Make God Bigger

 December 16, 2024

“Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name.” —Luke 1:46-49 

Mary’s song, called the Magnificat, reveals something about genuine worship that we often miss. Pay attention to the grammar; it’s important. But first we need to understand the meaning of a particular word: magnify. When we magnify something, we don’t change it in any way; all we do is change how we see it. Magnifying the Lord doesn’t make him bigger; it only makes him look bigger to us. 

One of our problems in this life is that though God is magnificent, and as Mary said, “has done great things,” we have too small an understanding of him. In our sight, God is small, so we only ask and expect small things from him. Magnifying him is critical if we are to worship him as he deserves. But how do we do that? Psalm 34 can help us here.

“Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together.” (V. 3)

If you’re having a hard time believing God is big enough for your problem, you may need to magnify him. If you’re having a hard time magnifying the Lord, seeing him for who he truly is, gather some believers around you. Worship together. Let them encourage you. That’s one of the reasons we gather together (Hebrews 10:25). They can help you see God as he really is.