Let us turn again to God's word
and I want to read here in 1st Samuel chapter
2. What we have of course here is
the song of Hannah. that great prayer of thanksgiving
as she comes before the Lord who had heard and answered her
prayers. We were considering previously
the Magnificat that we have recorded in the first chapter of the Gospel
according to Luke we consider that on the Lord's Day those
words that we find in verses 46 to 55 and in a way what we
have here is the Old Testament counterpart of that great song
of Thanksgiving and so Although we read this portion on the Lord's
Day evening I want to read it again and then endeavor in some
way to consider the content of these words this evening. In 1st Samuel then chapter 2
we're told how Hannah prayed and said my heart rejoices in
the Lord's my horn is exalted in the Lord My mouth is enlarged
over mine enemies, because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none
holy as the Lord, for there is none beside thee, neither is
there any rock like our God. Talk no more, so exceeding proudly. Let not arrogancy 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 stumbled are girded with strength. They
that were full have hired out themselves for bread. And they
that were hungry ceased, so that the baron hath borne seven, and
she that hath many children is wax feeble. 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 raiseth 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. For the pillars of the earth
are the Lord's, and He hath set the world upon them. He will keep the feet of His
saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness, for by
strength shall no man prevail. 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." We read the opening chapter of
this book and there of course we see something of the the setting,
the context that lies behind this remarkable song of Hannah,
the song of thanksgiving. She was barren, as we saw, and
she was one of the wives of this man Alkanar. The other, Peninar,
was one who would be much favored. She had sons and daughters, but
how she taunted poor Hannah in her barrenness and how painful
all this was to her but she prayed and it was very much a private
prayer although in a public place it's a silent prayer and we see
that quite clearly from the description that we have in that first chapter
Verse 10, she was in bitterness of soul, it says, and prayed
unto the Lord, and wept sore. And then at verse 13, we're told
how she spake in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice
was not heard. And Eli, the priest, the high
priest thought she was drunken, and rebukes her, and tells her
to put away the wine from her. but she answers and tells him
how she is of a sorrowful spirit, pouring out her soul before the
Lord. All this was a true prayer, it's
not unlike something of what we read in Scripture concerning
the prayer life of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Remember how
there in the Garden of Gethsemane we're told how Christ was in
an agony, and being in an agony he prayed more earnestly and
his sweat were told was like drops of blood falling to the
ground. Then in Hebrews 5 we read how
it was in the days of his flesh that he offered up prayer and
supplication with strong crying and tears unto him that was able
to save him from death. and was heard in that he feared,
and though a son he learned the obedience through all that he
suffered." Well this was very much real prayer that this woman
is seeking to present before the Lord her God. All her desire
is before Him and she comes with her groanings and her moanings. And surely Christ is that one
who is a high priest for such as this. a mediator for those
who come in all the agony of their soul. We have not an high
priest, we are told, which cannot be touched with the feeling of
our infirmities, but was tempted in all points like us we are
yet without seeing. And so we do come boldly to the
throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help
in time of need. So it was that this woman does
not pray in vain. God hears and God answers the
prayer. As we see at verse 19, They rose
up in the morning early, and worshipped before the Lord, and
returned, and came to their house to Rama. And Arcana knew Hannah
his wife, and the Lord remembered her. wherefore he came to pass
when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived that
she bear a son and called his name Samuel saying because I
have asked him of the Lord and there of course we have the meaning
of the name literally means asked of God Samuel asked of God he
was that gift that the Lord was pleased to grant unto her. Oh, she had wept. Well, weeping
may endure for a night, but the psalmist says, joy cometh in
the morning. And so it was for this woman,
and she is true to the promise she had made that should the
Lord grant her this time, I will give him, she says, unto the
Lord all the days of his life. and she takes upon him that vow
of the Nazarite the razor would never come upon his head she
had prayed then in that real fashion in the secret of her
own soul in silence before God and be misunderstood even by
the high priest and yet God had answered but now in this portion
that we've just read in chapter two we see how the The content really is so public. It's a public prayer. We have
the detail of it. This song of thanksgiving that
