come. StLch study will teach ns what to expect, check TiiiwaTraiitable expectations, and encourage ns when cast down. Happy is that man whose mind is well stored with snch knowledge. It will make him patient and hopeful.
Let Tis mark, lastly, the firm grasp which the Virgin Mary had of Bible promises. She ends her hymn of praise by declaring that God has "blessed Israel in remembrance of His mercy," and that He has done " as He spake to onr fathers, to Abraham and his seed for ever." These words show clearly that she remembered the old promise made to Abraham, "In thee shall all nations of the earth be blessed." And it is evident that in the approach- ing birth of her Son she regarded this promise as about to be fulfilled.
Let us learn from this holy woman's example, to lay firm hold on Bible promises. It is of the deepest im- portance to our peace to do so. Promises are, in fact, the manna that we should daily eat, and the water that we should daily drink, as we travel through the wilder- ness of this world. We see not yet all things put under us. We see not Christ, and heaven, and the book of life, and the mansions prepared for us. We walk by faith, and this faith leans on promises. But on those promises we may lean confidently. They will bear all the weight we can lay on them. We shall find one day, like the Virgin Mary, that God keeps His word, and that what He has spoken, so He will always in due time perform.
Notes. Luke I. 46 — 56.
47. — \My Saviour.'] Let us not fail to notice the Virgin Mary's expressions of need of salvation. It would be difficult to find
LTTKE, CHAP. t. TSB. 57 — 66.
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a more complete answer to the Romisli doctrine respecting her, and especially the doctrine of the immaculate conception, than her language in this hymn.
51. — [HU arm.] A remark of Whitby on this expression is worth notice. ** God's great power is represented by His finger, — His greater by His hand, — His greatest by His arm. The produc- tion of lice was by the finger of Goa. Exod. viii. 19 ; — His other miracles in Egypt were wrought by His hand : Exod. iii. 20 ; — the destruction of Pharaoh and his host in the Bed Sea,
. by His arm. Exod. xv. 6."