Introduction: I don’t know if I kept my promises or not. When Katrina and I were planning to get married, we decided to write our own marriage vows. I don’t know who ever thought that was a good idea, but it was popular back then. So we labored and labored on those vows. I think they ran for about a page and a half. When it came time for our wedding, we were both so nervous that, in my memory, the pastor had to lead each of us through them word for word—one word at a time. We finally got through them and were married, but later we lost the things—and we could never remember what we had promised. The only thing we could remember—and this will tell you how ridiculous it was—is this: We promised that we would be intellectually stimulating to each other. In all my years of pastoring, I’ve never heard a couple include anything like that in their wedding vows. Intellectually stimulating! That was the only phrase either of us could ever remember, so we tried to keep that one. But all those other promises—we never knew if we kept them or not because we couldn’t remember what we had said.
No such problem with our Lord! He has made hundreds of promises to us; they are all written down; and He will keep every one of them. They are recorded, archived, available, and precious. And He will do just as He promised.
Scripture: Look with me at Luke 1:37: For no word from God will ever fail.
Who said those words? The angel Gabriel! That was the way he ended his message to the Virgin Mary about God’s promised Messiah. Mary traveled to the Judean hill country to visit her relative Elizabeth, and look at what Elizabeth said to her in verse 45: Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her.
And now we come to a famous passage of Scripture that is called the Magnificat, after the Latin words with which the passage begins. In that Latin version that was used throughout much of history, the opening words are:
Magnificat anima mea dominum
Magnify, soul of mine, the Lord
It’s the song or the hymn of the Virgin Mary after she learned she was to be the mother of the Messiah. It’s found in Luke 1:46 through 55, and I’d like to read it with you. It’s quite short:
And Mary said: My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is His name.
His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and His descendants forever, just as He promised our ancestors.
Just as He promised our ancestors! Just as He promised…!
Background: As I read and studied this beautiful little song, I wondered where Mary got all her theology. She was simply an ordinary Jewish girl in a northern village in Israel, and yet she wrote something that sounds like David or Paul or Augustine or Luther. Where did she learn such doctrine?
Well, she certainly knew the story of the Old Testament hero, Hannah, who also had a special story and composed a very similar song. Many writers have compared the song of Mary to the song of Hannah in the Old Testament. So she probably drew insights from there.
But here’s another part of the equation. Mary grew up singing the classic hymns known as the Psalms. She had sung them for nearly two decades and the words were imprinted on her heart. The Jewish people had a hymnbook of 150 Psalms, and over time they memorized most or all of them. Mary had the words and the ideas and the language already in her heart because she had been singing these Psalms all her life. I believe she loved them. I went through the Magnificat phrase by phrase, and I found about fifty different verses in the Psalms that sound very similar to Mary’s words.
This is why when I speak or write on the subject of hymnody and the classic hymns, I talk about the importance of having lifelong lyrics in our heart and minds. We need music that transcends the generations. Well, Mary had the words of these classic ageless songs in her heart and mind, and, along with the model of Hannah’s song, they guided her in the writing of her own song.
Mary’s Magnificat clearly divides into two parts—what the Lord has done for her and what the Lord is doing for us.
1. What the Lord Has Done for Me (Verses 46-49)
In verses 46-49, she says, “Here is what the Lord has done for me.”
And Mary said: My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is His name.
I read over this again and again, and suddenly it dawned on me that these verses apply to me just as much as they do for Mary. They apply to all of God’s children. We glorify and magnify the Lord, and our spirit rejoices. But almighty God in His highest heaven is mindful of us, of our needs, and He blesses us and He does great things for us—Holy is His Name!
Notice the word “mindful.” Sometimes we wonder if the Lord has forgotten us, if we’re too small or too insignificant for Him to notice. Let’s turn over to Psalm 139:16-18. In the New International Version, it says, “How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with You.”
Notice two things about this. First, in the margin of the NIV it offers an alternate reading: “How amazing are Your thoughts concerning me.” God thinks of us constantly, and His thoughts toward us are amazing, and the number of them is greater than all the grains of sand in all the oceans of the world. He is mindful of us.
