The Hungry and the Rich
Canon Liddon. Luke 1:46-55 And Mary said, My soul does magnify the Lord,… Mary has, as she sings, two classes of persons before her — the hungry and the rich. She employs these words in their spiritual meaning. By the hungry Mary means those who have a sense of spiritual need, those who are dissatisfied with their present attainments. By the rich she means those who are conscious of no want, the self-satisfied. I. THE REWARD OF SPIRITUAL HUNGER. "He hath filled," &c. Mary touches upon a principle of very wide range, applicable to the needs of mental, of moral, and of physical life. If a living being is to benefit by nourishment in body, mind, or spirit, there must be the appetite, the desire for it. The soul must desire God as its true life, if God is to enlighten and strengthen it. Without this desire He will do nothing for it. It will be sent empty away. The one condition of true spiritual enrichment is a humble, earnest, persistent desire for the graces which God has to give. II. THE PUNISHMENT OF SPIRITUAL SELF-SATISFACTION — "Sent empty away." The "rich" were the most numerous class in the days of the Incarnation. The people did not — the mass of them — feel any sense of religious want, but were very well content with themselves. There was but a small minority who waited for the consolation of Israel. The rich still abound in the race of Israel. III. A man, to have the presence of God in his soul, must FEEL HIS NEED OF GOD — he must be hungry. God gives to every creature a sort of preliminary endowment which creates in the soul a longing for Himself. The vast differences between man and man in later life depend upon almost unobserved acts which encourage or repress spiritual hunger in early years. Like other tastes, a hunger for spiritual things is strengthened by exercise — weakened by neglect. We cannot afford the eternal loss of God. Let us ask Him to give us a strong desire to enjoy Him for ever. (Canon Liddon.) Parallel Verses KJV: And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, WEB: Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord.