Let's take our Bibles and turn
back to the book of 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel chapter 2. 1 Samuel chapter 2. Let's ask our
Lord's blessing. Our Father, we thank you for
this blessed time to be able to call upon you. Lord, would
you bless the Word to our understanding and our comfort? You said we
have not because we ask not, and Lord, we ask. Bless this
Word to the salvation and peace, joy of your people for Christ's
sake. Amen. we began this prayer or song
of a woman named Hannah. And she was going through a very
trying time. I mean, this was something that
really happened. She really was barren. And she was really suffering
the insults and the ridicule of a woman, the other wife of
her husband, Elkana. But as surely as Hannah physically
and emotionally suffered this heart-wrenching trial, you just,
we can't really enter into it. The hurt and the disappointment
and the trial that this woman was suffering. But in that suffering,
there was another truth that was being unfolded. This didn't
just happen. And we don't have it recorded
just for information, just for history. The Lord said in the
book of Luke to the two on the road to Emmaus, starting with
Moses, all the prophets, the law and
the prophets, everything that was recorded was concerning him. So this event that happened,
happened to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ for the instruction
of God's people, for the comfort of God's people. Now, there's
actually four people that's actually, you know, involved, I guess maybe
five. There was Hannah, and there was
Penina, the other wife, and there was Elkanah, the husband of the
two, There was a priest named Eli, and then there was a young
boy named Samuel. And as Hannah is set forth as
a picture. Now here's the picture. Hannah
is a type of every vessel of God's electing mercy. and all that would eventually
be brought to pass, and all that every believer is going to see
and will admit and say in their heart, with their mouth, this
is what this woman is going to say. Panana is a type of every
nominal professor in Christ who claims Him in name only, but
possesses no heart. for God's glory and honor. Penina
is a picture of the ones that rest their hope of salvation
on their own ability and own work and self-worth, boastful
in their ability to produce life and to bear children and typically
spiritual children on their own by their ability to be You know,
soul winners. They can handle it. They know
how to do it. They can do it. They can produce. And the relationship
between these two women sets forth the battle between the
spirit and the flesh. There was a battle that was going
on, believe me. There was no love lost, you know. But the Lord had shut up Hannah's
womb. That's what chapter 1 verse 6
says. And He had done it for at least
I know this purpose. I don't even remotely want to
insinuate that I know the depth of the Lord's reasoning. But
for one thing that I can truthfully see. Her womb was shut up and
it was actually truly shut up. She truly could not have children. She was barren. She wanted, she
desired, she prayed for a male child. She asked the Lord. But
her womb was shut up for her learning and for our learning
and for the glory of God. That we might learn that Almighty
God who rules and reigns in the army of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth, that he has mercy and compassion on
whomsoever he will and on whomsoever he will. He hardeneth." Well,
Hannah prayed unto the Lord for a man-child. That's what the
scripture says in chapter 1, verse 11. And the Lord heard
her prayer. The Lord who moved upon this
woman to pray. Now just think about this. Ten verses in the second chapter.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God. So the Spirit of God
moved on that woman to ask exactly what she asked for. The Spirit
of God moved on her and said, you ask the Lord. for a male
child, man child, you ask him. And then after the Lord was pleased
to hear the prayer that he moved upon her to pray, he sent this
woman a priest, Eli. He gave her some words of encouragement. And so the scripture says that
in the process of time, when Hannah conceived, and bore a
child, bore a man child, male child, named him Samuel. And
when he was weaned, she brought him, according to the promise
that she had made unto the Lord, back to Eli, and was going to
leave him there. She was going to return him to
the Lord. It says she lent him, but what
she did was she brought back and gave that which the Lord
had given to her. And we looked at the first few
verses, and I'll just kind of read them and make a comment,
and Lord willing, I'd like to look at ten verses in this woman's
prayer. Now this is the heart of a believer
when they pray, when they are made to realize salvation is
by grace, that they themselves have no power This was her prayer,
and here's the word of the Spirit of God to God's people through
the mouth and the heart of a woman that prayed this prayer. She
said, my heart rejoiceth in the Lord. My new will, made willing,
my desire, my care triumphs in the Lord. Mary, the Virgin Mary,
conceived by the Spirit of God and bore into this world the
Lord Jesus Christ. This is what Mary said concerning
her thankfulness unto the Lord. Luke 1 46, my soul doth magnify
the Lord. The very seat of her affection
