"A WOMAN FILLED WITH PRAISE"
Subject: Adoration
Theme: An Example of adoration in worship
Passage: Lu. 1: 46 - 56
Text: Luke 1: 46* And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
Intro.
Dear Mary, how she was overwhelmed by the events which were swirling around her. You have sometimes felt like that, haven’t you? When all the events happening in your life were coming too fast for you, when you knew God was up to something in your life, but you were uncertain what the next step was, you have felt somewhat overwhelmed.
Just think about this young woman. Hers was not an exceptional life, just a simple daily experience of growing up, of living a life of devotion to God, of falling in love, of being betrothed to Joseph. Then suddenly, unexpectedly, a visit from an angel, with such a shock to her system. The unbelievable news that she had been chosen by God, that she was to bear a child and this child should be the “Son of the highest”, that he should be a king upon the throne of David, one whose kingdom should never end, and that all of this should be accomplished supernaturally by the power of the Holy Spirit. What was she to think? What was she to do?
Well the angel had rather pointed her in a specific direction. Lu 1:36 "Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.”
An idea lodged itself in her heart. She would go to see Elizabeth.
It is interesting that there is no word of her speaking to her mother about the strange prediction. No, it is to Elizabeth, who has also experienced a miracle, the miracle of conception in old age, just as Sarah and Abraham. In fact it is suggested that Zecharias and Elizabeth lived in Hebron, the burial place of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca.
It was a journey of more than 100 km. Even if she took the shortest route, it was perhaps 15 km farther than she later travelled with Joseph on their way to Bethlehem. How did she travel? With whom did she travel? We have no idea. But she arrived and when she entered Elizabeth’s house, she received a surprising confirmation of her own story. 41 “And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” Notice that! And now she spoke, not just out of her own knowledge but as a prophecy of the Spirit of God.
Luke 1:42 “ she spoke out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 "But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 "For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.45 "Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord."
Do you hear that? "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! “ “The mother of my Lord”.
Now bring together these various strands, the angel’s message, the constant pondering during the long journey to see Elizabeth, Elizabeth’s inspired prophecy, and you have the response of Mary, a woman filled with praise.
Praise and worship is a very important part of a Christian’s life. Let’s see what we can learn about praise and worship from this what we call the Magnificat, or the Song of Mary.
1. Praise flows out of a desire to worship God.
46 And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord,
The word for magnify means to enlarge or make great; or to declare to be great; to esteem highly; to extoll; to celebrate.
All our praise springs out of the abundant greatness of God. He is so glorious, so marvellous, so precious.
One cannot make the Lord greater than He is, but one can recognize that greatness, one can exalt that greatness, one can speak out of a spirit overflowing with that greatness. That is what Mary did.
47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
I want you to notice her recognition of her own need of a Saviour. There are those who worship Mary as sinless, even as the mother of God. They have practically deified her, but Mary would be shocked, for she herself had no delusions of grandeur.
Though she was a pure young woman, though she was a chosen young woman, she knew that she herself needed a Saviour. She is full of praise to God for His condescension to use a lowly maidservant like her.
2. Praise grows out of a true understanding of one’s self.
Luke 1:48 “For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.”
a. praise is impossible from a self-centred heart
Mary was not proud or puffed up, even at being chosen by God to be His special instrument for bringing His son into the world. “He has regarded the lowly estate of His maidservant.” she says. Here is no false pride which draws attention to itself even in prayer. Someone has said that “Christ sends none away empty but those who are full of themselves.”
b. praise is impossible from a self-depreciating heart
Mary did not have a low self image. Just as she was not puffing herself up when she spoke about her "lowly estate". She was just being realistic. As Romans 12:3 says: “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” A low self esteem can sometimes be just a form of wounded pride.
c. praise is natural from a heart that has accepted the Lordship of Christ and our own relation to the mighty God.
This is what we desire - a heart which has come to terms with our need of a Saviour and with God’s wonderful loving provision in drawing us to Himself. Have you ever gotten over the grace of God which paid the price of your sin and gave you forgiveness and acceptance? If you haven’t then do you not desire to praise Him, and honour Him and love Him? “We love Him because He first loved us.”
