Whenever there is a work of grace in souls they are drawn together in the bonds of divine love. So was it with Mary and Elisabeth. Gabriel had revealed to Mary that God had also visited her cousin Elisabeth, and with the sense of what was to be accomplished through herself, whether she understood or not the full import of the communication she had received, she had been made to feel that there was one friend to whom she could pour out her soul. Accordingly she “arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.”
Burdened with her tidings—tidings which told, moreover, of God’s faithfulness to His word, and of His unquenchable love to His people—it could not be otherwise than that she should go “in haste.” And what thoughts would fill her adoring heart as she sped on her mission! As one of the holy women of Judah, she well knew the scriptures that spoke of the coming King and the glory of His kingdom. Such scriptures, for example, as “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted His people, He hath redeemed Jerusalem” (Isa. 52:7-9); or again, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee” (Zech. 9:9). The very words the angel had employed could not fail to remind her of these glorious prophetic statements, and to cause her heart to overflow with praise in that she, a humble virgin, should be connected with their fulfillment.