The Portrait of Praise

What a great song of praise. Mary's song is recorded in Luke chapter 1. That will be our topic for this morning because we're going to look at the portrait of praise.

If you have been with us over the last several weeks, we are on a journey called the pathway of praise. It leads us into glory where we spend the rest of our lives praising the king of kings and lord of lords.

And as you travel, we have looked at the privilege of praise and we've looked at the prophet of praise. We've looked at the purpose and priority of praise. We've even looked at the people of praise. Recently, we looked at the person of praise, who it is we are to praise as we journey along this pathway of praise.

But I thought on this Christmas Sunday, we would look at the supreme portrait of praise. There's a picture that's painted for us in the scriptures of many people who give praise and honor to God, but no one quite like Mary, the mother of the Messiah, the model of maturity. Let me read to you what she says in Luke chapter 1, verse number 46 and following.

It says, and Mary said, my soul exalts the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God my savior. For he has had regard for the humble state of his bond slave. For behold, from this time on, all generations will count me blessed.

For the mighty one has done great things for me. And holy is his name. And his mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear him.

He has done mighty deeds with his arm. He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down rulers from their thrones and has exalted those who were humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things and sent away the rich empty-handed. He has given help to Israel, his servant in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.

This is a remarkable song of praise. It's the exaltation of the Christ. To understand it, you must realize the context in which it was said. And once you realize the context, then you can begin to understand the components of what was said.

The context is crucial. Mary is a very young virgin girl. She's probably around 13 years of age and people always ask me, how do you know how old she was? Well, we know that because many New Testament scholars who are well-versed in Jewish history will tell you that young Jewish girls were betrothed between the ages of 12 and 12 and a half.

So they would be married around the age of 13 or at the later 14 years of age. Mary is betrothed to Joseph. So she's a very young girl.

And in those days, as you were growing up as a young girl, you were thinking about the future. You were thinking about who you would marry, what kind of family you will have, how many boys and how many girls and where will you live? Will you still live in the city you were raised in or will you move to another city? All those things were unknown. And then one day, Mary's parents come to her and say, Mary, we have betrothed you to a young carpenter's son.

His name is Joseph. Now she knows she's going to get married. Now she anticipates the number of children she will have. Now she anticipates the future of her life with her husband. And so she knows she's engaged to this carpenter boy, Joseph.

But then all of a sudden, things take a change. Things turn. Things are not like what she imagined. I mean, they go way beyond her imagination.

For the angel Gabriel appears to her while she's in Nazareth. And he appears to her and tells her that she's going to have a child and it's gonna be a miraculous birth because she asks the question, how can this be since I am a virgin? And the angel Gabriel tells her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. For that reason, the Holy Christ shall be called the Son of God.

Everything changes for Mary. And she's just so young. But what makes this song of praise so great is that it's filled with scripture.

Scripture from the Psalms and from Genesis, from 1 Samuel and from Isaiah. And that would tell us that Mary was well-versed in the scriptures. But you also must realize that most young girls were illiterate.

They weren't taught to read. And if that's the case for Mary, that would mean that she would have to pay very close attention to what her father taught her growing up in her home. That would mean that when she went to the synagogue, she'd have to listen very intently to what the rabbi said, so she would know what the scriptures said.

So she'd have to stay awake in the synagogue. That would be good news for all of us to hear, to stay awake in church. But she would have to pay very close attention to all that was said, to be able to know the verses of scripture like she did.

And to be able to recite them so clearly and accurately. But think of Mary. She would have to begin to realize as the wheels would begin to spin in her head the fulfillment of scripture.

That in Isaiah 7, verse number 14, a virgin would conceive and bear a child. That's going to be the sign. That's gonna be the miraculous sign.

A virgin shall conceive and bear a child. That would tell us it was the fulfillment of Genesis chapter 3, verse number 15, that the seed of a woman was going to come and crush the serpent's head. And so all of a sudden, Mary's thoughts begin to run wild as she understands.

