Mary Sings Her Praise

December 8, 2013 Background Scripture: Luke 1:46 – 56 Lesson Passage: Luke 1:46 – 56 Sometimes our emotions are too much to express in a conversation. When we attempt to speak, the words spontaneously flow out in a song. This will often happen at the extremes of sorrow and joy. Every child of God should have a song in their heart. It may be a well known song of reflection such as “Amazing Grace” or “Father, I Stretch My Hands to Thee” might come to mind during times of distress. All Christians have experienced divine deliverance and that should elicit an unusual praise from our hearts—whether it is a song of joy or contrition. In our lesson today, joy is the motivation for singing. Mary has just received the greatest news of her life. How could she hold her peace? Still, how could she properly express the joy that was growing in her heart? She decided to sing it in praise to the one who is the source of such joy, the Lord. She sang praises to God with all that was within her. She offered the Lord the sacrifice of praise—that is the fruit of her lips. Out of a sincere heart of gratitude, she praised God for blessing her even in her poverty. Mary understood the ongoing notoriety this blessing would bring her. There was nothing she had done to earn the right to such popularity. This was clearly the grace of God; nothing more and nothing less. Mary basked in her exaltation from a low estate to one of high esteem. She had witnessed God overlooking the proud and bringing down the high and mighty. God had given to those who had nothing and bankrupted those who once had it all. All of this was in character for God. He had demonstrated these actions before. The patriarchs of Israel all testified of these divine acts in the past. God was just being God. Mary’s joy came in that God chose to use her for this divine act. She was not seeking this notoriety for there is no record that she requested it of God. The very news of it was a complete shock to her. There is something special about being used by God. When God calls a preacher with no seminary training to lead his people, we are reminded that He often chooses shepherds and fishermen over doctors and lawyers. This is not to suggest that He doesn’t use doctors and lawyers. Paul put it best when he said “For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:”. We sing praises unto God when He chooses to use us although we realize that we are not qualified for the work or deserving of the honor. God places us in position so that all of the glory goes to Him. And why should this not be the case? He does the work. He merely allows us to be seen and heard by others as agents of His. We should praise Him. I don’t know if I have ever met anyone who appeared to be fully qualified at the time of their calling. There is no wonder many of us spend a great deal of time trying to convince God that He has made a mistake in choosing us. I believe Mary’s response may be the only proper response to a calling of God on one’s life. Knowing that we are not qualified, we should just sing praises unto God. Mary accepted God’s plan for her life and she sang her praise unto Him. Robert C. Hudson November 21, 2013