I please God to bless our souls
this evening as we consider his word together. Let us turn to
the first book of Samuel, the second chapter, and reading verse
30. The first book of Samuel, chapter
2, and reading verse 30. Wherefore the Lord God of Israel
saith, I said indeed that thy house and The house of thy father
should walk before me forever, but now the Lord saith, be it
far from me. For them that honour me I will
honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. there are two types of people
which are spoken of here. There are those that honour the
Lord, and there are those that despise the Lord. And the truth
is that all of us here tonight fall into one of those categories. And it's a very searching consideration
to look into our hearts and to discern whether we are those
who honour the Lord or those who despise the Lord. And we see the reason why such
words were written and it was really because of the terrible
situation which had developed in the priesthood with Hofnei
and Phinehas walking in such a deplorable way before the Lord
God and in the office that they occupied. And we see that on
the one side. And on the other side, in the
earlier verses of this same chapter, we have the prayer of Hannah. And we see what a great difference
there was in those two situations. We see that Hannah honoured the
Lord. And we see that Hophni and Phinehas
despised the Lord. Now these two instances we have
a record here of, of course, are, we might think, really quite
extreme and quite different. Well, that is so. But the fact
of the matter is, however close they may come together, there
is a dividing line. There is a position where there
are those who are enumerated that honour the Lord and those
that despise the Lord. and how necessary it is for us
to know that we form the former and not the latter, that we are
amongst those who honour the Lord. And the words are so important,
for them that honour me, the result I will honour. They that despise me, The result
shall be lightly esteemed." Well, as we see Hannah, the reaction
from Hannah, you remember that Hannah had prayed that she might
be blessed with a child. Of course, she'd been mistaken.
Eli thought she was drunk, but she wasn't, and she was able
to explain to Eli and say, and know my Lord I am a woman of
a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor
strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. Well that's a good case isn't
it? To have come in a time of need, and it was wasn't it, with
her it was a great time of need. Because here she'd been barren,
she hadn't had any children, Of course in those days it was
very important that they might bear children. And so here she
was in this situation and she was pouring out her heart unto
her God. What a good thing, what a good
example it is if we see the example here and recognise the relevance
in our own life. to be able to pour out our soul
before the Lord. Now in this particular instance,
of course it was with regards to having a child. But there
are those situations which come into our lives when we are in
a desperate situation and we are very sorrowful. And it may
be because we are earnestly seeking the way to Zion. with our faces
thitherward. And we're concerned to know that
we are amongst the household of faith, that we do possess
the life of God in our soul. And if that is the case, then
we may be of a sorrowful spirit. And it may then be that we understand
what Hannah, what the situation she was in when she came and
poured out her soul before the Lord. You see, she wasn't there
to impress anybody. She definitely hadn't impressed
Eli. Eli thought the opposite of her. But she was there before
her God, pouring out her soul. And she came and said, count
not thine hand made for a daughter of Belial, for out of the abundance
of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto." Well that
was a very simple statement, wasn't it? And yet it was a very
true statement. And the effect was that God heard
and answered her prayer. We can say, can we not, it was
indeed an effectual fervent prayer. And so she She left and she rose
up in the morning early and worshipped before the Lord and returned
and came to the house to Ramah. And God was very gracious to
her and she did conceive and she did bear a son. And what
was the result? She came saying, I have called
his name Samuel, saying, because I have asked him of the Lord. did not go up then initially
with her husband. She waited until she had weaned
her son. And then she came, and she came
before and brought the child to Eli. And she said, O my Lord,
as thy soul liveth, my Lord, I am a woman 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 have lent him to the Lord as long as he liveth. He shall
be lent to the Lord, and he worshipped the Lord there." And that's a
good example for us, isn't it, to understand here she was blessed
with a child that she so much wanted, but she was willing to
give it unto the Lord. And then we read in the second
chapter, which we read together this evening, how her prayer
had changed. What a change there was. And
what a change there is when God hears and answers our prayers,
or at least it should be so. It's not always so, but we should
recognise the example of Hannah, so that when God does come, and
hears and answers our prayer to realise the reaction that
we have here before us. In the case of Hannah and the
wonderful example when she prayed and said, my heart rejoiceth
in the Lord. Why? Because God had heard and
answered her prayer. She rejoiced in the Lord. I believe
that is the case with God's people. We do rejoice in the Lord and
may we be able to testify of it and be really thankful for
what he's done. And so she says, my horn is exalted
in the Lord, my mouth is enlarged over my enemies because I rejoice
in thy salvation, there is none holy as the Lord, but there is
none beside thee, neither is there any rock like our God."
