The Humble Exalted; The Proud Scattered

David W Palmer

Elizabeth spoke to Mary by the Holy Spirit, confirming that—because of Mary’s faith—God would fulfill his word to her. In response, Mary burst out in praise for God:

(Luke 1:46–52 NKJV) And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, {47} And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. {48} For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. {49} For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. {50} And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation. {51} He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. {52} He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly.”

This passage says that the reason for Mary’s spontaneous outpouring of exuberant praise was manifold; let’s look at each of them today to see what we can learn:

“He has regarded the lowly state of his maidservant.”

Mary displayed the humility of a true worshipping heart before God. She acknowledged that she was simply a servant; and that without him exalting her, she had a “lowly state.” However, now that he had looked on her mercifully, she acknowledged that “all generations” would call her “blessed.” Let’s be like her, and not think of ourselves more highly than we ought (Rom. 12:3); God will regard—pay attention to—your lowly state:

(Matthew 23:12 NKJV) “And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

(1 Peter 5:6 NKJV) “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.”

“He who is mighty has done great things for me.”

An angel relayed God’s message to Mary that she would bear his Son; she left for Judea “a few days later” and “hurried” to Elizabeth’s house:

(Luke 1:39 NLT) A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town …

At that stage, the only evidence she had of being pregnant was the word God had given her; to which she had responded, “Be it unto me according to your word” (Luke 1:38 DKJV).

So, Before Mary had even seen a baby, let alone the fulfillment of his destiny, she praised God for doing magnificent, conspicuous, favorable things of absolute perfection for her. This praise was truly the rapturous overflow of great and effective faith. Faith thanks and praises God when it receives God’s rhema promise; it doesn’t wait to see the materialization of it first: “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7 CSB). Let’s follow her example of faith-inspired praise.

“Holy is his name.”

Mary was truly an ordinary, humble, serving person; she was just like any of us who love and serve God’s will. Her ecstatic exclamation of the holiness of God’s name came from the revelation of God that she received from the Holy Spirit. She received it during the process of clasping and conceiving God’s promise, and enjoying Holy Spirit fellowship with likeminded believers. Mary instantly understood that God is perfect, upright, impartial, and absolutely beyond reproach in his justice and in his dealings with man.

She went on to say: “His mercy is on those who fear him.” Again, this shows her revelation that God is perfectly loving, good, and just, in how he treats people. He doesn’t respect position, title, power, or prominence in man’s eyes; he responds mercifully to those who fear him—those who bow to him in their hearts, and who tremble at his word:

(Isaiah 66:2 NLT) “… I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word.”

“He has put down the mighty … and exalted the lowly”

By the revelation of the Holy Spirit, Mary suddenly saw God’s character: he “resists the proud but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5 NKJV). She saw that God would ultimately raise up Jesus, the Messiah, to rule the nations; and that he would remove all ungodly rulers—summarized here as “the mighty.” Let’s take a moment to praise him for this right now.

“He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.”

The revelation in this verse is vast and amazing. Scattering the “proud,” while mentioning “their imagination,” recalls for us the Tower of Babel. God said of the proud, rebellious tower-builders: “Nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do” (Gen. 11:6 KJV). God had previously commanded men to scatter and populate the whole earth, but they rebelled, gathered, and built the tower— “lest we be scattered” (Gen. 11:4 KJV). Right then, God revealed his attitude to this; to prevent further cooperative rebellion against him, he confused their languages and scattered them along with their proud, defiant scheme.

Contrariwise, if we use the imagination of our hearts to picture God’s will, his purpose, and his promises coming to pass; he will not put us down, but will exalt us. Like Mary and Elizabeth, we should humble ourselves to come into agreement with other humble people who want God’s will. God will not isolate the “lowly”; in truth, he wants us to gather with people of “low position” for fellowship, worship, praise, prophecy, and agreement:

(Romans 12:16 NLT) Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all.

Today, as you mix faith in your heart with God’s promise to you, and as you enjoy good Holy Spirit fellowship with other humble, likeminded believers, rejoice in God together. Allow all the exuberant and spontaneous praise to overflow enthusiastically in faith-filled expectation of the promise completely realized. During this process, like Mary, you too will be flooded with vast and panoramic revelations of God—his character, his purpose, and his dealings with the proud who try to hinder him.

God has, and can show, strength with his arm. As you praise God, and joyfully celebrate his holy character, he will not only flood you with revelation, light, life, faith, and love; but he will show the strength of his arm; he will scatter the proud, and put down the “mighty.” As you persist and prevail in your praise, God will exalt the “lowly”—including you. Praise the Lord!