of 1 Samuel chapter 2. 1 Samuel chapter 2. I got to looking at this prayer
that a woman named Hannah prayed. And as I read the words, obviously
inspired of God, I began to think, these are the words that every
believer truly thinks and desires to say. It's just so wonderful to see
how the Spirit of God wrote them, you know. And as he writes them,
and it said that Hannah prayed them. I thought to myself, I
truly would desire to pray that. I want to. And so I want us to
look at this prayer of Hannah. But before I look at her prayer
in chapter 2, and I'm going to go ahead and tell you right now.
I want to go back and just kind of look at a little history of
what led up to this prayer. And so I'm going to go ahead
and just say right now that I doubt very seriously we won't make
it through the second chapter. But I'd like to look at a few
verses in that second chapter. But before I do, let's look What brought this woman to pray
this prayer? And as we look and see what she
prayed, why did she pray that? What led up to cause her to say
what she said? And in that, in learning that
what the Lord put her through to pray what she prayed, teaches
us afresh how whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every
son that he receiveth. If you be without chastisement,
it's because you're illegitimate, you're not the Lord's. There's
no child of God that is without chastisement. I heard brother
Henry quote someone else. He read this, he said he did,
and he said God had only one son without sin. He had no sons without chastisement,
suffering, even the Lord Jesus himself. So, let's just look. I'm going to go back in chapter
1 and we'll just look at this, and Lord willing, next time we'll
look at another part. But first of all, there was a
woman, the scripture says, whose name was Hannah. Verse 1 of chapter
1, that there was a certain man of Ramah the Imzophim, of Mount
Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of
Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zoph. an Ephrathite, and he
had two wives. The name of one was Hannah, the
name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but
Hannah had no children. Now, this man had two wives,
Peninnah and Hannah. But look at what scripture says
about Elkanah, the husband's attitude. toward Hannah. Look at verse 4 and 5. When the
time was that Elkanah offered, he was going to go up. All men
Israelites were required to go. There were certain feasts they
had to go. Women didn't have to, but the men did. Women could
go, but they didn't have to go. When the time was that Elkanah
offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons,
and her daughter's portions. But unto Hannah he gave a worthy,
a double portion. For he loved Hannah, but the
Lord had shut up her womb. This woman, Hannah, he gave her
a worthy, he gave her a double, and that word right there, double,
is not the same word we looked at earlier. It's just twice,
a double portion. But the word right there, He
gave her a worthy, worthy. If you have a margin, it does
say double. But the word also has this meaning,
sorrow, sorrow. He gave her a double portion. He loved her and he grieved. She was grieved because she had
no children. And this man that loved her,
he grieved too. That was his wife, he loved her.
She was grieving, he was grieving. A man and his wife, they love
each other. You get to a point, you know,
when one hurts, the other hurts. You know that. You know what
I'm talking about. And he gave her a double portion,
and he gave it to her. He loved her, but he sorrowed
with her. And to make things worse, Hannah,
you know, the other wife, Paninna, mocked Hannah. And she mocked
her because she was barren. Look at verse 6 and 7. Her adversary
also provoked her. Her adversary was Peninnah, the
other wife. Provoked her, angered her, sore,
for to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb.
And as he did so year by year, when he went up to the house
of the Lord, so she provoked her, therefore she wept and did
not eat. Hannah was going to go with her
husband, Elkanah, go up to the house of the Lord and worship,
and Peninnah was mocking her even while she was getting ready
to go, and it grieved her. She didn't even want to eat.
