You can turn back to 1 Samuel
that Brother Gabe read for us. Tell you a story. About 40 years
ago, I was working construction. We were building a big commercial
building and I was just a general laborer and digging ditches and
mixing mortar and carrying blocks and bricks and all that sort
of thing. And one day, some dignitaries came by the job site. The owner of the construction
company and some dignitaries, and they had this formal gathering,
and they were bragging on each other, you know, for building
this building. And I'm down in that ditch thinking,
they hadn't hit a lick. I'm building this building. We're
building this building. And why did I say that? Because
visiting preachers come through, and missionaries and so forth,
and are treated, often times, treated like dignitaries. And
that's good. That's the man who's down in
the trenches doing the work. And his wife. They're the ones
that are losing sleep over you. They're the ones that are crying
over you and praying for you. I have my own congregation, you
know, that I think about. And my pastor, I believe, I happen
to believe that I had about the best pastor in modern times,
maybe one of the best ever. And he taught me well, and I've
tried to emulate him and tried to implement the things he taught
us. And one of the things he taught
us young preachers was, if you go someplace to preach, that
man has you wouldn't be there if he didn't ask you and he's
placed a good deal of trust in you and You honor that trust,
but you're there not only to glorify the Lord and edify the
people but to strengthen his hands To go away Letting the
people hopefully the people will appreciate their pastor more
than when you came Like Aaron and her holding up Moses his
hands I learned that, and that's what I try to do, because if
truth be known, I'd rather be sitting here listening to you.
I would. There are many great prayers
in the scripture. The greatest of all, of course,
is our Lord's prayer in John 17, the great high prayer. But
I love the prayers of Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, many prayers
of David. Love them so much. But of all
the prayers of men, there's none greater than this prayer of a
woman. Hannah. Hannah's prayer. Hannah's
prayer. Her prayer, I believe, is the
prayer of every true believer. knows God. She knew God. She
knows God. Three marks that our Lord said
of the true people of God. Number one is they worship God
in the Spirit. And Hannah, she worships the
Lord. Secondly, they rejoice in Christ
Jesus. And oh, that's the first thing
she said, I rejoice in the Lord. And thirdly, no confidence in
the flesh. In her prayer, she lays the flesh
low. No confidence. not in herself,
not in any other flesh. And this prayer of Hannah, I
believe, is the prayer of every believer. I hope this is your
prayer. I believe it is. I hope this is your heart's cry.
Now, it begins in verse 1, and Hannah prayed. And Hannah prayed. We need to
know something of why she prayed this prayer. What caused her
to pray this prayer? She went through something to
make her pray this prayer. She went through a severe trial,
and she prayed many prayers before this in chapter one. She called
on the Lord, the scripture says, in strong crying and tears and
great sorrow and bitterness of heart, poured out her soul unto
the Lord, the scripture said. Now here's her story, back in
chapter one, briefly. There's a man named Elkanah.
In verse 2, he had two wives. The name of one was Hannah. The
name of the other was Peninnah. It says, Peninnah had children,
but Hannah had no children. The names that the Lord gives
his people in scriptures, they all have meaning, don't they?
All of them have meaning. You won't find one single child
of God in scriptures whose name doesn't have meaning to it. Hannah
means, and this is why we named you this. This story is very
special to us. We named our daughter, we went
through this, didn't we? What Hannah went through. Her
name means favored. Favored. Peninnah's name doesn't
mean anything. There's no meaning to it. I looked
it up. There's no meaning. Hannah means favored of the Lord. Favored. Now, verse 2 says, but
Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. Is she favored? Who's the favored one here? Huh? Peninnah had children. Hannah
had no children. Peninnah had as many as 10 children,
we believe. Now this was a trial, this was
grief, this was sorrow to Hannah. She had no children. We went
through this. Hannah, Mindy more than I did. This was a tougher trial on a
woman than it is a man to be barren and not have children. Ever since Mindy was a little
girl, she wanted to be a mother of children. And when we were
married, after a couple or three years, no children. Four years,
no children. And she went through numerous
surgeries, and finally the doctors told us, it's impossible, you
cannot have children. And that was tough, wasn't it?
