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“The Magnificat: Mary’s Song of Praise”

I remember beginning my clinical rotation in graduate school; anticipating my first “real” client. I was so nervous and anxious. I admitted to my professor, “I don’t know what I am doing. What if I mess up? Or what if I am no good?” He looked at me with an abundance of kindness in his eyes and said, “You have prepared for this for a long time. You already know what you need to know. Just show up, and God will lead the way.” This reassurance followed me that day, and many years later as I became an expert in my professional field.

In today’s passage in Luke, we observe Mary engaged in a song of praise overflowing with a deep knowledge of the Lord. Mary participated in hymns, following the Psalms of Thanksgiving, Old Testament allusions and quotations, and reciting the covenant promises of God. Mary was so saturated in the Scriptures and truths of God that her rejoicing oozed out of her in the form of praise.

Just as my professor believed I knew what I needed to know for my job, how much more are we to know and seek understanding from the Word of God? When the circumstances of life squeeze us, may praise, and the truths and promises of God we’ve known throughout our life be what ooze forth from us.

• Do you feel saturated in the Word of God? What would your song of praise sound like today?

Prayer: God, empower me to believe and adore you. Prompt me to hide your Word in my heart and praise you always.