That hymn goes well with this
message. Well chosen. Go back to 1 Samuel
now. I want to give you a little pre-sermon
sermon on the first verse. I think it would be a blessing
to you. This whole message should be
of great comfort. Look at verse 1 with me. Now,
there was a certain man of Ramotham Zophon of Mount Ephraim,
and his name was Elkanah, son of Jeroam. son of Elihu, son
of Tohu, son of Zeph, and Iprithi. A certain man. We've seen that many times in
Scripture, gentlemen. Every believer and every saint
is a certain man, certain woman, most certainly chosen by God. And no believer's life is insignificant. No believer's life is insignificant. Listen carefully, would you?
This will be your comfort. No believer's life is insignificant. The lives of all believers are
interrelated and work together, work perfectly together to fulfill
God's purpose. You see, God wrote a book called
the Book of Life. The Lamb's Book of Life. All
of God's people were entered into that book before they were
born. Everything about them was put
in that book. Their whole lives were written
in that book. Where they were to be born, when, how old they would grow to be,
whether or not they would be married. whether or not they
would have children, who their children would be, when their
children would be born, where, whether or not they would grow
up, who they would marry, and so on and so forth. Every single
child of God is written in the Book of Life.
David said this, he said, My substance was not hid from thee
when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest
parts of the earth. That's talking about the womb.
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect, and in thy
book all my memories were written. The book of life. And in the
fact we need to consider when we get to feeling like we are
of no value and no purpose whatsoever. Insignificant in the grand scheme
of things. The fact we need to consider
is, you and I may be living to serve the greater purpose of
someone else. Like Elkanah. He's just an ordinary
man. Just a plain old ordinary man.
Not much is said about this man. plain ordinary man. God gave
him an extraordinary son. But he served well the purpose
God had given him. So did his wife. As I said, now listen carefully,
you and I may be living to serve a greater purpose for someone
else. Let me give you a modern day
illustration. A man years ago named Gerald and his wife Mary. Ring a bell about. They had sons and daughters.
On the. One of those funds. And he and her. And perhaps that daughter. Will someday marry a man. And
they will have a job might be. Well you don't know what. It might be the last election
on this planet for Christ. I wouldn't have. Would you. By the way Gerald and Mary and
other grandparents of this hand. And would you be content to bear
to be the great-great-grandmother of the last elect sheep on the
planet. What a high honor. Do you understand what I'm saying?
We don't know. We don't know. We just don't
know. Our lives may seem plain, ordinary,
even mundane, but we need to be faithful where we are, what
we're doing. God is using us. Or his part. You're. OK. After this you never
hear from him again. He's just a faithful man a faithful
father a faithful husband. Faithful believer. Faithful. You've got. A certain man he was a Levite. That was in God's purpose but
a Levi. He was from Mount Ephraim, a
town called Ramatham Zopam, and that makes me so glad for towns
like Rocky Mount. Our name, Henry, easy. John,
Joe, Gabe, one syllable names. Ron, Matt, Roy, just one syllable
names are good. At any rate he's from this. Mountain
from the town of Ramotham Zophon. And this is a place about and
we'll give you a biblical illustration of how our lives are interrelated. He's he's from this town Ramotham
Zophon which is about 18 miles northwest of Bethlehem. OK. He has two wives. And down in
Bethlehem, now turn back one page. You know what is back one
page? Book of Ruth. Down in Bethlehem,
there's a man named Boaz. He and his wife, they just get
married, Ruth. Boaz and Ruth. And the Lord gives
them a child. Lord gives them a child. His
name is Obed. He's about the same age as Elkanah. I mean, Boaz is about the same
age as Elkanah. Obed, born about the same time
as Elkanah's son is. Well, in a few short years, their
family's going to meet. They're going to get together.
They haven't known each other until now, 18 miles apart. In
just a few short years, The son of Elkanah is going to go down
to Bethlehem and going to meet Obed's grandson, the king of
Israel. All interrelated. Boaz and Ruth
are doing what they're doing, being faithful where they're
at. Elkanah and Hannah are being faithful where they're at. God's
using them all. You see, but they're serving
the purpose. And their purpose is no less
than David sitting on the throne. He wouldn't have got there if
Boaz hadn't been true to what he was doing. See that? Look
here. I don't have to read it to you,
but it says, Boaz, verse 13, took Ruth. Ruth 4, 13, Boaz took
Ruth. She was his wife. He went in
to her. The Lord gave her conception.
