The Magnificat: Mary's Song of Praise

A Song Full of God's Word

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Mary's song in Luke 1:46-55 is one of the best-loved songs in the Bible. Christians often call it the Magnificat (say: mag-NIF-ih-kat). That is the Latin word for magnifies, the first word of the song in Latin.

Magnify. Mary sang, “My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46-47). A magnifying glass makes small things look big. Mary wanted everyone to see how big God is.

A young woman who knew her Bible. Mary's song is full of words and ideas from the Old Testament. She had learned God's Word, and when her heart was full, God's Word came out in a song.

Hannah's song. Long before Mary, a woman named Hannah prayed for a baby, and God gave her Samuel. Hannah sang that her heart rejoiced in the Lord. She sang that God brings the proud low and lifts the poor out of the dust (1 Samuel 2:1-8). Mary sang about the very same God.

Holy is His name. A psalm says, “He has sent redemption to His people… Holy and awesome is His name” (Psalm 111:9). Mary sang, “And holy is His name” (Luke 1:49).

His holy arm. Another psalm says, “His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory” (Psalm 98:1). Mary sang, “He has shown strength with His arm” (Luke 1:51).

Mercy that lasts. “The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy” (Psalm 103:8). Mary sang that His mercy goes on “From generation to generation” (Luke 1:50).

An old promise. God told Abraham, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). Mary ended her song with that promise: “As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever” (Luke 1:55).

Kept in her heart. “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:11). Years later Luke wrote that Jesus' “mother kept all these things in her heart” (Luke 2:51).

Songs from the Word. Paul told Christians to sing with God's Word inside them: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly… singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16).

A new song. David wrote, “He has put a new song in my mouth— Praise to our God” (Psalm 40:3). God gave Mary a new song, made from old and trusted words.

Why Mary sang. Mary did not sing because life was easy. She was young and poor, and hard days were ahead. She sang because God had done great things and kept His promises.

What we learn. The more of God's Word we know, the more we can praise Him with it. Praise is not about finding fancy words. It is about telling the truth about God.

What to do. This week, read Luke 1:46-55 out loud each day. Each time, find one word that tells you something about God, and thank Him for it.

Mary's song (Luke 1:46-55) is called the Magnificat (say: mag-NIF-ih-kat), from the first word of the Latin translation of “My soul magnifies the Lord.” It is a song built almost entirely from Old Testament words and themes.

Hebrew poetry. The song moves in pairs of lines that echo each other: soul and spirit, magnifies and rejoiced (1:46-47). This is the pattern of the Psalms.

Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1-10). Hannah's prayer after Samuel's birth is the closest Old Testament match. Both women rejoice in God's salvation and praise His holiness. Both sing that the Lord brings low and lifts up, feeds the hungry and humbles the proud.

Psalm 111:9. “He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: Holy and awesome is His name.” Mary's “holy is His name” (1:49) and “He has helped His servant Israel” (1:54) gather the same truths: holiness, rescue and covenant.

Psalm 98:1. “His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.” The arm of the Lord is Old Testament language for God acting in power to save His people. Mary sings that God “has shown strength with His arm” (1:51).

Mercy (1:50, 54). The Greek eleos (say: EL-eh-os), mercy, often stands for the Hebrew hesed (say: KHEH-sed), God's loyal love to His covenant people. Psalm 103:8 says the Lord is “abounding in mercy.”

Genesis 12:3. The song ends with Abraham (1:55). God's promise that “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” was about to be kept through Mary's Son.

Past tense for the future. Mary sings that God “has scattered,” “has put down” and “has filled” (1:51-53). Many of these things had not yet happened. She speaks of them as done, because God's promise is as sure as a finished fact.

The Word in Mary's heart. Luke 2:51 says, “His mother kept all these things in her heart.” Mary stored up God's words and works. Psalm 119:11 shows why that matters: “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.”

God at the Center. Mary calls God “my Savior” (1:47). All generations call her blessed (1:48) because of what God did for her. The right way to honor Mary is to thank God for His grace to her and to trust her Son.

Songs in the church. Christians have sung Mary's song for centuries. Colossians 3:16 calls believers to sing “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” with the word of Christ living in them richly.

Heart and mind. Mary's worship was full of feeling (“my spirit has rejoiced”) and full of truth at the same time. Good worship needs both: a full heart and a mind full of God's Word.

Application. Choose Psalm 98, 103 or 111 this week and read it beside Luke 1:46-55. Write down every idea they share. Then write your own short prayer of praise using God's own words.

God Lifts Up the Lowly

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Mary's song turns the world upside down. The people the world looks up to are brought down. Those the world ignores are lifted up.

The proud scattered. “He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts” (Luke 1:51). Proud people think they do not need God.

Thrones and the lowly. “He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly” (Luke 1:52). Exalted means lifted up high.

Hungry and rich. “He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty” (Luke 1:53). People who know they need God are filled. People who think they have everything go away with nothing.

Mary herself. God “regarded the lowly state of His maidservant” (Luke 1:48). God passed by the palaces and chose a young woman in a small town.

God's way. “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). Humble means you know you need God and you do not act bigger than you are.

In God's time. “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6).

The poor in spirit. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Poor in spirit means knowing you cannot save yourself.

Jesus came lowly. The King of heaven was born to a poor young mother and laid in a manger. “Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Gentle and lowly. Jesus said, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29).

All the way to the cross. “He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).

Lifted highest. “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name” (Philippians 2:9). Jesus went lower than anyone, and God lifted Him higher than anyone.

What we learn. God does not look for impressive people. He looks for humble people who trust Him, and He welcomes anyone who comes to Jesus.

What to do. This week, do one quiet kind thing for someone without telling anyone. Ask God to help you serve the way Jesus did.

The second half of Mary's song (Luke 1:51-55) describes a great reversal. God overturns the world's ranking of people, and He does it through a Baby born in a poor family.

Three verses (1:51-53). The proud scattered (1:51); the mighty brought down and the lowly lifted up (1:52); the hungry filled and the rich sent away (1:53). In each verse God acts against human pride and meets human need.

The imagination of their hearts (1:51). Pride begins inside, in the way people think about themselves. God scatters it, like an army broken up and sent running.

Mary in her own song. The lowly state Mary sang about in 1:48 is the same low place God lifts people up from in 1:52. In Greek the two words come from one family, meaning low or humble. Mary is the first example of her own song.

Who goes away empty? Mary is praising God, not calling for revenge on the rich. The rich who go away empty are people who trust their riches instead of God.

James 4:6. “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” James is quoting Proverbs 3:34.

Matthew 5:3. Jesus' first words in the Sermon on the Mount are “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” The kingdom belongs to people who know they have nothing to offer God but their need.

1 Corinthians 1:27. “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise.” God loves to use the weak and ordinary so that He gets the glory.

Zechariah 9:9. The promised King comes “Lowly and riding on a donkey.” Jesus rode into Jerusalem that way, a King who came in humility.

2 Corinthians 8:9. “Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” Jesus took the lowest place so that we could share His riches.

Philippians 2:5-11. The pattern of Mary's song is the pattern of Jesus' life. He “humbled Himself… even the death of the cross,” and “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him.” He was humbled first and exalted after.

Mark 10:45. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” A ransom is a price paid to set someone free.

Application. Humility is not thinking badly of yourself. It is thinking rightly about God and about others. Look for the person others overlook this week, and serve them in Jesus' name.

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