It's my hope that during this
study we'll see pictures of Christ, both in the life of Samuel and
David. That's what the history of Israel
is contained in this book. Now, verse 1, it begins, now,
there was a certain man of Ramathim, Zophim, of Mount Ephraim, and
his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroam, the son of Elihu,
the son of Tohu, the son of Zoth, an Ephratite. Now, this man Elkanah
lived in the city of Ramah. It was about five or six miles
from Jerusalem. And history tells us there was
a school for the prophets there, which ultimately years later
Samuel will lead. And the name Elkanah means in
the possession of God. And that's the way this man lived
his life, in the possession of God. If you look in verse three,
and this man went up out of the city yearly to worship and to
sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of
Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there.
Now, it was required that all the men in Israel appear at the
temple three times a year, three different feasts. And everybody
didn't always go to all three feasts, but Elkanah did. He went
to all three feasts. He was a devout man to worship
the Lord. And it's interesting that Elkanah
is a descendant of the sons of Korah. You remember Korah, who
led the rebellion of Israel against Moses and his family, the earth
swallowed him up and so forth. Well, Elkanah is a descendant
of the sons of Korah. And right in the very first verse
of this book, we see the grace of our God. This man, Elkanah,
a descendant of Korah, a rebel, is still a possession of God.
And that can only happen by God's grace. Now, verse two. This man Elkanah had two wives.
The name of the one was Hannah and the name of the other was
Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. Now,
a man with two wives is always going to have trouble. Matthew
Henry said men are often beaten with rods of their own making.
And this man is going to get beaten with a rod of his own
making. What history tells us is Hannah
was the first wife. He married Hannah first and she
had no children. So then he married Peninnah because
he wanted children. And he ends up getting beaten
with a rod of his own making. And the name Hannah means grace
or gracious. And Peninnah means a cornered
gem, not a smooth gem that's been, you know, like with a jeweler
would smooth that are like a pearl that's smooth, but with rough
cutting edges when you handle it. And that's kind of the way
she was. So verse four, when the time
was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife and
all her sons and her daughters portions. But unto Hannah he
gave a worthy portion, a double portion, for he loved Hannah.
But the Lord had shut up her womb. Now when Elkanah went to
the temple to make these peace offerings, part of that offering,
the body of that animal, went to the priest and his family.
But the rest of it, Elkanah's family ate. And he gave each
of the members his family portions, but he gave Hannah the best portion. He gave her the best cut of meat
because he loved her the most. And it's interesting, he loved
her the most, even though she couldn't bear children. Now,
in that day, bearing children for a woman was vitally important
and she couldn't bear children, but he still loved her the most.
And isn't that such a clear picture of our Lord Jesus Christ? He
loves his people infinitely, immeasurably, eternally. He loves the people who are barren
of any good. And he loved Hannah the most,
but that didn't prevent heartache in Hannah's life. And the same
thing holds true for a believer. We're loved by God, but that
does not prevent heartache and trial, does it? Look at verse
six. And her adversary also provoked her sore. for to make her fret,
because the Lord had shut up her womb. Now, Peninnah was just
always picky at Hannah, trying to make Hannah feel small and
worthless, because she had no children. And when it came time
for the feast times to roll around, that harassment just really increased. And you can hardly blame her,
because here's Peninnah, she sees Hannah always getting the
double portion, always getting the best cut of meat. The way this verse is written
in the original, is that Peninnah thundered. She thundered. She
put down Hannah very loudly. She picked at her, harassed her
very loudly, so everyone would hear. This is not just going
to be a private matter. She wanted to embarrass her public. She
thundered. I read a story about Socrates. I mean, this is a smart
man. Two wives. Lived the same life
as Elcan. Always picking and fighting at
one another. And one of them was very, very loud. And she
was mad at this other wife, and she's mad at Socrates because
he's kind of ignoring her, yelling at him, you know, yelling about
this situation. He's just ignoring her, hoping it'll go away. And
she dumped a bucket of water on his head. And the story goes,
Socrates sighed and he said, first she thunders, then she
rains. And that's what she thundered.