praises and celebrates him. That's the heart of a believer. They magnify the Lord. My heart rejoices in the Lord,
not in my will, not in my work, not in my ability. David said,
my soul doth make her boast in the Lord, in Jehovah, that make
her boast, what that means is my heart, my soul finds all its
value in Jehovah. David didn't find his boast to
be in his wealth or his position or strength or his rank, but
the fact that God was His God. That the Lord had been pleased
to reveal Himself to David. That Almighty God had been merciful
and kind and long-suffering and gracious unto Him. That Almighty
God would shed abroad His love toward David. That's the very
basis of a believer's heart. Almighty God has shown mercy
to me. And my heart rejoices, my soul
magnifies, and my soul makes her boast in the Lord. And then
Hannah said, my horn is exalted in the Lord. She knew, she knew,
I don't have any strength. I couldn't have a child. much less regenerate myself. This again, remember, this is
the cry of a believer. Seeing this that had taken place
as being their situation. My self-strength is non-existent. My only strength is the Lord,
the omnipotent God of all creation. My mouth is enlarged over mine
enemy. She beheld the Lord's mercy to
her, and now she's bold in her confession of Him. My mouth is
enlarged. A believer taught by the Spirit
of God is bold in what they believe. They're going to confess Him. And here's the reason, she said,
the latter part of that first verse, because I rejoice in thy
salvation. Look at the wording of the Spirit
of God. It's not because I rejoice in
my salvation, though it is given. It is ours by gift. But this
salvation that a believer possesses is the Lord's. Listen to Psalm
8.3. Salvation belongeth unto the
Lord. It's His to bestow. Jonah 2.9
says salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is a person. That's
what Simeon said. My eyes have seen Thy salvation. So my mouth is enlarged. My heart rejoices and my mouth
is enlarged and I will boldly, freely, thankfully proclaim Almighty
God is my salvation. I'm not. And then she says something
that everybody says, even false religion will make this statement,
but only a believer truly believes it. Here's what she said, there's
none holy as the Lord. Now, if you ask anybody, ask
anybody, do you believe that the Lord is holy? Yes, sir, I
believe that. Do you believe that the Lord
saves by grace? Yes, I do. Salvation is by grace. Do you believe that men are saved
by works? Oh, no. No, no, no. I don't believe
that. You know what? Only a believer
believes that salvation is by grace. Only a believer believes
that there's none holy as the Lord. People will say it, but
a believer knows it. He's been taught it. A believer
rejoices in his singleness. Only a believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ say, I believe in this God. I believe in the holy God. that chooses to show mercy. I believe in the holy God, the
single, the I am that redeems his people. That's who I believe.
I believe in the holy God that regenerates and saves and keeps
everyone that he's chosen. There is none beside thee, neither
is there any rock like our God. There's no haven of rest. The God that most men, most women
believe is the God that tries. Our God does not try. Our God
does as he will. And because carnal man's thoughts
of self-sufficiency and haughtiness moves his mouth to speak, his
heart is self-sufficient. Hannah was moved to say this
in verse 3. Talk no more exceeding proudly. Let not arrogance come out of
your mouth. Now, let me be honest. Every believer, those who by
the grace of God have been made to know Him, is this not the
heart of every believer to those that don't know Him. That know Him not. Is there any
believer in this room that would say, I don't really care that
people speak proudly and arrogantly and boast. It just don't even
matter to me. It grieves a believer. Don't
say that. Come to Christ. Look to Him. No believer can save somebody. But is there anybody in any of
your families, is there anybody in any of my families that I
don't desire to know the Lord? I mean, there's people that I
know. I'm thinking that I know they
oppose themselves. They're arrogant, they're boastful,
and prideful. And here's what I know. But for
the grace of God, do you know what's going to happen when they
take their last breath? They're going to lift up their
eyes out of hell. I know that. And a believer,
Hannah was moved to say, you know, talk no more exceeding
proudly. Let not arrogancy come out of
your mouth. Why? Because the Lord, for the
Lord is a God of knowledge. And by Him, actions are weighed. That's the warning that every
believer would give to those that refuse to believe. The very thought of those in
even my immediate family. I got siblings, I got grandkids
that don't know Him. And I'm thinking, we're just,
this life is over. She says, the Lord is a God of
knowledge. By Him, He knows, He weighs. The bows of the mighty men are
broken. Everyone that thinks and boasts
of possessing this power, that's what that bow means, that instrument
of weaponry. Everyone that thinks and boasts
in his own power, thinking that he possesses the ability to create
life within himself by something that he does, Depart from the
sovereign God's mercy and grace. You're going to be destroyed.