That the fulfillment of scripture is being fulfilled in her at a very, very young age. And when you think about what she knows about the Bible, you gotta ask yourself, what does my 12 year old or 13 year old know about the Bible? How well versed is my teenage daughter or teenage son, my junior high son or my junior high daughter? How well versed are they in the scriptures? Would they be able to write a song of praise based on what they know the Bible says? Or worse yet, as adults, would we know the scriptures well enough to be able to write a song of praise to our God? She would have to be thinking of all the different verses in the Old Testament that would speak of the hope of Israel.

In fact, if you got your Bible, turn back with me if you would to the book of Jeremiah. Because there's a verse in the Old Testament in the book of Jeremiah that gives us the hope of Israel. Remember, Jeremiah is prophesying, Israel's on the brink of going into Babylonian captivity, and they have all of their hopes of their future are dashed. And yet the Lord says in verse number 17, there is hope for your future.

Don't weep, don't cry, don't be sad, because in your future there is hope. He describes that hope in verse number 22 when he says these words of Jeremiah chapter 31. He says, how long will you go here and there, oh, faithless daughter? For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth.

There is hope in your future. For the Lord has created, barah, out of nothing, something new, something unexpected, something that you would not ever come to understand in the normal train of thought. But the Lord has created something new.

Here it is, are you ready? A woman will encompass a man. Every rabbi before the time of Christ interpreted that phrase as the fact that the Messiah would be born with no earthly father. That a woman will encompass, that would mean that she would encompass a man by holding that man in her arms, or that that man would be encompassed because that man would be implanted in her womb.

And the Bible says that this new thing that's been created in the earth, a woman will encompass a man, not an ordinary man. It's the word geber, which is an extraordinary mighty man. Same word translated in Deuteronomy 10 and applied to God himself.

Same word used in Zechariah 13 verse number 7 and applied to Christ himself. Also in Deuteronomy chapter 32, it's referred to as the Lord of hosts. So when you look at this, you begin to realize, think of Mary, well-versed in the Old Testament, coming to grips that the prophecy of Jeremiah chapter 31, verse number 22 is being realized in her life that she is now the woman that encompasses this mighty man, this Lord of hosts, this Messiah, this Holy One of God, this King of Israel.

Absolutely amazing. But what's even more amazing is that when God made the announcement to Mary, he chose her and nobody else. Notice that he didn't make the announcement in Jerusalem.

He didn't choose a virgin from Jerusalem. He didn't choose a virgin from Judea. He didn't make this announcement in the temple, the hub of all that happens when it comes to religious activity in Israel.

No, he decided to take a virgin from a village called Nazareth. Nazareth was a no place, a nothing place. It was a despicable place, a despised place.

God sent Gabriel to a despised village in Galilee. The announcement for the forerunner to the Messiah was to a priest who was performing his priestly duties in the temple and Gabriel would go to him and tell him that his wife, Elizabeth, was going to give birth to the forerunner to the Messiah. We understand that birth announcement, but we don't get this birth announcement given in Nazareth.

So if you got your Bible, turn to Matthew chapter 2, let me show you something. Maybe you already know this, but then again, maybe you don't. Why? Because it's after the birth of Jesus and the angel comes to Joseph in a dream and tells him you gotta leave, you gotta flee the land and go to Egypt.

Why? Because Herod is angry. The Magi have come. The Magi have ridden into Jerusalem and there was great fear in the city.

And there was great fear in Herod. Why? It's not because three men with crowns came riding on the backside of donkeys, donkeys, excuse me, I'm sorry, camels, camels into Jerusalem. It's because you have a whole pack of Magi.

They traveled in packs of hundreds and thousands. And they're called king makers. King makers ride into Jerusalem looking for a king that's been born.

They followed the star. So here they are looking for this king. Herod of course is upset and so the angel comes to Joseph in a dream and says you gotta flee to Egypt.

So, they go down to Egypt, to (by the way) fulfill a prophecy in Hosea 11 verse number 1. That's what it says in verse number 15. This was to fulfill what has been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, singular.

Hosea 11 verse number 1. And of course, Herod sets out on a mission to destroy all the children two years and under. And in this mission to destroy all those who were two years and younger, the Lord 700 years before that had given a prophecy of a plan that would send his son to Egypt and bring him back again.

And of course, when Herod decides to slaughter all the children two years and younger, it too was a fulfillment of prophecy according to the book of Jeremiah 31, verse number 15 and 16 when it says a voice was heard in Ramah weeping in great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children. She refused to be comforted because they were no more. That too was the fulfillment of prophecy.

