Luke 1:46-55 And Mary said, My soul does magnify the Lord,… It is worth much just in itself as a Christian hymn. 1. Begin with the poetry of it. It strikes us with wonder in these modern days that a peasant woman of Galilee should be able to chant in so exalted a strain. But we know "a pure heart makes the best psalter." And she was speaking out of the abundance of hers. Yet never was such an occasion, never was such an angelic preparation; never — surely never before — was such a theme! Israel's Messiah was on His way, God was about to manifest Himself on earth in the flesh! 2. Observe also the Israelitish aspect of the song. It would be easy to parallel almost every expression in Mary's poetry by an utterance very similar in the anthems of the temple service. The mechanical structure is not very difficult, for the Hebrew and Syrian languages are easily wrought into rhymeless verses. There is extant now a Gospel in Hebrew; those who can read it are interested in noting the idioms followed here in the Magnificat, The mind of this woman was filled with the old prophets' imagery. Her whole thoughts were tinged with what she had studied and committed to memory. So this song has been exquisitely compared to what might have been expected from "some ideal Puritan maiden," whose mind was so imbued and saturated with the Scriptural forms of expression, that it would fall unconsciously into inspired phrases when she spoke. 3. Then observe the femininity of this song. No one but the queen of her sex could possibly have composed it. Mark the delicacy of turn in the sentences, the mingling of dignity with humility; the majesty, as sublime as Ezekiel's, and the tenderness, more gentle than John's. For this shows the mind and heart of just the one woman whom Elisabeth could call the "Mother of her Lord." (C. S. Robinson, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, |
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