Second, this is how God thinks of us while we are sleeping. All night long, as we’re asleep, the Lord is thinking about us, and when we awaken He is still thinking of us and present with us. He is mindful of us night and day! He is mindful of you. And He was mindful of Mary.
My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is His name.
2. What the Lord Had Done for You (Verses 50-55)
But now, Mary’s song turns to others. It’s remarkable how quickly she stopped praying for herself and started praying for other people. Notice the next words: His mercy extends…
Mary was saying, “God has been merciful to me, but not just to me. It extends to all those who fear His name from generation to generation.” Look at verse 50:
His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation.
Notice how she uses the phrase “He has” to amplify the fact that in sending Jesus into the world, the Lord has kept the promises He made. Let me read it with that emphasis:
His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but He has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but He has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and His descendants forever, just as He promised our ancestors.
Verse 50 sets the theme for this section: His mercy extends to those who fear Him. To fear the Lord means to respect Him, to stand in awe of Him, and regard Him as the supreme force in our lives. And to know that He has kept and is keeping all His promises to us. Mary lists seven of them. She said:
(1) He Has Performed Mighty Deeds With His Arm
In the Bible, the arm of the Lord is synonymous with His strength. Human arms can be pretty strong. A baseball pitcher can throw a baseball over 100 miles per hour. But the arm of God can fling the stars and planets throughout the universe. A strong man can lift as much as a thousand pounds, but the hand of God can raise the mountains and scoop out the caverns of the sea.
What Mary had in mind here was perhaps the parting of the Red Sea, which was the greatest miracle of the Old Testament. Look at Psalm 77:15-20:
With Your mighty arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. The waters saw you, God, the waters saw you and writhed; the very depths were convulsed. The clouds poured down water, the heavens resounded with thunder; your arrows flashed back and forth. Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind, your lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked. Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waves through your footprints were not seen.
God’s arm reached down into the wilderness and churned up the elements, and with cataclysmic phenomena He parted the waters and made a pathway through the mighty waves, though his footprints were not seen.
This is the same mighty arm that reaches down to help us, to guide us. We don’t always see His footprints, but we feel the whoosh in the air as His arm moves on our behalf.
(2) He Has Scattered Those Who Are Proud
Second He scatters those who are proud. Look at Psalm 89:10: You crushed Rahab (Egypt) like one of the slain; with your strong arm you scattered your enemies.
Think of the enemies we have right now. Not just military enemies. We’re surrounded by people who have a hostile attitude against the biblical worldview that we hold. We have the devil and all his forces against us. And we have other enemies, such as disease and illness and death, which the Bible describes as the last enemy. But He scatters them all.
(3) He Has Brought Down Rulers from Their Thrones
I found at least five similar statements in the Psalms, but the most apparent is Psalm 2:
Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together
Against the Lord and against His anointed, saying,
“Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.”
The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.
He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
“I have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill.”
When Mary composed her song, the most powerful man in the world was the leader of Rome, Caesar Augustus. The ruler of Judea was Herod the Great. Within a short time, both were dead, and Jesus Christ was on His way to becoming the centerpiece of history.
(4) He Has Lifted Up the Humble
Fourth, God lifts up the humble. I’ve found four different cross-references to this in the Psalms, but let’s just look at one—Psalm 25:8-9: Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He instructs sinners in His ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way.
(5) He Has Filled the Hungry with Good Things
Fifth, God has filled the hungry with good things, and with this statement Mark practically quotes the Bible word for word. Look at Psalm 107:8-9: Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
This is about God’s ability to meet our needs, and not to meet them in a grudging way. He fills our lives with good things—with blessings.
(6) He Has Sent the Rich Away Empty
Sixth, Mary said that God had sent the rich away empty. Psalm 49:12 says: “People, despite their wealth, do not endure.”
(7) He Has Helped His Servant
But then Mary sums it all up in this wonderful phrase: He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and His descendants forever, just as He promised our ancestors.
Psalm 146 says: Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.