Well, we read her prayer together, didn't we? And it was a good
example for us to be able to follow. And there was therefore
this woman, this godly woman, who had honoured the Lord, and
the Lord had honoured her. And she is not the only person
that has honoured the Lord and that God has honoured. Indeed,
all the Church of God is able, as God hears their cry, hears
their prayer, and then, as a result of that, they honour the Lord
in acknowledging what he has done for them. You see, Hannah
acknowledged what God had done for her. And surely that is the
result and that which brings honour to our God, to acknowledge
what He has done. It's not what we have done, it
wasn't what she had done. It's what God has done. And as
we're able to speak and testify of what He's done, There must
be, therefore, that honouring of his great and holy name. And don't forget that here is
the result. Those that honour me, I will
honour. Well, may we all be numbered
amongst those who really desire to honour the Lord. Our life
is really for the honour and glory of God. We should really
be constantly concerned that our life, day by day, is for
the honour of our God. Not for our honour, but for the
honour of our God. And not to therefore find ourselves
in the opposite way, like Eli's two sons, Hophneit and Phinehas. Now they were blessed people
naturally. They were in the priest's office.
They couldn't have been in a higher office than that. And yet, we
observe that they were not amongst the children of God. Indeed,
they were not amongst his people. And therefore, what did they
do? They despised the things of God. What did they do? They despised the commands of
God. The commands of God were very
clear. The commands of God today are
very clear. And these two men, they despised
them. Because they wanted their own
freedom. They wanted to carry out and
live their own lives. They wanted to have the best
of everything. They wanted to fulfil their own
lustful desires. They were indeed evil. Well,
such was their condition. And therefore we are told, they
that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Surely they despised
the way of God. They despised His commands. and they wanted to walk and do
their own thing. Well, we see the very great difference,
don't we, between those two sons and Hannah. My friends, you and
I tonight, we fall into one of those categories, don't we? We're
either amongst those who despise the Lord, despise his ways, they
despise me. That's a solemn reality. It's
despising God. God has given us a wonderful
example, hasn't he, in his word as what we should do, what we
should say, how we should walk, what we should follow. It's set
down before us in the word of God. I'm sure most of us are
aware of what the Bible speaks to us. And I wonder if we therefore
look at it and despise it. No, I'm not going to do that. No, I'm not going to obey that. No, I'm not going to follow that.
What does that really mean? Does it not mean that we are
despising God? And that's a very solemn thought,
isn't it? These two men, they despise God.
What was the result? Well, they were killed in battle.
They were never saved. They were lost, eternally lost. Yet they'd been privileged. Privileged
to occupy the priest's office. Privileged to be found in the
high priest's son. And yet, you see, there was walking
contrary to the ways of God. No doubt they were in the temple
every day. But they were not fulfilling
God's commands and God's laws. They were walking contrary to
God. They were despising God. Well, it's a very searching word,
isn't it? As you and I look into our own hearts to see whether
we are despising God. Whether we are walking contrary
to Him. We're told, if you walk contrary
to me, I will walk contrary to you. And that word is true. That word is true. And it's solemnly true. And I
know it's true because I walked it myself. Walking contrary to
God. You might think, well, God won't
take any notice. We can just carry on. No, the
Lord won't allow that. And God walks contrary to us
and then the path is not easy. And then the path is difficult.
And then perhaps the path becomes more difficult. And we become
harder in our hearts. Well, what a blessing then to
be moved by the Holy Spirit like Hannah was. and to do that which
was right. And it would seem that at the
earliest opportunity she desires to praise her God. The earliest
opportunity she desired to honour her God. She came into this category,
did she not, for them that honour me I will honour. And so she
desired indeed to honour her God. whereas Hophni and Phinehas
had no desire to honour the Lord. They only wanted to fulfil their
own desires. What a vast difference! And so
it is today, as we live in the present age, my friends, and
we are now called to walk upon this earth, and we are called
to follow the gracious example that the Word of God sets before
us, and not to follow anything else. You know, we have some
wonderful words in the Word of God to encourage us. In the Gospel
of John, we can read in the 12th chapter and verse 26, we read,
if any man serve me, Let him follow me, and where
I am, there should also my servant be. If any man serve me, him
will my father honour." And what had the Lord spoken
previously? He says, he that loveth his life
shall lose it. Wasn't that like Hofmann in Finnehans?
