Isaiah 43, what a great song,
what a great passage in scripture. There, Isaiah 43, where it speaks
of that holy one of Israel, our Redeemer, and he gives that promise
that when the waters pass over you, I will be with you. And then he goes on and speaks
of all of the blessings, the rich blessings that we have as
the Lord's people. He's our Redeemer. And, you know,
I didn't know that the Lord was
using these things to prepare my heart and my wife's heart
for the coming trials about a year later. And we were on the field
in our oldest daughter was hiking in the mountains of Colorado
and suffered a terrible fall and she almost perished. We received word and we were
literally on the last flight out of Papua New Guinea through
Australia before Australia as a country locked down entirely.
And we flew back across the Pacific at 14 something hours and got
off the plane not knowing whether she would be alive or with the
Lord. And then there was seven weeks that she was in the
intensive care unit at Denver Health. And there came a point
in time where the director of the intensive care unit told
us it doesn't look like she's going to make it. And, you know,
I just say all of that to tell you how the Lord cares for his
people before we're ever aware. He was giving me these words
for his people at that time, but he was giving me these words
too for me. for that time to come. And that's
how he helps us. And this is what I want to emphasize,
that the Lord, he speaks to his people. He speaks to us through
his word. And that's one of the reasons
his word is so precious. One of the richest blessings
we have as the Lord's people is communion with God. Isn't
that right? And in times of deep distress,
he brings us, by his grace, to a place where everything in life
recedes. All the things that you might
have been focused on and think are important and spend so much
time involved with. All the many things that are
even good things. Family, friends. your job, all
of these things that we just, so much of our life is taken
up in, just recede in these times. And all that he brings before
our face is himself. And he makes his presence known
to us, and his word becomes so rich. I'm sure many of you have
experienced this. In these times it becomes so
rich and so precious to us because it seems like wherever you open
the word, he speaks to you. And there's nothing like it. There's nothing to compare. It's
too bad that it's not that way all the time. It really is. And even in the midst of just
very difficult circumstances, it's like heaven on earth. It
really is. That the Lord would speak to
you from his word and comfort your heart and bring all of these
things to your mind, these gospel truths, that you find hope in. Hope in. When we pass through
the waters, the Lord is with us, and he speaks to us by his
word. He's our help, not anyone else. The only true help we receive in this life,
in every way, the only true help we receive is through him alone,
entirely. And the more we come to understand
that, the more hope you and I have. It seems that in times of deep
distress, the Lord just opens his word in ways that you haven't experienced before.
And again, the reason that is, is because the Lord is helping
you in that time of trouble. And he makes you to lie down,
as it were, in the green pastures of his glorious gospel. He leads
you beside the still waters of his grace. And through his word,
he restores your soul. And I think as we look at this
story of this woman, we see this happening with this woman. And
this is written for our hope, for us to look at this and see
what the Lord has to teach us from Hannah. Because in this
story, we find a woman who's in deep anguish of soul. And she's pouring out her heart
before the Lord. And out of her hopelessness,
the Lord gives her hope. And then we read those remarkable
words of Hannah, which we're gonna read again. She says, for
this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition,
which I asked of him. Therefore, I also have granted
him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he shall
be granted to the Lord. Well, the Lord has given to Hannah
the very desire of her heart. embodied in this child. And what
does Hannah do? She gives him back to the Lord.
