And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord,
Mary has been visiting Elizabeth, and their meeting ends in a song about God, not about herself. Her opening words make God great. The rest of the song shows what that costs the one who says it.
The song does not appear out of nowhere. It closes a visit where two believers talked together about what God was doing. One writer shows where such talk leads:
What freshness and joy the person of Christ brings into the fellowship of these saints! Souls overflow. Conversation turns into adoration. Those who talk with one another are bound to learn what worship is.
Mary speaks of her soul here, and of her spirit in the next line. One writer separates the two, and explains why she uses the title Lord:
Her soul (the center of her emotions and affections) magnified the Lord, Jehovah. Her spirit (the center of her understanding and intelligence) rejoiced in God her Savior. In verse 46 the title Lord shows her submission to His authority. In verse 47 she worships the supreme God who in grace became her Savior. She knew she was a sinner who needed His salvation, just as we all do.
Mary makes God large by keeping herself small. That is the hinge of the whole song:
She acknowledges God as her Saviour in the grace that has filled her with joy. She also owns her own low place — a picture of the condition of the remnant of Israel. That low place gave God's greatness its opening to act, with full testimony that everything came from Him. Whatever godliness suited the instrument He used — and Mary did have it — she was great only so far as she hid herself. For then God was everything... She would have lost her place by making something of herself, but she did not.
Another writer turns this into a lesson for every reader:
May we all take this blessed lesson to heart. Grace cannot have its full sway in our souls unless we take our true place of nothingness before God.
Many lift Mary far above the place she claims for herself. One writer weighs her own words about being called blessed:
It is remarkable how simply Scripture answered in advance the monstrous unbelief that lowers God as much as it lifts up a human being. Mary had no thought of exaltation. She says, "All generations shall call me blessed," but not a blesser. She was the object of blessing, not the giver or mediator of it. "For the Mighty One has done to me great things; and holy is His name" — not a word of her own. "And His mercy is to generations and generations to them that fear Him" — not to those who pray to or worship me.
Mary did not invent these phrases. One writer names where they came from:
The wonderful burst of praise from Mary's lips beautifully echoes the Old Testament Scriptures. This devout woman knew the Word of God. It filled her heart, and the Holy Spirit used that Word to shape her praise. Her song touches many Psalms, but it reminds us above all of Hannah's inspired song (1 Samuel 2). Notice also Mary's deep humility and her acknowledgment of the need of a Saviour.
What begins with "my soul" does not stay personal. One writer shows how her own mercy opens out into the mercy promised to a nation:
Where the Spirit of God does a real work in the souls of His people, their hearts rise to the source their blessing came from. So with Mary. Her first thought is the Lord who had visited her with such indescribable grace... The mighty action of the Holy Spirit merged her individuality into Israel for the moment, so she rejoices in Israel's God and Saviour. She does speak of herself in the next verse, but even then only as the chosen instrument of the blessing that was coming on Israel.
Writers often compare this song with Hannah's. One marks a difference in timing:
Mary, on the other hand, sees the deliverance as already accomplished — accomplished in the One who was about to be born.
- Small. Mary is great only while she hides herself. Then God is everything. Make something of yourself and you lose your place.
- Saved. She calls God her Saviour, owning herself a sinner who needed His salvation, as we all do.
- Submitted. Calling Him Lord is her surrender to His authority. Her soul's affections and her spirit's understanding move toward Him together.
- Scriptural. Her praise is an echo of the Old Testament she knew by heart — many Psalms, and above all Hannah's song.
- Shared. Generations call her blessed, but never a blesser. She receives the blessing; she does not give it. Her joy widens into Israel's promised mercy.
and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Mary's song rises in two lines, and the second adds a word the first does not have — "my Saviour." That one word shows where her joy came from, and it raises the question of what she knew about herself.
Verses 46 and 47 use two different words for Mary's inner life. One writer gives each word its own meaning.
Her soul (the center of her emotions and affections) magnified the Lord, Jehovah. Her spirit (the center of her understanding and intelligence) rejoiced in God her Saviour. In verse 46 she uses the title Lord, which shows her submission to His authority. In verse 47 she worships the supreme God, who in grace became her Saviour. She knew herself to be a sinner who needed His salvation, just as we all do.
Her whole inner being moves in one direction at once, which is what marks out a heart truly turned toward God.
Do we not see how soul and spirit act in unison in connection with a saint of God, and the aspirations and emotions Godward, lofty and pure?
The word "my" carries the verse. She does not sing of a Saviour for others. She claims One for herself.
We must not omit to notice that Mary spoke of "God my Saviour." Though the mother of our Saviour, she herself found her Saviour in God.
One writer presses this against the claim that Mary was born without sin.
Like all who are taught of God, she recognised her sinful state. She needed a Saviour, and she had found One in God Himself. The immaculate conception is the teaching that the Virgin Mary was born sinless. How can anyone hold it when she herself confessed she was a sinner in finding God as Saviour?
Her joy is not in what she is, but in what God is toward her.
She acknowledges God her Saviour in the grace that has filled her with such joy. At the same time she owns her utter littleness. The instrument God uses may be holy, and Mary was. Even so, she was great only as long as she hid herself, for then God was everything. If she had made something of herself, she would have lost her place. But she did not. God kept her there so that His grace would be fully shown.
The rest of the song keeps her in that place. Her own words rule out any move to make her a giver of blessing.
Mary had no thought of exaltation. She says, "All generations shall call me blessed," but not a blesser. She was the object of blessing, not the giver of it… "And His mercy is to generations and generations to those who fear Him" — not to those who pray to or worship me.
The words are personal, but they are not her own invention. She had filled her mind with Scripture.
The wonderful outburst of praise from Mary's lips is a beautiful echo of the Old Testament Scriptures. The devout Virgin knew the Word of God. Her heart was full of it, and the Holy Spirit used the Word to express her praise. Her song touches many Psalms, and above all it reminds us of Hannah's inspired song (1 Samuel 2).
One writer compares the two songs. Mary's reaches higher, and Hannah's loses nothing.
Hannah begins: "My heart rejoices in the Lord." Mary says: "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." The heart is tied more to earth and the body. The soul and spirit have closer links with heaven and eternity. But this makes the song of Hannah none the less perfect or profitable to us.
One writer reads Mary as speaking for more than herself. Her low estate pictures the condition of a whole people.
She owns her own low estate — a figure of the condition of the remnant of Israel. That low estate gave occasion for God's greatness to step in, with a full testimony that everything came from Himself.
She read her own case as a pattern of how God works.
In the mercy shown to her she saw a pledge. God will finally lift up those who fear Him and scatter the proud and mighty of this world… She had no thought of Israel deserving anything under the covenant of law. Everything depended on the covenant of promise. God was filling the hungry and sending the rich away empty. This is always God's way.
- Lowness — Mary's joy starts where she starts: at her own littleness. She was great only as long as she hid herself and let God be everything.
- Saviour — From that low place she claims God as my Saviour. That is the confession of someone who knows she is a sinner. It is why one writer says this verse disproves the teaching that she was born sinless.
- Whole — Soul and spirit move together toward God. One line submits to His authority. The next worships Him as Saviour.
- Scripture — She voices her joy in borrowed words. Her heart was full of the Psalms and of Hannah's song, and the Spirit used what she already knew.
- Wider — Her case shows God's way: the hungry filled, the rich sent away empty, the lowly lifted. Mercy rests on promise, never on deserving.