Tonight, if you would turn with
me to 1 Samuel 1. 1 Samuel 1. Our story tonight in 1 Samuel
1 begins with the record of the birth of Samuel, God's prophet
for many years. But really it's a story about
deliverance. Hannah's deliverance, Hannah,
the mother of Samuel. And the book of 1 Samuel is the
continued story of Israel immediately following the time of Samson
and the judges. And the book of Ruth that we
just finished took place during the time of the judges. So to
me, it just stands to reason that if we're to continue our
study of the Old Testament scriptures, we should do so chronologically.
So that's why we'll begin our study tonight in the book of
1 Samuel. Now I want to read the first
20 verses here. And excuse me on some of these
names. I have actually been getting
on YouTube and found a man there from the Far East who tells you
how to pronounce them. And it's hard for me to even
pronounce them after he tells me how to. So, we just give it
our best shot. Verse one, now there was a certain
man of Ramathame Zopham of Mount Ephraim. And his name was Elkanah,
the son of Jehoram, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son
of Zuth, is how that's pronounced, an Ephrathite. And he had two
wives. The name of the one was Hannah
and the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but
Hannah had no children. And this man went up out of his
city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts
in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni
and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord were there. And when
the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife
and to all her sons and her daughters portions. But unto Hannah, he
gave a worthy portion, for he loved Hannah, but the Lord had
shut up her womb. And her adversary, that being
Peninnah, also provoked her sore to make her fret, because the
Lord had shut up her womb. And as he did so year by year,
when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked
her, therefore she wept and did not eat. And then said Elkanah,
her husband, to her, Hannah, why weepest thou, and why eatest
thou not? And why is thy heart grieved? Am I not better to thee than
ten sons? So Hannah rose up after they
had eaten, and shallow, and after they had drunk. Now Eli, the
priest, sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord. And she, being Hannah, was in
bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore.
And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou will
indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember
me, and not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid
a man-child, a son, then I'll give him unto the Lord all the
days of his life and there shall no razor come upon his head. Verse 12, and it came to pass
as she continued praying before the Lord that Eli marked her
mouth. Now Hannah, she spake in her
heart, only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore
Eli thought that she had been drunken. And Eli said unto her,
how long wilt thou be drunken? Put away thine wine from thee. And Hannah answered and said,
oh no, my Lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I'll tell you now, that's what
I titled this. message, a sorrowful spirit. She said, I've neither drunk
wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the
Lord. Count not thine handmaid for
a daughter of Belial, for out of the abundance of my complaint
and grief have I spoken hitherto. Then Eli answered and said, go
in peace. And the God of Israel grant thee
thy petition that thou has asked of him. And she said, let thy
handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way and
did eat. And her countenance was no more
sad. And they rose up, that being
her and her husband, in the morning early. and 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 conceded, that she
bear a son. and called his name Samuel, saying,
because I have asked him of the Lord." That's what the name Samuel
means, asked of the Lord. Now, this story tells us a great
deal. We can't cover it all, but we'll
hit the high points. Polygamy was practiced in the
Old Testament, but it was never sanctioned by God. God never
put his stamp of approval on it. And when polygamy was practiced
by the people of God, and it was. Elkanah was a man of God. He went three times a year to
Shiloh to the feast, and once a year for a special feast. And
he's in popular company here. But any time polygamy was practiced
by the people of God, it proved to be a source of trouble. Abraham,
you remember his story with Sarah and Hagar and Jacob, David, Solomon,
just to name a few, had multiple wives and it always caused trouble. There was trouble with Hagar
and Sarah. And there was trouble with Leah
and Rachel. And there's trouble with Peninnah and Hannah. We
read about it. And a big source of the trouble
of these three mentioned, these three cases, was that one of
the wives in the polygamous relationship was barren. Couldn't have children. Sarah was barren. And Abraham
has Ishmael by Hagar. And you know what trouble that
caused. And Rebecca, Jacob and Esau's mother, she was barren
until the Lord gave her those twins, and my, we learn a great
deal from their birth, Jacob and Esau. And Rachel was barren,
but Leah had children, and it certainly didn't make things
easy for Jacob. And Hannah was barren, but Peninnah
was not. More than anything else, a Jewish
woman desired to be a mother. One of the reasons where Jewish
women waited for the Messiah, from Eve on down to Mary, every
Jewish woman who gave birth hoped that they had given birth to
