But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.  (20)  And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.   

Luke 2:19-20

Explanation:

In these two verses we see two expressions of worship: meditation and praise.

“But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

Mary’s introspection and meditation seems to stand in contrast to the shepherd’s evangelism about what they had seen.  She “kept all these things”.  She “pondered them in her heart”.  This means that she was taking mental, and emotional note of what she was experiencing.  She was processing in her mind and heart everything that she was experiencing at a level of intensity appropriate to the events themselves.  We know from Luke 1 that she had expressed praise and worship to the Lord for what He was doing in her and through her.  Certainly, these ponderings would have led to more of the same.

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God

We also see the praise of the shepherds.  Their response to the good news was to tell others and then to glorify God.  God had provided a Savior, announced a Savior, and had allowed them to experience the Savior.  They had the chance to see the Savior and share the Savior with others.  Now they worshipped God for all He had done.

Application:

There are some things we experience that are so profound we must ponder them deeply and express the truth of them broadly.  Both are natural and appropriate responses to the good news of Jesus Christ.  The Gospel is simple enough for a child to believe and be saved.  The Gospel is profound enough for us to dwell on its’ truth and implications for the rest of our lives.  The Gospel is so important that it must move us to share the Savior with the World. 

Response:

Does the truth of the Gospel move you to introspection?  evangelism?  worship?