The Virgin Mary was magnifying God because He was sending a King to the earth who would fix all the problems, correct all the wrongs, judge all the wicked, bless all the humble, and bring about true economic justice, racial justice, legal justice, and moral justice. That process began with His first coming and it will continue with His second.
Mary saw all of this as the fulfillment of the covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the patriarchs of Israel to send them a Redeemer, a Rescuer, a Savior, and a Messiah. Her offspring was going to be the source and the center of all God’s answers to all His promises. And as I looked at this list of seven simple statements, I thought of how Jesus did, in fact, even during His lifetime, fulfill them.
For no word from God will ever fail… Blessed is the one who believes that the Lord will fulfill His promises. He will keep them all—just as He promised.
Conclusion
These are all the things that Christ did. Let’s take them in reverse order.
He helped people. One day Jesus was leading a Bible study in Peter’s house. The place was crowded, standing room only, and there was a crowd around the house. As Jesus taught, there was a commotion over His head, and some men began moving tiles. A stream of sunlight came into the living room, and in a few minutes something else came—or someone else—a paralyzed man being lowered on a mat. He swung down and landed at the feet of Jesus. Just like we sometimes do. Jesus looked down at man and said something very unexpected. “Son, your sins are forgiven.” And then He told him to take up his pallet and walk home on his two legs—which he did as the amazed crowd parted to let him through. The Bible says Jesus went around doing good. He helped people, and He still does.
He also sent the rich away empty. One day a rich man came to Jesus and said, “Good Master, what must I do to have eternal life?” Jesus said, “Give everything away and then come and follow me.” The man wasn’t willing. He came to Jesus thinking he was rich, and he left knowing he was bankrupt in his heart.
On the other hand, our Lord filled the hungry with good things. When He was teaching in Galilee, thousands of people massed in the fields and valleys about the Sea of Galilee, none of them with anything to eat. Jesus took a few bits of food, looked up to Heaven and blessed it, and began breaking it—and with those few loaves and fishes, He filled thousands of people with good things.
He also lifted up the humble. One day in John 8, a woman was dragged before him and accused of sexual immorality. Jesus took it all in, stooped down, and wrote some words on the ground. Perhaps He was writing the first four of the Ten Commandments. He looked at the crowd and said, “You who are sinless among you throw the first stone.” Then he bent down and began writing again. Perhaps he was writing the last six of the Ten Commandments. When He finished He looked up and saw no one there to accuse her. They had all drifted away. He looked at her and said, “Where are those who condemn you? Well, neither do I. Go, and give up your life of sin.”
He also brought rulers down to size. One day some of our Lord’s enemies taunted Him, telling Him that King Herod was going to kill Him. Jesus said, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow and on the third day I will reach my goal.’”
When Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor said, “Don’t you realize I have the power to free you or to crucify you.” Jesus said, “You would have no power over Me at all if it had not been given to you from above.”
Pilate had no answer for that, and he’s gone down in history as the most haunted man of all time.
Our Lord also scattered those who were proud of heart. Do you remember when He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane? It was late and cold and everyone was exhausted. Suddenly Judas Iscariot led a contingent of Roman Soldiers into the garden and identified Jesus. When the soldiers came to arrest him, suddenly they were forced back by an invisible energy field that burst from His very person. The Bible says when Jesus said, “I am He,” they were pushed back and fell to the ground like the Keystone Cops. Well, the Bible doesn’t say like the Keystone Cops, but that’s about what it was. He scattered His enemies, and they were able to eventually arrest Him only because He allowed them.
And finally, He performed mighty deeds with His arms. And no more powerful moment has ever occurred in Heaven or on earth than the moment the strong, bare arms of the Nazarene Carpenter were stretched out horizontally on the crossbeam of Calvary while His hands were spiked to the cross. He died as if reaching out to embrace all of humanity.
And in the death and resurrection of Jesus son of Mary all the promises of God were purchased and redeemed for all His people.
For no word from God will ever fail… Blessed is the one who believes that the Lord will fulfill His promises. He will keep them all—just as He promised.
And so we say:
Magnificat anima mea dominum
O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name forever.