MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/12/2026
10:11 AM
My
Worship Time Focus: PT -1Intro to “Mary’s Praise”
Bible
Reading & Meditation
Reference: Luke 1:46-55
Message of the verses: “46 And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the
Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God
my Savior, 48 for he has looked on the
humble estate of his servant. 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)
In today’s morning SD I will begin to quote from John
MacArthur’s introduction to the verses above, and as I looked at this
introduction I believe that it will take at least two SD’s to complete the
introduction.
“Here is a rich offering of praise
from Mary. It is remarkable for its
theology and use of the Old Testament.
She was a young girl, perhaps about thirteen years old who, like all the
people of her day, had no personal copy of the Scriptures. Her familiarity with the Word of God must
have come from hearing it read regularly in the synagogue (cf. 4:16). “16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been
brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day,
and he stood up to read.” “It
settled in her heart and was readily on her mind when she opened her mouth in
worshipful praise. What a benediction it
would be for the church today if the young could be so biblically literate and
devout.
“The New Testament ultimately
stresses the priority of worship. To Satan’s
blasphemous temptation to worship him, Jesus replied, ‘God Satan! For it is
written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only’’ (Matt.
4:10). Hebrews 10:24-25 urges
believers to come together to ‘stimulate one another to love and good deeds,’
since they, ‘as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house
for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God
through Jesus Christ’ (1 Peter 2:5).’
Because God created them to worship Him, all people
are inherently worshipers. The object of
one’s worship determines his or her eternal destiny. The Old Testament condemns idolatry, that is,
the worship of anyone other than the true God (e.g., Ex. 20:3, 23; 34:14; Pss.
81:9; 106:35-36), and makes it clear that it was Israel’s persistent idolatry
(e.g., Judges 2:12-13, 17, 19; 3:5-7; 10:6; 1 Kings 15:12; 16:13; 21:25-26) that
eventually led to the nation’s destruction and captivity (cf. 2 Kings 17:6-12;
21:11-14). The New Testament reveals idolatry
to be the inevitable response of those who deny the true God (Rom. 1:18-23). But the worship of false deities is not the
only form of idolatry. There are idols
in the heart of even the most hardened atheist, such as acceptance, fame,
health, power, prestige, and wealth among many others.
“Idolatry, however is not limited to
the worship of false gods; it also encompasses attempting to worship the true
God in an unacceptable manner. Moses’s
receiving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai was interrupted by a shocking
display of idolatry:
“The
Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Go down at once, for your people whom you brought up from
Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They
have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have
sacrificed to it and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from
the land of Egypt!’’(Ex. 32:7-8). (NASB)
“The Israelites
were not worshiping a pagan deity, but had reduced the true God to an image—something
God strictly forbids (Deut. 4:14-18).
The result was a threat of deadly judgment (Ex. 32:10) and its execution
(vv. 28-35).
“Instead of following the prescribed
regulations for worship, Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu (probably while drunk;
cf. Lev. 10:9) offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not
commanded them’ (Lev. 10:1). God was
not pleased with their innovative worship, ‘and fire came out from the
presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord’ (v.2).
After anxiously watching the Philistine forces
mustering for battle while his own men were deserting him, Saul finally took
matters into his own hands. Samuel had
instructed the king to wait seven days, until he came to offer sacrifices (1
Samuel 10:8). But when the seven days
were up and Samuel had not appeared, Saul rationalized that the Philistines
will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the
Lord.’ Therefore, usurping the role
of a priest, Saul ‘forced [himself] and offered the burn offering’ (1 Samuel
13:2). That willful failure to
worship God properly was to cost Saul everything:
“Samuel
said to Saul, ‘You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment for
the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for now the Lord would have
established your kingdom over Israel forever.
But now your kingdom shall not endure.
The Lord has sought out for
Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over
His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you’ (vv. 13-14).
(NASB)
“Twenty years after the Philistines returned the ark
of the covenant to Israel (1 Sam. 7:1), David decided to transport it to
Jerusalem. Ignoring God’s instructions on how to carry the ark (it was to be
carried on poles; cf. Num. 4:5-6), the people placed it on an ox cart (2 Samuel
6:3) and celebrated as the ark set out for Jerusalem (v. 5). But the joyous mood was abruptly shattered
when Uzzah ‘reached out toward the ark of God and took hold of it, for the
oxen nearly upset it. And the anger of
the Lord burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down therefor his
irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God’ (vv. 6-7). Uzzah’s seeming reverence for the Lord
was actually a direct violation of His command not to touch the ark on pain of
death (Num 4:15). The drastic
consequence of Uzzah’s disobedience graphically illustrates that God does not
accept any variant or self-styled alteration of His instructions for worship (cf.
Isaiah 1:11-20; Amos 5:21-27; Hos. 6:4-7; Mal. 1:6-14; Matt. 15:1-9; 23:23-28;
Mark 7:6-7).
“The redeemed, on the other hand,
manifest acceptable worship. They are,
according to Philippians 3:3, those who ‘worship in the Spirit of God and
glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh’ (cf. John 4:23). Worship that is acceptable to God has
many elements. In Romans 15:16, Paul
used the language of worship to describe his evangelistic ministry to the lost,
calling himself ‘a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as
a priest the gospel of God, so that [his] offering of the Gentiles may become
acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.’
Leading a ‘tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity’
(1 Tim. 2:2) is also an act of worship, since it is ‘good and acceptable
in the sight of God our Savior’ (v. 3).”
Spiritual
Meaning for my Life today: Idolatry is something that keeps you from
worshiping the Lord in a true sense, and idolatry is something that can be done
far to easily for even true believers, so this is something that needs to be
confessed when it happens.
My Steps
of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to steer me away
from anything that can cause me to commit spiritual adultery.
3/12/2026
11:18 AM
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