And that's always going to happen in these situations. And I'll
tell you why. It's not possible for two women
married to the same man to live together in harmony. It's not
possible. It just can't happen. And I really,
I know Penham is made out to be the villain in this story,
but now I tell you, I feel sorry for her. It's not her fault.
It's Elkanah's fault for putting her in that situation. That's
exactly his fault it is. And he did not love her as much
as he loved Hannah. Because it's impossible for a
man to love two wives the same. He's going to love one more than
the other. It's just human nature. But aren't we thankful? Doesn't
that make us more thankful that God's not like us? Christ loves
his bride, all of them, with the same love, the same infinite,
matchless, perfect love. And every believer gets a double
portion. Every one of them gets a double
portion of mercy and grace. And where do we get the double
portion from? the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
was pictured by those bullocks that Elkanah would take an offer
as a peace offering. So here this situation goes on
in verse 7, and as he did so year by year, when she went up
to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her. Therefore she
wept and did not eat. Then said Elkanah her husband
to her, Hannah, why weepest thou, and why eatest thou not, and
why is thy heart grieved? Am I not better to thee than
ten sons? Now, Elkanah gave Hannah the
best cut of meat at these feasts, but she was so sad because of
this harassment that was going on. She just couldn't eat. I
mean, she just lost her appetite. Now, this is a real trial. This
is a heartache. And Elkanah tried to make her
feel better. I mean, he loved her. He genuinely loved this
woman. But he just, his love couldn't
comfort her heart. The only comfort that Hannah's
going to find is from having a son. That's the only comfort
she's going to have. And a believer in trial is just
like Hannah. We have blessings of this life,
you know, to enjoy the things we have, you know, to enjoy.
But in those dark days, you don't find comfort in those things,
do you? The only thing that will comfort your heart is the son
of God. That's the son we're looking
for. He'll comfort our hearts, and he's the only one who can
comfort our hearts. So verse 9, so Hannah rose up after they
had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest
sat upon a seat by the post of the temple of the Lord. Now everyone
else had eaten, and Hannah kind of stayed around while everyone
else was eating, and after they cleaned up after dinner, she
went to try to find a spot to be alone and pray. And Eli was
nearby. Now, Eli was the judge in Israel
after Samson. After Samson died, Eli became
the judge. And he's also the high priest.
So he's sitting on a post, some sort of seat outside of the tabernacle
or the temple in some public place, you know, where people
could bring matters to him that he could judge or he could give
him advice or whatever. And he's sitting there and he's
watching Hannah who found this spot that she thought she was
alone. And verse 10. And she was in bitterness of
soul. And she prayed unto the Lord and wept sore." Now, Hannah's
in bitterness of soul. Now, what are we supposed to
do when we find ourselves in bitterness of soul? This is not
just a bad day. This is bitterness of soul. Well,
I'll tell you what happened to the unbeliever. The unbeliever,
when God brings bitterness of soul into their life, will drive
them away from God. They'll be angry at God for allowing
this to happen to them, and they'll be driven away. But the believer,
when God brings bitterness of soul to one of his children,
they're going to be driven closer to God. They're going to be driven
to their Father in prayer. And Hannah prayed more earnestly
because she was in such distress. Look over at Luke chapter 22.