It's going to be broken. Lord, we prophesied your name. Cast out devils in your name.
Did many marvelous works in your name. Depart. Depart. I never knew you. The
bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded
with strength. Those who were by grace, those
that stumbled, found to be weak or feeble in themselves, those
who realized by divine revelation that they didn't have, they don't
have any spiritual strength to birth themselves any more than
Hannah had strength produce life within herself. Those, the objects
of God's mercy, those that stumbled are girded with strength. They're
given strength from heaven by the power of God's Spirit and
they're kept, guarded, encamped. They're girded with strength,
encircled by the Lord. It's what Satan said concerning
Job. The Lord said, you consider my
servant Job? Yeah, but you got him hedged
about. I can't do anything about it.
These are girded. In verse 5, she continued to
speak of what she's learned. through this state of being barren
and then praying to the Lord and seeing the deliverance of
the Lord and realizing that God Almighty is the one that's in
control. God Almighty's got the power. I don't have anything.
Don't brag anymore, she's saying. Then she says in verse 5, they
that were full have hired themselves out for bread. Those that thought
that they had need of nothing immediately made me think of
the prodigal. You know, that parable that our
Lord gave concerning that prodigal son. He just said, you give me
what's coming to me. That's mine. And he went out
and he had a big old pocket full of money. He had all of his inheritance
here. And the scripture says He wasted
it on riotous living. Now this is what man did in the
fall. And this is what all of us by
nature do. We're just flitting this life
away like it's nothing, like it's not a big deal. Like we're
never going to, you know, stand before God. The books are never
going to be opened. You know, I got time, I got time.
This is truthful. I probably told you this before,
this is truthful. I remember thinking to myself,
I don't know if all this stuff I'm hearing about in church is
so, but what I plan to do is just before I die, I'm gonna
go ahead and give my heart to Jesus. And I'm going to catch
it right, you know, I'm serious. So help me, I thought to myself, those that were full, thought
themselves full, thought themselves able to handle, hired themselves
out for bread. That boy, he wasted all of his
money. This man spiritually wasting
his life, his time. You know, hired himself out for
bread. Ah, but those, they and they
that were hungry ceased. Now let me tell you who those
are, right there. That's the believer. That's the object of God. The
first one, those that were man left to himself. in his depravity,
he thinks he's full, he hires himself out, you know, they that
were hungry ceased, not ceased from being hungry, that's not
what he means. No believer ever ceases from
being hungry, blessed are those that hunger and thirst after
righteousness, but they ceased from hiring themselves out for
bread. They ceased, they trying to make
their own way in livelihood before God as that prodigal did. He came to himself. He said, I'm going to go home.
I'm going to go back home. And I'm going to say to my dad,
I've sinned against you. I know what that feels like too.
I know what it feels like to be asked to leave the house.
