well may the Lord be pleased
to bless us together this morning as we meditate in his word let
us turn to the first book of Samuel and the second chapter
and we'll read verses 6 to 8 the first book of Samuel chapter
2 and reading verses 6 to 8 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. He raises up the poor out of
the dust and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill to set them
among princes and to make them inherit the throne of glory. The pillars of the earth are
the Lord's, and he has set the world upon them." Well these words form part of
the prayer of Hannah. It was the prayer of Hannah when
she came up with her husband before the annual time of worship. And as we read that first chapter
together in the book of Samuel, we were noted that she passed
through a difficult time, she had not been able to have a child,
which of course far more so in those days was a very great judgment
upon a woman who could not actually have a child. and she came up
to the temple to pray and she prayed and well Eli he misjudged
her because she was there and just her lips moving but there
wasn't any sound because she prayed in her heart and Eli misjudged
her and we should Think of that in our own lives or people that
we see, we need to be very careful that we don't actually misjudge
people and come to a wrong conclusion. Because Eli said to her, how
long will thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee.
Well, Hannah very quickly corrected him and said, no, my Lord, I
am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I've drunk neither wine nor strong
drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. Count not thine handmaid for
a daughter of Bedium, for out of the abundance of my complaint
and grief have I spoken hitherto." Well, Eli recognised he'd made
a mistake. And it's good, isn't it, when
we can recognise we make mistakes. And he said, go in peace. God
of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked. Well that
petition which he asked was indeed granted to her because they returned
to their home and were told it came to pass when the time was
come about after Hannah had conceived and she bare a son and called
his name Samuel saying because I've asked him of the Lord. The man of Cana nor his house
went up to offer unto the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his
vow, but Hannah didn't go up. She said no 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. That of course was a great statement,
it was a wonderful sacrifice that Hannah was willing to do. The Lord had given her the son
which she prayed for and now she was willing to give him to
the Lord. So when she had weaned him she
took him up with her with a sacrifice up to the house of the Lord in
Shiloh and the child was young. She came to Eli and she said,
Oh my Lord, as I saw liveth my Lord, I am the one that stood
by thee here praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed,
and the Lord hath given me my petition, which I asked of him. therefore also I've lent him
to the Lord as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord
and he worshipped the Lord there. Then we come to Hannah's prayer
and it's a prayer which is really very instructive to us. to recognise
how she commenced and how she came up with this son, the son
the Lord had graciously given her. And naturally we might think
that what she would do would be to first of all come and thank
God for the wonderful blessing that she had been favoured with
in the birth of a son. and for the willingness to come
and to bring him up to be with Eli and to serve the Lord in
that way. But there's really no reference
for that at all. And what does she do? Well, she
exalts God. And what a good thing that should
be in our life. And she says, my heart rejoices. in the Lord. My horn is exalted
in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over my
enemies because I rejoice in thy salvation. We might think
perhaps, you younger ones, what does it actually mean my horn
is exalted? It's not a very clear position
that we find ourselves in. Well, I've done a little bit
of research on that, and it would seem that when the singers who
David had appointed in his time to lift up the horn, it was indeed
an instrument of music in praising God. So it comes like this, so
that we can read this in Chronicles 25 verse five, my horn is exalted
means this, My praises are very much elevated to an unusual strain,
exalted in the Lord God. God is to have the honor of all
our exaltations and in him must we triumph. So as we think of
this statement, my horn is exalted to realize that what she was
saying was My praises are very much elevated to an unusual strain,
exalted in the Lord. What a good thing then it was
for Hannah on this occasion and what a good thing it will be
for us today. We desire to really exalt the
Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over my
enemies because I rejoice in thy salvation. Well, again, what
a wonderful direction that is, isn't it? Because I rejoice in
