Mary’s song has become universally known as ‘The Magnificat’, for the song begins by magnifying the Lord. So much may be learned of Mary’s character as we listen to her singing. Here we shall see revealed low thoughts of self and high thoughts of God. There is a knowledge of the Lord here, a knowledge of His holiness, His power, His mercy and His grace. Mary will sing of love and of joy, of Jehovah’s faithfulness and of her gratitude to Him.
Mary’s priorities are right. She will first speak of the Lord and of her joy in Him who is both her God and her Saviour. She is ever mindful too of her low estate. She was, after all, but a humble maiden from the despised Nazareth, and the betrothed wife of a carpenter. But Jehovah’s gracious dealings with her had brought her into blessing. In His mercy and in His might He had remembered a lowly maid and had done great things for her. He was a God who hated pride, and who, in His sovereignty, could humble the mighty and exalt the humble. He had satisfied the hungry and turned the rich away empty. Mary knew that from generation to generation He had ever blessed those who feared Him.
Mary then sings of God’s faithfulness to the nation. God had blessed Israel and in His mercy had remembered them. Israel, whether the man or the nation, had been Jehovah’s servant, and Jehovah was a covenant-keeping God, ever true to His word concerning Abraham and his children.
The Magnificat ranks with the greatest of the songs of our Bible. Whether it was Mary’s own composition or not, we cannot tell. Was it extempore? Spontaneous? Or previously composed and learned? No matter. It is as if lifted out of the Book of Psalms, and among the choicest. Here we may learn the character of God and likewise the character of His handmaiden from Nazareth. In truth, Mary was richly blessed, and she appreciated the God who had so blessed her.
Perhaps Mary teaches us how to worship. J N DARBY has defined worship as, ‘The honour and adoration rendered to God for what He is in Himself, and for what He means to those who render it’. How true this is in Mary’s song. As we have said, high thoughts of God, and low thoughts of self.
Yet there is no clue given in our verse as to when this would happen, and which woman would bear the ‘seed’. Eve, just like countless of her descendants, hoped, and maybe even thought, she would be the one, as we see in chapter 4 verses 1 and 25. Per