she comes to present before the Lord. We have the record. And
it's quite a long prayer. extending over the first 10 verses
here in Chapter 2. We thank God that we do have
in Scripture the record of many prayers. Of course, we have the
long prayer that King Solomon prayed at the dedication of the
Temple of the Lord, and that's recorded twice in 1 Kings 8,
and then again in 2 Chronicles 6. We also have the prayer of
Daniel in Chapter 9, when he comes to understand that God
had accomplished the 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem
and he sets his face to pray unto the Lord that he will accomplish
his promise of restoration. But I suppose in many ways what
we have here is more akin to what we're told concerning King
Ezekiah, that record that we have in Isaiah 38. And there we're told the writing
of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when he had been sick and was recovered
of his sickness. And then the content of that
remarkable prayer in which he acknowledges the mystery of God's
dealings with him. By these things men live, he
says. In all these things is the life
of my spirit. All that that had come upon him,
all those afflictions, all those troubles and trials. And so it
was really also here with regards to the prayer of Hannah. And as I was saying at the beginning,
the counterpart to this in the New Testament is very much that
portion we call the Magnificat in Luke 1 at verse 46 following. There is a similarity even there
in the opening words. We're told how Mary said, My
soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God
my Saviour." We call it the Magnificat because she wants to magnify
God in all His goodness and all His grace towards her. And she
rejoices, she says, in God my Saviour. And do we not see something
similar here in the opening verse of this prayer? My heart rejoiceth
in the Lord, my horn is exalted in the Lord, My mouth is enlarged
over mine enemies because I rejoice in thy salvation." Oh, she rejoices
in the salvation of God, just as Mary would rejoice in God,
her Savior. These were women then who knew
something of what they were and what their needs were. They were
sinful women. but they were those who were brought to trust in
that gracious provision that the Lord God himself makes. And so we have the record. The
record of this song of thanksgiving, the record of Mary's magnificent
song of thanksgiving. Come and hear all ye that fear
God, I will declare what he has done for my soul. Isn't that
what these women are doing here? She rejoices not so much in the
gift, the gift of the son, but does she not in a sense first
of all rejoice in the one who is the giver? The opening clause
of her prayer, My heart, she says, rejoiceeth in the Lord.
Oh, she rejoices in all that the Lord is. Who is in himself? And who is
he? He is the Lord. And that is the
covenant name. It's the great I am that I am.
It's the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.
it is Jehovah himself that she is rejoicing in and surely we
must rejoice first of all when we come before God we are to
rejoice in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ or we can never
make too much of who he is the person of the Saviour remember
the language of John there in his second epistle When He tells
us, Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of
Christ hath not God, he that abideth in the doctrine of Christ,
he hath both the Father and the Son. How we are to come then
and rejoice in the person of Him who is God, manifest in the
flesh, the God-man, the only mediator. and then we can really
begin to appreciate and understand the wonder of that great work
that he came to accomplish. Here then we see how this gift
that God had granted to her, this son called Samuel, asked
of God, it reminded her of the goodness of God. And surely all
that the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us should continually
remind us of who he is. What does this woman do here?
She speaks of God's character. She speaks of how God, in his
dealings, has revealed himself to her. She sees something of the attributes
of God. And we observed that when we
were looking at that Magnificat on the Lord's Day. because Mary
also there makes mention of God's attributes. As we said, she speaks
of him as the holy one, she speaks of that God who is majestic,
mighty, that God who is the merciful one. All these are the attributes
of God and we see the same sort of truths in the content that
we have here in this Song of Hannes. She sees that God is
holy and God is just. In verse 2, there is none holy
as the Lord, for there is none beside the Lord. Is He not the
Holy One of Israel? Is He not that One before whom
the sinless angels, the seraphim, the burning ones, cry, Holy,
Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of
thy glory. A remarkable vision that Isaiah
speaks of there in the sixth chapter of the prophecy. And
the effect it has upon him, woe is me, for I am undone. For mine
eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts, or the Lord God
of surveyors. is the one that He has seen high
and lifted up and His throne filling the temple. And remember
how in the Gospel we're told that it was the Lord Jesus Christ
that Isaiah saw there in the temple. He is the Holy One. There is none holy as the Lord. And hasn't Christ come to accomplish
all that holy work of salvation? And the God who is the Holy One