She was so grieved over not having children. So the scripture says
she did. She went up to the house of the
Lord with her husband, Elkanah, and there she began to pray. Verse 9, 11. So Hannah rose up
after they'd eaten and shallowed and after they had drunk. Now
Eli, the priest, sat upon a seat by the post of the temple of
the Lord. And she was in bitterness of soul and prayed unto the Lord
and wept sore. And she vowed a vow and said,
O Lord, of host, if thou wilt indeed look upon the affliction
of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid,
but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give
him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall
no razor come upon his head." She prayed and she asked the
Lord, Lord, would you give me a child? Lord, if it please you,
would you remember me? Would you remember me and my
barrenness? You know, we never know why the Lord allows us to
go through what we do. We don't know why we go through
these trials and tribulations, but we do know this. No matter
what he's pleased to cause us to go through, We know that His
chastening hand is always, it's always for our good. It's always
to bring us to the end of ourselves and to cause us to cry unto the
Lord who alone can help. You know, if everything was peaches
and cream, everything's fine, everything's great, nothing ever,
you know, there's never any, you know, winds contrary to what
we think it ought to be. But when it is, don't we then
cry unto the Lord? You say, well, couldn't the Lord
do it another way? Yeah, He can do it any way He
wanted to do it. But whenever He's pleased to
put us through these things, it's the Lord. Well, Eli heard
this woman pray. She was crying out. And Eli,
by the Spirit of God moving on his heart, I know this, sent
a word of comfort and peace to this woman. He said in verse
17, 18, then Eli answered and said, go in peace. And the God
of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.
And she said, let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way and
did eat. And her countenance was no more
sad. She'd received a word of comfort. We were talking a few minutes
ago in the other message. That's what God's people want.
I just need some comfort. Just tell me. Tell me that everything's
OK. Tell me that things are well. Tell me it's well with my soul.
Tell me that God Almighty has blessed me. So the next day,
Hannah and her husband had got up They worshiped the Lord, and
they went home. In verse 19, 20, they rose up
in the morning early, worshiped before the Lord, and returned
and came to their house to Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah, his
wife, and the Lord remembered her. Wherefore, it came to pass,
when the time was come, about after Hannah had conceived, that
she bare a son, called his name Samuel, saying, because I have
asked him of the Lord. That's what Samuel means. I've
asked him of the Lord. That's what she named him. She
named him. I asked. Well, the following year, Halkana
was getting ready to go back to the house of the Lord and
worship, but Hannah didn't go. She kept Samuel at home with
this explanation to her husband, verse 22, Hannah went not up
For she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child
be weaned, and then I will bring him that he may appear before
the Lord and there abide forever. I don't know there was, I've
heard where there was three different weanings. First of all, weaning
from the breast immediate, well, not immediately, after two or
three years, whenever they finished nursing. And then there was a
time when the child would be with a nurse that would just
keep him, someone to keep him. And then about the age of 12
is what tradition. I just said that he was weaned,
they said, from his childish ways. So it could have been. It could have been. This boy
Samuel, he could have been around 12 years old actually when she
brought him and left him. She didn't leave an infant. with
Eli, you know, but she left a child that was, you know, about 12
years old, probably, what happened. So, whenever the time was right
for her to take Samuel to the temple, Hannah brought her son
to Eli the priest, and this is what she said to him in verse
26-28 of chapter 1. She said, Oh my Lord, she's talking
to Eli, the priest, as my soul liveth, my Lord, I am the woman
that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. And for this child
I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my petition, which I ask of
him. And therefore also I have lent
him to the Lord as long as he liveth. He shall be lent to the
Lord, and he worshiped the Lord there." word lent, it actually
means I've returned him. This is the one that I asked
the Lord for, this is the one that he gave me, and I had promised
him, Lord if you'll give me a son. She said back in verse 11, she
said I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life.
Lord, you give me a son, I'll give him to you. So she had him
for a few years personally. But then that young boy was brought
to the priest and then grew up there a prophet. That's what
he is. So she's bringing this boy back.
