EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
3/14/2026 8:12 PM
My
Worship Time
Focus: PT-1
“The Reasons For Worship”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Luke
1:48b-55
Message of the verses: “For behold, from now on all
generations will call me blessed; 49 for
he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is for those who fear him from
generation to generation. 51 He has
shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of
their hearts; 52 he has brought down the
mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and
the rich he has sent away empty. 54 He
has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to
his offspring forever.’” (ESV)
John MacArthur begins this section
by stating “Three reasons or motives for Mary’s praise emerge from her
magnificent hymn.”
The first thing we see is that Mary
was motivated first because the Mighty One had done great things for her
as seen in Luke 1:30-35, things so staggering and wonderful that all succeeding
generations would count her blessed.
Luke 1:30-35
“30 And the angel said to her, "Do not be
afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and
bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of
the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father
David, 33 and he will reign over the
house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." 34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be,
since I am a virgin?” 35 And the angel
answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the
Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called
holy—the Son of God.” (ESV)
To be the
mother of the Messiah was an honor greater than any bestowed on any woman
before or since. And, as we noted above,
the reality that she, and unworthy sinner, saved only by the grace of God could
also bear the Son of God prompted Mary’s worship. I realize that it would be hard to put
yourself in Mary’s shoes or sandals, especially if you are a man, but even if
you are a woman it would be hard to put yourself in her thinking, but as we
read more of what she said to Elizabeth we can see that God surely called Mary
to have this great honor, to be the mother of the Messiah. That the One whose name is holy would
condescend to save wretched sinners will be the theme of believers’ worship
throughout eternity (cf. Revelation 5:9).
(cf. Revelation 5:9)
“9 And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy
are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by
your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people
and nation,”
MacArthur writes “Mary’s praise went beyond herself to
embrace all that God would do for others in the future. Once again demonstrating her familiarity with
the Old Testament, she quoted Psalm 103:17: “And His mercy is upon
generation after generation toward those who fear Him.’ She praised God for the common salvation
(cf. Jude 3) offered to all who fear Him—the saved, who are filled with
a deep reverent regard for the person and will of God and are committed to
glorifying Him.”
(cf. Jude 3)
“3 ¶ Beloved, although I was very eager to write to
you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you
to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”
“The final section of Mary’s hymn
recounts what God had done for His people in the past (cf. the seven aorist
tense verbs in vv. 51-54). Consistent
with Jewish worship, which not only recited God’s attributes, but also
recounted His mighty deeds, Mary praised Him for what He had done for
Israel. As she did so, she noted first
that God had scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. Perhaps she had in mind Pharaoh’s arrogance
(Ex. 5:2) and Gods subsequent destruction of his army and deliverance of His
people (Ex. 15:1-21). Mary may also have
been thinking of Nebuchadnezzar, who when his heart was lifted up and his
spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly. He was deposed from his
royal throne, and his glory was taken away from him” (Dan. 5:20). Afterwards the thoroughly chastened king
acknowledged that the Lord ‘is able to humble those who walk in pride’ (Dan.
4:37). God had also brought down
rulers from their thrones (perhaps a reference to the Canaanite rulers
Ezek. 21:25-26]) and exalted those who were humble (cf. 14:11; 18:14;
Gen. 45:26; 1 Sam. 2:6-8; Job 5:11; Pss. 78:70-71; 113:7-8). In his mercy and grace, God filled the hungry
with good things (cf. Pss. 34:10; 107:8-9; 146:7); in judgment He sent
away the rich empty-handed (cf. 6:24; 18:24-25).
“Mary’s overview of Israel’s history
reveals that God repeatedly overturned the normal order, illustrating the truth
He expressed in Isaiah 55:8-9: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your
thoughts.’’ Throughout the nation’s history, He gave help to Israel His
servant (cf. 1:71; Pss. 98:3; 106:10) because of His mercy (v. 72; Isa.
63:9; Jer. 31:20; 33:25-26; Ezek. 39:25).
Mary viewed all of redemptive history as the
outworking of the covenant which He spoke to
the fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever (Gen.
12:1-3; Ex. 2:24; Lev. 26:42: 2 Kings 13:23; 1 Chron. 16:14-16; Ps. 105:9; Acts
3:25). The salvation promised in that
covenant would be clarified in the new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34) and would be
ratified through the death of the very child she carried in her womb. For it is only through the sacrificial death
of the Lord Jesus Christ that all the sins of the redeemed—past, present, and
future—are atoned for (Matt. 20:28; John 10:15; Rom. 3:24-26; Gal. 3:13; Eph.
1:7; 5:2; 1 Tim. 2:6; Titus 2:14; Heb. 7:27; 9:26; 28; 10:12; 1 Peter 1:18-19;
2:24; 3:18; Rev. 1:5). That covenant
reality forms a fitting conclusion to Mary’s hymn of praise.”
I would think that many of those who
read this SD have read this story from the gospel of Luke many, many times and
if that is the case think about what these verses are saying, think of how God
would take care of those who are His by sending His One and Only Son to come to
earth through the virgin birth of Mary in order to grow up, walk among those in
Israel, suffer, die and be resurrected for all those who have come to Him by grace
through faith. This is the most
important birth that ever has or will be on planet earth, the birth of the God-man,
Jesus Christ.
Now if the things in this SD are new
to you and you want to know more about how a person can become a born-again
believer then just read ahead. First of
all realize that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and the
reason for this is because our first mother and father who were made perfect
when God created them failed to keep the one commandment that He gave to
them. Don’t eat of the tree of good and
knowledge. Satan tempted them, they fell
and since then every person born on planet earth with the exception of Jesus
Christ were born sinners. Ok confess
that you are a sinner, then realize that there is nothing on your own you can
do to have a right relationship with God.
But the good news of the gospel is that Jesus Christ took your place as
He died on the cross in your place, so thank Jesus for doing this for you
and invite Him into your heart to lead
and guide you forever and He will do that because He loves to hear that kind of
prayer.
3/14/2026
9:08 PM
No comments:
Post a Comment