Luke 1:46-55

And Mary said:
“ My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed forever.”

I suspect, like the Proverbs, that every line of Mary’s song is rich in meaning. One could easily pick out a verse and ponder over it’s meaning (try it!). Yet, I also suspect that the lines together are forming a story – the human story. It goes something like this:

Mary “magnifies the Lord”.  But why not magnify herself? Because she is in a “lowly state” in need of a “Savior”. Lowly state refers to more than her social and economic conditions, but to her human condition. The selfishness, the incompleteness, the corrupt taint to even the most noble of actions. When you’re proud you suspect everyone except you has this problem, and when you are honest you suspect you have it worst of all. This is human experience.

But the story doesn’t end there. God has “done great things” for the lowly Mary. Not deserving them, this must be described only as “mercy”. While the great things consist of daily blessings large and small, the greatest is the God-child Jesus she is to mother. Somehow, which Luke still needs to explain, His human experience will transform our human experience by revealing God’s fullest “mercy”. This mercy is extended to those who “fear God”. Not the fear that causes one to cower; instead the fear of reverence that causes one to “rejoice”.

But it seems not all are with Mary in experiencing the mercy of God. Notice God “scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts”. The mighty and rich don’t fare well either. Who is this God, extending mercy on some and harshness on others? A later revelation adds insight when God laments that He cannot help His people because they say “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing” and do not realize that they “are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, naked” (Rev. 3:17). Strong language demonstrating God’s awesome desire for us to come to Him with all our needs that He may fulfill them. Recognizing that we are “hungry”, we come to Him and are “filled”. Insisting that we are “rich”, we refuse to let him feed us and remain “empty”.

Does it sound too good to be true? Mary provides a historical example as evidence: the way God took care of “Israel” when they let Him. Deuteronomy records that God carried Israel “as a man carries his son” (Deut. 1:31). But the song's focus isn't just on the past. This same God of “mercy” reigns today and will be true to all the promises He spoke to our spiritual “fathers”.

Have you experienced the truth of this story-song? Then pick up the tune of rejoicing and magnify the Lord for His goodness and mercy.