And you know, there's nothing wrong with that. The fact that
she was in such distress made her pray more earnestly. And
every one of us has done that. There are times when you're in
distress, pray the more earnestly. And if you look in Luke 22 verse
44, you don't have to feel guilty about that. Our Lord did the
very same thing. And being in agony, he prayed
more earnestly and his sweat was as it were, great drops of
blood falling down to the ground. Our Lord being in agony, prayed
more earnestly. We should do the same thing following
his example, shouldn't we? And that's what Hannah did. Here
is her prayer in verse 11. She vowed a vow and said, O Lord
of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine
handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but
will give unto thine handmaid a man-child, then I will give
him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall
no razor come upon his head. Now this is what we know about
Hannah. Hannah is a woman of prayer. She can pray. Men are not the
only ones who can pray. They're the ones who are supposed
to pray publicly in the church. But men are not the only ones
who have the gift of prayer. Women have the gift. Hannah had
the gift of prayer. Women have the gift of prayer
and women are told to pray. It's like every believer. We're
told to pray and she did. And it's interesting. The very
first time. It's ever recorded in scripture
that anyone called God the Lord of hosts wasn't Moses who went
up to the mount and talked to God as a friend talks to his
friend. It wasn't Abraham that God took
out and said, count the host of the stars. Number them if
you can. So shall I see be. It wasn't
Abraham. It wasn't Isaac. It wasn't Jacob. It wasn't David,
the sweet psalmist of Israel. He really had a way with words,
didn't he? It was Hannah. This handmaid, Hannah, is the
first one who ever called the Lord the Lord of hosts. And she
taught her son, Samuel, because if you remember back in verse
3, Samuel used this phrase that his father would go up to sacrifice
under the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. Well, who taught him that? His
mother did. Wasn't a prophet. He never met
Eli yet. His mother taught him this. His mother taught Samuel, the
Lord is the captain of all the hosts of heaven and earth. All those hosts are under his
sovereign command. He says, go, they go. He says,
come, they come. He's the Lord of hosts. The first
and maybe best teacher our children have, good or bad, is their mama. Those little children learn from
their mothers. And where to bring our children
here? We got to the best teachers of children you find anywhere. Bring your children here to be
in those classes and be taught. But now they got to be taught
at home. They must be. And just like Hannah taught her
son, she taught him at home. This is the Lord of Hosts that
we worship. And Hannah worshipped the great
God with such a simple prayer. Isn't this a simple prayer? Lord,
look on me. Remember me. Don't forget me
and help me. A simple prayer contained in
one verse. Simple prayer. Look at the result
of this one verse prayer. The life of Samuel. And that's
the way we should all pray. Just simply to our Father. Now, Hannah made a vow, and this
vow is not like making a deal with God. You know, if you do
this, I'll do this. That makes God a debtor. That's
not what she's doing. She's making a covenant is what
she's doing. If you give me a son, he'll be a perpetual Nazarite. No razor will come on his head.
You know, you could be a Nazarite. You wouldn't cut your hair. You
wouldn't drink wine. Lots of different things that you do
serve the Lord. And you could have a temporary vow of a Nazarite. And that's what most people did,
but few people were permanent Nazarites. Samson was one. Samuel's
going to be another one. But don't you know another child
who was born because of the covenant? Our Lord Jesus Christ was born
into this world as a result of an eternal covenant of grace.
That's exactly why he was born in this world. Samson, the permanent
Nazirite, was the child of promise. God promised his parents, you'll
have a son, and he was born. Samuel was the child of prayer. For this child, I pray, the result
of prayer. Our Lord Jesus Christ was both.
The child of promise, the eternal child of promise, and the child
of prayer. The child that God the elect
prayed for. for centuries before he finally
appeared, the child of promise and the child of prayer. There's
something else I want us to notice about this prayer, something
our pastor has told us. Pray for specific things. Ask the Lord for specific things. That's what Hannah did. She prayed
for a man-child. Now Rachel, when her womb was
shut up, she prayed for children. She wanted sons and daughters
and she didn't care which they were. She wanted children. Hannah
prayed for something specific. One son. That's all I'm asking
for. One son. And when she says a man-child
here, she doesn't just mean she wants a boy. She wants a man
with God-given wisdom and ability to serve in the temple. It's
her intention. This child is going to serve
the Lord in the temple. Well then he's got to have some
wisdom, and he's got to have some ability. And that's what
she's praying, not just a boy, but a man, that God's given the
gift to serve him in the temple. Now she's praying, and in verse
12, it came to pass as she continued praying before the Lord, that
Eli marked her mouth. She spake in her heart. Only
her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore, Eli
thought she'd been drunken. And Eli said unto her, How long
wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee.