the Messiah. Jewish women bore children in
anticipation of that, bringing the Messiah into the world. And
the Lord had given the promise of the seed in Genesis chapter
three. He told the serpent, he said,
I'll put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy
seed and her seed. That's speaking of Christ. And
he said, it shall bruise thy head, the seed of the woman's
gonna bruise your head, and thou shalt bruise his heels, speaking
of what Christ would do. And unto the woman, he said,
I'll greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception, and in sorrow
thou shalt bring forth children. You know, I remember when our
son Andrew was born, we had Amanda and Leah, through a midwife like
Sarah Hibbs is at home, but Andrew's at the hospital and she, that
was a tough birth. It was a long labor, long time
of labor, and it wasn't pleasant. I was there with her. She was
hurting, and I was hurting because she was hurting. So that's part
of the curse, is what I'm trying to say. God here said, I'm going
to multiply your sorrow in conception. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth
children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall
rule over thee." And then when Cain was born, you remember what
Eve said? She said, I've gotten a man from
the Lord. What she thought is that the Messiah, she said Cain
was the Messiah. Cain was that seed. She thought
Cain was the one God had promised. And that's what every Jewish
woman that gave birth desired and thought. They hoped that
they'd give birth to the Messiah. So, secondly, here we have human
nature. Human nature assures us that
when two women are vying for the affections of one man, the
competition is going to be malicious. And Hagar's presence was a mockery
to Sarah, just as Paninna's was a mockery to Hannah. And the
cause of this mockery, that Paninna was put upon Hannah, was that
she was fertile and could have children and had children. And
Hannah was not. Hannah couldn't have children.
And to add fuel to the fire, Elkanah deeply loved Hannah. and not Peninnah. Look at verse
four again. And when the time was that Elkanah
offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife and all her sons and
her daughters portions, but unto Hannah, he gave a worthy portion
for he loved Hannah, but the Lord had shut up her womb. That worthy portion there, if
you look at it in the original language, it actually means a
double portion. And I think about what Isaiah
said, you know, comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Tell Jerusalem
that her warfare is accomplished. She's received double for all
her sin. But here we have a really a very
good picture of the attitude of works religion and towards
the free grace of God in Christ. Hannah was loved, but she was
barren. Oh, that's you and I. All gods
elect children. They're loved, but they're barren.
She could produce no true service to her husband. We've talked
about this in other studies, You know, the woman gave desire
to have a son to carry on the name and the lineage of her husband,
just as Boaz did for Ruth. And what a picture here we have
of you and I being born spiritually barren. We can't produce anything
that would recommend us to God. And the definition of the word
barren itself is to be unable to produce seed, unable to produce
life. That describes us. It means to
be lifeless, empty of value. It means to be unproductive,
infertile, sterile, useless, and purposeless. And that's how
Jewish women who were barren felt. No doubt it's how Hannah
felt. Therefore the cause of her sorrowful
spirit, and then you add on top of it, Peninnah ragging her about
it. This is how ever-safe sinners
may feel. We can't offer anything to God
to merit His love to us. And that's the amazing thing
about God's love to us. He loves us in spite of that.
He loves us even though we have nothing to contribute and nothing
to offer. God loves His people unconditionally. That simply means no conditions. He loves you because He loves
you. It's not conditioned upon anything you do. God loves us
the same as Elkanah did Hannah. And Elkanah's love for Hannah
added nothing to Him. And Christ's love for us adds
nothing to Him. Hannah received a double portion,
and so do we. You know, every believer loves
the words of the Lord that say, comfort ye, comfort ye, my people.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. I just quoted it. Tell her that
our warfare's accomplished. There's no battle for us to fight. It's finished. The Lord finished
it for us. Tell her her iniquity is pardoned.
There's nothing we can do that would cause God to forgive us
our sin. Christ has done it for us. And
we've received the Lord's hand. This is the Lord Jesus' hand
that's talking about. a double for all, a portion for
all our sins. Isaiah 41 and 2. Now religion,
pictured by Panenna here, can never understand God's unmerited
love, grace, and mercy to those who by nature are unprofitable
to Him. Christ, the heavenly husband
of His bride, the church, shouldn't love the Hannahs of this world.
That's what religion would say. Well, you've got to do something
You've got to do some kind of work in order to be saved. But
we're lifeless. We're unproductive. We're infertile. We're useless. And that's exactly
who the Lord loves. Isn't that something? Christ
came into the world to save unproductive, lifeless, useless sinners. And boy, that's something I qualify
for. Haven't we? Haven't we done,
done, done? All they've done is works of
iniquity, and they're not loved. But they believe they should
be, and they should be rewarded. They think like Peninnah did.