thy salvation. Mercy it is for all of us today,
if we can rejoice in the salvation of God toward us. And that means,
of course, that we have received the favor of God, the blessing
of God, the enlightening of God, the enlivening of the Spirit
of God upon us so that we recognize where we were and what we are
by the grace of God. Then she goes on to speak you
see this great God and that's something which we ought to really
endeavor to encourage ourselves in whenever we approach unto
our God to be able to come and say there is none holy as the
Lord there is none beside thee neither is there any rock thy
our God." Surely such statements are God-edifying, surely they
lift up the Lord to a high plane, who is worthy indeed of all our
praise and all our exaltation. And so she says, talk no more
so exceeding proudly, let no arrogance come out of your mouth,
for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are
broken, and they that stumble are girded with strength. They
that were full have hired out themselves for bread. They that
were hungry ceased, so that the barren hath borne seven, and
she that hath many children is waxed feeble. Well, that is really
just the beginning of this prayer. beginning, and it's something
I'm sure we all need to be conscious of in our prayers to come to
the Lord in a right way. And it is a God honouring way. So easy to come, you know, with
a want list to God. What a blessing it is if we come
acknowledging who He is, how great He is, how glorious He
is, and how He deserves all our honour. and all our glory that
we as poor sinful mortals can give. Well then, interestingly
and very amazingly, this woman then gives a wonderful explanation
of really the path of the children of God in the verses that we've
read together this morning, the 6th and 7th and 8th verses. It
does of course go on, but we haven't read the whole verses
down to 11, although we could do. But from verse 6 we read
this, the Lord killeth and maketh alive. Now naturally we would
think that was the wrong way around. We would think surely
it should be the opposite, he should say the Lord maketh alive
and then he killeth. Well the Word of God is of course
correct. because we are speaking here
of a spiritual situation. And very similar words occur
in the book of Deuteronomy that Moses wrote. Again, right towards
the end of that long book he wrote. We can read in the 32nd
chapter and the 39th verse these words. See now that I, even I, am he and there is no God with
me. I kill and I make alive, I wound
and I heal, neither is there any that can deliver out of my
hand. So we might ask the question,
what does this then really mean? What does it mean the Lord kills
and then makes alive? What it means I believe is very
simply this, When the Lord works in our hearts, when the Lord
begins that great and glorious work of his grace, he kills us. He kills us so that we have nothing
in ourselves. We may have been very confident
in our inability to save our souls. We may have been very
confident in the things that we thought we knew of the things
of God. And I've been very happy to realize
that we knew quite a lot of the scriptures of truth and we were
confident that we had a good knowledge of these things. And
we were happy therefore to carry on with this natural knowledge. But it wasn't a spiritual knowledge. We weren't alive spiritually.
We were still dead in trespasses and in sins. What a mercy, therefore,
when the Lord looks upon us and, as it were, kills our natural
hope, that hope which we had in ourselves. And what does it
make us do? It realises that there's no goodness
in ourselves, there's no spiritual life in ourselves, and we need
the life to be given to us by our great and glorious Saviour. What has occurred while we realised
that we are sinners of the earth and we are killed because of
it. Because we cannot therefore qualify ourselves for any good. We cannot qualify ourselves for
the gift of eternal life. Sin has destroyed us. Sin has destroyed us. What a
mercy when the Lord shows us that sin has destroyed us. and
that we are therefore dead in trespasses and in sins. It is the blessed and glorious
work of the Holy Spirit to bring us to such a conscious realization
that we don't possess spiritual life, that we are dead, and it
is the work of the Holy Spirit to direct us to see this the
Lord killeth but as Hannah was able to say and of course we
have something of a testimony something her experience she
was she was brought right down wasn't she the poor woman was but she didn't give up and the child of God will not
give up because this word is wonderfully true The Lord maketh
alive. The Lord gives spiritual life,
something you and I cannot give ourselves. And that's why it's
very wisely and very beautifully spoken in these terms. The Lord
maketh alive. It is his work. Lord may we therefore
be very thankful And may we perhaps think of what Jeremiah said,
it is the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed. No, it's
because his compassions fail not, that I knew every morning,
