“He has helped his servant Israel, remembering his mercy,
as he promised to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
Into the Text
At the end of her hymn, Mary sang of the God who mercifully remembered His promises of long ago. Many centuries earlier, God had made a promise to Abraham. Throughout Israel’s history, God remembered, renewed, and acted on this covenant promise. It did not depend on Israel’s faithfulness but on God’s mercy. In fact, many times He fulfilled His promises despite their rebellion and disobedience. Through Jesus, God was about to make a new and better covenant, one which fulfilled the promises made to Abraham but surpassed them far beyond what Mary could have imagined.
God made a new covenant with His people through the death of His own beloved Son. If God kept His covenant with Abraham, which was just a shadow of the coming new one, how much more can we trust Him to keep the promises which Jesus bought with His own blood? Jesus made promises to forgive us, renew us, fill us with the Holy Spirit, always be with us, and bring us to our eternal homes in heaven.
God remembering His promises is a great source of comfort to His people. Even when we feel like a failure, God still loves us and will not reject us. He can not and will not break the covenant He made with us. He is as faithful to us as He has been to all of His children throughout all of history. He does not look at our failures but instead remembers Jesus’ work on the cross. This is where our hearts can rest. God remembers His covenant.
As Mary says, when God mercifully remembers His people, He comes to help them. In our own lives, have we not known God to remember us? Many times He has taken care of our needs, comforted us in our sadness, liberated us from sin, and guided us in difficult decisions. Let’s join in Mary’s song of praise to our holy God, our merciful Savior, and our faithful promise-keeper.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, complete the work you have started in me. Help me to remember that your character never changes. Amen.