Now, Eli's watching. He says, Are you drunk? Sober
up. Put your wine. Sober up. But
now, Hannah, she knew this. She didn't need to pray aloud
to the Lord of Hosts, did she? He could hear her heart. She
didn't need to go like the Pharisees did, make a big show of praying
aloud on the street corner so everybody else could hear. Those
Pharisees were praying to everybody else. They were just so everybody
else could hear. Hannah is praying to the Lord
of hosts. She's not trying to impress men.
She's pouring out her heart to the Lord. Look at 1 Kings chapter
18. Hannah knew this. She didn't
need to pray aloud so the Lord would hear her. She didn't need
to yell so the Lord would hear her. You have to do that for
idols. not the Lord of hosts. In 1 Kings
18, verse 26, this is the story of when Elijah took those false
prophets up and said, well, let's see which one will fire rain
down on the sacrifice. And he's kind of making fun of
them here in verse 26. They took the bullet which was
given them and they dressed it and they called on the name of
Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us.
But there was no voice nor any nor any that answered, and they
leaped upon the altar which was made. And it came to pass at
noon that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud, cry louder,
for he is a god, either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or
he is in a journey, or perventure he sleepeth, and must be awake.
And they cried aloud, they cried louder, and they cut themselves
after their manner with knives and lances, till the blood gushed
out upon them." That's why you have to cry to an idol, not the
Lord of hosts. Hannah poured out her soul to
the Lord of hosts. And even if you pray audibly,
pouring out your soul happens from the heart. It's heart language,
not audible language, heart language. And that's the way she poured
out her heart to the Lord. So verse 15, she tells Eli, Hannah
answered and said, no, my Lord, I'm a woman of a sorrowful spirit.
I've drunk neither wine or strong drink, but have poured out my
soul before the Lord. Count not thine handmaid for
a daughter of Belial, for out of the abundance of my complaint
and grief, out of the abundance of my heartache, have I spoken
hitherto." Now she says, I'm not drunk. Don't count me as
a lawless idolater. I wouldn't do that. I'm pouring
out my soul to the Lord. And I thought of the verse, out
of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. Whether it's
in prosperity, out of the abundance of the heart, The mouth gives
thanksgiving to God, or whether it's in trial, out of the abundance
of the heart, the mouth crieth unto God for help. So verse 17,
you can imagine Eli's probably pretty embarrassed here. He answered
and said, go in peace. And the God of Israel grant thee
thy petition that thou hast asked of him. Now you notice Eli still
doesn't know what she prayed for. He didn't ask, did he? It's none of his business. It's
between her and the Lord. But he told her, go in peace. The
Lord's going to grant you your petition. Now, I don't know. Maybe the Lord gave Eli some
insight that he was going to grant her petition. Or maybe
he means you go in peace. If anybody can answer your prayer,
it's the God of Israel. And I'll pray for you. I'll pray
that he grants your request. But whatever he meant, either
way, she went in peace. Look at this in verse 18. And
she said, let thy handmaid find grace in my sight. So the woman
went her way and now she did eat and her countenance was no
more sad. Hannah says, I see that I found
grace in your sight. Thank you for telling me this
or thank you for praying for me. And she went in peace. She's not sad anymore. She went
and found an appetite and she ate. She knew this is what most
people think. She had peace because she knew
one of two things going to happen. Either God's going to give her
a son. Or he's going to give her peace and not having children.