So after bringing him back, lending him, returning him unto the Lord,
she begins to pray. And she's going to pray this
prayer after she had giving him unto the priest, Eli. And it says in chapter 2, verse
1, and Hannah prayed and said, you know, we're commanded to
pray. A believer is one that's been
instructed by the Lord, like the disciples, when the disciples
says, Lord, teach us to pray, like John taught his disciples
to pray. He said, when you pray, there is a desire within a believer's
heart to communicate with the Lord. I've heard people foolishly,
foolishly say, if I believed what you believe, I'd never pray. I said, if you believe that God
has ordered all things, and that He's going to do all
that He's ever purposed to do, that He worketh all things after
the counsel of His own will. He raises up, He abases. God
Almighty, everything is ordered. All things work together for
good to them that love God. If I believe that Almighty God,
He's purposed, He's chosen a people that He's going to save, He put
them in Christ, Christ redeemed them, the Spirit of God shall
call them out. John 6, 37, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. Then why pray? If Almighty God's
ordained all these things, why pray? Number one, He commanded
us to. Number two, it's honoring to Him. We are commanded to pray. Someone says, I see, I don't
see the reasoning in that. Okay. Hannah prayed. And God's people
do. They ask. They ask the Lord according
to your will. Lord, I am your servant. They
confess back to the Lord that which the Lord has said. She
said, Hannah prayed and she said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord. the very seat of my passion. My soul rejoiceth in the Lord. I don't doubt that she was thankful
for Samuel. I know she was thankful for Samuel.
She had asked the Lord for a son. And I don't doubt for one second
that she didn't love her husband. She loved Alcana. That was her
husband. He loved her and she loved him.
And she was thankful. She was thankful. But she rejoiced
in the Lord. It was the Lord that had heard
her prayer. It was the Lord who is her Lord. Her God. And he had moved on
her. He was the one that directed
her to pray. We don't know what to pray. The
Spirit of God helpeth our infirmities. Why would Hannah have asked for
that son for the glory of God? Unless the Spirit of God had
moved on her. God was going to raise up a prophet. God was going to raise up Samuel
to be a prophet. And so he moved on Hannah to
ask for him. He was going to give Samuel.
I mean, he told Jeremiah, he said, before I formed you in
the belly, I knew you. I ordained you a prophet. Well, he did Samuel too. But he moved on this woman to
pray. And she asked for a son. Why didn't she ask for a son?
Why didn't she just ask for a child? Because the Spirit of God moved
on her to ask. And the Lord had given her a
son. A son that was going to grow up to God's glory and honor
and praise. So she said, my heart rejoiceth
in the Lord. Mine horn, my strength, is exalted
in the Lord. Here's what she said, I know
what it's like to feel and to behold something of my impotence. I know what it feels like to
feel helpless and barren. I know what it feels like to
behold something of my weakness. And she said, in the Lord, I
have beheld who is my strength. My heart rejoices in the Lord,
my horn, my strength, of which I have none in myself, is exalted
in Him. Paul declared, therefore I take
pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses. Not because they're fun, no chastisement
is for the moment pleasurable. But oh, what those chastisements
bring about. What they cause us to see. Who
they cause us to see. I mean when the Lord delivers
us out of the despondency and the dregs and the hurt unknowingness,
when He's pleased to show us His good pleasure, oh how we
can then say, you know, my horn is exalted in the Lord. His strength,
not ours. His power, not ours. His victory,
not ours. We're more than conquerors. through
him that loved us. And then she says, my mouth is
enlarged over my enemies because I rejoice in thy salvation. My
mouth is enlarged. I don't know exactly the fullness
of what she was thinking about, but my mind went back to her
adversary Paninna. You know, my mouth is enlarged
over my enemies. Before, when Panina chided her
because of her barrenness, made fun of her, laughed at her. You
know, can you imagine? She's already barren. She can't
have kids, humanly speaking. And here's Panina over here that
has kids. And Panina is making fun of her
because she's barren. What could she do? She couldn't
do anything but cry unto the Lord. And out here she said,
my mouth is enlarged over my enemy. Before she had no reply. She's barren and she knew she's
barren. And all she could be but silent. What's she going
to say? What are you going to say? Oh, I just don't want kids
anyway. No. She wanted a child, she wanted
a son. But now, with praise and thanksgiving
unto the Lord who has shown Himself to be her strength, He opens
