God Is Mindful of Us
Notes
Transcript
Sometimes in the midst of the frantic, helter-skelter activity of our daily lives, we tend to forget about God. We may pay Him lip service at various times. However, we often don’t give God too many thoughts as we go about our lives and duties and activities.
Yet, even though that is often where we find ourselves, there is some wonderful news for you and me. God doesn’t ever forget about us. He never has and He never will forget about us. In fact, God is always mindful of us.
At this time of year, we celebrate the advent season. It is that time of year of expectant and hopeful waiting which took place so long ago, in which we reflect upon when God made His physical appearance to humanity, as Jesus became flesh at His birth. Today, we once again are reminded of the fact that God is mindful of us.
You see, God could have chosen to just let us go our own way, leaving us to our own devices, which would have resulted in absolute tragedy. He could have allowed us to continue heading for an eternity separated from Him, spent forever in the torment of hell. But He didn’t; God was mindful of us.
In fact, even before time began, God was mindful of us. He had already planned that His Son would be born into the world in the form of man. He knew that this would have to be done so that He might give opportunity for everlasting life and victorious life over sin in this world.
For the next couple of weeks, I’d like for us to look at Mary’s Song from Luke 1. Today, we’ll be focusing on verses 46-49 as we look at how God is mindful of us.
What Do I Do?—1.46-48a
What Do I Do?—1.46-48a
Luke 1:46–48 (NASB95)
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 bondslave . . .
We see immediately that Mary is praising God because He is mindful of her. She is worshiping God with her soul and spirit, meaning that her very inner being is totally involved in worship. Her thoughts and her emotions are full of praise.
She exalts the Lord; meaning that she magnifies or makes great the Lord. She is is rejoic[ing] in God my Savior. This shows her supreme joy, she rejoiced greatly, as different translations word this. In recognizing that the Lord is her Savior, she is acknowledging her need for a Savior. In the context, it would seem to imply that she recognizes that this child would be her Savior.
We can say with Mary that “My soul exalts [magnifies, glorifies, praises] God.” It seems as if Mary’s whole being is shouting praises to God for Who He is. You might remember that a short time earlier, Elizabeth was so excited that she shouted out a benediction or a blessing to Mary. We read this in Luke 1:45 ““And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.””
Please understand that Mary was not wanting to lift herself up or brag about herself here. However, she was reminded of God being mindful of her and this caused her to rejoice and burst with praise for Him.
Yet, how is this seen? What specifically is she considering? What is causing this total involvement in lifting the Lord up in praise?
“For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave.” How can she know this to be true? We see that there is a sense of amazement that God would be willing to choose to use her. This is also seen by the use of the word bondslave, which is the feminine form of the Greek word doule, which literally means slave.
We go back to the beginning of today’s passage and are reminded of an incredible truth. She states that “My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” She is acknowledging her total dependence on God for her salvation. This is very similar to words spoken in Habakkuk 3:18 “Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.”
Note also that Mary very definitely recognized that she was a sinner like the rest of humanity. If Mary had actually been kept from all taint of original sin, she would not need a Savior. You see, only sinners need a Savior. The Bible is also very clear that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” There are no exceptions.
Let’s consider how we can know that God is mindful of each one of us. Sadly, too many people think that God is available just to hear us making requests and asking favors from Him. Yet, He wants much more than that. The Bible tells us in various place that He wants us to understand that He is constantly caring for us and watching over us by His Holy Spirit. He wants us to realize that He is concerned for our spiritual well-being. We should constantly be reflecting on the fact that we have been saved because of what Jesus did for us. We should remember that we are growing spiritually because He desires that we mature in our spiritual walk. When we understand this picture of watch-care and concern which God has for us, it causes us to do exactly what we see Mary doing.
My friends, when we recognize that our God was so mindful of each one of us that He provided a Savior, doesn’t that make you want to rejoice?
Now when Mary recognized this, did she have some questions in her mind? Absolutely.