So let's look at this story and see, again, this familiar story,
and see some of the things that the Lord would teach us. Let
me just read those first 11 verses, beginning in verse 1. Now, there
was a certain man of Ramath Zophim, of the mountains of Ephraim,
And his name was Elkanah, the son of Joram, the son of Elihu,
the son of Tohu, the son of Zuf, and Ephraimite. And he had two
wives. The name of one was Hannah, and
the name of the other Penina. Penina had children, but Hannah
had no children. This man went up from his city
yearly to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts in Shiloh. Also, the two sons of Eli, Hophni
and Phineas, the priests of the Lord, were there. And whenever
the time came for Alcana to make an offering, he would give portions
to Penina, his wife, and to all her sons and daughters. But to
Hannah, he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah,
although the Lord had closed her womb. And her arrival also
provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the Lord
had closed her womb. So it was, year by year, when
she went up to the house of the Lord that she provoked her. Therefore,
she wept and did not eat. Then Elkanah, her husband, said
to her, Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? And why is
your heart grieved? For am I not better to you than
ten sons? So Hannah rose after they had
finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest
was sitting on the seat by the doorposts of the tabernacle of
the Lord and she was in bitterness of soul and prayed to the Lord
and wept in anguish. Then she made a vow and said,
Oh Lord of hosts, if indeed you will indeed look on the affliction
of your maid servant and remember me and not forget your maid servant,
but will give your maidservant a male child, then I will give
him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall
come upon his head." Now, just as we begin this, reading these
first 11 verses, what's something we see? We see the Lord knows
Hannah. The Lord knows Hannah. As you
read this story, it's striking when you consider the extent
of the detail that's revealed about her life, the life of this
woman. A whole chapter, think of that,
of the Word of God. A whole chapter of the Word of
God taken up to tell us about this woman. And even the most
intimate details of her life and the thoughts of her heart. We read that she had this husband,
her husband, Elkanah, and he had two wives. And the name of
One was Hannah and the name of the other, Penina. Now, Hannah
was persecuted mercilessly by Penina. And it's hard, I think,
for us today in the U.S. to relate to this. Multiple wives
is a common occurrence in New Guinea. There's many, many men
with two, three, and more wives. And it's a miserable, miserable situation. It results in exactly what's
described here. There's always enmity between
the wives. There always is. And there's
great jealousy, hatred, lying, backbiting, and cruelty. People in that hamlet next to
us, I've seen two wives holding this other wife down, the third
wife, and pour boiling water on her in a fight they were having.
And this is the type of thing that, this is the type of situation
that Hannah was in. And that it can be soul-destroying. It's one of the most common reasons. In fact, I would say it is the
most common reason for women to commit suicide in the tribal
areas of Papua New Guinea. It's one There's multiple wives,
and these types of situations arise, and it's never-ending. You think about it, it's this
way today, tomorrow, and it's perpetual and exhausting, and
this is the situation that Hannah found herself in, and we read
that Penina provoked her severely, made her miserable. See, sometimes
the word, well, many times the word, in a sense, understates
things. But here, she's mocked, she's
derided, and the focus of this was particularly upon the fact
that Hannah had no children. And as you know, for the people
of Israel, for God-appointed reasons, this was important,
especially that they have a male child. And it's true also among
most tribal people. So this was a very difficult
situation that Hannah was in. And why? Why? The fact that she had no children. Well, this wasn't outside the
will and purpose of God, was it? Why did Hannah have no children? What do we read? Because the
Lord had closed her womb. And two, as we read this, it
appears that this persecution would heighten as they went up
to Shiloh to worship. It would become particularly
harsh when the family went up to worship in that yearly worship
before the Lord at the temple. And this was, the word tells
us, this was the time and place that her adversary, Penina, would
attack her. And why is that? From that too,
why is that? Why is she attacked particularly
at that time? Because this is the place of
the help of the Lord's people, isn't it? The Lord. And the same is true today of
us. Where are we going to be attacked
spiritually? We're going to be attacked in
a way that will take us away from the word, take us away from
the fellowship of the Lord's people, take us away from the
means that God has used to help his people. And this was the
case with Hannah. We're told all of these details
of her barrenness, the domestic strife created by Penina. We're told of the love of her
husband for her. How he was so concerned for her
as his wife in this situation. And we read of her misery and
tears and how she can't eat. She's so bothered
by the situation. and really the inability of her
husband to comfort her as well. And we're told of the prayers
of her heart. Well, again, what can we learn
from this? The Lord knows every circumstance
of Hannah, doesn't he? Not one thing is outside of his
knowledge, outside of his will, outside of his power, outside
of his providence. And what a blessing it is when
we can recognize that in all times, in all circumstances. And we see that the Lord knows
Hannah. And that's always a great comfort
to the Lord's people, isn't it? That the Lord, haven't you found
great hope in that, that the Lord knows you? It's important that we know the
Lord, but it's more important that he knows us. And, you know,
we even think of Peter, you know, when the Lord is questioning
him in that trial that he was in because
of his own sin, you know, and what is his final response? What
does he say? Lord, you know that I love you. And this is a hope that we have,
that the Lord knows us. He knows everything, everything.