She thought that she should have the affection of her husband
because of what she provided for him. See, I've given you
all these children. Well, your name will continue
on and your lineage will continue on because of what I've given
to you. And that's what religion does
today. Lord, haven't we, haven't we? She assured his legacy with giving
him children, but Panetta didn't think that a poor, impotent,
barren, unproductive sinner like Hannah gave any reason for Elkanah's
love, and the truth is that she didn't. He loved her without
condition. My, I loved the thought of that. He loves me. without condition. Are you getting the picture,
the similarity? And you know, if the truth be
known, Peninnah, her hatred really wasn't for Hannah, it was for
her husband, Elkanah. Her hatred for him would have
caused her to lose all that she enjoyed. So what did she do?
She vented her hatred and her venom on the one that he loved. Didn't our Lord say, if the world
hates you, you know it hated me before it hated you? When
we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. Not by works of righteousness
that we've done, but according to His mercy He saved us. Scriptures
go on and on. Here in His love, not that we
loved God, but that He loved us and He sent His Son to be
the propitiation for our sins. Friends, in this world, we're
going to have tribulation. You can count on it. Paninnah
is the instrument that God is using to afflict Hannah. And
oftentimes religion and religious people are the instrument that
God uses to afflict us. But it was God Himself who shut
up her womb. And Providence is preparing Hannah
for a great blessing. It's through much tribulation
that she and we enter into the kingdom of God. May we never
forget that. God shut up her womb. God allowed
the accuser to afflict her. God closed off every avenue of
hope for her to have a children except for Himself alone. That's
where God brings all His people. That's exactly right. He brings
them to the end of themselves. And He shuts them up to no one
else but Him. You're gonna have to come to
God to get what we need the most. The Lord put it in her heart
to cry. The Lord put it in your heart
to cry out. The Lord gave her bitterness of soul. It was the
Lord who gave you bitterness of soul that caused you to cry
out. And it was all that in the end,
he might bless her. Look at verse 11 again. And she
bowed a bow and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed
look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and
not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid
a man child, then I'll give him unto the Lord all the days of
his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. And
it came to pass. And it came to pass. And she
continued praying before the Lord that Eli marked them out. Now, Hannah, she spake in her
heart. Only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore,
Eli thought she'd been drunken, and Eli said unto her, how long
wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from me. And
Hannah answered and said, no, my Lord, I'm a woman of a sorrowful
spirit. I've drunk neither wine nor strong
drink. but have poured out my soul before
the Lord." Have you poured out your soul into the Lord? Well,
if you have, He heard you. I cried unto the Lord and He
heard me. David said that many times in the Psalms. Oh, men love peace. They love
joy. They love comfort and assurance.
But to be sorrowful, that's not a desired emotion. However, we
are to count it all joy when we fall into divers various manifold
temptations, what the word divers means, and knowing that the trying
of our faith works patience. Don't you imagine that Hannah's
faith was being tested? You know it was. And let patience
have her perfect work. That you may be perfect and entire,
wanting nothing. And if any of you lack wisdom,
let him ask of God. And that's what Hannah did. She
prayed unto the Lord of hosts. She cried unto the Lord for help.
He's the only one that could help her. Friends, He's the only
one that can help you. She prayed unto the Lord of hosts.
He's called Jehovah Sabaoth. And that's the first time that
this name of God is used in the Bible. And the name gives reference
to the God who helps those that are sorrowful. Hannah asked the
Lord of hosts, Jehovah, Sabaoth, in faith, nothing wavering. That's
the way we have to come to God. For one who wavers is like a
wave of the sea. They're driven with wind and
tossed. And James said, let them not
think that they shall receive anything from the Lord. We can't come to the Lord and
be doubting that he's able and willing to help us. God sends
trials and troubles so that we might call upon Him. Blessed
is the man, the woman, that endureth temptation, for when he or she
is tried, he or she shall receive the crown of life, which the
Lord hath promised to them that love Him. James 1, 2. And that's
my encouragement to you this evening. Hannah had already been
blessed to the Lord. It's good that we have been afflicted. Why? How so? That we might learn
God's statutes. I've told you many times that
word statutes, the Hebrew word, means appointments. God afflicts
us with sorrow and with trouble so that we might see that He
is the one who appoints our sorrow and also our deliverance. For
Hannah, the solution to her sorrow was very simple. There's but
one thing that would relieve her of her sorrow. And that was
God giving her a son. And how God would use that son
in the purpose of Christ's coming, as we'll see. Only by God putting
life in her could she be what every Jewish woman desired to
be and what she desired to be most of all. And that was the
honor of being a mother. And God brought her to the place
by His grace that her hope of deliverance was solely and entirely
dependent on the grace and mercy of God. Again, does that sound
familiar to you? Is that not what the Lord's done
for you? God had already done a work of grace in her when she
called out unto Him. And when you cry out unto the
Lord, He's already done a work of grace in you, or you wouldn't
cry out. Oh my, Hannah was a godly woman. Her heart was right with God.