is also that one who is just and we might say equitable in
all his dealings. This is seen in the way in which
he deals with the people, with the proud. He'll humble them,
he'll bring them down. And though he is that one who
is pleased to deal kindly with the lowly and to lift them up. God is a just God. Verse 4, The
bowels of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled
are girded with strength. They that were full have hired
out themselves with bread, and they that were hungry ceased,
so that the barren hath borne seven, and she that hath many
children is waxed feeble. Oh, there is justice in the way
in which the Lord deals with individuals, and she's lived
to prove it. She goes on in verse 9, He will
keep the feet of His saints, and the wicked shall be silent
in darkness, for by strength shall no man prevail. She's rejoicing then in the character
of God, this God who is holy, this God who is righteous and
just in all His ways. And though we're prone so often
to misjudge the law, But she speaks of him also as that one
who is the unchanging God. There is something solid and
substantial about this God. As she says at the end of verse
2, neither is there any rock like our God. Or we can think
of another song, the song of the man Moses there in Deuteronomy
32. And what does Moses say? He is
the rock. Speaking of the Lord God, He
is the rock, His work is perfect. And how Moses knew it, how Moses
had proved it. Or was it not as the Lord God
set Him there in the cliff of the rock, that he was favored
to see something of the glory of His God. That was his request
at the end of Exodus 33. It was after the children of
Israel had sinned so grievously in the matter of the golden calf. Aaron had made an image and they'd
sought to worship God by means of the image. And God would have
disinherited them and cast them off. But Moses had stood in the
breach and prayed for them. Then he desires that God will
go with them yet. And he asked that he might be
favoured to see something of God's glory. There, at the end
of Exodus 33, God says, Thou canst not see my face, for there
shall no man see me and live. And the Lord said, Behold, there
is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock, and it shall
come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee
in a cliff of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while
I pass by. And I will take away mine hand,
and thou shalt see my back pass, but my face shall not be seen."
Oh, this is the God who is the rock. And who is that rock? It's
the man, Christ Jesus. It is God's manifest in the flesh,
the rock of ages. The top lady speaks of so beautifully,
rock of ages, let me hide myself in thee. He is the rock. His work is perfect. And so what does she say? Here
in verse 9, he will keep the feet of his saints. They are
established upon the rock. There is that sure and that certain
foundation that has been laid in the person and the work of
God's only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so God
says, I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob
are not consumed. Oh, He is the Holy, the Just
One, the Unchanging One. He is the Omniscient One. He
knows all things. He sees all things. Verse 3, talk no more so exceedingly,
so exceeding proudly, let not arrogancy come out of your mouth
for the Lord is a God of knowledge and by Him actions are weighed. All He sees and as He sees so He searches.
His eyes were as a flame of fire. John says when he is favoured
to see that vision of the glorified Christ, when on the Isle of Patmos,
when the Lord, as we have the record there in Revelation chapter
1, appears to him, the glorified Christ, his eyes were as a flame
of fire. Behold his eyes, behold his eyelids,
try the children of men. He is the God of knowledge, nothing
is heard from him. Or thou knowest my down sitting
and my up rising and thou understandest my thoughts are far off, says
David. This is the one then of whom
she sings as she rejoices in all God's goodness to her. That God who knows and that God
who is always accompanying his own great purpose. I know the
thoughts that I think towards you thoughts of peace and not
of evil to give you an expected end and so it was for this poor
woman who knew so much of grief and bitterness as we see her
there in the opening chapter but God has a purpose and God
will fulfill that purpose because He is the sovereign God declaring
the end from the beginning And from ancient times of things
that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand, and I
will do all of my pleasure. Oh, what does she say here then
as she continues in the song in verse 6? 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 raiseth up the poor out of
the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the donkey, or 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 hath set the world upon them. For this is that One who is the
great God. The words are so similar again
to what we have in that Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32. And
there at verse 9, see now, that I, even I, am He and there is
no God with me. I kill and I make a life. I wound
and I heal. Neither can any deliver out of
my hands. He is the mighty God, the sovereign
God over all things. All the inhabitants of the earth
are accounted as nothing. And He doeth according to His
will among the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth.