You see that? She bare a son. And down in verse
17, they called his name Obed. He's the father of Jesse, the
father of David. And that's another story. But they're all together. They're all related. All right?
Now, keep that in mind. Do not despair of your life as
if it were useless. Now, I'm talking to saints here.
I'm talking to believers. No, you know, I'm not. You know,
I'm not saying what they're saying, telling everybody how much God
needs you. But God's people are serving his purpose. Be faithful where you are. You're
serving God's purpose, God's kingdom, and someday you will
rejoice in what the Lord did through you. At the very time,
you were totally unsuspecting of what was going on, but the
Lord was using you to bring about that end. Can you marvel at that? We will someday. We'll look back
and thank the Lord for having put us where He put us. With
whom and how and where and so forth. Yes, we will. All things
work together for good. To them that love God. That's
God's people who are called according to His purpose. End of that message. Okay? Or do you want to go home? Is
that good enough? Elkanah was a faithful husband and a father,
and he was a diligent worshipper, a godly man, a godly man. Look at verse 3, well, 2 and
3. He had two wives. One was Hannah,
the name of the other, Peninnah. Peninnah had children. Hannah
had no children. Elkanah's only fault was that
he was a polygamy. God never did sanction that.
I don't know why. I do know why God allowed it
in this situation, and we'll see that in a moment. At any
rate, Penina, the one wife, had children, but Hannah had no children.
This man went up out of his city yearly, as God commanded the
people to do, that yearly sacrifice that the high priest would make.
would go yearly to worship and sacrifice of the Lord of Hosts
in Shiloh. Faithful, diligent worshipper,
a godly man, did what he was called to do. He worshipped the
Lord. He knew the Lord. It says the two sons of Eli,
Tophni and Phinehas, priests of the Lord, were there. In other
words, whenever Elkanah and Hannah went to shallow, these two were in charge
there, Hockney and Finney. Why the Lord meant at this point,
I really don't know. Those of you who know the story
know that these two were bad men. Why the Lord brought this
up then, I don't know. I can only speculate. I can only
say that perhaps the Lord is showing us how that he preserves
his true science in spite of bad. And the perseverance of the science.
But he had anyone he had two wives so this is the time here's
here's the time. Here's why I believe he had to
two wives and here's who they represent to watch. This man
represents Christ who has two wives, seemingly. The church is made up of true
believers and those who seem to be believers. That's right. Our Lord, there are sheep and
goats in the world. There are wheat and tares. Our Lord said there must be heresies
among you talking to the believer the church there must be heresies
among you. That's what he said that day
which are approved might be made manifest or revealed to be clearly
God's people. It's always been that way. I
remember when the disciples wanted to you know the story of wanting
to pull up the tares and the Lord said no let them both grow
together. The Lord will do that. The Lord will do that. But the
church, the church, true church, is made up of true believers
and those who are that in name only. Like Padena. And that's what this represents. Look at verse 4 and 5. When the
time was, the time was that Elkanah offered He gave to Penina, his
wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions. He gave
things. He gave material things to her. He gave her possessions. What did he give Hannah? Well, not only possessions. Look
at verse five. Unto Hannah he gave a double
portion. A double. Worthy means double.
But now, look at it, it says, and to Hannah, he gave a double
portion, for he loves Hannah. Now, he not only gave her the
things, but he gave her himself. See, he loved her. It made it
clear here. He didn't say he loved Canaanite. She was his wife in name only,
legally. You know, all men belong to the
Lord. He's the Lord over the dead and
the living. We all belong to him. All souls are mine, he said. But who really belongs to the
Lord? He says he knows his people. He knows them lovingly. But he
said other men, he knows them, what? Far off. Far off. Keeps them at arm's length. The
rest of them he snuggles up to. He's chosen. Can he not he do
with his own way with certain. But he gives his people as a
forty says she had received that is church God's people of the
Lord and. God's people received. Not only
good things but. All the goodness of God. Everything
that he is. They receive not only mercy but
love. And not only grace, but my, my,
the Lord loves His own. And they're loved by Him. Hannah
loved Elkanah, it's obvious. But the Lord had shut up her
womb, verse 5. The Lord had shut up her womb. Now, there's one more point I
want to make along this line. Elkanah gave to Peninnah things. And, you know, Hannah's prayer
in the next chapter, she's the one that says, the Lord maketh
poor and the Lord maketh rich. Did she? That's what she prayed.