I remember she was devastated. Devastated. Five years, no children. They said, it's impossible, you
can't have children. With man, it's impossible, isn't
it? There she sits. But this was
a tough trial. Tough trial. Tougher on the lady
than it is her husband, I believe. You know, I counted in our congregation
seven ladies that are barren. Your sister's one of them. Seven ladies. That's a tough
trial. But Hannah was highly favored
of the Lord. Highly favored. Why? She had
a husband that loved her. Look at verse four. The time came for Elkanah to
offer the sacrifice, and he gave to Peninnah, his wife, and all
her sons and her daughters, portions. Now our God is good to all. He's
tender mercies over all. But verse five, unto Hannah he
gave a worthy portion. And the margin says a double
portion. Doesn't Isaiah 40 say, we've received of the Lord's
hands double. God's people are his favored
people. Found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Hannah found grace.
God's people all find grace in the Lord. But the Lord had shut
up her womb. She knew that she was barren,
verse 6, and her adversary provoked her and mocked her. This woman,
Peninnah, gloated over the fact that she had children and Hannah
had none. There's a story hidden in this
story here, spiritual meaning behind all that. And year by
year she would go up with Elkanah to the house of the Lord. There's
no mention of Peninnah going there. There's no mention of
her worshiping the Lord. And look at verse 5, it says,
Hannah, he gave a double portion and he loved Hannah. It doesn't
say he loved Peninnah. Now our God, the story here is,
the story behind the story, the spiritual story, is God has a
favored people. God has an elect people that
he's chosen before the foundation of the world. And he loves those
people. God doesn't love everyone. God
is good to everyone. His tender mercy is over all
of his works. He causes the rain to fall on the unjust as well
as the just. God is good. He gives it to all
life and breath and food and all of these things. But his
people get a double portion. His people are highly favored
like Noah and like Abraham. They find grace in the eyes of
the Lord. He loves them. And the first thing he shows
them, this is the favor of God, this is the gospel, this is where
the gospel starts. If God has highly favored you,
if God has chosen you, if God loves you, the first thing he's
going to show you is you're barren. You're barren. He came to Manoah's
wife. You remember the story of Manoah,
that's Samson's mother. She was barren by the way. I counted at least six ladies
in the scriptures that were barren. God said, I'm the God of Abraham. Listen to this. It's amazing.
I'm the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. All three of their
wives were barren. All of God's people, all of Christ's
bride, find out from the Lord you're barren. There's no life
in you. You're dead in trespass and sin. You have nothing. You
are nothing. You can't produce life unless
God puts it in you. You're not going to have life.
It's a miracle. Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Manoah's
wife, Hannah, Elizabeth, John the Baptist's mother, all barren.
You found out one day, didn't you? From God. He highly favored
you in telling you that you're barren. You're barren. Now the world doesn't think that.
This is a picture, this Penina and Hannah are a picture of two
professing Christians. The world is full of professing
believers. You've got people that profess
to know Christ and they're self-righteous and they're full of their own
goodness and self-worth. Their preachers have told them
that. While all of God's people know, in my flesh dwelleth no
good thing. I have nothing, I am nothing,
I know nothing, I have no ability. Blessed are the poor in spirit.
That's the first thing the Lord said about his people being blessed. You find out you're poor, you're
barren, you are nothing. See, this prayer doesn't mean
a thing unless you understand what Hannah went through. And
she cried unto the Lord in bitterness of heart and soul because she
was barren. And what is it? What is it that
gives you your greatest grief and sorrow and makes you pour
out your heart before the Lord? Is it not your sinfulness? Is
it not your barrenness? Lord, I don't have any faith.
I don't have any righteousness. I don't have any goodness. I
don't have any strength. I just can't do anything. Look at verse 8, when Elkanah
saw her weeping and he said to Hannah, why weepest thou? Why
eatest thou not? She was fasting, she couldn't
eat. Why is thy heart grieved? Am not I better to you than ten
sons? Is not Christ better to you than
anything or anyone? The religious world, what is
it that they take great stock in? What is it that religion
takes great pride in? Isn't it numbers? When they ask
you about your church, what do they ask you? What's the first
thought? How many? That's always it. And they say,
look at us. The people of the First Baptist
of Kingsport drive by here. People at First Methodist drive
by here. And what do they say? Look at us. Look how many we
have. Look at you all. What do you
have? I'll tell you what we have. We have the gospel here. I'll
tell you what we have. We have the favor of the Lord
Jesus Christ here. We're married to the Lord Jesus
Christ. We're the bride of Christ. Parasites, parasites, parasites,
the Hivites, the Amorites, the Hittites, and all those, would
drive by that little brown building in the temple, in the wilderness,
just like this little brown building. They would drive by and say,
there ain't nothing to that. Oh, yes, there is. That's the place
where God is. You may have all of these numbers.