They loved their life, they lost it. He that loveth his life shall
lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep
it unto life eternal. And I believe the Lord there
is speaking in this way, as we may hate the sins in our life,
hate the failures of our life. Hate those wrong thoughts and
those wrong words and those wrong actions, because what it really
means is that we are under the fear of the Lord, which is the
beginning of wisdom, and we fear to continually do wrong and to
sin against Almighty God. And therefore This word is very
true. He that loveth his life shall
lose it, and he that hated his life in this world shall keep
it unto life eternal. Then he says, if any man serve
me. Well, do we desire today to be
found serving the Lord? You know, all of his people serve
the Lord. We are all servants. We're not
exempt. We can't say, well, I'm not a
servant. All of us are called to be servants
if we are the children of God in one way or another. And so
here is the words of the Saviour, if any man serve me, what are
we to do? Let him follow me. That's the
gracious words of the Saviour. And what a good testimony it
is to follow the Lord as he set us a wonderful example. And surely that example means
that we are to take up our cross daily and follow him. That means that daily picking
up the cross, not just on a Sunday, not just perhaps once a month,
but every day we are to be numbered amongst those who follow the
Lord Jesus Christ. Let him follow me. It's a clear command, isn't it? And remember, these are words
in love, in love to his people. Because if we do not follow the
Lord, what are we doing? We're following ourselves. And
what does that mean? We're listening to the devil.
And we're following his insinuations. And be sure, the devil will produce
every excuse why you and I shouldn't follow the Lord. He'll bring
every excuse before us. But you see, we're not to go
in our strength. We are to go in the strength
of the Lord God. And my friends, what a strength
that is. We're told, I will go in the strength of the Lord God. I will make mention of thy righteousness
and of thine only. We don't have to follow our righteousness. We have to make mention of the
righteousness of our great and glorious Saviour. So here we
have the testimony of the Lord Jesus. And then in an earlier
chapter, in the fifth chapter, of John, we also read words of
instruction and words of direction. In the 23rd verse we read, or
perhaps the 22nd, For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed
all judgment unto the Son, that all men should honour the Son,
even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son
honoureth not the Father which hath sent him." So, are we honouring
the Son in our life today? Are we honouring the Son? Well,
you and I have to answer before God, don't we? We don't have
to answer before men, but we can answer honestly before our
God. And so here we have this statement. and how important it is, he that
honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father which hath sent
him. It's very clear, the Word of
God, isn't it? And why are these words recorded? They are recorded so that we
might be a true follower of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Word of God tells us, If
ye love me, keep my commandments. You know God's commandments are
not hard, they're not grievous. No, my friends, they are those
which are a blessing, because what do they do? They enable
us to be found walking closer to our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. The Lord Jesus in Matthew's gospel,
he speaks of these words to the Church of God and he encourages
us and he says, come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden. Now, Hannah was labouring, wasn't
she? And she was heavy laden, wasn't
she? What did she do? She prayed unto her God, come
unto me. all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest." Well, Hannah received rest, didn't
she? She received rest because God heard and answered her prayers. And my friends, we have a gracious
and blessed invitation, and do we not? And so the Lord tells
us, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. And the yoke, of
course, is that which joins together oxen were yoked together, and
that yoke joined them together. They had to walk together, they
ploughed together, whatever it was, they were together. And
so these words speak in these terms, take my yoke upon you. Join ourselves to the law of
Jesus Christ, to be a true follower of him. And what's the blessing? And learn of me. You see, when
we are yokes to Christ, we learn of him. We may think we've got
to learn everything beforehand. No, it's not that way. It's the
other way. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me. And what's the Saviour to describe
himself as? Beautiful description. For I
am meek and lowly in heart. And there's a promise. And ye
shall find rest. unto your souls." Well, you know,
Hannah was sorrowful, wasn't she? She had a heavy soul. Perhaps
we have. Perhaps we're burdened. We're
longing to know some relief from the burden which we seem to be
carrying. Well, here's the gracious invitation. Take my yoke upon
you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and
ye shall find rest under your souls. The Word of God is so
positive, isn't it? It doesn't leave us in any doubt.
