My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour
Luke 1:46–47 (NLT)
“Mary responded, ‘Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.
How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!’”
Break It Down
“Mary responded”
This is not a rehearsed prayer or a considered speech. It is a response that rises from the heart. Something within Mary has been so deeply stirred that it must come out. This is not controlled worship, it is overflow.
“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord”
Mary’s praise comes from the deepest part of her being. Her soul, her inner life, her heart, is caught up in what God is doing. This is not polite gratitude. It is wholehearted praise that flows from awe.
“How my spirit rejoices”
This joy is not circumstantial. Nothing around Mary has been resolved. The future is still unknown. And yet her spirit rejoices. This is joy that rises because God is near, not because life is clear.
“in God my Savior”
Mary names God personally. She recognises that she herself needs saving. The child she carries is not only promised to the world, He is her Savior too.
God’s Intention
This passage reveals a God who invites trust before full understanding.
Mary trusted God with incomplete knowledge. She knew the promises of Scripture. She knew God would send a Savior. But she could not yet grasp the full cost of salvation, the cross, the suffering, or the way God would restore broken humanity back into relationship with the Father.
And yet, she trusted Him.
Weave in the Passage
Mary’s song is rooted in Scripture. It echoes the Psalms and the prayers of Israel. She knew the promises. She knew God would act.
But knowing that God would save and understanding how God would save are very different things.
Mary carried the Savior of the world before she could fully comprehend what salvation would cost or accomplish. She said yes to God’s purposes while much of the story was still hidden. Her rejoicing flowed not from certainty, but from trust.
This is the kind of response Jesus later speaks of when He says that if the people were silent, even the stones would cry out. When God is truly seen, praise cannot help itself. It must find a voice.
Related Scripture
Luke 19:40 (NLT) — “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”
Isaiah 55:8–9 (NLT) — “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts… and my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”
Hebrews 11:1 (NLT) — “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.”
Application for Today
Mary’s response invites us to consider how we respond to God when we do not yet understand everything.
Faith often means trusting God with only part of the picture. It means saying yes before the path is clear, rejoicing before the outcome is known, and believing that God is good even while His purposes are still unfolding.
Where might God be inviting you to trust Him with incomplete understanding?
What would it look like to let praise rise, not because everything is resolved, but because God is present?
Prayer
Faithful God,
You see the full picture when I can only see a part.
Teach me to trust You when I do not yet understand.
Like Mary, I choose to say yes to Your purposes,
and to let praise rise from my heart even in the unseen.
Amen.
Reflection
Trust says yes to God before the full story is revealed.