The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-01-08
SABBATH SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR
JANUARY 12.
Lesson Text: 1.-THE Song of Mary"
Luke l., t8-55-Goidcn Text:
Lake l.. 16-i7-
Commentary.

&C. And Mary said My soul doth mag
| nifty the Lord" Hannah said in her prayer:
MY heart rejoiceth in the Lord" and David
| calls upon us to magnify the Lord in him.
| Il Sam. H., ]; Ps. xxxiv., 3. The spirit of
| Antchrist is to magnify ones self above all
else," but the spirit Of Christ will cause one
| to desire with Paul that Christ may be
| magni1led in our bodies, whether by life or
| by death" dan. XII, 36 81, Ph. l., 2Ol. Mary
had submitted herself cheerfully and wholly
] to the will of God, and in these ways we, too,
| lLay daily magnify Him. 1t does not seem
difficult, and yet who does it perfectly. Since
| God is truth and love, let us heartily believe
all He says and cheerfully accept His will in
| all things.
A. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God
my Saviour" The only way to- be full of
| Joy is to believe God, even as it is written,
1.-The God of Hops gil you with oil Joy and
peace in believing" Rom Ky, lS: Notice
whole being reioiced in God, her whole heart
believed Him: it was no outwad, formal or
| lip service merely, but she meant it every
word, as when Jeremiah's soul said: 'The
! Lord is my portion" Liam. ill.,, 2A, and added,
therefore will hope in Him" So it was
with Mary, her JOY was in God, not in His
mercies chiefly, nor in her circumstances, but
| in Him, the unchanging and the unchapge-
|
/ When our Joy is in Him, il will abide, for He
! abides ever the same. But she adds: my
Saviour" and here is the foundation secret
of all Joy and peace to be able to say from
the heart: ''My own Saviour" Jacob said:
u have waited for Thy salvation, Lord"
Simeon said: Mine eyes have seen Thy sal
vation" David and Isaiah said: The
Is; Luke H., 80; Ps. c1viii., IA; lisa. xii, q.
May each one say with the heart: God is
my salvation, | will trust and not be
afraid
dS. He hath regarded the low estate Of
| His handmaiden" mot many mighty, not
many noble are called" but 'God hath
chosen the poor Of this world rich in faith"
Though the Lord be high yet hath he re-
spect. unto the lowly; but the proud He know
eth afar off," He loves to dwell with the
poor and contrite spirit that trembles at His
word II Cor j., 2B; Jas. H., 5; Ps: cxxxviii.,
g.; Isa lvii, Is; Xvi, q. So it was in the
case of Gideon, David, Amos and many
| others, and so to-day He passes by those
whom we would call the likely people and
selects some obscure, unheard OF one as His
| choice.
"Behold from hcnceforth oil generations
shall call me blessed The Spirit through
| Elizabeth had Just said: blessed is she that
believed" and so it has come ringing down
all the ages since Most honored among
women no doubt Mary was, but lest we
should think too highly of her, let US remen-
bsr what Jesus said to one who On, had Spoken
are they that hear the Word Of God and
| keen ith And again, "Whosoever shall do
| tho will Of God, the same is My brother,
and My sister, an | mother" (Lu. x., Ss; NIX
49. 'sFor He that is mighty hath done me
great things; and holy is His name" In this
song we have the pronouns He, His, Him."
applied to God twice seven times; it is oil
we are nothing but He is everything My
meditation OF Him shall be sweet, I will be
clad in til, Lord" (Ps civ, 3A. BE is the
Almighty before whom we are to walk Gen:
xvii, y looking up to Hin for ever y thing
Tie Almighty God (El Shaddai does not
represent Him as simply having all power,
and therefore able to do anything, but rather,
as the derivation Of the word Shaddai i'm.
plies, the all sufficient pourer forth Of oil
blessing; literally. the breasted ono from
''Shad," sgnifying "breast'1, and therefore
representing the power of bountiful, self sac
rihcing love, giving and pouring itself out
ror Others. 1t is often in Scripture associated
wth fruiCfulness, OF with cmptying, in order
| to fruiGfusness. Mary was poor in this worlds
goods, and poor in spirit, and now the Mighty
| Ono comes to her to do great things for her.
So His mercy is on them that fear Him,
from generation to generation" The mercy.
or Kindness OF loving kindness las the word
is often translated) Of God; is one of the
glorious topics of Scripture, and especially of
the Psalms. Then notice i'll all the eplstles
how grace, mercy and peace are associated;
and all this loving kindness Is for all who
fear Him, and that forever.
81. "tfe hath showed strength with His
arm" Perhaps looking back to the deliver
ance from Egypt, for the Lord had seid to
Moses: ~ will redeem you with stretched
out arm and with great judgments And
Moses had sung: by the greatness OF
Thine arm they shall be as still as stone
(Ex. vi, 6; xv., 16). David sings Of the same
deiversnce that God had accomplished it
with a strong hand and with stretched
out arm" (Ps. cxxxvi., 12.
He hath scattered the proud in the imag-
nation of their hearts" The proud, self sat
| is6ed and self sufficient cannot know His
thoughts or His way. He cannot reveal
Himself 10 them. They are against Hum,
and all their thoughts and ways shall be
overthrown.
ST. 'He hath put down the mighty from
their seats, and exalted them OF low degree"
| Hannah sang: HE raiseth up the poor out or
the dust, anl lirtcth up the beggar from ths
dunshilI, to set them among Princes and to
|
Sam. H., s.. While these songs had reference
to the circumstance and dealings of God
with those who sang them, we must not for
get that the singers wore Israelites, and the
Spirit of God through them was singing OF
future as well as present things.
50. 'He had filled the hungry with good
things, and the rich He hath sent empty
away" Those who ask nothing shall receive
nothing; thin king themselves rich and IN
creased with goods, because they are blind.
they do not know that they are wrctched
and miserable and poor and naked; but
| blessed are they that hunger and thirst after
Righteousness, for they shall be filled (Rey
ill.,, Ii Matt ", 6: u,
54, S. s'He hath holden His servant Israeli
| in remembrance of His mercy; as He spake
to our fathers, to Abraham, and to His seed
forever" This carries us back to the covo-
nants with Abraham and David, and forward
| to their vet future fulfllment. In Mary's
| Son all these shall have in duo time
complete and literal fulfllment, for He is
| the true Isaac and truc David, of whom they
| were but types. The Scriptures are full OF
| the records of His sufferings and the glory
| that shall be revealed as He Himself testl-
| fed luke xiv, 25-20. His suherngs as
| all atonement for sin are past: His sutferings
| in the members of His body, the church, still
continue; the glory to be revealed is not yet.
| When Israel as nation shall look upon Him
whom they have pierced, and with true con-
triton receive Him. then will He cast their
sins into the depths of the sea, and as it Is
written: Thou wilt perform tho truth to
Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham which
Thou has sworn to our fathers from the days
of old" Mic vii, 1920. Then when he re.
members His mercy and truth to Israel shall
all the ends of the earth sec the salvation Of
God (Ps., xcviii., D. Ifany one thinks it has
yet come, let them explain in what sense