“I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”
Psalm 34:1-3

What does it mean to magnify God? The word magnify means to make large, praise, honor, boast about, lift up, promote, or declare great. How do we make God large? There really are two different ways to look at this word magnify. We could look at it as we would through a microscope or a magnifying glass, which makes a small object appear bigger, or we can look at this word as we would through a telescope, which takes what is far away and extremely large and brings it near. A life that magnifies the Lord does just that. It is a life that brings God near to those it comes in contact with!

That is exactly what the life of the Lord Jesus did. His was the perfect life that glorified and magnified God. In Psalm 69 we read of the inner feelings and sufferings of the Lord Jesus (Ps. 69:2-4, 7-12, 20-21). But we also see what such a life accomplished for the glory of God when the Psalm says prophetically of the Lord, “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving” (Ps. 69:30).

The Lord Jesus glorified God in every way, and in doing so, He also brought God near to us. Scripture says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” and then, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,” full of grace and truth (John 1:1, 14). In John 14:9 He could say, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” He magnified God. He was “God manifested in the flesh.” In and through His body, He brought God near to us that we might behold His greatness.

Our lives ought to magnify God as well! I believe Scripture teaches us that our entire being ought to magnify God—our spirit, soul, and body. Think of what Mary said in Luke 1:46, “My soul magnifies the Lord.” John the Baptist had the same desire when he said of the Lord Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). 

An example of such a life would be what we read of in Daniel 1:8 and 3:28. They purposed in their hearts to live for God and would not bow down to any other! And in a very practical way their lives brought God near for all to see! 

Anchor For Today:
May our life bring God near to those whose lives we touch. May they not see us but see Christ who we desire to magnify!