She was consecrated to the Lord. She was a woman who feared and
reverenced God, and yet she was a woman of a sorrowful spirit. Many would think just the opposite.
Many would think that Paninna was the virtuous one. You know,
I was thinking about that day, that rich man. He fared sumptuously
every day, it says. Everything he touched seemed
to be blessed. Whatever he did turned to money. You know people like that. But
a certain beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate full of sores. The scripture even makes a point
that the dogs came and licked his sword. The rich man wanted
for nothing. Lazarus simply desired to be
fed with the crumbs that fell from the master's, the rich man's
table. They both died, the scripture
tells us, but which one was carried by the angels into Abraham's
bosom? Well, this world today would
tell you the rich man, but it wasn't, was it? It was Lazarus. You see, outward condition can
never confirm someone's spiritual state. Hearts are judged. God looks upon the heart. We,
by nature, look on the outward appearance, but God looks upon
the heart. True faith's gonna be measured by God. Happiness
is not a sign of being loved by God. God's word does not say
whom the Lord loves, he enriches. It says, whom the Lord loveth,
he chasteneth. He brings trouble, he brings
trials, he brings tribulation to teach us that we have need
of him. And at the same time, affliction
and suffering are not always proof of sonship either. Many
sorrows shall be to the wicked, the scripture says. Yet great
tribulations, and I love to think about this, they're often found
on one like Hannah. and on one like you and one like
me. They often find their way to
the one in whom the Lord has chosen to show divine favor. Now we see that Hannah was a
lovable woman. Her husband greatly delighted
in her. The fact that she could not produce
children didn't change his love toward her. Doesn't change the Lord's love
toward us either. He loved us with an everlasting love. If
He ever loved me, He still loves me. He loved me before the foundation
of the world, before I had done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God, according to election, His choosing might stand. Mercies
of God, His grace to me is unmerited favor. Hannah's sorrow didn't make her
less lovable to her husband. There are many sorrowful people
who are far from being lovable, I can tell you that. Often their
grief is what sorrows them. But not Hannah. Her husband loved
her unconditionally. And you know what? So does ours.
So does ours. Our heavenly husband loves us.
Even though Hannah was of a sorrowful spirit, she seems to be a very
gentle woman. Peninnah was harsh and haughty
and arrogant, but nowhere are we told that Hannah responded
negatively to her cruelty. You don't read where she tried
to vindicate herself or showed any animosity back to Peninnas,
she simply went to the Sanctionary to weep alone and to pray to
God alone. She was tender and submissive
to the Lord. She knew the Lord sent this trouble.
No reason for us to be sour and upset. Oh me, I'm preaching to
me now. But, why? Because the Lord sent
the trouble. And He sent it for our good.
She was tender and submissive to the Lord. She sought God alone
for the help she needed. You know, even when Eli said,
how long are you gonna be drunk? You need to go sober up. Put
your wine away and sober up. Hannah proves to be a model of
gentleness. She clears herself, not in anger. She remains calm and plainly
refutes his harsh accusations. She didn't retort or refute sharply. She didn't say, hey, old man,
you misread me completely. I'm not drunk. No. She didn't
charge him with injustice. She excused his mistake. As a
priest, he had judged her wrongly, but it was because of a desire
to be faithful to her. By her gentle response, he soon
realized that her patiently bearing the rebuke, though it was wrong,
though he was mistaken, proved her to be innocent of his accusations. Our Lord was reviled, yet he
reviled not again. Why? Because he stood guilty
in our place. They mocked him, but his response
was, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. There are many precious things
that accompany sorrowful spirits. Sorrow can bring a wealth of
blessing when the Lord consecrates it. Solomon said it's better
to go into the house of mourning than to the house of feasting.
And was it not, I ask you, through this sorrowful spirit that Hannah
had learned how to pray." No doubt she had prayed before.