Mary was being quite realistic about herself when she exclaimed “For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.” Isn’t that what we are doing today, 2000 years later? Are we not acknowledging the blessedness of this young woman’s favour with God?
You see, it is out of a humble spirit that exultant praise flows most freely.
3. Praise acknowledges God’s remarkable personality and character
49 “For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. 50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation.”
Notice:
a. He who is mighty.
Ge 17:1 “When Abram was ninety–nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I [am] Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.”
Isaiah 1:24 Therefore the Lord says, The LORD of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, "Ah, I will rid Myself of My adversaries, And take vengeance on My enemies.
“This is the One who has done great things for me,” says Mary. And so says the apostle Paul: Eph 3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,”
b. Holy is His name
Ex 15:11 "Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Isaiah 6:3 “And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!"
Isaiah 57:15 “For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
c. His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation.”
Exodus 34:6 “And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,
Exodus 34:7 "keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation."
Psalm 103:11 “For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;”
4. Praise looks to God for the correcting of all wrongs in society.
51 He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty.
a. He has shown strength with His arm
Israel never forgot the overthrow of the armies of Egypt at the Red Sea
Exodus 15:6 "Your right hand, O LORD, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces. 7 And in the greatness of Your excellence You have overthrown those who rose against You; You sent forth Your wrath; It consumed them like stubble.”
b. He has scattered the proud
1Samuel 2:3 "Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth, For the LORD [is] the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed.”
c. He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly
1Sa 2:4 "The bows of the mighty men are broken, and those who stumbled are girded with strength.”
d, He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty
Ps 107:9 “For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness.”
5. Praise remembers God’s faithfulness to Israel
Luke 1:54 “He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy,
55 As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever."
As Christians, we too look back to the promises to Abraham and to Israel, for our salvation comes from Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham.
Psalm 98:3 “He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”
Zechariah 9:9 "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He [is] just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.”
By now, you will realize that this song is almost entirely composed of scripture
I find this rather surprising, because the common people did not have the scriptures in their own homes. They did not have a Bible in their own hands. They heard the Word of God read in the synagogue, which shows how intently Mary must have listened to the reading of the scriptures. Her soul must have soaked up the scriptures like a sponge. One set of scriptures she was obviously familiar with was the prayer of Hannah. If you have read 1 Samuel, you have read of Hannah’s barrenness and her prayer to God for a son. Then when Samuel was born she went back to the tabernacle 1 Samuel 2:1 “And Hannah prayed and said: "My heart rejoices in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD. I smile at my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation. 2 "No one is holy like the LORD, For there is none besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God. 3 "Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth, For the LRD is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed. 4 "The bows of the mighty men are broken, And those who stumbled are girded with strength.”
Conclusion:
Now let’s recap what we have learned from Mary’s prayer.
1. Praise flows out of a desire to worship God.
2. Praise grows out of a true understanding of one’s self.
a. praise is impossible from a self-centred heart
b. praise is impossible from a self-depreciating heart
c. praise is natural from a heart that has accepted the Lordship of Christ and our own relation to the mighty God.
3. Praise acknowledges God’s remarkable personality and character
a. He who is mighty.
b. Holy is His name
c. His mercy is on those who fear Him
4. Praise looks to God for the correcting of all wrongs in society.
5. Praise remembers God’s faithfulness to Israel
So we remember that praise is all about the adoration of God and that adoration springs out of a truly submissive heart.
This is an important lesson for us as Christians and as Baptists, for I find that we are not at all good at praise and adoration. When we pray, so much of our prayer is just asking for help, asking for someone who is ill. God wants us to present our petition to Him, and He delights to answer, but we need to learn more about the blessing of just praising and adoring Him for His might, for His holiness, for His mercy, for His grace, for the privilege of being used by Him.
Luke 1:56 “And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her house.” There Joseph took Mary and sheltered her until the call for the census that led them to Bethlehem and the birth of her child.
Truly she was a woman filled with praise. May we learn from her example.
