Two Songs

As I was reading scripture before Christmas, I sensed God highlighting the Song of Mary, also called the Magnificat, in the first chapter of Luke. I was reading the Tree of Life Version of the Bible, a translation that honors our Hebrew roots, and Mary is referred to as Miriam, her Hebrew name. I immediately thought of another Miriam who sang a song, Moses and Aaron’s sister who sang after the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea, which saved the Israelites from Pharaoh and his army in Exodus 15:21. She sang, “Sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted! The horse and his rider He has thrown into the sea.” Mary’s song in Luke 1:46-55 comes from her response to her cousin Elizabeth’s Spirit-filled declaration that Mary is “blessed among women.” Mary, like Miriam in Exodus, says, “He has brought down rulers from thrones, and exalted humble ones.” (v. 52) God’s theme of exalting the humble—be they slaves in a foreign land, or a young, poor, Jewish girl in a country ruled by foreigners—as He brings down the proud, reverberates down through the centuries in these two songs. He provides the way out of slavery. He employs a people, and then a young girl, to bring His freedom to the world. That kind of love and favor evoke a joyful, Spirit-filled response to the One who so freely gives. Each of our stories is both a corporate (the church) story and a personal one of being rescued out of slavery. He has rescued us both collectively as a people and personally as individuals. 

What “ruler”—what form of slavery—does He want to rescue you from? Take a moment to ask Him, “What form of slavery are you delivering me from?” Take another moment to speak out, or even better, sing out, your response to Him, your own Magnificat.