46 And Mary said, My soul doth ma^ify the Lord, ^
47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden : for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things ; and holy is his
name.
50 And his mercy is on them that fear 'him from generation to genera- tion.
51 He hath shewed strength with
his arm ; he hath scattered the proud, in the imagination of their hearts.
52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.
54 He hath holpen his servant Is- rael, in remembrance of his mercy ;
55 As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.
56 And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.
These verses contain the Virgin Mary's famons hymn of praise, in the prospect of becoming the " mother of our Lord/' — ^Next to the Lord's Prayer, perhaps, few passa- ges of Scripture are better known than this. Wherever the Church of England Prayer-book is used, this hjrmn forms part of the evening service. And we need not wonder that the compilers of that Prayer-book gave it so prominent a place. I^o words can express more aptly the praise for redeeming mercy which ought to form part of the public worship of every branch of Christ's Church.
Let us mark, firstly, the ^11 acquaintance with Scripture which this hymn exhibits. We are reminded as we read it, of many expressions in the book of Psalms. Above all, we are renunded of the song of Hannah, in the book of Samuel. (1 Sam. ii. 2, &c.) It is evident that the memory
LUKEy CHAP. I. VBK. 46 — 56. 35
of the Blessed Yirgin was stored with Scripture. She was familiar, whether by hearing or by reading, with the Old Testament. And so, when out of ihe abundance of her heart her mouth spoke, she gave Tent to her feelings in Scriptural language. Moved by the Holy Ghost to break forth into praise, she chooses language which the Holy Ghost had already consecrated and used.
Let us strive, every year we live, to become more deeply acquainted with Scripture. Let yxs study it, search into it, dig into it, meditate on it, until it dwell in us richly. (Ooloss. ii. 16.) In particular, let us labour to make ourselves familiar with those parts of the Bible which, like the book of Psalms, describe the experience of the saints of old. We shall find it most helpful to< us in all our ap« preaches to God. It will supply us with the best and most suitable language both for the expression of our wants and thanksgivings. Such knowledge of the Bible can doubt* less never be attained without regular, daily study. But the time spent on such study is never mis-spent. It will bear fruit after many days.
Let us mark, secondly, in this hymn of praise, the Virgin Mart/*a deep humility. She who was chosen of God to the high honour of being Messiah's mother, speaks of her own '' low estate," and acknowledges her need of a ^' Saviour.'' She does not let fall a word to show that she regarded herself as a sinless, ^'inmiaculate" person. On the contrary, she uses the language of one who has been taught by the grace of God to feel her own sins, and so far from being able to save others, requires a Saviour for her own soul. We may safely affirm that none would be more forward to reprove the honour paid
36 EXPOSrtOBT THOUGHTS.
by the Bomish Church to the Yirgin Mary, than <he Virgil Mary herself.
.. Let us copy this holy humility of our Lord's mother, while we stedfastly refiise to regard her as a mediator, or to pray to her. Like her, let us be lowly in our own eyes, and think little of ourselves. Humility is the high- est grace that oan adorn the Christian character. It is a true saying of an old diyine, that '' a man has just so much Christianity as he has humiHty." It is the grace, which of all is most becoming to human nature. Abore all, it is ihe grace which is within the reach of every converted person. All are not rich. All are not learned. All are not highly gifted. All are not inreachers. But all children of God may be dothed with humility.
Let us mark, thirdly, the lively thankfulness of the Virgin Marf/- It stands out prominently in all the early part of her hymn. Her "soul magnifies the Lord.*' Her "spirit rejoices in Gbd.*' "All genarations shall call her blessed." "(Jreat things have been done for her/' We can scarcely enter into the fuU extent of feelings whioh a holy Jewess would experience on finding herself in Mary's position. But we should try to recoUect them as we read her repeated exjHressions of praise.
We too shall do well to walk in Maary's steps in this matter, and cultivate a thankful spirit. It has ever been amarkof Qod'smoat diatbgdahed samte m weryage. David, in the Old Testament, and St. Paul, in the ^ew, fxe remarkable for their tbankfolness. We seldom read inuch of their wriidngs without finding them blessing and praising God- Let us rise from our beds every BAorning with a de^ eonviction that we are debton^ and that