and just go out in pride and think, I tell you what, I'll
show him. I can handle this. I just, you
know. My dad told me one day, he said,
you've been here long enough. Fine. Well, I tell you what,
a month or so later, I was ready to talk differently. By the grace
of God, man thinks himself to be full and in need of nothing. By the grace of God, Almighty
God will take and give that man a new heart and he'll come to
himself spiritually. And he'll say this, I'm gonna
go back to my dad and I'm gonna say, I've sinned before heaven. I've done it in your sight. I've
sinned against God, and I've done it before you. And I'm going
to ask you to help me. That boy came back, his dad received
him, and he gave him, put a ring on his finger and some shoes
on this boy's feet, and you put a robe on him, you killed the
fatted calf. And that, you know, they were
hungroves that were hungry, ceased from hiring themselves out by
the mercy of God, so that, latter part of verse 5, so that the
barren hath born seven, or that they've born many. That word
seven, it's a word for many. And she that hath many children
is waxed feeble. Now this is truly the understanding
of God's elect. They know that their life of
spiritual barrenness, is a direct result of their fall in Adam. But according to God's mercy,
those who by the grace of God have been made to seek and to
believe their barrenness, those that have been brought to acknowledge
their inability now have a new hope that Almighty God has shown
mercy to them. Those that formerly boasted themselves,
they realize now, but for the grace of God, Almighty God would
have left me to myself and I would have perished. You know, the
barren hath borne now much by the grace of God. And she that
hath children is wax feeble. Those that left to themselves
to think that they have. are left to themselves. Hannah
says in verses six and seven, the Lord killeth and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave
and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor and maketh
rich. He bringeth low and lifteth up. These two verses right here set
forth this one thing. God Almighty is God. God Almighty
is sovereign and power of life and death, physical and spiritual,
is in the hands of the Lord. It's appointed unto man. It's a time to live, a time to
die. This is what Hannah says. She
said, I know, I know that the Lord abases. The Lord brought
her down. left Panana to herself to keep
bragging and being arrogant and everything, but he brought Hannah
down. And Hannah said, this is a believer. The Lord raises up. He has the
right and the power to make one vessel under honor and another
under dishonor. If he's pleased, he leaves a
pharaoh. to his own foolish and arrogant
thoughts. Who's the Lord that I should
obey him? Who is the Lord you're talking
about? The Lord said, let my people go. Who's the Lord? I'm
in control here, he thought. And the Lord told him, he said,
for this purpose I raised you up, that I might show my power,
he'll leave a Pharaoh or a Marvin if he's pleased to do, he'll
leave me to myself. And then he'll arrest a Saul
of Tarsus on the road to Damascus and make him to be a Paul of
the Apostle. He removes by grace that stony
heart in the vessels of his mercy. Removes that dominion of sin
from those that he's eternally love, and He imparts life, a
new heart, in regenerating grace. And He brings down to the grave
all the self-sufficiency of His people. And they go through these
times of trouble and trials, and He brings them to behold
Christ as their all in all. That's what Hannah says. God
Almighty is God. He makes His own to know themselves,
to know. There's spiritual poverty being
found in Adam's transgression and makes them rich in faith. Gives them faith to believe.
David said in Psalm 32 and 3, O Lord my God, I cried unto thee
and thou hast healed me, O Lord. Thou has brought up my soul from
the grave. Thou has kept me alive. That
my soul should not go down to the pit. Isn't that the truth? That's what a believer says.
Lord, you saved me. Lord, you kept me. Psalm 75,
7, But God is the judge. He putteth down one and setteth
up another. Hannah sang, He bringeth low
and lifteth up. That's our daily experience.
Now, that's every day for a believer. He brings low. causes us to see
ourselves, know something of ourselves, of our insufficiency,
our inability, and lifts us up. We're continually brought down
as we behold our frailty and lifted up in the remembrance
of His promise to never leave us and never forsake us. Verse
8, He raises up the poor out of the dust, out of their low
and miserable condition, lifted up the beggar. I couldn't help,
I looked at that scripture, I couldn't help but think, but old blind
Barnabas made to cry out for mercy. Jesus thou son of David,
have mercy on me. Lord save me, help me. He lifted
up the beggar from the dunghill. The dunghill. You know when Paul
He was relating in Philippians chapter 3. I thought about this when he
said he lifted up the beggar from the dunghill. He was talking
about all of his credentials. You've heard them. Circumcised
the eighth day, stock of Israel, tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew of
the Hebrews, touching the law of Pharisees, Concerning zeal,
persecuting the church, touching righteousness which is of the
law." Listen to this, blameless. You couldn't find one infraction
that I'd ever... He says, "...but what things
were gained to me I counted loss. Yea, damn it, I count all things
but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord for whom I've suffered the loss of all things and do
count them but dung." that I may win Christ. You know, when a
man or woman is found in the dunghill of their self-righteousness,
all of these things that Paul was trusting in, all of those
credentials, all of that stuff he thought he was doing, he was
just sitting in a big dunghill. Because he wasn't doing it. He
was just a rebellious sinner. That's all he was. And Almighty
God lifted him out of that dunghill. When God Almighty calls a man
or a woman out of false religion, He calls them out of a dunghill.