You may have all of these sons and daughters you've produced. We're highly favored, aren't
we? Highly favored. Paninna gloated, and she provoked Hannah. Oh, my. And Hannah prayed. Verse 11.
Now, look at this. She prayed to the Lord. She vowed
a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the
affliction of thine handmaid, look on me. Remember me. Don't forget me. Just remember
me. Isn't that what all of God's people pray? That's what the
thief on the cross pray. Your pastor wrote a song, and
I love that song. Lord, remember us. when you come
into your kingdom. Lord, look on me. Look on my
affliction. Look on me with mercy and grace.
Remember me when you come into your kingdom. Verse 11. If thou wilt give unto thine
handmaid a man-child, a son, then I'll give him unto the Lord
all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his
head. He'll be a Nazarite. I'll devote him to thee. He'll
be yours forever. We're not to bargain with the
Lord. We're not to vow a vow. Scripture warns us about that.
Don't vow a vow and defer to pay it. It's better not to even
vow. We're not to bargain with the Lord. However, every one
of God's people say this. They say this from the heart.
Every one of God's people say this. Lord, whatever you give
me is yours. If you, whatever it is, a man
can receive nothing except to be given him from above. What
do we have that we have not received? If the Lord gives us anything,
it belongs to the Lord. Especially a soul. A child. That's why it's such a serious
thing to have children. The world doesn't think anything
about it. We'll have a baby. Bring a soul into this world. It was your pastor before they
had children that said this. He said, Lord, don't give me
any children if they don't belong to you. Didn't you? The Lord will honor
that. He'll honor that. And that's
what she's saying. Lord, you give me a child and
he belongs to you. He belongs to you. And she had
him there. She brought him back to the Lord. The Lord heard her. The Lord
remembered. And verse 20 says she conceived. She conceived. You know, whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. She called
on the Lord. You know what our hope of glory
is? You know what salvation is? Christ to be formed in you. You
know the story of Mary? When the Lord came to Mary and
said, Hail Mary, thou art highly favored. She was barren. She didn't have
any children. Thou art highly favored. Most
high, the spirit of God is going to overshadow you and come upon
you and that holy thing is going to be formed in you, be of the
Lord. That's salvation. That's the story of salvation,
every believer. He didn't say, Hail Mary, full
of grace. He didn't say that. That's what
the Catholics say. No, no, no. There's only one
that's full of grace. John 1, the Lord Jesus Christ,
full of grace and truth. He said you're highly favored.
He says the same thing to all of his children. You're highly
favored. If the Lord overshadows you through
the preaching of the gospel, sends his Holy Spirit through
the preaching of the word, sends his incorruptible seed, the word,
the gospel of Christ, and plants it in your heart, and a new creature
is formed in you, Christ formed in you, it's not our work, is
it? We're barren. We can't produce
it. It's his workmanship. Oh, how highly favored we are
if God puts Christ in us by faith. Paul said, when it pleased God
who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace
to reveal His Son in me. That's salvation. To reveal Christ
in you. Christ in you. He that hath the
Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. God heard her voice and she conceived and down
in verse 24, now she weaned him. Now the Jews, she didn't turn
over a six-month-old baby to an old man, Eli. No, no, no.
Now Samuel was about 12 years old when she brought him back.
The Jews had three weanings. They had where they'd wean a
child from the mother's breast and then wean it as a young child
to eat. Scripture talks about butter
and honey shall he eat. And then the last weaning is
what the Jews even now call bar mitzvah. And they're 12 years
old, the boys. And when they become young men,
they say, that's the weaning, okay? She brought this 12-year-old
boy, does that sound familiar? Our Lord was a 12-year-old boy
when he came to the temple. But she brought this 12-year-old
boy back to the temple with her. She'd been praying. And Eli heard
her praying, or saw her praying, didn't hear her, she prayed silently.
