What Jesus Did! 'A Burst of Praise' — Luke 1:46-56

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Then Mary said, "I praise the Lord (God) with all my heart. I am very happy because God is my Savior. I am not important. But God has shown his care for me, his servant girl. From now on, all people will say that I am blessed, because the Powerful One (God) has done great things for me. His name is very holy. God always gives mercy to those people that worship him. God reached out his arm and showed his power: He scattered those people that are proud and think great things about themselves. God brought down rulers from their thrones, and he raised up the humble people. God filled the hungry people with good things, but he sent the {selfishly} rich people away with nothing. God has helped Israel—the people he chose to serve him. He did not forget his promise to give us his mercy. God has done what he promised to our ancestors, to Abraham, and to his children forever." Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months. Then Mary went home.
— Luke 1:46-56 NLT
Illustration of Luke 1:46-56 NLT — "I praise the Lord (God) with all my heart.

Key Thought

Two thoughts immediately strike me about Mary's song—known as the Magnificant. First, notice how easily she slips into praise passages from the Old Testament to speak her praise to God! Imagine being that familiar with the language of praise. What a wonderful thing for us to do—to let the language and idiom of praise from the Bible become our own. Second, Mary was probably very young when this happened. We often shoot way too low in our expectations of our children's knowledge of Scripture. So let's be touched by Mary's praise and then let's go take these two principles and turn them loose in our lives and families!

Today's Prayer

O righteous God, my Heavenly Father, forgive me for my inadequate words of praise. Give me a heart that desires to honor you with my life and my words. Through your Spirit, give my mind extraordinary ability to remember and to recall the praise I read in Scripture so that my limited language to express my love to you will be enriched. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Related Scripture Readings

  • Psalm 147:1-7
  • Romans 11:33-35
  • Ephesians 3:20-21

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About This Devotional

What Jesus Did is a one-year devotional guide through the gospels, using one short passage each day and following the Gospel in consecutive order. Each devotional consists of a passage, reflection and a prayer which opens up the day's scripture and shows how it challenges you to live for Jesus.

What Jesus Did! is written by Phil Ware.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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