Two Women Who Teach Us About Worship
Luke 1:39-56
Yesterday we celebrated Christmas. I hope that this holiday was more than just a merry time of exchanging presents, filling our bellies with good food, and enjoying family. Christmas is for worship. Christmas is for worship because it is a marvelous work of God in our world. In fact, it is God graciously breaking into our world to become one with us in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. So, the proper response is worship, to magnify God by rejoicing in Christ our Savior and Lord.
When the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:26) told the young virgin Mary that she was going to have a child who would be the Son of God and who would reign over the house of Jacob forever (Luke 1:31-33), she said, “How can this be?” Gabriel answered her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her so that the child’s conception would be divine (Luke 1:35). And then he gave Mary the added confirmation that nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37) by telling her that her kinswoman Elizabeth who was old and barren was also pregnant (Luke 1:38).
So next in Luke’s account we read (Luke 1:39-45):
39 Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, 40 and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 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. 42 Then 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.”
The angel had told Zechariah in Luke 1:15 that his son John would be filled with the Spirit even from his mother’s womb. That is, the Spirit of God would exercise a unique control on this man from the time he is in his mother’s womb until he completes his ministry as a grown man. Now Luke records evidence of this: Mary approaches Elizabeth, carrying the Son of God in her womb, and baby John in the womb of Elizabeth gives her a great kick. Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaims that her child is leaping for joy. The Holy Spirit has helped him before he can even speak to bear witness to the Lord.
That’s all the confirmation Mary needs. She sees clearly a most remarkable thing about God: He is about to change the course of all human history. The promised Messiah is coming into the world. God will save His people. And how does God initiate it? By visiting two obscure, humble women—one old and barren, one young and a virgin. And Mary is so moved by this vision of God, the lover of the lowly, that she breaks out in song—a song that has come to be known as the Magnificat.[1] (This title comes from the Latin translation of Mary’s first word in Luke 1:46, “magnifies”).
Mary and Elizabeth are wonderful examples of people of worship God. The worship of both of these women is such that they are models for all true disciples of our Lord. Let’s take some lessons about worship today from the example of these godly women.
1. Worship begins with faith
Elizabeth said to Mary (Luke 1:45), “Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.” Elizabeth recognized the faith of Mary to believe the promise God gave to her that she would give birth to the Messiah, the Son of God. And Elizabeth also expressed her own faith that God would fulfill what He had promised. Rather than the doubt that her husband Zacharias had displayed when Gabriel told him that Elizabeth would have a son in her old age, she has believed.
You cannot truly worship God apart from saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. To come to church and sings the songs, pray the prayers, hear the sermon, partake in the Lord’s supper without personal faith in Jesus as your Lord and Savior is empty ritualism. It is worse than useless, it is hopeless. The scripture says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Heb. 11:6).
2. Worship is from an attitude of humility
Luke highlights the lowliness and joyful humility of Elizabeth and Mary. Elizabeth says (Luke 1:43): ” But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” And Mary says (Luke 1:48): ” For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant.” The only people whose soul can truly magnify the Lord are people like Elizabeth and Mary—people who acknowledge their lowly estate and are overwhelmed by the condescension of the magnificent God.
Both Elizabeth and Mary have a big view of God and a small view of themselves. True godly humility does not come from thinking less of ourselves, it comes from thinking more of God. Mary’s first word of praise was “magnifies.” It means to make great or declare to be great. Worship is declaring the greatness of God, praising Him for His magnificence. As Calvin explains in the Institutes (1.1.2),
It is certain that man never achieves a clear knowledge of himself unless he has first looked upon God’s face, and then descends from contemplating him to scrutinize himself. For we always seem to ourselves righteous and upright and wise and holy—this pride is innate in all of us—unless by clear proofs we stand convinced of our own unrighteousness, foulness, folly, and impurity. Moreover, we are not thus convinced if we look merely to ourselves and not also to the Lord, who is the sole standard by which this judgment must be measured.
The more we see how great God is, the more we will sense our own sinfulness, which will lead us to magnify all the more His abundant mercy toward us in Christ. By the way, an attitude of humility will also bring an attitude of joy. Mary rejoices; her praise is filled with joy in the Lord.
3. Worship is grounded in scripture
One of the things that strikes me I hear the words of Mary’s praise is how filled with Scripture they are. Listen to them:
46 And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. 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. 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. 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.”