Who Am I and What Will Others Think of Me?—1.48b
Who Am I and What Will Others Think of Me?—1.48b
Luke 1:48 (NASB95)
“For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.”
We saw in the first part of verse 48, that she knew that she was indeed a servant in a humble state. In reality, she truly was. Socially, she was considered to be quite low. She had no special status among the people of that time. However, God chose her. It would seem to me that He chose her for that very reason. She seemed to be very close to the Lord, even though she was looked down on in society.
You see, she acknowledged that she was a servant, or a bondslave. She already was in submission to God. It seems to me that this is the type of character and personality that should be seen in all true believers today. We should also be a people who are totally submissive and surrendered to God.
She then makes a statement that is quite often misinterpreted. Mary is not trying to elevate herself or increase her status for the future. She says that “all generations will count me blessed.” The word blessed is the same word that is used throughout the beatitudes which Jesus spoke in Matthew 5. The word refers to the happy, peaceful state that a person is in when they are walking in submission and obedience to God and find themselves in His favor. The fulfillment of that of being blessed comes when one turns to Jesus as their Savior.
We then come to the question that will never be fully answered to most of our satisfaction.
Why Is This Happening?—1.49a
Why Is This Happening?—1.49a
Luke 1:49 (NASB95)
“For the Mighty One has done great things for me . . .”
It already should be clear that none of this has taken place because of Mary’s choices. She has not considered herself to be worthy in any sense of the word. We never see her questioning God as being unfair to her, putting her in an awkward situation. Elsewhere, she questioned as to how. We might wonder why certain things happen to us, as well. I would like to suggest that we consider what Mary has to say next.
Mary states what should be obvious when she says “The Mighty One has done great things for me.” She is really expressing herself as being in total awe and amazement of the “Mighty One,” Whose great power has been exercised in her life. But not only in her life, but that of the nation of Israel.
Interestingly, the word for “great” is from the same root as “glorifies” which we saw earlier in verse 46. Think about it. As you and I observe all the great things God does for us in our daily lives, are we not moved to be full of praises?!?
You see, God is mindful of us. We just don’t always have our eyes and ears and minds open and adjusted to perceive it. Then to take this even further, when we give praises to our great God, the Bible tells us that He will continue to do great things for us and in us and through us.
But who is He? Who is God?
Who Is He?—1.49b
Who Is He?—1.49b
Luke 1:49 (NASB95)
“And holy is His name.”
“Holy is His Name.” Throughout the Old Testament, we see God being referred to as holy. Often, we see that He is referred to as the Holy One. According to the ancient meaning of God’s name being Holy, this refers to His entire, complete reputation or character. In other words, everything that God is, can be summarized by saying “Holy is His Name.”
Ponderings
Ponderings
Most of us can identify only very slightly with Mary. She knows that she is going to be the mother of the Savior of mankind. Yet, we’re not certain how much insight and understanding she truly has. She knows that God is Holy and righteous and true and is mindful of her. She knows that His ways are perfect and she just needs to be submissive and obedient to Him.
I am reminded of an old story about a couple who took their son who was 11 and their daughter who was 7 to Carlsbad Caverns. As was the usual routine, when the tour reached the deepest point in the cave, the guide turned off all the lights to dramatize how completely dark and silent it is below the earth’s surface.
The little girl, suddenly enveloped in total darkness, was frightened and began to cry.
Immediately, she heard the voice of her brother: “Don’t cry. Somebody here knows how to turn on the lights.”
In a very real sense, that is the message of the Gospel: light is available, even when darkness seems overwhelming.
Our God is indeed mindful of us. Even when we may not be able to feel it. But because we know this, we can glorify the Lord and rejoice in God our Savior. It’s not because we’re anybody special, in and of ourselves.
We simply need to be humble servants who are obedient to our Lord. Then we will see the great things that the Holy One has done for us and will continue to do for us.
That will then circle us back into the cycle of giving glory and praise to the Lord our Savior—for God is mindful of us.