her mouth now with freedom and boldness and faith and thanksgiving
unto the Lord of all grace and mercy. And He's been pleased
to bestow upon her a child. So she rejoiced, and a believer. A believer not only rejoices
in the temporal deliverance and blessings of this life. Hannah
didn't either. That wasn't the only thing she
was rejoicing in out of the barrenness. But for the eternal salvation
through the Messiah. Now you think of what she said
spiritually. My mouth is enlarged over mine
enemies. The enemies of myself. The enemies
of sin. The enemies of the world. My
mouth is enlarged over my enemies because I rejoice in thy salvation. I don't have the ability to produce
life in myself. She didn't either, humanly speaking
or spiritually. But she says now, my horn is
exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over my
enemies because I rejoice in Christ. I rejoice in Thy salvation. Notice that. Thy salvation. Thy salvation. There's none holy,
verse 2, as the Lord. There's none holy as the Lord. He's essentially, originally,
independently, perfectly, immutably holy. He's holy. He's single. There's none holy but the Lord. Now there's angels who are referred
to as being holy, the saints of God, holy brethren, the scripture
says in 1 Thessalonians 5.27, holy, holy angels, holy brethren,
those who are partakers of the divine nature. But their holiness,
holiness of angels, holiness of God's people, is only acquired
for God's people as they are found in Christ. Holy angels
are referred to as holy angels only because they've been kept
from falling from their first estate like the third did. It
followed after Satan. What was the difference in the
two-thirds that didn't fall and the one-third that did? What
was the difference? God's pleasure, God's grace,
God's good will to keep them, that was it. There's none holy
as the Lord. None. For there is none beside thee,
neither is there any rock like our God. And you know whenever
we hear the rock, the rock, who do we think of? The Lord. The
Lord. The Lord our rock. He is the
rock of our salvation. He is our refuge. He's our hiding
place. He's the city of refuge. But
this rock that Hannah was talking about, that first rock right
there, there is none beside thee, neither is there any rock like
our God, is what she said. You know what she's talking about?
She's talking about all of these false refuges. All of these false
securities. Every false security that makes
salvation to be something that you or I do is a false security. I can prove what I just said.
Listen to this scripture. Deuteronomy 32, 31. For their rock is not as our
rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. Man devises that
which he thinks is a secure hiding place. But scripture reveals
that any rock, any little r rock, or place of so-called stability,
apart from the capital R rock here, the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ, anything that's thought to be security by my
doing, and here again, all you have to do is to find out if
somebody's lying to you, is to ask this question. Who has the
first and last word in salvation? Who has the first and last word? If God has the first word and
I have to have the last word to make it effectual, that's
not Iraq. He said I'm the first and the
last. Salvation's of the Lord. salvation is all of grace. Their rock is not as our rock. There's none rock like our God. In fact, the scripture says even
our enemies themselves will end up making this statement. I looked
at Exodus chapter 14, this is whenever Egypt was coming after
the Israelites and they were going through the Israelites
were going through the Red Sea. God had opened up the Red Sea
and the nation of Israel was coming out the other side. And
here comes the Egyptians. And these are the Egyptians that
led and looked over and governed by Pharaoh. Big talker. Moses told him, he said, the
Lord said, Jehovah said, let my people go. He said, who's
the Lord that I should serve him? Who is the Lord that I should
serve him? That Lord that he was talking
about right there. Listen to what the Egyptians
have to say now whenever the scripture says, you know, there's
none other beside thee, neither in, no rock, And then Deuteronomy
said, their rock's not like our rock, even they're our enemies. Themselves are judges of this.
Listen to what scripture says in Exodus chapter 14, verse 23
to 25. The Egyptians pursued and went
in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses,
his chariots, his horsemen. It came to pass that in the morning,
watch, the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through
the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host
of the Egyptians, and took off their chariot wheels, that they
drave them heavily, so that the Egyptians said, let us flee from
the face of Israel for the capital L, capital O, capital R, capital
D. Jehovah fighteth for them against
the Egyptians. That's what the Egyptians said.