Turn over to Psalm 139. Turn over, this is just such a blessed psalm. It is just
so full of richness and blessing. Let's just read a few of these
verses there in Psalm 139. Keep your place in Samuel. It
begins, O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know my
sitting down and my rising up. You understand my thought afar
off. You comprehend my path and my
lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. There is not
a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. The Lord, He knows Hannah. He knows her sitting down and
her rising up. He knows of the persecution of
Penina, of her bitterness of soul. He knows of her tears of
anguish. He knows of her suffering and
the heartache that she is facing. He knows of her barrenness. He knows all her ways. And Hannah
pours out her soul to the Lord in tears and
supplications. And she makes this remarkable
petition and promise that we read earlier. And you know, there's
not a word on her tongue that the Lord doesn't know it all
together. He himself has put these words into her heart. and
in her mouth and on her lips, there is not a thought that he
doesn't understand. Look down in verse nine of this
psalm. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand
shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me. I think it's clear that when
we, see this situation that Hannah's in, that she's in an extremity
of suffering. When you read through, this is
the language, let me just read the language that scripture uses
to describe it. It says, her adversary provoked
her severely. She was made miserable. She wept
and did not eat. She was in bitterness of soul,
wept in anguish. She was a woman of sorrowful
spirit. Her grief is described as an
abundance of grief. That's what's implied in that
language. It's an abundance of grief. Grief overflowing and
pouring out. And there are many times, I think,
that the Lord's people can be brought into times like this.
In Isaiah 43, it doesn't say, if you pass through the waters,
I will be with you. It says, when you pass through
the waters. And I think it's inevitable that the Lord's people
will face times, not exactly as Hannah did, but we will face
times like this. When we're brought into the depths
of deep suffering. And as the word says, to those
times when we're walking through the valley of the shadow of death. But we're never alone. We're
never alone. The Good Shepherd is with you,
binding you up, and caring for you with an everlasting love,
holding you by his right hand. As he says there, and yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil. Why? For thou art with me. And the Lord is with Hannah.
He knows her. And he loves her. And he'll never
leave her nor forsake her. It doesn't matter what she feels,
how she feels, what she thinks. That's the truth. And like Hannah, we can be in
an agony of suffering, an abundance of grief. Our souls overwhelmed
with anguish and pain. And we can find ourselves at
times dwelling emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually in the uttermost
parts of the sea, as it were, seeming beyond all help. But no, no. What do we read here
in this psalm? Even there, even there, your
right hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. Look in verse 11. If I say, surely
the darkness shall fall on me, even the night shall be light
about me. Indeed, the darkness shall not
hide from you, but the night shines as the day, and the darkness
and the light are both alike to you. In this soul anguish, we can
come to a place of real darkness, like Hannah. And again, No doubt,
you've all faced that night of sorrow, night of pain, that night
of bitterness of soul, maybe the night of fear and loneliness,
or maybe you will. Maybe you will. And you feel like it's just darkness
surrounds you, and it's pressing in like the psalmist is writing
about here. And Hannah, like the psalmist,
says, surely, surely the darkness has fallen upon me. Isn't that
what Hannah was saying? The darkness has fallen upon
me. But listen, what does the psalmist say? Even the night
shall be light about me. Yes, that's true. The Lord makes
even the darkest circumstances of his people to be light. The
darkness and the light are both alike to him. Something that the Lord just
taught me again, and I'll learn the rest of my life, is that
all of his providence for his people is good. The good is good
for us. The good circumstances of our
lives and the providence of God are good for us. and the bad
circumstances of our lives, they're good for us too. Isn't that wonderful
to know that? Look at verse 16. Your eyes saw
my substance being yet unformed, and in your book they all were
written. The days fashioned for me when as yet there were none
of them. Hannah's days, think of this.
These days, Hannah's days were fashioned for her before she
was ever formed. Yeah, these days of sorrow, these
days of anguish, these days of bitterness of soul, these days
of affliction and suffering. Days fashioned for her. Days fashioned for her by what? By an everlasting love. Don't
we find great hope in that, in these circumstances of life? When we're able to, the Lord
in his mercy gives us that faith to understand that he's fashioned
this for me as his child. Hard as it may be, it's for my
good. It's for my richest blessing. Not one thing is outside the
knowledge, outside the power, outside the providence of the
Holy One of Israel. Not one thing. He works all things
together for good to those who love Him, to those who are called
according to His purpose. How often we just rattle off
that great verse from Romans 8. without giving consideration
to it. It's true. He works all things
for good. It's true, His ways aren't our
ways. And His thoughts aren't our thoughts.
