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A Burst of Praise - Luke 1:46-56

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. (ERV) Full Text

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

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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.


Today's Verses in Context


Mary got up and went quickly to a town in the hill country of Judea. She went into Zechariah's house and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the unborn baby inside Elizabeth jumped. Then Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth said with a loud voice, "God has blessed you (Mary) more than any other woman. And God has blessed the baby which you will give birth to. You are the mother of my Lord, and you have come to me! Why has something so good happened to me? When I heard your voice, the baby inside me jumped with joy. What a blessing is yours because you believed what the Lord (God) said to you! You believed this would happen." 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 1:39-56 (ERV)

 

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Easy-to-Read Version copyright © 2001 by World Bible Translation Center. All rights reserved.

 
What Jesus Did
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Praise the Lord because he is good. Sing praises to our God. It is good and pleasant to praise him. The Lord built Jerusalem. God brought back the Israelite people who were taken as prisoners. God heals their broken hearts and bandages their wounds. God counts the stars and knows the name of each and every one. Our Master is very great. He is very powerful. There is no limit to the things he knows. The Lord supports humble people. But he embarrasses bad people. Thank the Lord. Praise our God with harps. —Psalm 147:1-7 (ERV)

Yes, God's riches are very great! God's wisdom and knowledge have no end! No person can explain the things God decides. No person can understand God's ways. Like the Scripture says, "Who knows the mind of the Lord? Who is able to give God advice?" "Who has ever given God anything? God owes nothing to any person." —Romans 11:33-35 (ERV)

With God's power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or think of. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever. Amen. —Ephesians 3:20-21 (ERV)