That's what He's doing. Because that's all they're doing
is looking to themselves, thinking that they have done something
to please God, Almighty God, raises the poor out of the dust,
lifts up the beggar from the dunghill to set them among princes
and to make them inherit the throne of glory for the pillars
of the earth are the Lord's. And He has set the world upon
them. He sets them among princes. set them among princes. What
does that? Listen to this passage of scripture
that perfectly explains what that means. He set them among
princes. Psalm 113 verse seven and eight. He raises up the poor out of
the dust, lifteth the needy out of the dunghill that he may set
him with princes, even the princes of his people. This is what Hannah was saying. when Almighty God is pleased
to show mercy to one of the vessels of his compassion and kindness. He lifts them up out of that
dung heap, that dung hill of self-righteous religion and self-worth. He lifts them up out of that
and he sets them with the princes of his people. He puts them in
an assembly in a place where God's people meet together, where
God's going to be pleased. That's what he said. He lifts
him up that it may set him with princes, even the princes of
his people. What's your name, Jacob? Jacob.
Israel. You're a prince. A prince with
God. He lifts up his elect out of
the dust of spiritual death. Dung-heeled of our fallen nature
and false religious. makes us kings and priests to
God and the Father, and unites us together, puts us together,
gives us a love one another. And then Hannah, speaking under
the spirit of God's leadership, reveals that he had made them
what they are by the grace of God, heirs of God, joint heirs
with Christ. And this is how he has done that. The pillars of the earth are
the Lord's. How does He do all that? He's
God. He made this earth. He set the
world on. He does as He will. He's the
Lord. And for all that He's eternally
loved, verse 9, He will keep the feet of His saints. He will uphold the steps of His
own. He will direct their actions
that they fall not into ruin. He's going to keep them. He'll
keep them, and the wicked shall be silent, the scripture says,
in darkness. For by strength, man's strength,
shall no man prevail. Those who arrogantly opened their
mouths and spoke against the Lord of heaven. Now you think
about this. And this is the nature. This is the way of fallen man. They speak against the God of
this Bible. We talk about God being sovereign.
electing, God choosing, God predestinating. They said, that's not the God
I serve. Well, I can tell you what's going
to happen. If they die in that state, the
wicked shall be silent in darkness. They spoke against the Lord,
they spoke against His gospel, they speak against the preaching
of the gospel and God's saints, and they're going to be silenced
because of the unexpected disappointment of their former hopes they had. And then, verse 10, the adversaries
of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. Out of heaven shall he
thunder upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends
of the earth, and he shall give strength unto his king and exalt
the horn of his anointed. The adversaries of the Lord,
all those who die and leave this world, in unbelief, and the way
that a man or a woman dies is the way they're going to spend
eternity. But those who die without a heart made tender to bow to
the Lord, as He's revealed in Scripture, all that believe not
the truth, the gospel as it's set forth, they're going to be
destroyed. They're going to be broken. Depart
from me. Bind them hand and foot. Cast them out into everlasting
outer darkness. For out of heaven shall he thunder
upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends
of the earth and shall give strength unto his king and exalt the horn
of his anointed." That word, anointed, actually is Messiah. First time Messiah is ever mentioned
in the Holy Scriptures. In the final words of Hannah's
prayer, or song, that the Spirit of God moved upon her to declare
that all the ends of the earth, all the enemies of God that have
ever walked this earth are going to be judged in absolute justice. Almighty God, God's anointed,
is going to show His Messiah to be king. He is the king. He rules. But for every vessel
of God's mercy, Almighty God eternally purposed that his people
are not going to perish. Almighty God purposed that the
Lord Jesus Christ, the one who eternally has stood, is their
surety. come into this world made of
a woman, made under the law, made answerable to the same law
that every child of Adam born into this world, vessels of mercy
of God but born in Adam, every one of us that's obligated to
obey God and cannot do it because of the weakness of our flesh,
the Lord Jesus Christ came and answered God's law for us. And that which He established,
that righteousness, that obedience that He established as the man,
Christ Jesus, the Spirit of God reveals that every believer is
robed in that righteousness. That is the righteousness of
the saints. Justice is satisfied. God's going
to be just. He's going to deal with sin.
But thanks be unto God, He's dealt with our sin in Christ
Jesus, our Redeemer. And there's therefore, right
now, there's no condemnation to them that be in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Believer,
we can go home, lay down, And if the Lord's pleased to take
us during the night, it's well with our soul. May the Lord bless
these words to our heart for Christ's sake and our good and
comfort. Amen.