Before this great sorrow struck her. But there's no doubt in
my mind that when she prayed now, she prayed with more intensity
than before. Why? Because she had a great
need. Friends, if you have a sorrowful
spirit, learn where to carry it. Carry it to the Lord. May we see and learn that our
sorrows are given as a divine call for prayer. When the heart
is merry, yes, we should sing psalms. But when we're afflicted
with sorrow, we go to the Lord in prayer. Lord, help me. Lord,
save me. Out of our poverty and great
need, the Lord hears us. So we see that through this sorrowful
spirit, Hannah also learned self-denial. See, these are things that were
taught when God sends trouble. She desired a son that her reproach
might be removed. But if her eyes might be blessed
with such a sight, she would cheerfully resign her firstborn
son to the Lord as long as he lived. That's exactly what she
did. Most mothers desire to keep their children as close to them
as they can. We had trouble when one goes
off to college or moves away from home. Don't we, Chris? I guarantee you we do. I remember
when our son Andrew first went away, Teresa and I watched the
mailbox every day. And the first letter we got from
him, opened it in the driveway and just cried as we read it
together. That's just, that's the way parents are. But Hannah,
most eager to have a son. The desire of her heart, something
she wanted more than anything. She asked God to give her a son
so that she might give him right back to him. Self-denial. Hannah doesn't seek a son for
herself, but for her God. She has it on her heart that
as soon as she has weaned him, she's gonna take him to the house
of God for him to serve all the days of his life. What self-denial
that was. Again, verse 11, and she bowed
a bow and said, O Lord of hosts, that thou will indeed look on
the affliction of thine handmaid and remember me. Give thy handmaid
a man-child, and I'll give him unto the Lord all the days of
his life, and there shall no razor come to his head. He'll
be a Nazarite, consecrated unto the Lord, just like Samson was.
And I suppose that's one of life's hardest lessons. We've got to
learn to give up the things that we prize the most at the command
of God, and we must do so cheerfully. The Lord loves a cheerful giver.
The Lord is a cheerful giver, isn't He? It says, for the joy
that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame
that sat down at the right hand of God. For the sake of the gospel
and the Lord Jesus Christ, we must be willing to sacrifice
things that are precious to us. Our Lord Jesus said, He that
loveth father and mother more than me, not worthy of me. He
that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
I don't have to be around you long to see how much you love
that boy sitting next to you. It's pretty obvious. And it's
obvious with every parent. But we've got to be willing to
give up everything for the Lord. He that taketh not his cross
and followeth after me, not worthy of me. He that findeth his life
shall lose in it. He that loses his life for my
name's sake shall find it. And then lastly, Hannah learned
something about faith. Lord, help thou my unbelief.
I want to know more about that. I want to have faith. I want
to have true faith. I want to have saving faith. You know, it's beautiful to note
how at one moment, Hannah hears a bitterness. But as soon as
Eli, in verse 17, it says, Go in peace, and the God of Israel
grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of Him. We're
told in verse 18 that the woman went her way and did eat. She
hadn't been eating. She was, you know, I can't eat. Too sorrowful to eat. I'm too
upset to eat. But when he told her that the
Lord was gonna grant her petition, she went away and did eat. And
look at this, verse 18, her countenance was no more sad. Are you of a sorrowful spirit?
I admit that I sorrow over my sin. You know, when I look within,
I'm serious, I often wonder to myself, am I indeed a child of
God? How could one who professes to
be a child of God think the things I think, say the things I say,
do the things I do? I would wager that you're the
same. And that's why I've got to look
to the life that I have in Christ. With John Newton, God's people
say, "'Tis a point I long to know," often causes anxious thought. Do I love the Lord or no? Am
I His or am I not? If I love, why am I thus? Why this dull and lifeless frame? Hardly, sure, can they be worse
who have never heard His name? Could my heart so hard remain,
prayer a task and burden prove, every trifle give me pain, if
I knew a Savior's love? When I turn my eyes within, all
is dark and vain and wild, filled with unbelief and sin. Can I
deem myself a child? If I pray or hear or read, sin
is mixed with all I do. You that love the Lord indeed,
tell me, is it thus with you? Yet I mourn my stubborn will,
find my sin of grief and thrall. Should I grieve for what I feel?
If I did, not love at all. Could I joy his saints to meet,
choose the ways I once abhorred, find the times of promise sweet,
if I did not love the Lord? Lord, decide the doubtful case. Thou who art thy people's son,
shine upon thy work of grace, if it be indeed begun. Let me love Thee more and more.
If I love at all, I pray. If I have not loved before, help
me to begin today. Well, may the story of Hannah's
sorrowful spirit be an encouragement to you and to me. You know, the
Lord's going to bring us down before He lifts us up. It's just
the way He does it. The Lord's going to kill us before
He makes us alive. The Lord's going to make us see
that we're lost before we see that He saves us by His grace
before we see our need of Christ. It all has to do with that. It
has to do with me. Lord, I need Thee every hour,
every second of every minute of every hour of every day. I
need Thee. May God be pleased to make it
so. And we ask Him that He does for His own glory, for our good,
and for Christ. So.