Let's flee from them because Jehovah, the God that's in control,
is fighting for them. Therefore we don't have a chance.
Now what did Moses say in Deuteronomy 32, 31? Their rock is not as
our rock. Even our enemies themselves are
judges of this. Every knee is going to bow and
every tongue is going to confess. that Jesus Christ is Lord to
the glory of God. And then just let's look at one
more verse and then I'll stop for today. She says, talk no
more exceeding proudly. Let not arrogancy come out of
your mouth for the Lord is a God of knowledge and by him actions
are weighed Don't be bold and arrogant and
proud. Don't let that come out of your
mouth. This is what she's praying. And this is what a believer says.
Man is so proud by nature. He speaks to exalt himself. Boasts
in his own strength. Especially when it comes to salvation.
That's where you're going to find it. If we're barren or full, we don't have anything to boast
in. If Almighty God has withheld from us that which we desire,
whether it be a child or whatever, whether He's pleased to bless
us, what do we have to boast in but the Lord? who were taught no more exceeding
proudly. Don't let arrogancy come out
of your mouth. Hannah saw, she saw how weak
she was. I can't even have a child. What
is it about me? I can't have a child. But oh
again, she saw how spiritually weak she was. And every believer
does. Talk no more exceeding proudly. Let not arrogancy come out of
your mouth. You know what will shut a man
and a woman up to that right there? Regeneration. Regeneration. That will shut
them up. Oh, I'm telling you, every one
of us. Before the Lord was pleased to
call us out of darkness. Well, I did. I walked, I, you
know, I did. Don't say that anymore, Hannah
said. Don't say that. She desired to have a child.
She asked the Lord, but until the Lord granted it, she was
still buried. And for a believer, they don't
even know to ask for the Lord to have mercy until He's done
it. and called them out of darkness
and gave them life. For they don't even know. Why? For the
Lord is a God of knowledge, and by
Him, actions are weighed, measured. By Him, actions are measured.
You remember the story in Daniel chapter 5 about a man named Belshazzar? This was Nebuchadnezzar's boy,
Belshazzar. And he was going to have a big
party. Go get all the cups that we took
out of the house of the Lord. Bring them over here. We're going
to drink wine. We're going to have a big party. So they brought all the
cups that were taken out of God's house. And Scripture says while
they were partying, a hand, a finger was beheld writing on the wall. Mene, mene, tika, rufarsin. What does that mean? Well, one
of them told him, said, there's a captive over here. His name's
Daniel. I know. Spirit of the Lord. I bet he can tell us what that
says. So Daniel came and read it and
told Belshazzar, told him about this God right
here. who is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed. This is what He had to say. God
has numbered Thy kingdom and finished it. Thou art weighed
in the balances and art found wanting. Thy kingdom is divided
and given to the Medes and Persians. He knows the thoughts, He knows
the purposes, He knows the words, the works, of all men, and He
perceives the end from the beginning. And here's what the Scripture
says He's going to do. In that day, all the books are
going to be opened. And all men are going to be judged
out of the books according to their works, except for those
whose names have been found written in the Book of Life, on the foundation
of the world. Those that are resting in Christ. Oh, talk no more exceeding proudly. All your bragging and all your
this that and the other. Don't, don't, don't do that.
Don't do that. Let not arrogancy, hard talk
come out of your mouth. For the Lord knows. He's a God of knowledge. And
by Him, All actions are weighed. Lord, I pray this morning. Lord,
that I might know you. That I might be found in Christ.
Lord, keep me for the arrogancy of my way. Lord, keep me from
bragging of my ability. Hannah said, I couldn't even
have a child, much less create life in myself. How you gonna
do that? How's a dead creature gonna create
life in themself? May the Lord bless these words
to our heart for Christ's sake, amen.