But I'm pretty sure she knew the Lord was going to give her
a son and she went in peace. But either way, she went in peace
because the burden is lifted off her shoulders. I love that
song. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. Just leave it there. You'll have
peace if the Lord of hosts carries the burden. He can bear it. Our
puny little shoulders can't carry it, but he can. So take your
burden to him. Take it. He's your father. He
cares. Which of you parents wants your
children keeping a secret heartache from you? You want him to bring
it to you. Our heavenly father tells us, bring your burden to
me, cast it upon the Lord and leave it there. And that's what
she did. So verse 19, they rose up in
the morning early and worshiped before the Lord and returned
and came to their house to Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife,
and the Lord remembered her. Wherefore, it came to pass, when
the time was come about, after Hannah had conceived, that she
bear a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have
asked him of the Lord. And Hannah went back home, and
the Lord didn't forget her. The Lord remembered Hannah, and
she had that son, and named him Samuel, which means ask in the
sight of God. And isn't this the prayer of
the church? Lord, remember me. Remember me. Samson, I looked this up, Samson,
Nehemiah, and David, all at one point or another prayed, Lord,
remember me. Remember me. The thief on the
cross and gracious Hannah, this gracious, sweet, lovely woman,
and the thief on the cross who deserved capital punishment,
both had the same prayer. Lord, remember me. And the Lord
remembered them both, both Hannah and the thief. I can just imagine
that thief waking up in glory and there's the Lord. And he
said, you didn't forgive me. He said, no, I remembered you
because I always knew you. Hannah went home and the Lord
remembered her and she had a son. Scripture says when Noah was
upon the waters, the Lord remembered his covenant. Rachel had no children. And the Lord remembered her and
she had children. The Lord remembers his people.
Psalm 136 verse 23 says, the Lord remembered us in our lowest
state for his mercy endured forever. Wherever you're at, if you're
a child of God, the Lord remembers you. He hadn't forgot you. The
darkness hadn't hit you, but he remembers you. You know the
prayers, Jane said the prayers of a righteous man availed much.
The prayers of this woman, Hannah, availed much, didn't it? Blessing
to her and blessing to Israel over the course of years. Now
verse 21, the man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer
unto the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his vow. But Hannah went
not up, for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until
the child be weaned. Then I will bring him that he
may appear before the Lord and abide forever. Now, the Jews
had a threefold weaning for children. The first, when a child was weaned
from his mother's milk. But, you know, at the same time,
we wean our children from mother's milk. The second, when a child
was weaned from his nurse, about seven years old. Now, Hannah
didn't have a nurse. Hannah raised this boy. She's
going to do it herself. This is her son. She's going
to raise him. She didn't hire a nurse. She raised him. And
third, the third weaning of a Jewish child was when a child was about
12 years old. And they were weaned from their
childish ways. Now, I've heard those three weanings. I mean,
all my life, I've heard those things. And it always has struck
me, how did a child when he's 12 get weaned from his childish
ways and not be a childish teenager? That's some secret lost in antiquity,
I reckon. But that's the three weanings.
And Hannah was talking about the third weaning. She's not
taking a two-year-old, Eli, to serve in the temple. He's going
to be more grown up a little bit. He's about 12 years old.
So verse 24, when she had weaned him, she took him up with her
with three bullocks, and one ether of flour, and a bottle
of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh.
And the child was young, and they slew a bullock, and brought
the child to Eli." Now, the Lord is worshipped with a blood sacrifice. That never changes. He's worshipped
with a blood sacrifice. The Lord was not impressed by
Hannah bringing her son. The Lord's not impressed with
us bringing something that's precious to us, even our children.
God's only impressed with His Son and the blood of the sacrifice
of His Son. That's the only way a sinner
can be accepted before the Father, is in the blood of the sacrifice
of God's Son. He's not impressed with us bringing
our children. It's His Son. So that's why they slew that
bullock and they brought the child to Eli. And Hannah in verse
26 said unto Eli, O my Lord, as my 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 ask of him." She tells Eli, remember that woman you
thought that was drunk? And she was praying? What's me? This
is what I was praying for. She put her hand on the head
of that boy. She said, this is what I was
praying for. For this child I prayed. And she told Eli that, so Eli
would take Samuel. He probably wasn't really up
on the idea too much of taking this 12-year-old, you know, to
race. He had to know that this is a special child. You know,
the Levites weren't even allowed to serve in the temple until
they were 25. Well, it seems they didn't even have that old
jet. And I've thought about this phrase all week, for this child
I pray. We have a little painting or
picture of some sort of an infant, and underneath it has this saying,
for this child I pray. Aunt bought that for her when
Holly was born. We were told by a number of doctors
she could never have children. And she wanted children so desperately.