The Lord maketh poor and the Lord maketh rich. He gives to
all. He's the one that gives it all.
Though he may use Satan And Satan has some, you know,
something in God's purpose to be able to give these things.
Remember when he tried to tempt the Lord with the kingdoms of
the world? He said, that power has been given unto me. So, at
any rate, ultimately, it's the Lord that gives us that. Right? Sometimes it's a test, trial,
to see which do you want. These things? Me. That's a tough,
and only God's true people. You remember the story of Mephibosheth
and Ziba? Huh? The last part of the story?
When David came back, and he told Ziba and Mephibosheth to
divide everything up, there was an argument, and Mephibosheth
said, let him have it all. I want you. So that's a test. That the Lord, you know, maketh
rich and the religions of this world, but Nina here represents
false believers, professors of religion, professing Christians. The religions of this world are
rich, aren't they? Rich. Religion is rich. Look around you. They can't build
these buildings fast enough or big enough. I was talking to somebody, I
think it was Gabe, the other day. We were talking about building.
This thing of building is fresh on my mind. The costs are just
mine. And to buy a prime piece of property
on 220 and erect one of these 10,000 square foot buildings
costs a fortune. They're rich. Religion is big
money in religion. And they take that. They take
that as, that prosperity is a sign of God's favor. Did Penina have
Elkanah's love? His true favor? Sounded like he was just kind
of buying her off. You know, true riches, what are
true riches? Spiritual riches, the unsearchable
riches of Christ. He's that pearl of great pride.
Do you remember that story? A man was seeking goodly pearls.
Many, plural. He found one pearl that satisfied
all his longing. And the unsearchable riches of
Christ's religion is devoid of that. Hannah, he gave a double
portion. And of God's people, we received
at the Lord's hand double. And Hannah means favored. The
name means favored. That's what the name is, favored
of the Lord. And if you have received this
double portion from the Lord, mercy and grace, forgiveness
and love, you've been highly favored among women, among professing
believers. And the greatest thing of all
is His love. and he's great and and the one had children, Penina
had children, many, all her sons and her daughters, she had many,
she had a bunch. And Hannah had none. Do you see what that represents? Clearly, religion has many offspring. While the true church seems very
small, doesn't it? Seems almost unfruitful. It's
always been the case, you know, that it's always been the case.
They probably said to Noah, is that the biggest crowd you can
attract, Noah? Why don't you build a fancier building? Who's
going to come into that square box? Who's going to come worship in
that plain, ordinary place? You and your family? Is that
it? You can't be right and everybody
else wrong, Noah. Sound familiar? They probably told a lot. We
worship God. We're sincere. Your God's not
the only God. Our God loves us a lot. Our God loves us. Your God's
hard. Your God's too strict. God wrath
judgment. I don't believe in a God like
that, Bob. Get out of here. Hmm? Sound familiar? Well, as
in this case, as in this case, the one child that Hannah was
given was worth many This one child that Hannah was
given was called absolutely a miracle child, was it not? It's obvious
that the Lord did this. It's obvious that the child that
He gave Hannah was of the Lord. A miracle child, a child of His
sovereign power, sovereign grace given to her of the Lord. She
had nothing to do with it. The Lord gave this child to her. So it is with every child of
God. They are clear objects of His
sovereign saving grace, manifestations of His sovereign saving grace. All sons of promise. You know,
all God's people are sons of promise. That's what Romans 9
says, that the children of the promise are carried to the sea.
Not the children of the flesh. Not the children of man's making.
