If you would, be turning to 1
Samuel 2. 1 Samuel 2. Very familiar? 1 Samuel 2. And I didn't mark it, so I'm
not sure I won't be able to find it. So, you all might have to
help me. 1 Samuel. Okay. Here we go. First Samuel chapter two. I will get there in a minute. Bear with me. I can't, my hands
are so dry, I cannot hardly turn pages, so. All right, 1 Samuel 2. Now, before
I read that, this is where I'm going to be. I mean, you don't
have to worry about turning anywhere else, but this is where I'm going
to be. But before I go into reading
that, I wanted to say a few things first. My title this morning
is, Who is God? It's a good question, but it
does matter how you ask this question. I mean the attitude
in which you ask this question. There are two places that I know
of in scripture where this kind of question has been asked before.
Exodus 5-2, and Pharaoh said, who is the Lord that I should
obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither
will I let Israel go. You can see the pride in Pharaoh
when he asked this question. He was not lying because he did
not know who the Lord is, but he was wrong about letting Israel
go. There are many who ask this kind
of question and with this attitude today. Some who say they do not
believe in God at all, and also some who say they worship God,
but they do not know him. These might not ask a question
per se, but they say it like this when they're told of the
God in scripture. My God is not like that. Truer words could not be spoken
of those who know not Him. But when we have another passage
where one does ask this question, and let's listen to that one,
Acts 9 verses 3 through 5. And as he journeyed, he came
near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light
from heaven. And he fell to the earth and
heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? And he said, who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus
whom thou persecutest, and it is hard for thee to kick against
the pricks. Notice the different placement
of this one asking the question as opposed to the other one we
just mentioned. Here is one asking the question
in the dirt. He was put in the dirt by our
Lord. This is one who was in the act
of persecuting our Lord. This he was doing by way of persecuting
the church of God and wasting it, as it says in another place.
But he asked Saul, why persecutest thou me? And then Saul asked,
who art thou, Lord? Here is one who has been abased
and is not asking the question in pride, but truly asking so
that he might know the one who has accosted him in such a way.
So let's look at who God is just a minute before I get to my text.
I just want to lay this groundwork before we go to our text. We
have passages that describe to us who God is. Hebrews 12, 28
through 29, just for a few verses here. Wherefore, we receiving
a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we
may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for
our God is a consuming fire. So I gather from this that God
is one who will consume all those who do not reverence him and
fear him. This is not a question here,
it's a statement. God is a consuming fire. Here's
another one, Romans 12, verses 16 through 19. Be of the same
mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend
to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in
the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as
life in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge
not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written,
vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. This is who God
is, the one who is a consuming fire. He will take vengeance
on those who do not bow down to him. Those who don't want
a God like this to reign over them, just like I did at one
time. He will take vengeance on all
his enemies. This is who God is. But then
we also read passages like the following, Hebrews 2.17. Wherefore,
in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren,
that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. We
read here of a God who is merciful. He has mercy on those who have
transgressed against him. He did not just sweep their sins
under the rug. He had to come down and make
reconciliation for those sins. He had to become or be made what
I am in order to reconcile me to God. God reconciled me to
himself. That is a merciful God. One more,
Psalm 40, 10 and 11. I have not hid thy righteousness
within my heart. I have declared thy faithfulness
and thy salvation. I have not concealed thy loving
kindness and thy truth from the great congregation. Withhold
not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord. Let thy loving kindness
and thy truth continually preserve me. So what do we see in these
two verses? A God who is righteous. There
is not one thing that God does that is not righteous. He can
do nothing but righteousness. Faithful, he is faithful and
will do all he says he will do. He is righteous and cannot lie,
so he is faithful to his word. He says he will never forsake
his people and he will always uphold them. This God is a loving
and kind God. He loves his people and takes
care of them. He hears them when they cry out
to him, just as you would do when a child of yours or a grandchild
of yours cries out for help. This is what God does for his
people. He is always kind to us and loving
to us. In fact, we have already read
the love wherewith he hath loved us. He was made a curse and sin
for us. So we have just read some things
in scripture about who God is. So is God a vengeful, a consuming
fire who will not at all acquit the guilty? Or is he a merciful,
gracious God who sheds forth his loving kindness towards a
people? Yes, he is both. The fact is most people don't
know him as either one of these. They in fact do not know him
at all. They do not want to know this one. Knowing that God is
vengeful, God who will repay and that he who is creator of
all things can cast both my body and soul into hell causes me
to reverence and fear him. Not knowing this, I will not
fear and tremble before him and I will be filled with pride as
I was before God visited me. But we also know him as a loving
and gracious God who has done everything that is needed to
save their soul. Coming from this God who is a
consuming fire and it is he who upholds them forever. This causes
them to love him because he first loved them. So now with this
in mind, I want to read 1 Samuel 2 verses one through 10 and go
through what is called Hannah's Prayer. And I think it was Walter
who I heard say this, but this prayer being her second prayer.