great is his faithfulness. And so the Lord killeth and maketh
alive. And then We have a similar situation
as it continues. Again it's the work of God, this
is what the Lord does. He brings us down to the grave,
and that may be a condition, a situation where we're almost
tempted to give up. We feel perhaps we're virtually
lost, there's no hope. bring it down to the grave. What's going to happen? Well
when it's the Lord's work, and again David was familiar obviously
with this situation, and he tells us in the 30th psalm in the third
verse, O Lord thou has brought up my soul from the grave, he
was right down low, thou has kept me alive, that I should
not go down to the pit. He bringeth low and lifteth up. He bringeth down to the grave
and he bringeth up. What a mercy it is to know the
Lord doesn't leave us. You see, he brings down, but
he also brings up. It's the Lord's work and may
we bless God for it, perhaps in our own lives, as we recognize
God's hand upon us, his work upon us, his Holy Spirit moving
us, that brings us down to this situation. He bringeth down to
the grave. And if we think of that, of course,
coming down to the grave is really the end of all things for us,
isn't it? Because we only come into the grave when we are lost,
spiritually dead and no hope at all. The Lord brings us low
unto his people, just like he did to Hannah, brought her low,
brings down to the grave, and he brings it up. Yes, he brings
it up. You may remember David in the
40th Psalm, He spoke about bringing him up
out of the horrible pit and out of the Maori clay. It was indeed
the work of the Holy Spirit in David's life. He tells us, I
waited patiently for the Lord. Sometimes we have to wait patiently.
The Lord brings us down, as it were, in this condition. He brings us down to the grave
well he was brought down i waited patiently for the lord and he
climbed unto me and he heard my cry he brought me up also
out of a horrible pit and out of the marie clay wasn't left
there and he set his feet upon a rock he set his feet upon the
lord jesus christ and he established him the things of God he established
my gains. You see when we're brought down,
brought down to the grave, it's then we need to be delivered
from it. We're thankful for a word like
this and bring it up. Lord bring it up. He brings us
up from that condition which perhaps appeared to be no hope. No doubt David was like that
in this condition, he tells us of, in a horrible pit, a horrible
pit of unbelief, it's one of the worst pits you and I can
get into, a pit of unbelief. We don't believe the Word of
God, we don't think it applies to us, and we're ready to give
up, perhaps we think we have given up, but you see to the
Church of God, the Lord doesn't give them up, So the Lord brings
up, like he did Hannah, like he did David, brought up out
of a horrible pit, and as the Mari clan set my feet upon a
rock. You see what a blessing that
is, what an establishing that is, to be founded upon the rock,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And what does it produce? What
did it produce in David's life? He hath put a new song in my
mouth, even praise unto our God. Surely that was what had happened
in Hannah's case, wasn't it? The Lord had delivered her, the
Lord had heard her, the Lord had brought her up and he put
praise in her mouth. It must really be the outcome,
isn't it? When the Lord comes and brings us up from the grave
as it were and puts a new song in our mouth, even praise unto
our God. Many shall see it and fear and
shall trust in the Lord. It's an encouragement for the
Church of God to see these things as the Lord works his great work
in the lives of others. No doubt as Hannah came and told
Eli of the Lord's goodness to her, she was able to pray this
prayer to him to encourage him in the position that he was. And so, blessed is the man that
maketh the Lord his trust. That's what Hannah did, didn't
she? Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust and
respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Well, what a mercy then for us
today to be blessed with this favour. were able to trace out
such a word as this, the Lord killeth and maketh alive, he
bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up. The Lord brings
us down, the Lord brings us up, it's his work, what a mercy it
is, he doesn't leave us, he doesn't forsake us. And then he says
the Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich, bringeth low and lifteth
up. Well, that is very true with
regards to natural things and perhaps in the current climate
we're finding ourselves today with this virus and maybe many
who prove this. The Lord makes poor The Lord
does things which are outside of our control. We have no ability
to control it. We have to say, it is the Lord. And as the word of God encourages
us, it is the Lord, let him do what's seen with him good. The
Lord does that which will be for the eternal good of his people
and for his church. And therefore it is the Lord
that makes poor. We don't perhaps like to think
of these things. We don't like to think, well, surely I'm not