It's a gracious answer. Ye shall find rest under your
souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Why? Because we're yoked to the Saviour. My friends, He supports us and
He strengthens us. And as we walk along, the Saviour's
with us. We're not by ourselves. The God,
the gracious Lord God Almighty is with us, encouraging us and
strengthening us. Those that honour me, I will
honour. Well, what a Blessing it is then
to be found walking in this way. Now, let us just recap for a
moment. Remember, Hannah's condition,
burdened, praying to God, an answer, deliverance, a blessing,
and praise to the Lord. And the result was God's name
was honoured because of the result because of what he had done. Hannah couldn't produce the answer
herself, could she? She couldn't produce a child.
She'd been wanting a child for a long time. She couldn't produce
a child. Well, that's one evidence. My
friends, we can't produce the answer ourselves. We can't We
can't produce deliverance ourselves. We can't produce freedom ourselves. But the Lord does. And the Lord can. And the Lord
will. The Lord will hear and answer
prayer. He heard and answered Hannah's
prayer. And my friends, he still hears
and answers prayer today. Blessed be his holy name. We have a prayer hearing. and
a prayer answering God. We have a God who does answer
our prayers. Now this woman, you see, she
cried, didn't she? She prayed earnestly unto her
God. It wasn't any light matter with
her. It was a very serious situation
because she poured out her soul before the Lord. It wasn't just
a temporary blip as we might say. No, she was really burdened
and therefore she poured out her soul to God. God knew all about her anyway
and God knows all about you and me anyway. But it's a blessing
when he brings us to that point where we do come and pour out
our heart to our God. And that kind and gracious God
hears and answers our prayers. like he did to Hannah. You see,
and what a result there was then. Praise to God. There must be
praise to God, mustn't there? When God hears and answers prayer,
when God gives us that grace to follow him, a despised and
crucified man. You see, the Lord sets before
us the path. It's not an easy path. It's far
from easy. But my friends, it's a blessed
path because we're walking the path with the Saviour. We're
following His gracious example. And what did the Lord Jesus do?
He did His Father's will. And my friends, it's a blessing
when you and I do our Father's will. And I dare say that if we're
honest, if we look into our hearts, we know what the Father's will
is for us. But sometimes we're reluctant. We're reluctant to walk that
path. We prefer perhaps to delay. We prefer to put things off. Well, do not forget They that
honour me, I will honour. There won't be any honouring,
there won't be any blessing until there is an honouring Almighty
God. Have we got cause tonight to
honour the Lord? God knows where we stand and our situation
before Him. whether we should honour him
and whether we have not honoured him. And let us not therefore
be found walking in the opposite path and that we are despising
the path the Lord has ordained for us. Despising it. and to think that
the result of that may be lightly esteemed? Yes, the Lord would
lightly esteem us. Again turning to the Gospel of
John and the word again gives us a very solemn word to make
us ponder and consider our path and in the eighth chapter In
the 49th verse we read, Jesus answered, I have not a devil,
but I honour my father, and ye do dishonour me. Well, are we dishonouring the
Lord? The words before this were, he
that is of God, heareth God's words. Ye therefore hear them
not, because you are not of God. Then answered the Jews and said
unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan and hast
a devil? Jesus answered, I have not a
devil, but I honor my father, and ye do dishonor me. And I seek not mine own glory. There is one that seeketh and
judges. Very, very, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying,
he shall never see death." Well, the sayings of the Lord are very
clear, are they not? That he speaks to our hearts
and tells us to follow me, take up our cross, cast our burden
upon the Lord. So many words of encouragement,
so many words of truth. for them to honor me, I will
honor. You see, the fact was that the
Lord spoke very solemnly when he said, wherefore the Lord God
of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house and the house
of thy father should walk before me forever. But now the Lord
saith, be it far from me because they hadn't obeyed God. They'd walk contrary to the Word
of God. They'd done violent, evil things. Well, my friends, we don't want
to be found, do we, with a word of condemnation spoken against
us. But now the Lord saith, the Lord
saith to us, as it were, that we're despising the Lord, and
therefore we're lightly esteemed. I'm sure we recognise that in
our lives, sadly, we have despised the Lord. Perhaps many times
in our life we've despised the Lord. Well, do we desire to not
be left to despise the Lord anymore? Because we know we shall in that
situation be lightly esteemed. But may we be found desiring
to walk in this right way and to honour our God. My friends, what a privilege
it is to honour the Lord. What a privilege it is, as we
realise what God has done for us, what God had done for Hannah. Wonderful result, wasn't it?