This is one who has been brought to know who God is and gives
praise, honor, and glory to him as we will see. Others not knowing
of this God because if they did, they would turn from their own
way and bow down and worship and praise, honor, and glorify
him for what he has done. So let's read it. And Hannah prayed and said, my
heart rejoiceth in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over my
enemies because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none
holy as the Lord, for there is none besides thee. Neither is
there any rock like our God. Talk no more so exceeding proudly. Let not arrogancy come out of
your mouth. For the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and by Him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are
broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. They
that were full have hired out themselves for bread, and they
that were hungry ceased, so that the barren hath born seven, and
she that hath many children is waxed feeble. The Lord killeth
and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave
and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor and maketh
rich. He bringeth low and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of
the dust and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill. to set them
among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and He has set
the world upon them. He will keep the feet of His
saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness, for by
strength shall no man prevail." The adversaries of the Lord shall
be broken to pieces. Out of heaven shall he thunder
upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends
of the earth and he shall give strength unto his king and exalt
the horn of his anointed. This prayer is full of the gospel. I think of my prayers when I
read this passage It just seems like my prayers are so full of
self. Hannah here in this prayer never
asked anything of God. Now she did in her first prayer.
She asked for a child and we know Samuel came forth from that.
He gave her her petition to have a child. But this prayer here is giving
all praise, honor, and glory to him because this is where
it belongs. When God moves on an individual
in love, what is one of the first things that happens? They rejoice. That is, they jump for joy. Knowing
what has been done for them, they jump for joy, but this rejoicing
is directed to one place, the Lord. The one who has been visited
by God begins to boast in Jesus Christ. It says here, my horn
is exalted in the Lord. The Lord is where I find my strength.
I can boast in nothing any higher than Jesus Christ. He is the
preeminent one and he is my only source of strength. With him,
there is no one who will ever overtake me. But she does not
stop there. She says her mouth is enlarged
over her enemies and it is because of this one reason, because of
his salvation. I dare not boast in myself when
it comes to the enemies of God. In this flesh dwelleth no good
thing. And in fact, this flesh is an
enemy to him, and so it is my enemy. No, I boast in his work,
that is, his work of salvation, because he has done all the work.
Notice that even here, this is said in the past tense by Hannah. Even those back then knew that
God was faithful to perform that which he promised. He promised
the Messiah would come, and those back then knew this. And God
himself, to them back then, they looked forward to that day when
Christ would come and save his people from their sin. Next we
read, the Lord is holy. There is none like him. The Lord
is holy, holy, holy. There's nothing to compare to
him because there's none like unto him. God's people know this
to be true and it is a comfort to them, knowing that he is this
because there will be none who shall overtake him. But it also
says here, he is our rock. Now this word means cliff. It has several meanings that
you could use it, translate it as, but it means cliff. But it
can also mean a rock or a boulder, or it can mean a refuge. I think
of this word as it means cliff, and he is such a one that no
one will get past him. They will not scale up this cliff
nor get around it. But he's also a rock, a boulder,
one that cannot be moved. Who is there that will move him?
He is our refuge. There is a cliff in this rock
where we are held safe from the wrath of this one who will take
vengeance on his enemies. What peace and safety we find
there. We can cry out with the Apostle
Paul in Romans 8 31, what shall we say then to these things?