He accused her of being drunk, her mouth was moving. And she
said, no, Lord, no, my Lord, your handmaid's not drunk, I'm
sorrowful. Well, he said in verse 17, go in peace, and God grant
you the petition you've had. And she said, oh, let me find
grace in your sight. So she went her way, and her
countenance was no more sad. She was, she was, Strengthened
by a promise. She heard a man give her a promise. Peace be unto you. And she went
away no more sorrowful. And the Lord heard her, boy,
and he gave her a child. And his name was Hannah. It means
asked of... Samuel. His name means asked
of the Lord. Asked of the Lord. And she brought
him back, verse 24. After she'd weaned him and brought
him back with three bullocks, an eaf of flour, and a bottle
of wine, brought him to the house of the Lord when he was young.
And came in, verse 26, she said, Oh my Lord, to Eli, as thy soul
liveth, my Lord, I'm the 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, or returned him who has been
lent to me. As long as he liveth, he shall
be lent to the Lord. And Samuel worshiped the Lord. Wouldn't that be a good thing?
Isn't that a good thing? You have a child to bring him
where the gospel is and ask the Lord, will you take this child?
Isn't it a good thing to bring a child up in the fear and the
nurture and the admonition of the Lord? Huh? Lord, you gave
me this child. Would you take him? Would you
cause him to worship you? And she brought him back, 12
years old. She prayed for this child and
the Lord gave her this boy. She loved him with all her heart,
didn't she? And she dropped him off and left. She dropped him off and left. Could you do that? The Lord didn't
take her child. She sacrificed her child. The
Lord didn't take her child from her in death, she gave her child
to the Lord. You remember when Abraham, the
Lord said, take your child, your only child whom thou lovest,
your son, and offer him on a mount? And he went up on that mount. Did he love that son? Oh my.
He asked the Lord for that son. His wife was barren. And he went
up on that mountain, and he had that knife over that son's heart,
ready to stab that heart, stab him in the heart, and do exactly
what? Sacrifice his son unto the Lord,
and the Lord stayed his hand in it. He said, Abraham, Abraham. And what did he say, Cody? Now
I know you love me. Now I know you love me. You have
not withheld your son, your only son. What a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ that is. That's the gospel on Mount Moriah. Oh my. How do we know that God
loves his people? He spared not his only son. How
does he know that we love him? Our Lord said, and I want you
to look at this, Luke 14, this is one of the most solemn passages
I know in all the scripture. One of, there's so many. Luke
14, verse 25. You have it? Luke 14, 25, these
are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. And there went great
multitudes with him, many followers, said they believed in him and
he turned and said unto them if any man or woman if any come
to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children
and brethren and sisters yea and his own life also he cannot
be my disciple He doesn't say, you'll be a poor
disciple. He says, you cannot be my son. Hate? Lord, did the Lord call
on us? No, no, you know the Lord's not
telling us to hate, but this is what the people will say it
is, hate. Give you an illustration. Many
years ago, 50, almost 50 years ago, I guess,
Brother Walter Groover had four, five young children, four young
children, and the Lord called him to be a missionary on the
foreign field of Mexico. He had a job at Steel Mill, and
the Lord called him. And he was going to take his
family down to this foreign land, this hostile land, much more
hostile than it is now. And his family said to him, when
he was taking his family out of the United States of America
down to that hostile foreign field, his family said to him,
you don't love your family. There's no way you could love
your family and do that. Oh, he loved them all right.
He just loved Christ more. And our Lord said the same is
required of everybody. What would you give up for the
Lord? If the Lord was going to take the gospel or take your
family, which would it be? Honestly. Which would it be? Eli. You remember the story of Eli?
They came to him and told him his two sons died. You remember that? He loved those sons. But when
they told him the ark was taken, fell over and died. He said,
I can't live without the ark. Can you live without the gospel? No, God's people can't. He said,
I couldn't do that. I couldn't. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he
can. God's grace is sufficient. Hannah
didn't have this strength in herself. Oh, no. Oh, no. Abraham
didn't have that strength in himself. It was God-given. And
she brought that boy back and dropped him off. And Hannah prayed. That's why she started praying. And Hannah prayed. Look at the
first thing she said. My heart rejoiceth in the Lord. She just dropped her only son
off. She's not going to see him again for a while. And what does
she say? My heart rejoices in the Lord. Can you be brokenhearted
and joyful too? Can you be empty and full? Can
you be barren and have life in you? Can you be sad beyond description
and joyful beyond description? Can you? Yeah, if your joy is
in the Lord. My heart rejoiceth in the Lord. My heart rejoiceth in the Lord.
