something about his mercy especially captures her eye. Sometimes when we emphasize God's holiness and omnipotence, we can neglect his moral attributes. But his mercy, the OT concept of chesed, provides a powerful contrast. He is both above us and among us. He inhabits eternity, but he also exists in the circumstances we face every day and he has pity on us.
He reserves his covenant faithfulness and love for those who fear him. God's commitments are for his people; that's not unfair or biased, but an expression of his deep, loyal love for the people committed to him. Parents, it is not unfair that you will give presents to your kids this Christmas and not to anyone else's kids. You have a special relationship with your children and you like making them happy. In the same way, God delights in showing his faithful lovingkindness to his people, especially when they respond properly to his covenant.
He made this clear to the children of Israel in the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:5-6). In this verse, God's chesed love tempers his wrath and judgment. As the judge of all the earth, he has every right to bring the consequences of individual sins upon future generations that continue in rebellion against him. This is even true for his covenant people, Israel. But he does not delight in dealing out judgment. Instead, he delights in showing his merciful, covenant loyalty to the Israelites who loved him and observed his commands.
That is what it means to fear God. Often, we associate fearing God with reverencing or respecting him. This is true, but this definition overlooks our all-important responsibility to love God. If we love him, we will keep his commandments (John 14:15). Mary exhibited this attitude. She magnified God's display of chesed love to her, not because she deserved it, but because that is his natural response to his people who fear him. The OT speaks this truth elsewhere (Ps 103:17-18).
It's not hard to imagine as Mary reminisces on her time at Elizabeth's house with Luke, she thought back to when she sang this song of praise. In that song, a flood of passages from the Scriptures fill her memory. One of them is Psalm 103, a song that contrasts man's finite nature and the infinite nature of God's mercies upon his chosen people. His mercies are not a reward for good behavior, but his gracious and expected response to his people when they keep his covenant. Mary was one such Israelite, so she broke out in praise of God's undeserved mercies on her by placing the Light of the World in her womb.
Mary's Example
Mary magnified God by fearing him. She understood what he had done for her, and she gave him praise in return. While our circumstances are different than Mary's, our response should be the same. When God delivers us from a difficult trial, when he provides in a time of need, when our life situation changes for the better, we should magnify him by expressing our gratitude and praise to him.
One way we can do this is by exalting his attributes. We can tell God just how amazing he is. In our prayer lives, we may not do this enough. But this was the pattern for prayer and praise that Mary followed. She filled her song with expressions of worship and adoration. Today, we looked at how she magnified God's power, holiness, and chesed love. When his goodness reached into her life in a special way, what came out were descriptions of God influenced by Scripture.
When God's goodness affects your life, what comes out? Do you give him praise? Is that praise informed by a deep and abiding knowledge of the Scriptures? If you want your private and public worship of God to be rooted in the Word of God, then you must spend regular time in the Word. You must spend regular time in prayer using the language of praise and adoration. You must put your whole heart into corporate worship when we gather for singing. Don't waste those opportunities. Learn new ways, new descriptions, new names, and new attributes that give God the attention he deserves.
If we want to magnify the Lord as Mary did, then we should also fear him like Mary. Remember that he shows mercy as a response to those who love him and keep his word. We don't have a detailed record of Mary's character before her birth announcement. We do know the angel Gabriel called her "highly favored" by God. So, in spite of her difficult socio-economic position, she still maintained a close walk with God. She remained faithful. God took notice of that, so much so that of all the Jewish women in Israel at the time, he chose her to give birth to his Son.
Magnifying God by fearing him is our privilege as his children. We get to make him look good and great before a world that has rebelled against him. Do your actions show the greatness of God? During this pandemic, your circle of friends and family have seen how you responded. Did they see patience and respect for our government, or did they hear endless conspiracy theories and criticisms? During the holiday season, we all will have shopping and hospitality events. Will your family watch as you are sucked into the holiday rush, or will they see you value what truly matters?
This time of year can rob us of the time and energy that we need to reflect on the goodness and glory of our Savior. It can also rob of us of the right motivations, perspectives, and behaviors that we have built and matured in throughout the year. Don't allow that to happen. Instead, like Mary, take time to magnify your God. Adore him for his strength manifested in your life this year. Adore him for his holiness. Adore him for the faithful, covenant-keeping love he shows to you. Respond to him in fear, in love, and in gratitude for all he has done.