If God before us, who can be against us? Knowing who he is
and that salvation must and does come through him, it will stop
our mouths from saying certain things. It will at least cause
us to think about what we say and do, all by his grace. The proud words which we have
all spoken at one time have now been turned to rejoicing and
praise to him. God is one who knows all things. You will not have pride and arrogancy
without him knowing it. Do you inquire of who God is
with pride and arrogancy? Or has he brought you to that
place where, like Job, you want to put your hand on your mouth
to keep anything from coming out? Job 44. Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer thee? I will
lay mine hand upon my mouth. He weighs all actions, and by
the context these actions involve what we say. God will weigh them. His justice will be satisfied. Are you lying on him? This is
the pride of man. He makes his God likened to himself. Those of this world who do not
know this sovereign God, they spout forth their idea of who
their God is. The God they like is a God to
them because that God fits into their likes and their dislikes.
What will the God spoken of here think of your words? God will
deal with some in mercy and some in judgment. Those who are not
sick have no need of a physician. The reason this world can erect
a God like unto themselves is they see no need of God who can
show mercy. They know nothing of needing
mercy. The scripture is full of speaking
about God being a merciful God. If he is merciful, and he is,
then there has to be a reason why he would be merciful. There
he is, and it is mercy towards those who have offended him.
Yet men want to walk in pride and serve a God of their own
imagination rather than bowing down to an absolute, holy, sovereign
God. But we know God is not going
to be thwarted. He will have his way. What did
Nebuchadnezzar find out in Daniel 4.37? Now I, Nebuchadnezzar,
praise and extol and honor the king of heaven, all whose works
are truth, and his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride
he is able to abase. There are those here spoken of
that are mighty, that is, mighty in their own strength, in 1 Samuel
2 here. They think they have a handle
on God. Their strength will be broken, verse four. Those who
are weak and cannot take another step, lest he comes to them in
mercy, for these, he will be their strength. In verse five,
I do believe that Hannah thought back to when Penina provoked
or troubled her because she was barren. But I do agree with Robert
Hawker that this means much more than just that instance. The
scripture says, blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness,
for they shall be filled. Those who are not hungry for
a God-righteousness think they have their own righteousness.
They will be found wanting. But this also reminds me of the
passage in Romans, Romans 4.17. As it is written, I have made
thee a father of many nations before him whom he believed,
even God, who quickeneth the dead and calleth those things
which be not as though they were. So God, through his work of salvation,
will take those who are just like everyone else born in Adam.
Meaning they have a sinful fallen nature which hates God just like
everyone else. But he brings them to this place
where they have no other hope but him. And this by his faith
given to them and God counts that to them for righteousness.
Calling me righteous although I have so much unrighteousness
in me. So now we come to the verse or
verses which I really wanted to get to in my message today.
What do we read in verse six? And I think it's important for
us to know in what order this is said. The Lord killeth and
maketh alive. Certainly God Almighty has the
right and power to kill who he wants, and he can make those
who are dead alive again. But I believe this is talking
about that time just as Paul spoke of when he said, I was
alive without the law once. But when the commandment came,
sin revived and I died. That's Romans 7, 9. God sends
his people his law and it condemns them to death. They die. God kills them. This is where
God's schoolmaster takes those who are his This law takes men
and women down to the grave where all hope is lost. Should there
be none who would have come to help, they would all be lost.
But we also read here, and maketh alive. He does both of these
things to those whom he loves. He first brings his people into
the grave, but then lifts them up out of the grave. This he
does by giving them faith I just spoke about. He sends them his
gospel by the faith given them. Then they believe the record
God gave of his son and they are alive unto God in him. What
does it say next? He bringeth down to the grave
and bringeth up. Just notice how it says this.
It is as if he is doing both of these things. I know he has the ability to
do these things, but when you read this, you get the sense
that he is actually doing both of these things to individuals.