I rejoice in his sovereign will, his sovereign purpose, his sovereign
wisdom. Oh, I rejoice in his mercy. It's
of the Lord's mercies I'm not consumed, she thought. I rejoice
that he revealed himself to me. He didn't reveal himself to Peninnah,
did he? He revealed himself to Hannah.
Hannah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He revealed himself
to her. She rejoiced in his providence.
I don't know if she lived to see Samuel as the prophet in
Israel or not. But oh, wouldn't she have rejoiced,
huh? Wouldn't she have rejoiced? I thought about, you know, we
left our home and family years ago. We had many, many close
friends, young couples we were close to, and a church family
we loved dearly, and the best, greatest pastor on earth at the
time, greatest preacher on earth. And I took my wife away from
him. She had to sit and listen to me. Took my daughter away
from her friends. It was a great trial for me. Would you do it again? And maybe the only thing greater
than that was to see that truck drive off with that man and his
wife and two children in it. But I can say from the bottom
of my heart, And that was tough, real tough. But I can say from
the bottom of my heart, I wouldn't have them next door to me right
now if you offer me a choice. I wouldn't do it. I want them right here. My heart
rejoiceth in the Lord's providence in all that he's done. I'm living to see what the Lord
is doing through this man he's preaching and this woman. I wouldn't
change a thing. She said, My heart rejoiceth
in the Lord. That it is the Lord, in all of
the Lord, everything. My horn, she said, is exalted
in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over mine
enemy, because I rejoice in thy salvation. Oh, that woman, Peninnah,
she was gloating and bragging and mocking Hannah's littleness
and barrenness, but Hannah had the love of her husband. Hannah
had the favor of God. Hannah rejoiced in the Lord.
That woman rejoiced in her children. Hannah rejoiced in the Lord.
There's a big difference. Most people rejoice in their
church. Most people rejoice in their whatever. God's people
rejoice in the Lord. Remember? He that worships God
in the spirit rejoices in Christ. Who's the Lord she talking about?
There is one Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who Hannah's praying
about. My horn, what's that? My horn. That's her strength. That's what
she's talking about. My strength, my praise. How did you get through
this, Hannah? The Lord. He gave me the strength. I sing that song, it says, I
saw the martyr at the stake. The flames could not his courage
shake, nor death his soul appall. I asked him whence his strength
was given, and he looked triumphantly to heaven, and he said, Christ
is all. Mine horn. There's an old saying
we have, he who laughs last, laughs best, huh? She was crying
before, she's laughing now, isn't she? Like Sarah. Oh my. You ever heard the story of the
two martyrs, Ridley and Latimer, who were burned at the stake,
literally burned at the stake for translating the scripture,
for preaching the truth, burned at the stake. Nicholas Ridley
and Hugh Latimer, they were burned at the stake together. And while
they were being burned at the stake, Ridley looked at Latimer
and said, Brother Latimer, he said, this day we're going to
light a candle that's never going to be put out. Isn't that amazing? That's the strength of God. My
horn is exalted. My strength is of the Lord. You
say, I wouldn't have the strength to do that. Yes, you would. Yes,
you will. Yes, you do, if called upon. It must be so. This thing is real. God's grace
is real. His power is real. His might is real. My mouth is
enlarged over mine enemy, I rejoice in thy salvation, she said. Oh
my, let such as love thy salvation say, the Lord be magnified. Look at verse two. There's none
holy as the Lord. This is her prayer creed. None
holy as the Lord. This is not some silly woman
who's saying, praise Jesus, praise Jesus. They don't know the Lord
Jesus Christ. They wouldn't be calling him
Jesus. He says, My horn is exalted in the Lord. There's none holy
as the Lord. What is God? What do all of God's
people say first about the Lord? What is the chief attribute of
the Lord? What is his principal attribute?
Every single person in this room, even our children, knows this.
These things are hid from the wise and prudent and revealed
unto the babe. What is his chief attribute?
Somebody say it. Holy. Holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. Isn't this what you find out
about the Lord? Holy. None holy like our Lord. Look
at verse two. There's none beside thee. No,
there's no God like thee. Neither is any rock like our
God. He's our rock. I love, I think Hannah learned
from Moses. I think she was reading Moses'
song, don't you? In Exodus 15. I know she was.