Hmm? Sons of Abraham. These are because
the sons of Abraham are the children of Israel. Ishmael wasn't. That
was a child of the flesh, wasn't it? Abraham and Sarah and Hagar
got together and decided to make them a child. And people tried
all, people all the time decided to make themselves Christians.
It's who the Lord makes a child. The sons of promise. They're
accounted for the seed. Just like Isaac. Just like Jacob. Hmm? Just like Samuel, just like
the Lord Jesus Christ. So this one son was a son of
promise. Look at verse 6. It says her
adversary provoked her sore. That is Penina. Penina ridiculed
her barrenness as if Penina had something to do with her fruitfulness. As if Panina was responsible
for having all these children. What's wrong with you, Hannah?
Can't you have children? I can't. Look at all my children
that I've had. What's wrong with you? Aren't you trying? Pardon
that? Sure, Hannah was trying. She wanted children. But who
gives children? Huh? Who decides when a life
is brought into this world? She persecuted and ridiculed
Hannah's barrenness, and the world scoffs at the true church. Always has and always will. How
many do you have? That's always the question. Isn't
that always the first question? How many? I used to catch myself
kind of apologizing. Well, I've since learned that,
boy, if there's five righteous If there's five righteous, ten
righteous, John, is that right? Ten righteous, he'll not destroy
the place. I happen to believe there's at least ten righteous
in here, so Rocky Mount stands. Right? Quit apologizing. Would you marvel in glory and
thank the Lord for just a few, where two or three are gathered
in his name. How many you got? How much? How many? How much? Brother Scott
Richardson used to say, it sounds like we're running cattle. How many? How much? Turn with me quickly to Luke
23. Luke chapter 23. You know, the Lord had shut up
Hannah's womb. The Lord had. literally Hannah had no children.
She was barren. The Lord did this. The Lord did
this. Children can be both a blessing,
can be either a blessing or a curse. You know that? Certainly you know that. Job
had many. And I don't think any of them
were children of God. Do you know the story? Job was
fretful for him. He was praying for him. He was
offering sacrifices for him. He said, maybe they, and they
were out partying in a tent and the Lord killed them all. And Job cursed the day he was
born. He says, I wish I'd never been born. I wish I'd never had
children. For the sorrow that they brought me. That's right. But later on, the end was better
than the beginning. Luke 23, our Lord tells this
story, Luke 23, 28 and 29. It says, the Lord turning to
said daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, weep for yourselves
and for your children. Behold, the days are coming in
which they shall say, blessed are the barren. Wombs that never
buried a patch which never gave some call for the mountains.
And this happened. This is not talking about a future
event. It's talking about something
that actually happened when Jerusalem was downtrodden and people. One was that two were in the
field, one was taken, one was not, and so forth. And it was
horrible. The persecution such as never
had come on this earth. That's what the Lord said would
happen in Matthew 24. It happened. and women saw their
children and wish they never had. That's what that's like. So, you know, they can be a blessing
or a curse. And so don't fret. Either way, whichever it be,
it's of the Lord. Whether you have them or have
them not, and how they turn out, it's of the Lord. And now go look back to our text. That doesn't exclude us from
doing what we're told to do, though, does it? We're going
to see that in a moment in Hannah. Verses 7 and 8 in our text. And
as he did so year by year, Elkanah, he went up to the house of the
Lord, and Hannah went with him, and Peninnah too. And Peninnah provoked or ridiculed
Hannah, and Hannah wept and did not eat. She fasted. And then
said Helcana her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? Why
eatest thou not? Why is thy heart grieved? Am
not I better to thee than ten sons? Now you know surely who that's
talking about, don't you? And those of us, those of you
who You have troubles and sorrows and heartaches and family and
with children without children or whatever it may be is not
Christ better to you than all things combined. No matter what your lot is is
not the lot that lines have fallen under you in pleasant places
if you belong to the Lord. If you have his love you're highly
favored. Your name is Hannah. All of you. Everyone in here is named Hannah.
If you're loved by the Lord, no matter what happens in your
life, your children, whatever, no joke, you're highly favored. Is it not? That's the test. Is
that not the test? Wouldn't you rather have Christ
than all things beside? Huh? And we're going to see in a moment
how this hand and Sam Samuel. So, me hardly not say Sammy.
