Sun 20 Dec

English was not my strong subject at school. In fact I failed my Year 12 English exams. And when I went to Bible College a decade later, I had to get someone to proof read my essays to make sure the grammar was right. If English was not my strong point then poetry was even less so. 

And yet as we come to the Bible quite a bit of it is written in poetic form. In fact we have one whole book containing some 150 poems or songs. We call it the Book of Psalms. However, as we journey through the Old Testament we discover poems and songs. And as we look at Luke 1:46-56 we are privileged yet again to read another poem – “The Song Of Mary”. 

This song contains the reflection Mary has of being chosen by God to be the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is just as well that we are reading poetry otherwise there are challenging lines in the song. For instance, in verse 47, “My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.” We have the mystery of the incarnation. The baby she is carrying, is her Saviour. What a marvellous fact! 

Mary, as she sings this song is greatly encouraged as she rejoices in and glorifies her Lord. Her song displays the trust Mary has in God. Given the challenges of her situation it would have been far easier to walk away. But Mary trusted that God knew what He was doing. We too can trust in God for He knows what He is doing with us.