And so everything about what's happening surrounding the coming of the Messiah has been prophesied. Herod dies. An angel comes to Joseph again.

It says, now you can go back to Israel, go back to Nazareth. And so it says in verse number 23 of Matthew chapter 2 that they came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets.

He shall be called a Nazarene. Now you might not understand the implications of that, but this is huge. The key to interpretation of scripture is the observation of scripture.

If you're not very good at observing the text, you'll have a hard time interpreting the text. Notice what it says in verse number 15. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, singular.

Verse number 17. Then what had been spoken through the Jeremiah, the prophet was fulfilled. Again, singular.

But verse 23 says this was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets, plural. Why is that important? Because if you go back and you read every single verse of every single prophet in the Old Testament, not one of them says he shall be called a Nazarene. Wait a minute.

Did Matthew get it wrong? Did he misapply scripture? Because you see, you can't find that phrase anywhere in the Old Testament. And yet the prophets, plural, more than one, probably more than two, probably three or four or five of them, all gave the prophecy that he shall be called a Nazarene. That's why he chose a virgin in Nazareth, because he shall be called a Nazarene.

So wait a minute. Listen, if it's nowhere in the Old Testament, how can Matthew say the prophet said it? Or old tradition being passed down from generation to generation? The same way, by the way, listen, that Jude would say in Jude 14 and 15, the words that Enoch prophesied while living on earth, although you go back to the book of Genesis and nowhere are the words of Enoch's prophecy given except in Jude 14 and 15. Because Jude, under the inspiration of the spirit of God, would record what Enoch said, even though it's not recorded in the book of Genesis.

By the way, the same way Paul said these words in Acts 20:35 when he said, remember the words of our Lord Jesus, when he said, it is more blessed to give than it is to receive. And yet you can search the Gospels high and low and Jesus never said that. So how can Paul say that? Because under the inspiration of scripture, he is recording what Jesus said, even though it's not recorded in the Gospels.

So now you come to Matthew chapter 2, verse number 23, and Matthew who's writing to Jewish people, Jewish people who are well versed in the Old Testament, knowing what the prophets had said, that had been passed down from generation to generation, that he shall be called a Nazarene, puts it into print under the inspiration of the spirit of God to let us know that that's exactly what the prophet said, that's why he chose a virgin from the village of Nazareth. Aren't you glad you came today? That's just such great truth. Some will tell you that the word Nazareth is from the Hebrew word Netzir, which means the branch or the shoot, which is a title for the Messiah in Isaiah 11:1-2, Jeremiah 23:5-6, that that is the title of the Messiah.

And because Nazareth is from the word Netzir, when Jesus was crucified and it says, Jesus, the Nazarene, King of the Jews, the religious leaders were upset and told Pilate to change what he had written to say, this is what he says. And Pilate says, I have written what I have written, because when they would look at the cross and they would look at the placard, they would see the Hebrew word Netzir, the branch, and it says, Jesus, the branch is the King of the Jews, and that's absolutely correct. So even Pilate, a pagan, would be used by God to explain to us the identity of the Christ child.

Remember the words of Nathanael in John chapter 1, when he was told that they had found the Messiah, that he's from Nazareth, he said, and Nathanael was a man with no guile and no deceit, according to the words of Christ, can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Why, because Isaiah 53 tells us that the Lord would be despised and he would be rejected. You can read Psalm 69, Psalm chapter 22, Psalm 49, and all speak about the scorning aspect of the Messiah. And then, of course, in John 18, when they go to retrieve Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ goes to them, and he asks them a question, whom do you seek? And what do they say? Jesus, the Nazarene.

Why, because it was such a term of derision, a term of despair, of despicability, this man was despised. And, of course, what did Jesus say? I am, and upon saying I am, a go, a me, they all fell over backwards. Who's all? 600 temple police and guards, along with leaders of the religious establishment who came with them, and Judas.

I am, and they all fell over backwards. That's not the remarkable thing. The remarkable thing is that they got back up, and they didn't fall down and worship him.