Samuel. That's what I call you. Samuel was worth the wait. Samuel was better for Hannah
than ten or fifteen sorry sons. And let me say this I'd rather
have ten churchmen ten sheep. Ten thousand so-called churchmen.
Absolutely. Absolutely. I'd rather have My
pastor preached a message one time, and he said, I'm not looking
for judgment. Well, keep looking if you're
looking for the truth. come with us. We'll do you good. You know, and then we want people
to come here, don't we? Sure we do. We're on the radio. We talk to whoever we can, and
we want people to come. Sure we do. We want people to
hear the gospel. We want people to believe. There's nothing that
would make me happier, really, than in the Lord to send great
revival into this little town of Rocky Mountain, starting with
a German Baptist. I'd love to see a flock of those
people come out from under Wouldn't they rejoice? Wouldn't that be wonderful to
see those people set free, the women in particular? See the men cower for a little
while over their self-righteousness. In spite of that, no matter what
we want, we want great revival, yet we're not going to cease
from doing what we know the Lord has commanded us to do. One thing.
Preach the gospel. That's it. Like we've been studying
the Exodus. We were. How that we're supposed
to do all things according to the pattern. This is it. God
says preach. He told the disciples go into
all the world and do what? Preach. And that's it. And we're not going to cease
from doing that, although it does not bring in the crowd.
We're not going to remove the offense to attract numbers. We're not going to do it. We're
not going to bait or bribe or trip people into coming. We don't
want those people. We want whom the Lord sends.
And there'll be a blessing, not a curse. That's right. We're going to call on the Lord,
though. That's what we're going to do. We're going to call on
the Lord. Lord, call out your sheep. Give us a son. Hannah wanted a son. There's
nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with that.
But we're going to wait on the Lord. That's what we're going
to do. Hannah wanted a child. But what
did she do first? What was she doing all this time?
That's right, isn't it? She was worshipping the Lord.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Year by year, verse 7 says, Year
by year she went up with her husband, worshipping the Lord
with her husband. Seek ye first. And I thought
about this. You know, if we forsake all for
Christ, Christ has promised Himself and all these things besides.
But if we forsake Christ for whatever, we'll lose both. We'll lose Christ and these things. So verse 10, it says that, verse
9, so Hannah rose up after they'd eaten and shallow, after they'd
drunk. Now Eli, the priest, sat upon a seat by a post in the
temple of the Lord. and bitterness of soul and prayed
unto the Lord and wept sore. She prayed importunately. That
means she continually prayed. Verse twelve says she continued
to pray, multiplied pray. She kept praying and praying
and praying. She was going to ask until she
got an answer. That's the way to pray. Pray without ceasing.
And she bowed a bow, verse eleven. She bowed a bow and said, O Lord
of hope, if thou wilt indeed If thou wilt notice her prayer
notice the tenor of her prayer something she wanted yet she
proceeded with these words if thou wilt. If thou wilt indeed look on the
affliction of thine handmaid and remember me. And not forget thine handmaid.
but will give if thou wilt give unto thine hand a man child a
son then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his
life and there shall no razor come upon his head now this is
this is her vow if thou wilt then I will this is a good vow the Lord honored
this vow And this is one that all of us should make concerning
all things you know that. Can we ask the Lord for certain
things. Can we ask the Lord particular
thing or not need a job. Somewhere. Certainly. Can we ask the Lord for certain
things certainly. Philippians says that doesn't
it. and everything prayer and supplication make your request
at your request being. Your father you can ask your
father anything. And you ask him for anything.
But always preceded. Always preceded with these words. If I will. This is what John. writes much of his epistles.
If we pray anything ask anything according to his. We know that
he here. And we have the things we ask.
