In this section Luke records the prayers of Mary and the priest, Zacharias.
After Elizabeth stated that the Lord would be the fulfillment of the things which have been spoken, Mary broke out into a song which referred to an amazing number of Old Testament songs that, no doubt, she had learned by singing the Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs of Israel.
Luke 1:46 Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord.
47 My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, (Psalm 103:1)
48 for he has looked at the humble state of his servant. (1 Samuel 1:11)
For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed.
49 For he who is mighty has done great things for me.
Holy is his name. (Psalm 22:3)
50 His mercy is for generations and generations on those who fear him. (Psalm 103:17)
51 He has shown strength with his arm. (Psalm 44:3)
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. (Psalm 89:10)
52 He has put down princes from their thrones,
and has exalted the lowly. (Psalm 103:5)
53 He has filled the hungry with good things. (Psalm 107:9)
He has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has given help to Israel, his servant, that he might remember mercy, (Psalm 98:3)
55 as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and his offspring forever.” (Psalm 105:6-10)
Notice how down to earth Mary is. Many people today unwittingly believe the old Gnostic teaching that the spiritual is pure and good while the physical realm is impure. In fact, Gnosticism is the foundational belief of the transgender movement. Your pure soul or spirit is in the wrong physical body. To find peace you must be true to your spirit, your essence, and discard the impure. But God had created the physical world and called it good. Genesis 1:31 And God revealed to Mary that he would come in the flesh to his physical world. We are created in God’s image both physical and spiritual, body and soul.
To redeem his people Christ will show mercy to the generations of those who fear him. He will exalt the lowly and fill the hungry with good things. But he will scatter the proud in the imagination of their hearts and put down princes from their thrones. As we will see, as strange at it sounded, those that oppose Christ and his kingdom will have no secure future.
Though I only referenced a fraction of the Scriptures referred or alluded to, Mary’s song is a compilation of many of the great works and wonders of God that Israel sang about in their worship of God. Mary’s song of gratitude recounts how God has remained faithful throughout the generations to his Covenant Promise made to Abraham. Just like Mary was catechized by these songs in her youth, we should be singing these Psalms to our children to teach them the wonders and ways of our God.
Compared to the richness and depth of Mary’s understanding of the Scriptures, our modern, so-called, “seeker friendly” churches are shallow, having jettisoned the songs of the faith. Because we have neglected the regular singing of the inspired Psalms, great hymns, and spiritual songs that God has given us in His Word for our instruction, edification, and maturity, the church is in danger of growing anemic. Hebrews 5:14
Luke 1:56 Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her house.
Luke 1:57 Now the time that Elizabeth should give birth was fulfilled, and she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. 59 On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. 60 His mother answered, “Not so; but he will be called John.”
61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” 62 They made signs to his father, what he would have him called.
63 He asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, “His name is John.” They all marveled. 64 His mouth was opened immediately and his tongue freed, and he spoke, blessing God. 65 Fear came on all who lived around them, and all these sayings were talked about throughout all the hill country of Judea. 66 All who heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, “What then will this child be?” The hand of the Lord was with him.
Just as Gabriel had promised, Elizabeth had a son and, contrary to the customs of the day, against everyone’s protests, Zacharias named his son, John. Immediately upon insisting that the child would be named John, Zacharias’ speech was restored, and he spoke blessing God. Seeing these miracles, a child born to an old couple, well beyond child-bearing age, and Zacharias’ praising God after being unable to speak for almost a year, the people of the town were filled with fear. They recognized that the hand of the Lord had directed these events and they wondered; What, then, will this child be?
Luke 1:67 His father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,
68 “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, (Psalm 41:13)
for he has visited and redeemed his people; (Psalm 111:9)
69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, (Psalm 18:2)
70 (as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets who have been from of old), (Ezra 1:1)
71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; (Psalm 106:10)
72 to show mercy toward our fathers, (Psalm 25:6)
to remember his holy covenant, Psalm (105:6-10)
73 the oath which he swore to Abraham our father,
74 to grant to us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, should serve him without fear, (Psalm 59:1)
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. (Psalm 99:5)
76 And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, (Isaiah 40:3)
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins, (Psalm 149:4)
78 because of the tender mercy of our God, (Psalm 25:6)
by which the dawn from on high will visit us, (Psalm 37:6)
79 to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death; (Psalm 23:4)
to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Psalm 119:105)
In answer to the question; What, then, will this child be?
Filled with the Spirit, like Mary, Zacharias prophesied. And like Mary his song of gratitude was filled from beginning to end with references to the Scriptures, and more specifically the Psalms, the songs of God.
God has remembered His holy Covenant, which he swore to Abraham. And as the ancient prophets had foretold, God would send an emissary to Israel to prepare the way for the coming King. The newborn child, John, would grow up to be the prophet that baptized Israel in the Jordan River as he announced the coming of a Savior to the world: The Savior who would offer the remission of sins granting salvationto those living in the darkness of the shadow of death.
Although it might be futile, I will lead this horse one more time to see if it will drink from the living waters. John 7:38 If I hear a few notes of a silly love song from my youth or a few notes from a TV commercial of even a now obsolete product, I am able to sing the whole song or jingle. Imagine the power and confidence the Church could experience if we would once again sing the great psalms and hymns of the faith.
Many in the church are concerned and lament the fact that their children are succumbing to the false ideologies that they are being indoctrinated with both in the schools and the culture. We must face the fact that the church is surrounded on every side by enemies. However, in stark contrast to the Psalms that instruct believers how to withstand and overcome their enemies, the songs that we sing never even speak of these enemies and of their wicked plans. Imagine the reservoir of truth that we could teach our children using God’s lyrics! God gave us the Psalms so that we could learn how to sing and pray like thoroughly equipped warriors in our often crazy and unsettled world.
When barbarians are at the gate, suddenly masculinity is no longer toxic.
(Free Internet Radio, live365.com)
The truth of God overcomes the lies of the world. The truth of God is the only inoculation against the lies of the world.
It is the duty of Christians to praise God publicly, by the singing of Psalms together in the congregation, and also privately in the family… The chief care must be to sing with understanding, and with grace in the heart, making melody to the Lord… That the whole congregation may join herein, everyone is to have a Psalm book.
(Westminster Confession of Faith, The Directory for the Public Worship of God, Of the Singing of Psalms)
From Zacharias’ song it is clear that he was intimately familiar with the songs that God gave to Israel. He sings of God’s salvation, mercy, Covenant, and the remission of sins for, not only Israel, but for all those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death: in other words, the whole world!
Luke 1:80 The child was growing and becoming strong in Spirit, and was in the desert until the day of his public appearance to Israel.
John grew up, becoming strong in the Spirit, as he prepared for his public ministry, calling Israel to repentance.