Luke 1:46-55; The Psychology of Praise.

Class Outline:

Wednesday December 18, 2024

Intro: Praise and joy from seeing blessings from God, LUK 1:46-47. 

 

LUK 1:46-47

And Mary said:

"My soul exalts the Lord, 

And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 

 

Mary is a sinner like the rest. She sees her blessing and exalts the Lord.

 

Her song is much like Hannah’s. 

 

1SA 2:1

Then Hannah prayed and said,

"My heart exults in the Lord;

My horn is exalted in the Lord,

My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies,

Because I rejoice in Your salvation. 

 

PSA 34:3 [David delivered from Philistines]

O magnify the Lord with me,

And let us exalt His name together. 

 

The result is joy: 

PSA 35:9

And my soul shall rejoice in the Lord;

It shall exult in His salvation. 

 

HAB 3:18 [Though he sees the sure destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians]

Yet I will exult in the Lord,

I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. 

 

Seeing blessing from the Lord - Praise - Joy - Thanksgiving / Peace. 

 

The humble can see the real blessings in life (at least some of them) which only can come from the Lord - the creator of mankind and the only One who knows what makes man happy. 

 

God regards the humble: LUK 1:48-50. 

 

1PE 5:5

God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 

 

LUK 1:48-50

"For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;

For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. 

49 "For the Mighty One has done great things for me;

And holy is His name. 

50 "AND HIS MERCY IS UPON GENERATION AFTER GENERATION

TOWARD THOSE WHO FEAR HIM. 

 

She dwells on three things: His power, holiness, and mercy. 

 

She sees herself as insignificant, but that doesn’t matter, because the mighty one is at work. 

 

His mercy is everlasting (“generation to generation) on those who fear Him (PSA 103:17). This Psalm is where we read that God knows that we are dust and that He has cast our sins as far as East is from West. In this psalm God also highlights how transient man is: 

 

PSA 103:15-17

As for man, his days are like grass;

As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. 

16 When the wind has passed over it, it is no more,

And its place acknowledges it no longer. 

17 But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him,

And His righteousness to children's children, 

 

“And holy is His name,” hashem is the name so much more significant in the OT than today - it stood for the whole person.

 

Moses told God: “I don’t speak well.” He has concluded in his own mind already that he will fail. But God would challenge Pharaoh through Moses. 

 

God’s blessings in faithfulness, knowing His infinite strength, holiness, and mercy; which are also gifts to you - these and more, these blessings, are what change your inner construct.

 

God’s mighty deeds: Immutability - learn the past; know the future. 

 

LUK 1:51-53

"He has done mighty deeds with His arm;

He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. 

52 "He has brought down rulers from their thrones,

And has exalted those who were humble. 

53 "HE HAS FILLED THE HUNGRY WITH GOOD THINGS;

And sent away the rich empty-handed. 

 

Hannah sang very much the same: 

1SA 2:7-8

"The Lord makes poor and rich;

He brings low, He also exalts. 

8 "He raises the poor from the dust,

He lifts the needy from the ash heap

To make them sit with nobles,

And inherit a seat of honor;

For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's,

And He set the world on them. 

 

Mary concludes her song with God’s help to Israel. 

 

LUK 1:54-55

"He has given help to Israel His servant,

In remembrance of His mercy, 

55 As He spoke to our fathers,

To Abraham and his descendants forever." 

 

God’s faithful history shows beyond a doubt that He is faithful to His promises. 

 

It also reveals that God’s words are never empty. God does not say anything flippant, nor speak for the sake of speaking, filling a gap. Everything God says is full of meaning. 

 

Mental Construct - the psychology of praise. 

Seeing God’s blessings and praising Him changes your MC. 

 

A mental construct is an idea or belief that exists in a person's mind, such as a thought, visualization, or idea about oneself. Mental constructs are often so ingrained in us that we may not see them as opinions, but rather as facts.

 

The limits of perception. Neurologist tell us that only about 40 % of what you see actually comes through your eyes. The rest of what you “see” is filled in by the brain through memory, preconceived notions, mental models already constructed and these play a major role in our perception of the world.

 

If I don’t know that my mental construct is filling in a great deal of what I see, or what I think I see, then my pride in being “right” will cause me to say I see, when I do not. Jesus hit on this very truth when He healed the man born blind in Joh 9. 

 

JOH 9:35-41

Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"  36 He answered, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" 37 Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you."  38 And he said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped Him. 39 And Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind."  40 Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, "We are not blind too, are we?" 41 Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, 'We see,' your sin remains.

 

So we’re filling in our world with our own minds. This is why you can freak out over nothing. Anxious about life when Christ told us there was another way of looking at it. 

 

The transformation of your mind is God changing your mental construct into conformity with His. He is the only One who can see everything.

 

Mary saw the blessings of God, which became more real to her than the scandal that her pregnancy was sure to produce.

 

Application: 

 

Count your blessings like you’re opening presents on Christmas morning. Think of them all, material and spiritual. 

 

Praising God is magnifying Him in your heart: “Holy is Your name.” (LUK 1:49; Praise Psalms)

 

Pray about your joy. Is it fleeting due to circumstances or is it a part of your personality? Why? Why not? 

 

Make a thorough list in your phone that you can check from time to time and add to. 

 

List praise Psalms and give a few examples.