Magnificat
5 min read
46 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”Luke 1:46-55
This song of praise has traditionally been called “The Magnificat,” because the Latin translation of this song begins, “Magnificat anima mea Dominum” (As if I know Latin! You can Google it! :)). And so some translations of the song begin, “My soul magnifies the Lord.”
That is what it means to glorify the Lord. It means to “magnify” the presence and the attributes of God. Of course, using the metaphor of magnification, we do not magnify God to enlarge Him. God is so large, we cannot comprehend the fullness of His being. And so, by magnifying the Lord, we make sense of His glory and draw closer to His presence.
It’s more like looking through a telescope to magnify the universe than it is like looking through a microscope to magnify cells. When we praise God, we magnify God. And we magnify God by telescoping the things that He has done for us.
Many people (maybe even some Christians?) don’t really experience the things that God does for them. And that is because they rarely (if ever) operate in a mode called “humble state.”
Their lives never really demonstrate fear of the Lord. They are proud in their inmost thoughts, and so their lives are “scattered” away from the path of God. They wander daily from the purposes of God and the ways of God. Their lives fit in perfectly with the ways of the world, and so in worldly terms they are called “successful.” But in the end, and sometimes in this life, their ways lead only to abject failure.
But it is the needy who need God. It is the needy whom God rescues. It is the needy to whom God is merciful. It is the needy who experience the glory of God. And so our souls magnify the Lord, and our spirits rejoice in God our Savior.
Father, We sing this song with Mary today. May You be magnified in my life and the life of every person and family in GCC Canvas. You have done great things for us. And You have done the greatest thing of all for us in Christ Jesus. We celebrate His birth and magnify You. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