She worshipped the Lord. She read God's word. And she's
reading from Moses' song who said this very thing. He said,
their rock's not like our rock. Their God's not like our God.
Their God wants to be God. Our God is God. Their God's running
for election. He hopes you vote for him. Our
God does the electing. He does the choosing. There's
no rock like our God. Rock means eternal. Rock means
unmovable. Rock means unshakable. Rock means
a foundation you can stand upon. A sure foundation. Who's that
rock? If I would ask our children,
they'd all tell us. Paul said that rock was Christ Jesus. Mindy and I were walking through
the woods the other day. Walking up Grassy Hill. little height
and There was a big rock ledge in the woods there And and something
about Caleb. We just we just had to go stand
on it He said you see that rock then that make you want to stand
on it. Oh Yeah, and our rock is Christ Jesus I I stand on
the rock, Christ Jesus. We had a man in our church that
died, and this was his dying words to me, the last words I
remember him saying. He was dying of cancer. And he
said, and he was weak, very weak, in his final hours. And he raised
himself up in that wheelchair he was in. And he said, if I
go or if I stay, it's okay. I'm standing on the rock. The rock Christ Jesus. That's
why you'll not fall. That's where you get your strength.
There's no rock like our God. Verse 3, talk no more exceeding
proudly. Let not arrogance come out of
your mouth. Who's she talking to? Well, the
Lord has led her to pray this prayer that we might read it.
Would that more people would, huh? We read it. Doesn't this
characterize our generation more than anything else? Huh? Isn't
this the perilous times that Paul talked about? Men should
be proud, boasters, heady, high-minded. Doesn't that describe our generation
more than anything else? Arrogancy? Is there anything
more ugly? Is there anything more unbecoming
of human beings than pride? Because what do we have that
we have not received? Not the strong man glory to strength,
the beautiful woman glory in her beauty, the wise man in his
wisdom, because we receive everything from the Lord. Let him that glorieth,
glory what? In the Lord. That you know him.
Arrogancy. Oh my, the Lord hates it. And
the Lord is a God of knowledge, he says, verse 3. He knows. Men
talk, but God knows. Actions are weighed. Spurgeon
has a whole message on that. I advise you to read it. On that
one line, the Lord of Weighing Actions. Verse 4, the bows of
the mighty men are broken. They that stumble are girded
with strength. The bows of the mighty. I believe she's referring
to Pharaoh and his army. Oh, how many times the scriptures
tells us not to trust in the strength of Pharaoh or go down
to Egypt for your help. Vain is the arm of the flesh.
Vain is the help of man. This nation is the most powerful
nation on earth, isn't it? The mightiest military might
on earth. That's not going to save us. It's just a matter of time till
this thing comes down. It's just a matter of time. Pharaoh and his army, Miriam
cried, he threw in the river. Mighty men, their bows will be
broken. Moses wrote that very thing.
But they that stumble along. Can you see those Israelites
stumbling along in the wilderness? Are girded with strength. Mount
up like wings on wings of eagles. Pharaoh and his army were pursuing,
with the might of Egypt, were pursuing a bunch of unarmed slaves. What happened? How? Why? The Lord. It's the Lord. They that were full have hired
themselves out for bread. This is the richest, most affluent
society and country in the history of the world. No doubt about
it. It's coming down. But the hungry
will cease. Those that are hungry, all blessed
are they that hunger and thirst. They'll be filled. God's people,
David said, I've been young, I'm now old. I have never seen
the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread. It ain't
gonna happen. Not gonna happen. Read on, it says, that the barren
hath born seven, and she that hath many children is wax feeble.
Got news for you, God has the victory in this thing of salvation.