And Christ would say, I'm sorry, excuse me, whom did you seek? And they would say again, Jesus, the Nazarene. He was despised and rejected by men. Listen, the context of the song of Mary, the portrait of praise, is absolutely crucial to your understanding of what she says.

To understand the context, to understand this young 13-year-old girl and all that's happening in her mind, in her family. I mean, Joseph wanted to put her away because he thought she had sinned against him. I mean, how are you gonna convince your parents that you're pregnant and you've never known a man? How are you gonna convince your friends of this? How are you gonna convince anybody? Joseph didn't believe it.

The angel, Gabriel, had to appear to him and tell him the story so he would believe it. He wouldn't even believe Mary. He should call his name Jesus.

He shall save his people from their sins because what's happened to Mary is the fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14, and the angel quotes that. So Joseph would know that everything about this coming Christ child was miraculous. And that's just a little bit of the context.

My time is leaving me as it's leaving you. And so let me give you the components of her praise. It begins, number one, with a confirmation of God's purposes.

She begins this way. My soul exalts the Lord. My spirit has rejoiced in God, my Savior.

This is an inward compulsion. My soul, my spirit, everything on the inside of me is magnifying the name of God, is making large the name of God. Not that I am making God any bigger than he is, but that everything about him is enlarged in my soul.

My soul is enlarged because of the Messiah, because of what God has done. I rejoice in God, my Savior. It's a confirmation of God's purposes.

And what was God's purpose in coming to earth? He came to earth to seek and to save that which is lost. He's a Savior. So she would rejoice in God, her Savior.

She recognized her need for a Savior because she recognized that she was a sinner and she needed to be saved. And God is a Savior all throughout the Old Testament. God would reiterate the fact that he was Israel's Savior.

Isaiah 43, verse number 3. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Verse number 11 of Isaiah 43.

I, even I am the Lord and there is no Savior besides me. Verse 14, thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am your Deliverer. I'm your Redeemer, I'm your Savior.

Isaiah 44, verse number 6. Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts. Isaiah chapter 46, verse number 21.

A righteous God and a Savior, there is none except me. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. There's only one Savior.

And so in their praise, this portrait of praise, it's a picture that's painted for us so we will know how to praise our God. And in our praise, there should be always a confirmation of the purposes of God in our praise. We are confirming that God is a Savior.

He's a Savior, 1 Timothy 4:10, of all men, especially of those who believe. Our Lord God is a Savior. It's his memorial name all the way from Exodus chapter 3 that he is the one who delivers, who rescues, who redeems and saves.

That's how he's supposed to be known from generation to generation. And Mary confirms the purposes of God. Not only is there a confirmation of the purposes of God, but there is an affirmation of the preferences of God.

Listen to what she says. She says, for he has had regard for the humble state of his bond slave. For behold, from this time on, all generations will count me blessed.

He has had, or he has regard for the humble state of his bond slave. She is affirming God's preferences because God opposes the proud. He only gives grace to the humble.

And Mary's affirming this fact, that she's a bond slave, a servant of the king. And in her humility, she has been blessed. When the angel came to her, he said, hail, graced one.

Our text says hail, favored one, but it really means hail, graced one. You've been graced, Mary. You're gonna receive something you don't deserve.

This is the humble state of the mother of the Messiah, the model of maturity, Mary. The Bible tells us these words in the prophet Isaiah, when he says, Isaiah chapter 57, verse number 15, for this says the high and exalted one who lives forever, whose name is holy. I dwell on high in holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly in spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Those are God's preferences. He is geared toward the humble. That's why when he comes and preaches that great sermon in Matthews 5, 6, and 7, he begins this way.

Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who are poverty stricken, not physically, but spiritually. Blessed are the bankrupt.

Blessed are the humble. Blessed are the broken and crushed in spirit. For theirs and theirs only is the kingdom of heaven.

God gives the kingdom of heaven not to the proud, not to the arrogant, not the ones who are self-fulfilled. He gives it to the humble, to the broken, to those who are crushed in spirit. That's why in Isaiah 66, verse number 1, it says, to this man will I look, to him who is broken and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word.

This is the one I look towards. This is the one I prefer. This is the one who will reign supreme in my kingdom.