going to be made poor. Well, this is what the word tells
us. The Lord make his poor. That
can be in a providential way, but it also applies mostly to
our spiritual life. The Lord brings us down in our
own estimation. Yes, and what a mercy it is when
the Lord touches our heart. So we don't think we're a very
knowledgeable person, a very great person, but we're somebody
that needs the mercy of God. The Lord maketh poor. The Lord does it. You and I wouldn't
do it naturally, would we? We wouldn't want to be brought
down to a spiritually poor condition. But when the Lord does it, he
does it for a purpose. And surely this follows on. The
Lord maketh poor and maketh rich. Well, that's what it is. The
Lord makes rich. I can't make ourselves spiritually
rich. We can read and read and pray
and pray, and that's good and right and proper, but we need
the blessing application of the Holy Spirit to touch our hearts,
so that we are numbered then amongst the true worshippers
who worship God in spirit and in truth. And then it is, the
Lord makes poor and he maketh rich. and he bringeth low, and
he lifteth up. And if we are to be made rich,
and if we are to be lifted up, how will that come about? Well
it will come about like this, as the hymn writer said, nothing
in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. It will mean looking unto Jesus,
looking to the Saviour, that he might be exalted in our hearts,
we might realize something in the value of his salvation, the
greatness of it, the glory of it, and the wonder of his redeeming
love, the preciousness of that redemption that indeed brings
us to this situation where we are rich Because our treasure
is not on the earth, our treasure is not in our own abilities,
our treasure is not in our own spiritual excellence, it's in
what Christ has done in his finished work upon the cross. And as the
Lord gives us faith, living faith to believe, The Lord Jesus Christ
came into this world to seek and to save that which was lost.
He realised the Lord came to seek and to save me. In a very
personal way, a blessed application of the work of his Spirit into
our hearts. What a mercy that will be. That
will be a rich experience. It will be a richness which is
beyond all the natural things of life. because it brings with
it that eternal favour. These blessings are eternal,
they're eternally rich. What does it mean? Surely it
means this, our treasure, our treasure is in heaven. We understand
the word treasure, don't we? We know how men and women, boys
and girls as well, want treasure in this earth. but I would have
treasure in heaven, because treasure in heaven is where neither moth
nor rust doth corrupt, and where neither thieves break through
and steal. And the apostle says, where our
treasure is, there will our heart be also. So may we have the wonderful
favour of knowing the Lord has made us spiritually rich because
of his grace and glorious death upon Calvary's cross. to redeem
our soul. He maketh rich, he bringeth low,
and he lifteth up. Then she goes on to say, he raises
up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from
the dunghill. Well there's two very low positions
aren't they? Right down low in the dust, cast
on the dunghill, There's something of no value, that's what is put
on a Dunhill, things which appear to be of no value. Well, perhaps we felt like that,
of no value. Perhaps we felt that we've been
placed and put on the Dunhill, because we're of no value. You
might find, feel we're very poor, Now we are right down in the
dust. Nobody takes any notice of us.
We don't expect them to. There's nothing worth any notice
in ourselves. So if we're in that position,
the Lord's brought us there, but what a mercy not to be left
there. Because as Hannah tells us in
this prayer, he raises up the poor, out of the dunghill, pour
out of the dust and lift it up the beggar from the dunghill. He doesn't leave us there, he
puts us there, he allows us to be there, so we have some understanding
of our own worthlessness and direct us to himself, because
then we are told these great words that we should understand Job knew what it was, didn't
he, to be brought down low. And we can read in the book of
Job in the 5th chapter, 11th verse, to set on high those that
be low and those which mourn may be exalted to safety. And then in the Psalm 113, he
raises up the poor as the dust, and lifteth the needy out of
the dunghill, that he may set him with princes, even the princes
of his people. Really it's a very similar statement
the psalmist makes with this prayer of Hannah. He raises up
the poor as the dust and lifts it up the beggar and the dunghill.
So don't despair if you feel to be there. Lord does bring
us there, what a mercy to know we have a God who lifts us up,
who raises us up, and it's only God that can do it, to set them
among princes, to set them among those who are truly blessed with
the knowledge of God, and to make them inherit the throne
of glory. The Lord does this. This is the
work of God. This is the work of his spirit.