And what was the The benefit was that she received the favour
of God and the result was she praised her God. She praised
her God. She honoured her God for all
that he had done. She came and testified. She came
and told Eli what had occurred. She thanked God first and then
she came and told Eli. You know God's children, they
cannot keep things to themselves, because it is not honouring.
If God has done great things for you and me, we are to testify
of those things. We are not to hide them. We are
not to pretend they never existed. We are not to suffer from some
mock humility, but we are to come in this right way, just
like these words speak to us tonight, for them that honour
me I will honour, and those that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Well, what a difference there
is, isn't there? If we just look at it on face
value, between Hannah and Hofnei and Finnehans, we might think,
well, that's a great difference. And we might think in our own
heart, well, I don't think I'm like Hofne and Finnehans, well
I hope we're not. But my friends, are we honouring
our God? Are we honouring the Lord? Now
just ponder for a moment. What has God done for your soul
and my soul? What has he done? He's laid down
his life. He shed his blood. He was crucified
upon Calvary's cross in order to redeem yours and my soul. What a cost has been paid. What a cost. Did we deserve it? No, we didn't. We were unworthy
sinners. unworthy of any favour. And yet
to think the Lord looked upon us when he saw us in our blood
and spoke and said, live. Why? Because of his love, his
great love to such unworthy sinners. He loved Hannah. Hannah didn't realise it probably
initially. But the Lord loved Hannah. What
a blessing it is to know the Lord has loved us. Loved us with
an everlasting love and brought us to this position then, as
we consider his great love. He laid down his life so that
we might possess the wonderful eternal blessing of life. And therefore, as Jesus was so
willing to die, oh, my friends, may we truly desire to honour
him because of the great cost he paid, the price to ransom
our souls, to deliver us from the wrath to come to save us
from being lightly esteemed, he laid down his life so that
we might possess life. Well, those that honour me, I
will honour. My friends, do you owe a debt
to the Saviour? Do you have a hope in His mercy? Have you been touched with his
love to your soul? Then, my friends, have you honoured
the Lord, acknowledged his great goodness and his great favour towards
you? Well, here is this great confirming truth. Remember, those
that honour me, what is the result? I will honour. How humbling. to think Almighty God graciously
speaks these words to such unworthy sinners, those for whom the Saviour
died. For them that honour me, I will
honour. One of the great important questions
is tonight, have we honoured our God? Have we honoured our
God? You must answer before God. I
must answer before God. Are we honouring our God? And
it's not just a one-off event. Daily. Daily. To take up our cross. Daily. To follow Him and to honour Him
in all that He's done for us. Well, what a blessing then to
be found walking in this way. And my friends, not to be found
on the other side, despising God's way, despising God's command,
saying in our hearts, I will not have this man to reign over
me. Oh, but to be found bowing down
before our God and worshipping him as our God and our saviour. Now that is honouring the Lord,
bowing down, submitting ourselves to his will, submitting ourselves
under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt us in due time,
casting all our care upon him, for he careth for us. Oh my friends, how humbling it
is to think that we have an almighty God who created all things who
lay down his life, that we might be eternally blessed. And the
question is, if I granted this great blessing, are we honouring
him or are we despising him? Well, my friends, the Lord knows
what our situation is, but oh, that it might be touched by his
wondrous love to be moved by the love of God to sinners. His loving kindness. Oh, how
great to realize this great blessing. Those that honor me, I will honor. And the very sad and solemn situation,
they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. And all of
us tonight stand on one side of the line or the other. Or
may it be on the right side, those that honor me, I will honor. Amen.