Et exultavit spiritus meus: in Deo salutari meo.
(and my spirit exults in God my Savior)
Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae:
(because He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaid)
ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes.
(for behold, all generations shall call me blessed.)
Quia fecit mihi magna, qui potens est: (because he who is mighty has done great things for me)
et sanctum nomen eius. (and holy is His name).
Et misericordia eius, a progenie et progenies: (his mercy is toward, from generation to generation,
timentibus eum. (those who fear him)
Fecit potentiam in brachio suo: (with his mighty arm, He has done great things)
dispersit superbos mente cordis sui. (He has scattered those who are proud in their hearts)
Deposuit potentes de sede: (He has brought down rulers from their thrones)
et exaltavit humiles. (and has exalted the lowly).
Esurientes implevit bonis: (He has filled the hungry with good)
et divites dimisit inanes. (and has sent empty away the rich)
Suscepit Israel puerum suum: (He has helped his servant/child Israel)
recordatus misericordiae suae. (remembering to be merciful)
Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros: (even as He told to our fathers)
Abraham, et semini eius in saecula. (Abraham and to his seed forever)
*****************************************************************
Praise, gratitude, thanksgiving, awe, song, worship----all the response of those to whom the Lord has revealed His glorious acts and His mighty arm of salvation. Those who have escaped from the slavery of Egypt and the dark night of the soul will burst into praise and thanksgiving, because "the Lord has looked upon the lowliness of His servant."
When the Israelites were delivered, "by the strong arm of the Lord," from Pharoah's army pursuing them across the Red Sea, Moses and the people sang this song:
I will sing to the Lord,
for He is highly exalted.
The horse and its rider
He has hurled into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and my song;
He has become my salvation.....(Ex. 15).
How blessed are those who have been redeemed from bondage to the forces of evil, those who know they could never have extricated themselves from what held them down! They will never stop rejoicing in God's "strong arm" of redemption. And their confidence will nevermore be in their own strength, but in God's.
Moses' song rejoices in the acts of God in the past, but also looks forward with confidence to the future. No nation on earth will be able to conquer or stop the people God has redeemed, until God has brought them into the Promised Land and planted His inheritance.
On this birthday of America, I imagine Mary's and Moses' prayer might have been echoed in the hearts of those who had escaped the Old World and been delivered safely across the ocean to a new and virgin territory, a place of new beginnings. Their confidence must have been in the God who brought them this far and would bring them to the next place.
In Jesus' day, it was the meek and lowly who rejoiced in the strong salvation of God; the rich and powerful needed no redemption. They rejoiced in their own strength and sleekness. When Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God," He was looking at and describing the crowds and the disciples who were following Him. He was encouraging them in their present (lowly) condition, telling them that God "respice humilitatem"--regarded, looked upon, saw---the pitifulness---of his little ones.
Mary's and Moses' prayers are perfect. If we have been brought out, we rejoice in God's strong arm; if we are suffering still, we know that God sees, God knows, and that His arm is strong to save us. We know that we shall see the salvation of our God, and that we will be delivered from all our fears.
No comments:
Post a Comment