So that we can look forward to this wonderful inheritance of
the throne of glory. That means to be brought at last
to be with Christ, which is far better. This will mean that our
concern and our desire is to honor and glorify God Thank Him
for what He's done. Thank Him for His great mercy. Thank Him for His wonderful favour. Realise that the Lord looks upon
us where we are. You know, Job again tells us,
he would draweth not his eyes from the righteous, in the 36th
chapter, the seventh verse he knows where we are he's watching
over us we might think we're we're cast out forever no he
withdraws not his eyes in the righteous but with kings are
they on the throne yea he doth establish them forever and they
are exalted you see this is a this is the gracious and glorious
way of the work of the holy spirit to bring his people down to a
low place like Hannah was and then to raise her up and as we
read those earlier verses in this second chapter of how she
truly desired to praise and acknowledge the greatness of God surely it
is true the lower the Lord brings us down the higher he raises
us up not for our own pride or estimation, but for his honour
and for his glory, so that we will be able to truly praise
him from the bottom of our heart for his glorious work of salvation
to such unworthy sinners. We will never be able to claim
any goodness of ourself, but we shall be found looking to
the cross, looking to the Lord Jesus Christ and glorying in
what the Lord Jesus Christ has done, that great work of salvation,
that costly work of salvation, to redeem such an unworthy sinner
as we are. To think that God comes where
we are, grants us that grace of repentance, grants us that
grace to seek unto him, grants us that favour to look unto him,
and then to experience that blessed work of the Holy Spirit in our
hearts, in our souls, to set them among princes, the Church
of God will be joined together in glory. Yes, and to think that
we are priests of the Most High God, and that we shall be there
around that throne of God in heaven. Those who've been low,
those who've been brought down, those who've been made poor,
the Lord's lifted up, the Lord's made rich, and the Lord has blessed
them. Lifted up the beggar, it's good
isn't it? We might think ourselves less
than the least indeed, just like Paul did. A beggar poor at mercy's
door, thy such a wretch as me. Yes, but the Lord doesn't leave
us there. He lifts us up, lifts up the
beggar and to set us among princes and to make us inherit the throne
of glory. So this is an inheritance. which
is incorruptible, and which is undefiled, and that fadeth not
away. There's no sin in glory, there's
no dunghills in glory, there's no dust in glory. All is pure
and peace, and a wonderful favour, inheritance, incorruptible and
undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for
you who are kept, by the power of God through grace unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last time. For the pillars of the
earth are the Lord's." Well, the Lord of course made the earth,
didn't he? Genesis 1 tells us, in the beginning,
God created the heaven and the earth. God holds the earth where
it is. God holds the universe where
it is. You and I are blessed with high
views of God. We shall rejoice in such a truth. The pillars of the earth are
the Lord's, and he has set the world upon them. Yes, everything
is controlled by our God. Nothing happens without his divine
will and purpose. Nothing will happen without his
divine will and purpose. And we just very, very briefly,
just the ninth verse, We're told he will keep the feet of his
saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness, and by
strength shall no man prevail. It's a mercy, isn't it, to think
the Lord keeps our feet. We will wander away, we'll go
into the broadway, we'll soon find ourselves there. The Lord
keeps, he keeps his people, he keeps our feet, he keeps our
feet in that right way. wicked shall be silent in darkness
for by strength shall no man prevail the adversaries of the
lord shall be broken in pieces out of heaven should 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 well it is a very beautiful prayer really and we've gone
through some in some bit of detail but not much in the other parts
and it's just worth reading carefully and prayerfully and pray the
Lord give us the right light and understanding of what it
truly means to us individually in our spiritual life because
the Word of God is for our spiritual encouragement and our spiritual
direction our spiritual understanding and so may we be able to come
today and praise God as indeed Hannah did as she commenced this
prayer and said my heart rejoicing in the Lord my horn is exalted
in the Lord my mouth is enlarged over my enemies because I rejoice
in thy salvation now May all of us truly be found today rejoicing
in this great and glorious salvation. Amen.