According to his will if thou will and if he doesn't give it
to it we know it's not. If thou will give. And then she
makes this promise and it's not a boastful promise at all it's
not a presumptuous promise at all is this is a great problem
I wish we would do this about everything don't you I wish I
could do this about everything Lord if you do this for me I'll
give it right back to you. Lord if you give me this I'm
giving it back. Whether or not we do that depends
on the grace of God but it sure is a good Oh, didn't it? She did. Oh, did the Lord honor that. I'll
give it back. Always, though, we say, nevertheless,
not thy will, but thy will be done. Verse 12 and 13, it came
to pass, Eli, she continued praying, and Eli marked her mouth. You know, the Lord, The Lord heard her heart. Man
marks the mouth. God hears the heart. As you've
heard quoted so many times, better to have heart without words than
words without heart. God hears the heart. Man marks
the mouth. That's all man marks. Religion is very vocal
in it. Very vocal, very loud, isn't
it, Irene? Religion, real loud. God's not
listening. He said, His people be still. You just read that, Roy Baldwin.
They will be still, praising God. Isn't that what they said,
John, in Psalm 84? They will be still, praising
God. God's listening to the heart.
The Lord's children are seen by Him, but they're not always
heard. And I kind of like that old saying, don't you? Children
are to be seen, not heard. Ah, boy. Well, she first cries
unto the Lord, doesn't she? She goes to Him first and foremost
and always and continually. She continually pours out her
heart unto the Lord, but then she tells Eli. This is God's man, God's servant,
a man that God put in the temple there for that purpose. Verses
14 through 16, Eli said unto her, though he was mistaken,
he thought she was drunk. Put away thy wine from thee.
And Hannah answered, No, my Lord, I'm a woman of a sorrowful spirit.
I'm not drunk, neither wine nor strong drink. I poured out my
soul. I haven't poured out any drink
but my soul before the Lord. Don't count me a daughter of
Belial, out of abundance of my complaint and grief, I've spoken.
So she cries unto the Lord, and she's sorrowful of heart, and
she speaks to this servant of God, and the Lord hears her. And the next thing that she,
this sorrowful, blessed are they that mourn, I'll be comforted. She's going
to hear a message of peace. she wept sore, weeping may endure
for a night. But you have God's word on it. Can you believe this, Hannah?
I'm talking to all of you. Your name's Hannah. Favorite.
Joy cometh in the morning. Elias has said, go in peace. Go in peace, the God of Israel
grant thee that petition that thou hast asked of him." And a burden was lifted. Now,
who can speak peace with Christ? Oh, Eli here, and only here,
represents Christ, the great high priest. He said, come unto
me. Oh, you that labor heavy labor.
I'll give you. I didn't plan this. This is the
way it came out. Come unto me, I'll give you rest.
Peace, I leave with you. Peace. Eli represents Christ,
whom the Father has given all things to give out as he will.
Eli said the Lord's going to grant you. And only Christ can
say that. And upon asking for grace, All
that found him may find grace in my Son." The woman went her
way and ate and no more sad. Her countenance changed. Upon
asking for grace, she heard the message of peace. And now she's
content. What's wrong? What happened?
Does she have a baby? Not yet. She just has peace, though. Peace. See, this peace comes
when you know it's the Lord. It's the Lord. This peace only
comes when you know it's the Lord. It's Him. Eli, later on,
loses both his sons. What's he say? Where's he going
to find peace? What's he say? It's the Lord. David, when he lost all his children
and his wives, they were taken captive. He didn't know if they
were dead or alive. What did he say? He comforted himself in his Lord,
he'd say, in the Lord God. So she was no more sad. All with
the Lord. Verse 19, And so they rose up.
So what'd she do? What'd she do? She went and worshipped. She's always doing this, isn't
she? What else is there to do? What else can a believer do?
This is a believer's life. She went and worshipped. She
rose up and worshipped before the Lord, and returned, that
is, went home, came to their house, and Raymond and Elkanah
knew Hannah, his wife. They came together, and the Lord
remembered them. And the Lord remembered. It came
to pass, the time was come about, Hannah had conceived. She bare
a son, and called his name Samuel. It's a good name. L, every time
you see E-L on the end of a name, it's the Lord's name. L, Elohim. Samuel, Samuel. It means, asked
of the Lord. Asked of the Lord. uh... and i think that uh... if you
ask the lord for uh... uh... uh... after the law you
know why i have to believe the one thing worth a hundred uh... one of them Samuel asks of the Lord. Well,
what she do? And then, you know, those favored
by God will receive what they ask of God. That's what John
said. What did she ask? Look on my affliction. Remember
me, if thou will. And look at verse 21 and 22.
