Does anyone do a love song better than country music? Here are some famous and infamous song titles from the world of country western music:
* Don’t Cry on My Shoulders Cuz You’re Rustin’ My Spurs
* Her Teeth was Stained but her Heart was Pure
* How can I Miss You if You Won’t Go Away
* I Changed Her Oil and She Changed My Life
* I Been Missin’ You but My Aim is Gettin’ Better
* If Love Were Oil I’d Be About a Quart Low
* I’m So Miserable Without You It’s Almost Like Havin’ you Here
* Mama Get a Hammer There’s a Fly on Papa’s Head
* My John Deere was Breaking Your Field While Your Dear John Was Breakin’ My Heart
* She Made Toothpicks Out of the Kindlin’ of My Heart
* Tennis Must Be Your Racket Cause Love Means Nothing to You
* You’re the Reason Our Kids Are So Ugly
The answer is yes! Check out the lyrical content of The Magnificat, Mary’s song of love.
“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.
How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
and from now on all generations will call me blessed.
For the Mighty One is holy,
and he has done great things for me.
He shows mercy from generation to generation
to all who fear him.
His mighty arm has done tremendous things!
He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.
He has brought down princes from their thrones
and exalted the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away with empty hands.
He has helped his servant Israel
and remembered to be merciful.
For he made this promise to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children forever.” (Luke 1:46-55, NLT)
The first element of Mary’s love song is the abundant joy she feels in her heart. This fourteen year old virgin was certainly overwhelmed with the news of her pregnancy, but even more by the idea that God had chose her to be theotokos, “the God-bearer.” Every joy that is shared is a joy that is doubled in intensity, so the joy she felt because of her pregnancy was multiplied as she shared it with Elizabeth.
One can’t help but notice that her joy was focused on the character of God. In the above text she is overcome by God’s salvation, holiness, power and mercy. God’s character is the foundation for all of his thoughts and actions. Mary recognized that all that God was doing was based on who He was, just as all of God’s activity today is based on who He is.
We all have our moments of fear and doubt when we wonder if God is going to act or how He will act should he choose to do so. We cannot perfectly anticipate what God will do in any given situation, but one thing we do know: He will always act according to his character. Mary may not have had anyway of anticipating that salvation and mercy would come through God incarnate as an infant. But she could count on the fact that God would do something because that’s who He is. The more we learn of the character and nature of God, the more we will be comforted when fears rise and doubts swell.
God’s love brings joy to our lives because it is rooted in his character. God does loving things because his character and nature is love. The same is true of his mercy and holiness. His love is certainly our greatest source of joy.
But his love not only produces joy in our lives. It also provides justice for the world. Notice the reversal in Mary’s song of love. Those who are proud, mighty and wealthy do not have the last word. When Jesus came he turned the social order on its head. No longer would a person be defined by their culture, their environment, their economics, education or ethnicity. The proud and powerful would be humbled and the humble and weak would be exalted. Jesus did not just come to provide joy for our lives. He also came to provide justice for an unjust world.