Today we have another devotional from Ann Schwarm. She wrote yesterdays as well. All I can think after reading todays is… How do I express praise?
Daily Scripture Reading: Luke 1: 46-56
Mary’s Song - Magnificat
Mary! She was young, very young according to some scholars. She was away from home for an extended period of time by our standards, staying for three months with Elizabeth. And…she was pregnant. Joseph, her intended, learning about the pregnancy, decided to break off the relationship quietly so as not to bring Mary any additional shame, that was until an angel’s decree changed his plans.
Imagine what Mary must have been feeling and thinking. Imagine what you might have been thinking and feeling if you had been her. Fear? Loneliness? Doubt? At least a bit of uncertainty? These are all logical responses to the situation in which young Mary finds herself.
Her reaction and response to her God, however, are quite different.
“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior….” Praise! Through Mary’s Song, The Magnificat, we recognize that she not only felt trust, love and praise for her God, but that she was willing to verbalize that belief for others to hear. Mary’s Song is Mary’s testimony.
How is it that this young, uneducated and most likely illiterate Mary was able to choose praise at the most critical moment in her life and most important point in the course of human history? I believe that while she may not have been able to read the Hebrew scriptures, she knew them by heart, having internalized them, ponder them, prayed them back to the God she loved. Words of The Magnificat were words she had heard before at synagogue in Miriam’s song (Exodus 15:21) and Hannah’s Song (1 Samuel 2:1-10). Mary’s Song includes words of praise like what we find in the Psalms of David. Mary was ready for this moment and all that were to follow because she knew the Word of God.
The Magnificat is perhaps one of the most beautifully written passages in the Bible. Let’s go beyond admiring the beauty of Mary’s Song and let it instruct us to be like Mary, to be ready for our life changing moments by knowing and loving God’s Word.
Questions:
What line or phrase from The Magnificat means the most to you?
How will you use that portion of Mary’s Song to influence how you experience Advent?
How has your image of Mary changed by reading Mary’s Song which is her reaction to her circumstances?
Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord, Thank you for choosing Mary to be the mother of Jesus. Let the beautiful words of her song remind me to praise you in all circumstances, even those I may not fully understand at the time. Help me to think deeply about those you chose to be part of this historical moment in time, especially Mary and Joseph. In Christ’s name I pray. Amen
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