And Elkanah and all his house went up to offer unto the Lord
a yearly sacrifice in his vow, but Hannah went not up, she said
to her husband. I won't go up until the child be weaned. Then
I'll bring him up that he may appear before the Lord and abide
forever." Now, that's not presumption. That's faith. But that reminds
me of when the Lord... You remember, Elkanah represents
the Lord Himself and Hannah, His wife, the church. And the
Lord told, literally told, His children when He came back after
rising. He said, You go to Jerusalem
and tarry. You stay there until I come back
for you, until it's time. And we're all
going to go up together and be there forever. Oh, boy, God's Word is so perfect. Let's just read to the end of
it. And when she had weaned, verse 23, Elkanah says, The Lord
established His Word. He was a good man, wasn't He,
Sam? So she abode where she was, gave her son suck until she'd
weaned. You wives, you mothers, be faithful where you're at with
your children, do what you can, bring them to hear the word.
When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, three bullets,
one heap of flour, a bottle of wine, brought him under the house
of the Lord in Shiloh. Chi was young. Most commentators
believe this young fellow, Samuel, was about four years old. Can you imagine? And she dropped
him off. She dropped him off. Didn't the Lord, didn't the Lord
honor that? He had five more children. More. More three more so than two daughters. Four years old but he was an
extraordinary boy that's the reason. And that's not. Unscriptural there were several
in throughout the scriptures Samuel being one of them. Josiah
was eight years old when he began to reign over Israel. Israel's
king was eight years old. Josiah. Who's eight years old
in our congregation? Which one of our children's dad
was it? Isaac Williams' age. Just a little
older than Isaac. How old was Isaac? Ten? Just a little younger than Isaac.
Reigning over Israel. Is it possible? Yeah. John had the Holy Spirit from
his mother's womb. He's an extraordinary son. Remember now thy creator and
the days of thy youth. It's good that a young man bear
the yoke in his youth. Can the Lord save our children
at a young age? Why? Most certainly. Four years old. All things are possible. With
man, it's impossible. With the Lord, all things are possible.
She returned to Shiloh. She had weaned the child, took
him up to Shiloh. That's where the Prince of Peace
is. A slew of bullock brought the child to Eli. Verse 26 said,
Oh my Lord, I can hear her tone now. It's different than the
first time. Oh, my Lord, as thy soul liveth, my Lord. I am 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 as long as he liveth. He shall be lent to the Lord.
And I love what the margin says here. if you have it it says
he returned him whom I have obtained by petition whom I have obtained
by petition shall be returned. The Lord loaned him to me and
I give him back. And he worshiped the Lord and
the boy worshiped the Lord. And boy this story just gets
better. Sunday morning, Lord willing,
we'll look at Hannah's prayer. It's a good one. A woman prays
one of the greatest prayers in Scripture. And it doesn't say
if it was out loud, but we have it. OK, stand with me. Our Father, thank You, thank
You, thank You for Your Word. And most especially, highly favoring
us, we all feel like Hannah of old, that we are highly favored
among women, and we are thy bride, thy wife of thy choosing, and
thou art truly worth more to us than many others. We thank you, Lord. And we do
pray, Lord, for an increase in thy kingdom. You've told us to
pray thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. Lord, call
out your sheep. Bless this church for the preaching
of the gospel, and may you call out your sheep in this place
to the glory of thy sovereign saving grace, and we will rejoice. Thank you for those that thou
hast given us. Thank you for the Samuels that you've given
us and the Hannahs. And Lord, bless your word. Let
not the boughs of the air take it away or the thorns choke it.
Thank you for it. In Christ's name, amen. You're
dismissed. Thank you. I don't know if I'm going to be able to do it. I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. So, I hope you have a great day. So, I'm going to show you a little
bit of what we're going to do. I don't know if you can see it. I don't know. I don't know. I think that's a really good
point. I think that's a really good
point. I don't know if I'm going to be
able to do it. I don't know. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. you.