Would we work it this way? We wouldn't. You know we wouldn't.
If it was up to you, your life would be very different from
the life that the Lord in His good providence has given you.
His ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts.
We're like, what are we like? You know, I love that verse where
the Lord says, oh Jacob, thou worm, Jacob. That's what we are, just worms. But his thoughts,
his thoughts, they're too high for us. They're too broad for
us. They're too deep for us. What are his thoughts towards
his people? They're wise. They're wise thoughts. They're
merciful thoughts. They're gracious thoughts. What kind of thoughts? does the
Lord have towards his people? Look down there in verse 17 of
this psalm. How precious also are your thoughts
to me, O God. How great is the sum of them.
If I should count them, they would be more than the number
of the sand. Those are the thoughts he has
towards us as his people. What's the sum of them? Well,
Think of it. What does he tell us? Sit down
on that beach and start counting those grains of sand. How many? How many? If I should count them,
they would be more than the number of the sand. Think of that. The blessings that the Lord pours
out upon us every day. We'll turn back to 1 Samuel chapter
1. We see, too, that in the richness
of this story, we see Hannah's faith is a true faith. This isn't
a superficial, self-serving religion that you see everywhere today.
In New Guinea, it's no different than here. Why are most people
in some sort of a false religion? It's for their own, it's self-serving. They're there for some reason
to satisfy themselves. The true religion is of the heart
and of the spirit, and we see that with Hannah, don't we? In
her distress and in her anguish, in this affliction of her soul,
she looks where? She looks to the Lord. Hannah
goes to the Lord in her trouble. She pours out her heart before
the Lord. There in verse 10, she says,
and she was in bitterness of soul and prayed to the Lord and
wept in anguish. Hannah's whole being. As we see
her pictured here, her whole being is taken up in her prayer
to the Lord. Hannah believes God. She knows he's there. She's speaking
to him. Think of this. She gives no thought
to Eli, the high priest, sitting on the doorpost of the tabernacle.
No thought to the other priests who would have been there going
about the daily work of the temple. No thought to other people, no
doubt, who were coming and going. No thought, no care how she might
appear to other people. It doesn't even enter her thought.
Because her focus is what? It's on the Lord. And Hannah makes this startling
prayer in which she makes a petition and a promise. Her heart's desire
is for this son, as a barren wife, her heart's desire is for
this son. Why? Because a son, particularly
in tribal cultures and in these circumstances, a son, in a son
is found, found peace. And his son has found joy and
love and satisfaction, security, hope for the future, and all
else that's bound up in a child. But Hannah, she sets all this
aside. She sets all that aside. Listen,
this is her prayer. Oh, Lord of hosts, if you will
indeed look on the affliction of your maidservant and remember
me and not forsake Forget your maidservant, but will give your
maidservant a male child, what will she do then? Then I will
give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor
shall come upon his head." Hannah promised to give this child that
she so longed for to the Lord, to the Lord all the days of his
life. And this child would serve the
Lord, not only as a Levite in the temple, but as a Nazarite.
And we might think that the most important thing in all the world,
as we read this, we might think the most important thing in all
the world for Hannah was to have a son. But no, no. The most important thing for
Hannah is the Lord of hosts. Do you see that? That she'll
give this son back to the Lord to serve him all the days of
his life. If the Lord gives her a child,
she'll give to the Lord her heart, her soul, her son, to serve him
all the days of his life. Look there, let's continue in
verse 12. Verse 12, and it happened as
she continued praying before the Lord that Eli watched her
mouth. Now Hannah spoke in her heart,
only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore
Eli thought she was drunk. So Eli said to her, how long
will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you.
But Hannah answered and said, no, my lord, I am a woman of
sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor
intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the
Lord. Do not consider your servant
a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and
grief I have spoken until now. Then Eli answered and said, go
in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you
have asked of him. And she said, let your maidservant
find favor in your sight. So the woman went her way and
ate, and her face was no longer sad. Now, that's remarkable,
isn't it? Here, there's a complete transformation
of Hannah. She went her way, was no longer
sad. And why? Why is that? because her hope was in the Lord. Hannah, after bringing this heart
concern of hers to the Lord, was at peace and was no longer
sad. She came to the place expressed
so well in another psalm. Don't turn there, but in Psalm
43, we read, oh, oh send out your light and your truth. Let
them lead me. Let them bring me to your holy
hill and to your tabernacle. Then I will go to the altar of
the Lord, to God, my exceeding joy. And on the harp I will praise
you, O God, my God. Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within
me? Hope in God. For I shall yet
praise him for the help of my countenance and my God." We might
say that Hannah was brought by the Lord from the uttermost parts
of the sea. She was brought out of darkness.