So when Jesus came and preached in Luke chapter four, that sermon in the synagogue, when he read from Isaiah chapter 61, I came to proclaim the gospel to the poor, not physically poor, but those who are spiritually poor, those who are spiritually bankrupt, those who are imprisoned by Satan's bondage. I'm gonna release the captive. I'm gonna save the sinner.

I preach to the poor. So Mary, at a very, very young age, gives a song of praise. She becomes the portrait of praise.

And in it, there's a confirmation of God's purposes. There is an affirmation of God's preferences. And then there is a declaration of God's perfections. A declaration of God's perfections. Every time we praise the Lord, we are declaring the perfect attributes of God. What does she say? She chooses three.

The mighty one has done great things for me. Holy is his name, and his mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear you. Wow.

He is mighty, he is holy, he is mercy. To those who are unable, he is mighty. To those who are unholy, he is holy.

To those who are unworthy, he is mercy. And she begins to declare the perfections of God, knowing that he is El Gabor, from Isaiah 9, verse number 6, the mighty God. He's already done mighty things in her.

She's already conceived at this point. Have you never known a man? God has done mighty things already in her. And so she's gonna praise him for his mighty works because he's a mighty God.

And the angel had already said, the holy child will be conceived in you. Oh, his name is holy, holy, holy. And that's why psalmist would reiterate over and over again, give thanks unto the holiness of his name.

In remembrance of his holiness, give thanks. Why? Because he is a holy God. And amidst all of our unholiness, we need holiness.

Amidst all of our unableness, we need mightiness. We need power. She gives praise to God for that.

And then she says, he's mercy. She's unworthy, but she obtains mercy. It's because of his mercies that we are not consumed.

Great is thy faithfulness, Lamentations tells us. And so she declares the perfections of God. When you praise him, you praise him for who he is. His attributes define his character. And that's what she does. That's why she's the portrait of praise.

There's a confirmation of God's purposes. There's an affirmation of God's preferences. And then there's a declaration of God's perfections.

Number four, the fourth component to her song of praise. There is a resuscitation of God's providence. There is a resuscitation of God's providence.

In other words, she begins to recite the providential workings of God in the past so that she can proclaim them for the future. Listen to what she says. She says, he has done mighty deeds with his arm.

He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down rulers from their thrones. He has exalted those who were humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things. He has sent away the rich empty-handed. She knows Israel's history.

She knows those who have come against Israel. People like Belshazzar and Nebuchadnezzar who are proud, but God brought them low. How they thought themselves exalted upon their own thrones, but God took them from their thrones and humbled them.

Because this is the God she carries in her womb that one day she will give birth to in his enfleshment. And so, she is reciting all that he has already done. In hopes that this is what's going to continue, and it will, because he is the Messiah, the God of the universe.

So there is a confirmation of God's purposes, an affirmation of God's preferences, a declaration of God's perfections, a resuscitation of God's providence. And lastly, there is a celebration of God's promises. She says these words in 54 and 55.

He has given help to Israel, his servant in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever. She understands the Abrahamic covenant. She understands that from Genesis 22, verse number 18, that in Abraham's seed, singular, all the nations of the world will be blessed.

And the seed that would come through the line of Abraham would be the sign or the seed of the Messiah. And it's because of that one coming, mercy is granted from generation to generation, for God has come to help his people Israel. Finally, the Redeemer has arrived.

Finally, the anticipation of all that we have longed for is here, and he is in me. And the opportunity to be called blessed from generation to generation in her humble state. She can't thank God enough.

Mary, the mother of the Messiah, model of maturity, is our portrait of praise. May we learn much from someone who is very, very young, who walks with the Lord, who serves the Lord, and has been honored by the Lord. Let's pray.

Lord God, we thank you for this day. We thank you for this season. And on this Christmas Sunday, we are reminded once again of the magnitude of your grace.

We're reminded once again of the beauty of your presence. We're reminded once again of the greatness of your character. We're reminded that this season is all about the Christ.

It's not about Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the angels. It's not even about the Magi. It's all about the Christ.

Christ has come to earth. Heaven has come down. For that, we thank you.

For you only come down for one of three reasons. You come down to discipline us, to destroy us, or to deliver us. And Christmas is all about your deliverance.

That's why you came. For that, we give praise and thanks. In Jesus' name, amen.