And when that child was born, her aunt gave her this picture.
It's still hanging on our stairwell today. Every time you go up our
stairs, it's the first one right here on the left. For this child,
I pray. And all these children we have
running around here, they will never know to their parents themselves
For this child, I prayed." Terry, before they were born, oh, how
we prayed for them, they'll never know. Every step, they go out
into the world, we prayed for them. They go off to school,
and kindergarten, oh, they go off to college, and just, oh,
we prayed for them. They go out and get a job, oh,
we prayed for them. They come out of these classes
on Sunday morning, they're just kids, they're running out of
their class, they're with each, they have no idea. For these
children, we prayed. Dan prayed for them this morning.
For these children, we prayed. Maybe the Lord will be gracious
and answer our prayer. Maybe He will. We'll see them
grow up and the Lord reveal Himself to them in mercy and grace. And
we'll have nothing to say except this. For this child, I prayed. For this child of God, I prayed. Most of us here are praying for
children to be born in our home, and most of us are praying, was
it or not, some of you might be, but look at this verse this
way. For this, and you fill in the
blank, I prayed. Now I'm about out of time, but
this is why the whole chapter comes to this verse, so listen
to me a minute. For this, and you fill in the blank, I prayed. Whatever your need, Whatever
is burdening your heart, have you asked? Have you taken it
to the Lord? Look over James chapter 4. James chapter 4. I'm not talking
about something silly, you know, that we'll waste on ourselves.
I'm talking about the burden of your soul. In James 4, verse
2. James says you lust and have
not. You kill and desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight
and war, yet you have not. You've done all this you can
do in your power to try to get it, but you can't. Well, it's
because you ask not. You ask and receive not because
you ask amiss that you might consume it. You've wasted on
your own lust. So I'm not talking about something
silly here. I'm talking about the burden of your soul. And
I'm telling each of us this morning, pray. Take your burden to the
Lord. The only one who can fix it,
the only one who can help us, is the Lord of hosts. And the
Lord of hosts, the God of heaven and earth, has given His people
permission to come before His throne of grace at all times. You don't have to worry about
He's sleeping and He's too tired to hear you right now. At all
times. About everything, pray without
ceasing. You will not wear him out. Make use of this blessing. I'm
telling you, God's given you permission to come before His
throne of grace. That's a costly benefit. It costs the blood of God's Son. Now make use of it. Be a frequent
visitor before the throne of grace. Pray and leave it there. Just leave it at His feet. That's
what Hannah did. Now verse 28, she says, therefore
also have I lent him to the Lord. As long as he liveth, he should
be lent to the Lord and he worshiped the Lord there. Now Hannah's
doing this out of a thankful heart. And this word lent is
the same word that's translated asked back in verse 20. It's
the exact same word. What she's saying is the Lord
lent him to me. Those of us who are parents,
the Lord's lent us these children. They're his. He lent them to
us. Everything we have is God's. He just lent it to us. And that's
what Hannah's saying. The Lord lent him to me. Now
I'm giving him back. And Samuel says, worshipped the
Lord there. Right then, before Eli had a
chance to teach him anything, Samuel worshipped the Lord there.
Where'd he learn that? From his mama. See the importance
of teaching our children? Where did he learn to worship
the Lord? He didn't learn it from the prophet. He didn't learn it from
the priest. He learned it from his mother. And it's so important
for us to teach our children the same. Both by word and by
example. That they see our homes are homes
of worship. That what goes on here is not
dramatically different than what goes on in our homes. the Lord's
King, and we worship Him. All right. The Lord bless you.