This is certainly what he does to us, but he also did this to
his son for us. He brought him down to the grave
for us, and he bringeth him up again to sit on his throne, saving
us to the uttermost, it says in Hebrews. But as it concerns
us, and several men have said, if you have never been lost,
you will never be found. God makes those who are his to
become lost and without hope in their mind before he shows
them that life is in him, and in him is where I must be found. We have this same type of thing
in the next verse. The Lord maketh poor and maketh
rich. He will bring you to that place
where God shows you by his schoolmaster that you have no righteousness
of your own. He shows us that all of our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags in his sight. But then he fills us with the
righteousness of his dear son. He wraps that robe around us
as he ushers us back home as the prodigal sons. Poor beggars
clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, making his people
rich in him. Notice in all these things, who
is doing all of this? It says he, he, he. God Almighty does all of this. In fact, he must do all of this
or else it will not be done. But what do we read in 1 Corinthians
1 and verse 30? But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. I have the riches of his grace
bestowed on me in Christ. The prayer goes on. Those poor
whose home is in the dust, whose house is the dung pile, He lifts
those up off of this place and He places them where they will
be filled continually, never to have a care again. They will,
this says, inherit the throne of glory. Why? Because it is
all His and He can do with what is His, what He wants. He being
the head and we being the body, He tells us we will reign on
His throne with Him in Christ. It goes on to say he will keep
the feet of his saints. How does he do this? He gives
them light to see on the way. This he does through his gospel,
sending it to them when he is pleased and as often as he is
pleased. He will direct their steps by
his spirit. When the gospel is heard, they
glorify God and his son. No man will by strength, it says,
prevail. Man does not have the power to
become mightier than God. Man, in fact, has no might of
his own. Where do we find our might? His
gospel, 2 Corinthians 10.4, for the weapons of our warfare are
not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. We wield his word, that sword
of the spirit. And I'm not saying that we preach
the spirit into men and women. Not saying that at all. But his
spirit uses that word to divide asunder both soul and spirit.
God will make you miserable so that you have nowhere to run.
Just when you think all hope is lost, his gospel shows you
Christ and him crucified. And you begin to rejoice. Just as Hannah did here. The
last verse. Verse 10, the adversaries of
the Lord shall be broken to pieces. Out of heaven shall he thunder
upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends
of the earth and he shall give strength unto his king and exalt
the horn of his anointed. The Lord is who it says here.
This is talking about Jesus Christ. It will be him, that little baby
Jesus, meek and mild, as the world says. It will be this one
who will thunder down judgment on his enemies. I know this is
talking about Jesus Christ because it says, last of all here it
says, and he shall give strength unto his king and exalt the horn
of his anointed. The anointed one, the Messiah,
the Christ of God. This is who God is and this is
the God that Hannah prayed to. I hope this is the God that all
those who hear this message pray to. I hope it is the one they
know. If this is not the God you know,
I pray he put you in that place where you have no other place
to turn. But to this one and true holy
God, if everything is going good for you, if everything is falling
into place, you might have some concern as to something not being
right. God's people must go through
tribulations. They will experience trials.
They will at times suffer persecution. But what they do is they rejoice. They rejoice in the God who is
in absolute sovereign control, who has the right and who has
the might to avenge his people. He has promised that he would,
so I don't even have to worry about that. Scripture tells us,
seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things will
be added unto you. Matthew 634, take therefore no
thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for
the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the
evil thereof. We need things in this life to
live, and our God has promised to take care of his people. We
are told not to take thought for these things. I know this
is a hard thing because we have this flesh and it hates God with
everything it can. But our Lord tells us not to
even take thought of those things. We are to seek first the kingdom
of God. Where are we gonna see the kingdom
of God? The gospel. Where are we going
to see who is the king of the kingdom? The gospel. I need saving
every day and God has told us that it pleases him by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Does the gospel mean
anything to you? To you? If you want to know who
God is, that's where you'll find out who he is, by the power of
his spirit. God is who he says he is in his
word. He is a consuming fire, but this is a comfort to his
people because we know he will protect us from all things. But
he is also a merciful God who has forgiven the sins of his
people through his son. Here is a cry of a believer,
Proverbs 38 and 9. Remove far from me vanity and
lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient
for me, lest I be full and deny thee and say, who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and still and
take the name of my God in vain. Cause me to always to look to
you, my rock and my salvation. Keep pride for me, lest I believe
I have strength on my own. Does your God look like the God
of this world? I pray that that is so, amen.