And none can say unto Him, What doest thou? Oh, He is that God,
then, who is the Mighty One. How was it that this woman in the first
place was barren? Well, we're told, because the
Lord had shut up her womb. He's a sovereign God. even in
the bitterness that she feels because of her barrenness. But
the God who had shut up her womb is the same God that she prays
to, and she doesn't pray in vain. As we see there, in verse 19,
the Lord remembered her, wherefore he came to pass when the time
was come after Hannah had conceded that she bear a son. and called
his name Samuel, saying, because I have asked him of the Lord."
All she acknowledges then, the sovereignty of God. It is a great
song of thanksgiving that we have then here, in the way in
which this woman is praying to her God. The detail, as I said,
is all recorded. And what do we see? Ultimately,
it is a song that centers in the Christ it centers in the
Christ and we see that when we come to the very last words of
the prayer 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 he shall give strength unto his
king and exalt the horn of his anointed he gives strength unto
his king and he exalts the horn of his anointed." Now, the answer to her request was
the birth of Samuel who was to be the last of the judges and
also a true prophet of the Lord. And remember, it was Samuel who
anointed David to be the king in chapter 16. The Lord says to Samuel, How
long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from
reigning over Israel? Fill thine horn with oil, and
go. I will send thee to Jesse the
Bethlehemite, for I have provided me a king among his sons. And
Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hear it, he will kill
me. And the Lord said, Take and heifer
with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. And
call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show thee what thou
shalt do. And thou shalt anoint unto me
him whom I name unto thee. So he goes. And the seven sons
of Jesse are presented to Samuel, and it's none of them. And then verse 11, Samuel says
to Jesse, Ah, here are all thy children. And he said, There
remaineth yet the youngest, and behold, he keepeth the sheep.
And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him, for we will not
sit down till he come hither. And he sent and brought him in.
Now he was ruddered, and with all of a beautiful countenance
and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint
him, for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of
oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren. And the Spirit
of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to
Ramah. Now, we have the anointing of David,
but of course David is such a a remarkable type of the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself. And isn't the Lord Jesus Christ
that One who is the King of Kings? Isn't He the Messiah? The very word that we have here
at the end of the prayer is that Hebrew words Messiah which is
rendered, anointed. He shall give strength unto his
king and exalt the horn of his Messiah. The horn, of course,
is representative of that that suggests power and strength. And when we read about the Spirit
comes upon David at his anointing, so with Christ. God giveth not
the Spirit by measure unto him. Or what does the Psalmist say
there in the 89th Psalm? I have laid help upon one that
is mighty, I have exalted one chosen of the people, I have
found David my servant, with my holy oil have I anointed him. And it's a messianic psalm, it's
speaking of Christ, and so when we come to the end of the psalm,
Hannah is really invoking the very name of the Lord Christ. As she utters those final words,
He shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his
anointed. Or she invokes the name of Christ,
and that is the name of course. that all who find acceptance
with God have to plead because there has never been any other
way of access into God's presence. There is one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus, and that holds true in the Old
Testament as it does in the New Testament, but of course here
in the New Testament we have the fullness of that revelation.
And what does Christ say? John 14, 13, Whatsoever ye shall
ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified
in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my
name, I will do it. Again in chapter 16, 23, In that
day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father, in my name, He will give it to
you. Either two, you have asked nothing
in my name. Ask, and you shall receive, that
your joy may be full." Oh, she is invoking then that name, that
only name under heaven given amongst men, whereby we must
be saved, wherein there is a full and a free salvation. Remember how Hannah begins the
prayer, the opening words, my heart rejoiceth in the Lord. And we too, we're not to lose
sight of Christ, the God-man. He only is the image of the invisible
God. In Him, Paul says, dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And He is that One by whom we
can enjoy that blessing, that boldness, that access with confidence. And Paul says it's by the faith
of Jesus Christ. Well, the Lord help us to come
as we come to the final hours, really, of this ordeal, to come
and to approach God and to know that blessing of access into
His very presence as we come in the name of our God and Savior,
even our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, the Lord bless His word
to us. Let us now, before we pray, sing
our second praise in the hymn 265, the tune Antwerp 283. Lord, what a heaven of saving
grace shines through the beauties of thy face and lights our passions
to a flame. Lord, how we love thy charming
name. When I can say, my God is mine,
when I can feel thy glory shine, I tread the world beneath my
feet. And all that earth calls good or great, 265 and tune 283.