The Portrait of Praise

What a great song of of praise. Mary's song is recorded in Luke

chapter one. That will be our 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

and Lord of Lords. And as you travel, we we've

looked at the the privilege of praise and we've looked at the

profit of praise. We've looked at the purpose and

priority of praise. We 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. There's a a picture that's

painted for us in the Scriptures of many people who give praise

and honor to God, but 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 one verse #46

and following it says, and Mary said, My soul exalts the Lord,

and my spirit has rejoiced in God and 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 a bond, generation

after generation, towards 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 1/2.

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 as you

were growing up as a 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 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 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 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 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 going to be a miraculous birth because she

asked the question how can this be since I am a virgin?

In the Angel Gabriel tells her the Holy Spirit will come upon

you and the power of the Most High will over shadow 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, this song of praise, so great is that it's

filled with Scripture. Scripture from the Psalms and

from Genesis, from first Samuel and from Isaiah.

And that would tell us that that Mary was well versed in the

Scriptures. But you also must realize that

that most young girls were illiterate.

They weren't taught to read. And if that's the case for Mary,

that wouldn't 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

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 she would have to begin to

to realize, as the wheels would begin to spin in her head, the

fulfillment of Scripture that in Isaiah 7 verse #14 a virgin

would conceive and bear a child. That's going to be the sign,

that's going to be the miraculous sign the virgin shall

conceive and bear a child. That that would tell us it was

the fulfillment of of Genesis chapter 3 verse #15 that the

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

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 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 got to ask yourself, what does

my 12 year old or 13 year old know about the Bible?

How well versed is 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 #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 #22 what he says these words of

Jeremiah chapter 31. He says, How long will you go

Jeremiah 31 · chapter mention

here and there, O faithless daughter?

For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth.

There is hope in your future. For the Lord has created Bara

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 gay bear, which is an extraordinary mighty man.

Same word translated in Deuteronomy 10 and applied to

God Himself. Same word used as Zechariah 13

verse #7 and applied to Christ Himself.

Also in Deuteronomy chapter 32, it's referred to as the Lord of

Deuteronomy 32 · chapter mention

hosts. So when you look at this and you

begin to realize, think of Mary well versed in the Old

Testament, coming to grips that the prophecy of Jeremiah chapter

Jeremiah 31 · chapter mention

31 verse #22 is being 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 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 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 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.

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

Let me show you something. Maybe you already know this, but

then again, maybe you don't because it's after the birth of

Jesus and the Angel comes to Joseph in a dream and tells him

you got to leave, you got to flee the land and go to Egypt.

Why? Because Herod is angry.

The Magi have come, the Magi have rode into Jerusalem, and

there was great fear in the city, and there was great fear

in Herod. Why?

It's not because 3 men with crowns came riding on the

backside of donkey donkeys. Excuse me, I'm sorry.

Camels, camels into Jerusalem. It's because you have a whole

pack of magic. They traveled in packs of

hundreds and thousands and they're they're called

kingmakers. Kingmakers ride into Jerusalem

looking for a king that's been born.

They followed the star. So here they are looking for

this king. Hair, of course, is upset.

And so the Angel comes to Joseph in a dream and says you got to

flee to Egypt. So they go down to Egypt to, by

the way, fulfill a prophecy in Hosea 11 verse #1 That's what it

says in verse #15 This was to fulfill what has been spoken by

the Lord through the prophet singular Hosea 11 verse #1 And

of course, Herod sets that 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 Rama 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 #23 of

Matthew chapter 2 that they came and lived in a city called

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

Nazareth. This was to fulfil what was

spoken through the prophets. He should 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 have a

hard time interpreting the text. Notice what it says in verse #15

This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through

the prophet. Singular verse #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 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 should be called in Nazarene.

That's why he chose a virgin in Nazareth.

Because he shall be called a Nazarene.

So wait a minute, 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 2035 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

scripture, he is recording what Jesus said, even though it's not

recorded in the Gospels. So now you come to Matthew

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2 verse #23 And Matthew was writing to Jewish people,

Jewish people who are well versed in the Old Testament,

knowing what the prophets had said, that have 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 netsir which means the branch or

the shoot which is a title for the Messiah in Isaiah 11 one and

two, Jeremiah 23 five and six, that that is the title of the

Messiah. And because Nazareth is from the

word netsir, 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 netsir, 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 Nathaniel

in John chapter 1, when he was told that they had found the

John 1 · chapter mention

Messiah, that he's from Nazareth, he said.

And Nathaniel 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

Psalms 22 · chapter mention

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 the Christ in the Garden of

Gethsemane, Christ goes to them and he asked 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 a term 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.

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 going to convince your parents that

you're pregnant and you've never known a man?

How are you going to convince your friends of this?

How are you going to convince anybody that 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. You should call his name Jesus.

He shall save his people from their sins because what's

happened to Mary is the fulfillment of Isaiah 714.

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 #3 For I am the

Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

Verse #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 #6.

Thus says the Lord the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the

Lord of hosts. Isaiah chapter 46 verse #21 a

Isaiah 46 · chapter mention

righteous God and the Savior. There was 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.

First Timothy 410 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

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

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 1. Our text says Hail favored one,

but it really means Hail graced 1 You, you've been graced, Mary.

You're going to 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 #15

Isaiah 57 · chapter mention

For this says the high and exalted One who lives forever,

whose name is holy, I dwell on high and 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 seven, he

begins this way. Blessed are the poor in spirit.

Blessed are those who are poverty stricken, not 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 #1 it says to this man, when I look

to him who is broken and of a contrite spirit, and who

troubles 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

to Luke chapter 4, that sermon in the synagogue, when he read

Luke 4 · chapter mention

from Isaiah chapter 61, I came to proclaim the gospel to the

Isaiah 61 · chapter mention

poor, not physically poor. Those who are spiritually poor,

those who are spiritually bankrupt, those who are are

imprisoned by Satan's bondage. I'm going to release the

captive. I'm going to save the Sinner.

I preach to the poor. So Mary, 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. 3 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 #6 the mighty God.

He's already done mighty things in her.

She's already conceived at this point, having never known a man,

God has done mighty things already in her.

And so she's going to 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 and 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.

And she gives praise to God for that.

And then she says his 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 #4 the 4th 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 those who have

come against Israel, people like Belshazzar and 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 an 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 remind you once again of the

greatness of your character. We're reminded that the 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, it's all about your deliverance, that's why you

came. And for that we give praise and

thanks in Jesus name, Amen.