In her praise you can recognize allusions to Psalm 103, Psalm 22, Psalm 147, Psalm 98, Psalm 107, and Job 12. She alludes to the promises of God to Abraham in Genesis. She references God’s servant Israel, not just Jacob of Genesis, but the suffering servant who represented Israel in Isaiah. This song of Mary is chocked full of scripture. Most clearly we hear echoes of the song of Hannah from 1 Samuel 2 that we read earlier in our worship service.
Did you hear the parallel expressions and ideas? For example:
Hannah says, “My heart rejoices in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD” (1 Sam. 2:1); Mary says, “My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46-47). Hannah prays, “No one is holy like the LORD” (1 Sam 2:2); and Mary says, “And holy is His name” (Luke 1:49). Hannah says, “The bows of the mighty men are broken, And those who stumbled are girded with strength” (1 Sam. 2:4); Mary declares, “He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly” (Luke 1:52). Hannah says, “Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, And the hungry have ceased to hunger” (1 Sam. 2:5); and Mary sings, “He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty” (Luke 1:53).
The parallels are obvious, but they are not word for word. Neither Mary nor Luke is quoting the Old Testament. Instead, Mary appears to be so steeped in Scripture that when she breaks out in praise, the words that come naturally to her lips are the words of Scripture. Being a young woman, she probably loved the stories of the Old Testament women of faith like Sarah, Deborah, Hannah, Ruth, and Abigail.[2]
J.C. Ryle says about her: “She gives expression with her lips to what has been treasured in her heart; and what has been treasured in her heart is God’s word, the Holy Scripture.”[3] When you pray and when you praise, are your words saturated with the word of God? One of the best ways to pray is to pray through God’s word. One of the best ways to praise is to fill your praise with God’s word. Read God’s word, study it, memorize it, meditate on it and then your worship will be filled with God’s word.
4. Worship celebrates who God is
Mary’s hymn is brimming with information about who God is, the attributes of God. But it is not cold, academic information. Mary is extolling God as she considers what He has done in choosing her to be the mother of the Savior. She calls Him “God my Savior” (Luke 1:47), which implies that Mary knew she was a sinner; none but sinners need a Savior.[4] Mary explicitly shows God’s power when she says “For He who is mighty has done great things for me” (Luke 1:49) and “He has shown strength with His arm” (Luke 1:51). Mary praises the Lord saying “And holy is His name” (Luke 1:49). God’s name refers to His person, the sum of His attributes. To be holy means to be set apart.
But the attribute of God that comes out most clearly in Mary’s praise is God’s mercy. She says, “And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation” (Luke 1:50) and “He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy” (Luke 1:54). God’s mercy and His grace are close in meaning, both emphasizing His undeserved favor. But mercy has the connotation of God’s compassion due to our miserable condition.
5. Worship proclaims the gospel
Did you notice that this song is all about the gospel? This song has nothing in it about what we do. This song of praise has nothing in it about what we do to save ourselves. This song is all about what God has done for the salvation of His people. We have a word for: gospel.
Mary is singing about the gospel here. She’s excited about the gospel; she is seeing the gospel unfold before her very eyes, and her response is to praise God for it and to believe in it. And in doing that she reminds us that the Christian life is based on the gospel, the good news of what God has done in His grace to save us from our sin. And she reminds us that if we’re going to live the Christian life, we need to know the gospel and believe the gospel, and then live out the gospel.[5]
D. L. Moody said, “Christ sends none away empty but those who are full of themselves.”[6] In the book of Revelation, the Lord Jesus writes to the church at Laodicea, a church that professed to belong to Christ. Things seemed to be going fairly well in that church, from their perspective. They said, “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing” (Rev. 3:17). God’s saw them as they really were: “you … do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” (Rev. 3:17). The Lord told them to repent. He said to that church, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20).
The offer still stands. If you will repent of your sin and cry out to Jesus Christ to save you, God will graciously pour out His mercy on you. Then you will be able to sing Mary’s song, “My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.”
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[1] I adapted this introduction from John Piper’s message (Piper, John, Meditation on the Magnificent, https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/meditation-on-the-magnificent)
[2] Piper.
[3] Quoted by Duncan, Ligon, https://fpcjackson.org/resource-library/sermons/mary-on-the-christian-life/
[4] I adapted this section from: Cole, Steven, https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-5-glorifying-god-mercy-and-judgment-luke-146-56
[5] Duncan.
[6] Quoted in Cole.