She was brought to his light and his truth. She was brought
to his holy hill and to his tabernacle. Hannah was brought to God. to her help, to her exceedingly
great joy. And Hannah trusted God. She trusted
God to give to her according to his will. The Lord brought
her to this place as she prayed, knowing that his thoughts toward
her were precious thoughts, thoughts, as we read, too numerous to number.
And God would do for what was good for her whether it was to
give her a child or not. You see, many people think that
she was promised by the high priest that she would have a
son, but that's not what it says. No, she went away in peace in
her heart, and she was no longer sad because she entrusted her heart to the Lord, whatever
he did. In verse 19, let's continue to
read there. Then they arose early in the
morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned and came
to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife,
and the Lord remembered her. So it came to pass in the process
of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his
name Samuel, saying, because I have asked for him from the
Lord. Now the man, Elkanah, and all
his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice
and his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for
she said to her husband, not until the child is weaned, then
I will take him, that he may appear before the Lord and remain
there forever. So Elkanah, her husband, said
to her, do what seems best to you. Wait until you have weaned
him. only let the Lord establish his
word. Then the woman stayed and nursed
her son until she had weaned him. Now when she had weaned
him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, one ephah flower,
and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord
in Shiloh. And the child was young. Then
they slaughtered a bull, and brought the child to Eli. And
she said, O my Lord, as your soul lives, my Lord, I am the
woman who stood by you here praying to the Lord. For this child I
prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition, which I asked
of him. Therefore, I also have granted
him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he shall
be granted to the Lord. So they worshipped the Lord there. Now, it doesn't matter how many
times you read this story. It's wonderful every time, isn't
it? And what do we read? The Lord remembered Hannah. Well,
he always remembers his people. He always will. He'll never,
never, never forget us. He granted to her that which
she desired so much, and we read that she bore a son and named
him Samuel. And when the time came to go
up to the yearly sacrifice, Hannah tells her husband, Elkanah, that
she won't go up until the child is weaned. And when he's weaned,
she'll take him up to remain there before the Lord forever.
Now, in reading this, it's clear, too, that Elkanah is a faithful
man, isn't he? He's a faithful man, a man who
worships God. That's the picture we're given.
And he knows, as a husband who loves his wife, he knows this
is gonna be so hard for his wife to do. Naturally speaking, he knows
she'll never have the strength to do it, to give up this son,
to take this son and leave him forever. How could Hannah do something
so hard? Only one way. Only one way if
the Lord causes her to do it. You know, I learned something
of what that was with our daughter. You know, there came a time when
when I prayed something I probably would have thought I could never
pray. But I prayed in the midst of the suffering of my daughter. Lord, if it's your will, please
take my daughter to be with you." That's far better. Far better
to be with Christ. We don't think too much of those
things, you know, when we're young, when we're vigorous. But isn't that the truth? To
be with Christ is far better. And How does the Lord give you the
strength to pray believing these things? Or how do you? It's only because the Lord gives
you that strength. This is what Elkanah said. He
said, only let the Lord establish his word. Or as some translations
have it, only let the Lord establish your word. Well, it's one and
the same, isn't it? It's whether it's her word, it's
words that the Lord had given to Hannah to make this promise
of giving her son Samuel. And Elkanah's concern that she
be faithful, that she fulfill the word that she'd promised
to the Lord and Elkanah knows, too, that the
Lord, for her to do that, the Lord must do a work in her heart. To give her son Samuel to the
Lord, to serve him forever. But what Elkanah didn't know
is that the Lord had already done that work, hadn't he? He'd
already done that work in Hannah's heart, and Hannah knows when
she goes up to worship, She'll take her only son with her, and
she'll give him to the Lord that he might appear before him, is
how it's put. Isn't that wonderful? That he
might appear before him forever. Isn't, you know, all through
this, we can't help but see the picture of Christ, can we? But when the Lord does the work,
the work is established. You know, that's my hope as a
missionary, the work on the field. You know, God must do the work. You know, in the end, my contribution
to the work of the gospel in Papua New Guinea, you know what
my contribution, what will happen? It'll all be burned up. And all
that will be left is the work that God has done, the only work
that matters. Yes, he's done through me, but
it's his work. And when he does the work, the
work's established. Hannah weaned her child. She took him up with her to the
house of the Lord. And the child was young, we read. In all likelihood, he was two
or three years old. And she brings a child to Eli
in her arms, or perhaps standing by her side, and a bewildered
and apprehensive boy. And she reminds Eli of who she
is, the woman who stood by you here, praying to the Lord. And here, look, listen to these
words again. Here's true worship. For this
child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which
I asked of him. Therefore, I also have granted
him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he shall
be granted to the Lord. And you know, I don't have to
explain, you know that this, to Hannah, this child was everything. Isn't that so? And what does
she do? She gives everything to the Lord. You know, as I look at this,
I think, would Hannah regret this in her life? Would she have regretted
that she gave her son to the service of the Lord? We'll look
over in chapter 3 verse 1. Chapter 3 verse 1 of 1 Samuel.