He has more people. They that are with Him are more
than they are not. At any given time, the church
is very few people on earth comparatively to the general population, especially
religion. Religion has its thousands and
millions, while the truth has its few. The truth has always
been in a minority, always. Who was favored, eight people
in the ark or eight million people outside the ark? Who did God
love, eight people in the ark or eight million outside? Well,
how many babies died in that flood? How many infants died in that
flood? How many simple-minded people died in that flood? God
has the victory. God's going to have more. The
barren are going to have more. That's right. And she that hath
many children is going to wax feeble. The Lord killeth, verse
6, and the Lord maketh alive. Oh, he brings down to the grave
and bringeth up. And people, I don't want to be,
I'm not calloused at all to what happened in Orlando. Not at all. Not at all. I feel
sorry for their families. And if those people didn't know
the Lord, oh my. And if we wish that upon them,
that's a bad spirit and attitude. One time the Lord, the disciples
wanted to call down fire on people and the Lord said, you don't
know what manner of spirit you are. He said, I didn't come to destroy
people. And that's not our purpose either. Pray for them. Hope the Lord saves them. But
who killed those people? Who killed those 50 people? God
did. And the judge of the earth does
right. If anybody dies, God does it. You see, There is no comfort,
there is no peace, there is no hope in a God who's a bystander
in the affairs of men. A God who doesn't want things
to happen, they happen anyway. Who needs Him? All our comfort,
all our hope is, is God reigns, God rules, He's Lord over all,
He really is. And He said, I kill, our times
are appointed, our bounds are set, we cannot pass. For us,
our children and everything, that gives me peace. Go to sleep!
It's all been ordered and sure, and he's too good to do wrong.
He's too merciful to be unkind. It's all good. For God's people,
it all works together for good. For good. It's our comfort. Our comfort. God kills. God makes
alive. He brings down. He bringeth up.
I got to hurry. He maketh poor. He maketh rich.
Oh, people gloat in making themselves rich. Nebuchadnezzar found out,
didn't he? Oh, Nebuchadnezzar found out. All right. Brought
him down fast. He brings low. He lifteth up.
He raises up the poor out of the dust and lifts up the beggar
from the dunghill to set him among princes. and make him inherit
the throne of glory. I had to, I couldn't help but
think about my pibiche. Oh my, he brought him in to sit
him among the king's sons forever. The pillars of the Lord, the
pillars of the earth are the Lord, Psalm 24. David learned
this, I think, from Hannah. The earth is the Lord's in the
fullness thereof, that world and they that dwell therein.
He'll keep the feet of his saints. David one time was envious of
the wicked in Psalm 73. He was envious of their prosperity.
So he went into the sanctuary and he found out their end. And
he said, he set them in slippery places. He said, their foot will
slide in due time. He said, I thought I was ready
to slip. But no, he's going to keep the feet of his same. They're
going to stumble a little bit, but they're not going to fall. He sets their feet in paths of
righteousness. He sets their feet, he brings
us up out of a horrible pit and sets our feet on the rock, Christ
Jesus, and will not suffer us to be moved. Praise the Lord. You keep the feet of his saint.
The wicked will be silent in darkness. Don't you get tired
of all the noisome pestilence? Don't you get tired of all the
voices? Don't you get tired of reading the news and hearing
all that? Don't you get tired of it? God's going to turn it all
off for these days. Silence. And by strength no man
shall prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall
be broken to pieces. Psalm 2. With a rod of iron out
of heaven shall he thunder. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming
back to this earth and every eye shall see him and all the
people shall wail because of him. But God's people won't.
They're gonna say, the bridegroom cometh. Let's go to meet him.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth, and he'll give
strength unto his king. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
And exalt the horn of his anointed. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Her prayer was rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ. No confidence
in the flesh. Let me close with this. Now,
that's not the end of Hannah's story. The Lord, because she
gave Samuel back to the Lord, sacrificed him, the Lord gave
her five children after that. He opened up her womb and gave
her five children. Listen to this. I'll read to
you from Mark 10. Peter said, Lord, we've left
all to follow thee. And he said, barely, I say unto
you, there's no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters,
or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my
sake and the gospel, for the truth's sake, that he'll receive
a hundredfold now in this time. If you lose your house, people,
for the gospel, for some reason, go ahead, give it away to somebody
that needs it. If you do, you're not going to
be without a place, are you? You've got a hundred houses,
at least, all over the world, God's people. They know these
things don't belong to us. You'll have brethren and sisters,
mothers, children, and lands with persecution. And in the
world to come, here's the greatest gift of all, unspeakable gift,
eternal life. Hannah said with her heart, tears
in her eyes, and gave up that only son. She said, I rejoice. I rejoice. Do you? Is that your
prayer? You rejoice in the Lord, his
salvation. What are you willing to sacrifice
for? Everything. Yeah, yeah. May the Lord bless that for His
glory and you're good.