What do we read there? We read that, now the boy Samuel
ministered to the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was
rare in those days. There was no widespread revelation. This was a period of time where
the Lord hadn't spoken by prophets to Israel. It was a time where
the word of the Lord was rare. That's a terrible time. Think
of that. This is one of the reasons you should so rejoice that the
word of the Lord is here with you in Rock Valley. Here, this was a time where the
word of the Lord was rare. There was no widespread revelation. And you know the story, the Lord
calls Samuel to be his prophet, this great prophet of Israel,
and he puts his words in his mouth, in this mouth of his servant,
Samuel, and in verse 20, look down in verse 21 of the same
chapter, what do we read? Then the Lord appeared again
in Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by
the word of the Lord, and the word of Samuel came to all Israel. No, I don't think Hannah regretted
ever, for an instant, giving her son to the Lord. Not even
for a moment. But two, naturally speaking, I don't think we can fully comprehend
how hard it was for Hannah to take Samuel up to Shiloh and
leave him there. Naturally speaking, she would
have been heartbroken distraught, devastated as she left her son,
this son of her love, this son of her heart. But look in chapter
2, verse 1. What does she pray? This is remarkable,
isn't it? Verse 1 of chapter 2, and Hannah
prayed and said, my heart rejoices in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. I smile at my enemies. Why? Because I rejoice in your
salvation. That's what her focus was upon.
Do you see that? Not even on this son that the
Lord had so graciously granted to her. It was upon the Lord
in his salvation. What grace was granted to Hannah
at this time? And the Lord reveals to her this
astonishing gospel prophecy. Remember, this was a time when
the word of the Lord was rare in Israel. And the Lord gives
her this, as we read through that first chapter, we won't
do that now, but he gives her this astonishing prophecy of
the Redeemer of Israel, the promised Savior. And she rejoiced in this
salvation. Well, just in closing, have you
thought about how often the scriptures speak to us of the barren woman
as a metaphor of the gospel? It's quite remarkable. Just turn
over to Isaiah 54, and we'll just finish up there. Isaiah
54. in the first verse of Isaiah
54, Break forth into singing and
cry aloud, you who have not labored with child, for more are the
children of the desolate than the children of the married woman,
says the Lord. Now, you know that this is quoted
in Galatians, don't you, with reference to the new covenant.
Speaking of the gospel of God's grace, and where there Sarah
is pictured, and Sarah is being spoken of. In verse 2 it says, For you shall expand to the right
and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations and
make the desolate cities inhabited." And this is the gospel picture,
isn't it? It may seem that the gospel is
barren. It may seem that the Holy One
of God has come into this world as a tendershoot as a root out of
the dry ground. But what will occur? This, no,
the gospel is not barren, no. It'll bear great fruit, glorious
fruit. It will expand. The tent won't
be sufficient. Lengthen the lines. Strike them
deeper. And it'll extend to where? To
the ends of the earth. This is the glorious picture
we're given of the gospel. And further down in verse six,
for the Lord has called you, now listen, for the Lord has
called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a
youthful wife when you were refused, says the Lord. For a mere moment
I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath, I hid my
face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness, I
will have mercy upon you, says the Lord, your Redeemer." And
Hannah rejoiced in these things. She rejoiced in the God of her
salvation, her Savior. Hannah rejoiced in Christ. She
rejoiced in her Redeemer. Amen.