I'm going to preach from 1 Samuel
2 on the prayer of Hannah tonight, but I wanted to introduce this
message by reading a verse of scripture from Matthew 10, verse
29. The Lord says, Are not two sparrows
sold for a farthing? Now, farthing was the lowest
kind of coin that the Romans had at that time. Two of them
were sold for a farthing, totally insignificant, worthless. Are not two sparrows sold for
a farthing, and one of them shall not fall on the ground without
your father? Somewhere a sparrow just fell
to the ground and died. Not a whole lot of impact on
this world, so we think. But why did it fall? Your father,
the hairs of your head are all numbered. Who numbered them? The Lord God. I'm glad a sparrow
doesn't fall to the ground without my heavenly father." And notice
he didn't say, without your heavenly father knowing it. No, he didn't
say that at all. He said, without your heavenly
father. Now, would you turn to 1 Samuel, chapter 2. I've always loved this passage
of Scripture, the prayer of Hannah, and it's as clear a declaration
of the absolute sovereignty of God in the affairs of men as
you'll find anywhere in the Bible. He controls everything. As we just read in Daniel, he
doeth according his will in the armies of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth. You know, everything that's happened
today, he's in control of. I don't care what person it is,
what country they're in, He is in control. He's sovereign. He controls everything. But when
I was reading this prayer last week, it came home to me that
this is also a description of our experience of grace. And for some reason, I've never
really seen it in that light. I just looked at it as God's
sovereignty. The Lord killeth and the Lord
maketh alive. But this is also the experience of grace that
every child of God experiences. So let's read this prayer of
Hannah. And remember, this is true literally
when it says the Lord killeth and the Lord makes alive. When
somebody dies, it's because God killed them. And when somebody
lives, it's because God causes them to live. But let's also
see this as our experience of grace. The Lord first kills me. And then he makes me alive. And
let's read it with both of those thoughts in mind. First Samuel, chapter two, and
Hannah prayed and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord. Mine horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over mine
enemies, because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none
holy as the Lord, for there is none beside thee, neither is
there any rock like our God Talk no more so exceeding proudly. Let not arrogance 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 borne seven,
and she that had many children is wax 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 hath 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." And Hannah prayed. Hannah was a very
special lady. I love what takes place in this
first chapter. You probably remember the story.
Her husband is good to her, but she's married. Her husband has
another wife named Peniah. And I've always thought about
the dynamics of two or more wives in a house. I bet there's some
stress and there's some conflict involved. You can bet on it. Hannah was very jealous of the
fact that she was barren, and the other woman, Peniah, had
many children. And Peniah made fun of her, and
made her fret, and made her despair over this. She just made fun
of her. And so, let's pick up reading in 1 Samuel chapter 1,
verse 6, and her adversary also provoked her sore That's the
other wife to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up
her womb. And as he did so, year by year,
when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked
her, and 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, as I heart grieved, am I not better to thee
than ten sons? So Hannah rose up after that
she'd eaten in Shiloh and after they'd drunk. Now Eli the priest
sat upon a seat by post at the temple of the Lord and she was
in bitterness of soul and prayed unto the Lord and wept sore.
She so desperately wanted a child and she was just in bitterness
over it and she was weeping asking the Lord year by year. She'd
been going through this for years, but she didn't give up. She kept
asking for the same thing. She kept asking for this child
for years. Don't give up on anything you're
praying about. Don't give up. The Lord is mighty,
and He knows the right time. Let's go on reading. Verse 11,
she bowed a bow and said, O Lord of hosts, If thou will indeed
look upon the affliction of thy handmaid, and remember me, and
not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid
a man-child, then I'll give him unto the Lord all the days of
his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head." And
it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that
Eli marked her mouth, and now Hannah, she spake in her heart,
only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore
Eli thought she had been drunken, and Eli said unto her, How long
wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee.
And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of
a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor
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 have I spoken hitherto. Then Eli answered and said, Go
in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that
thou hast asked of him. And she said, Let thine handmaid
find grace in thy sight. So the woman went away and did
eat, and her countenance was no more sad. She believed what
God's prophet told her, and she had this baby Samuel, and now
she brings him to the temple to present him to Eli, and she
prays this prayer. And Hannah prayed and said, My
heart rejoiceth, literally leaps for joy. This is not just We
ought to rejoice. She said, my heart's leaping
within me. I rejoice in the Lord. I rejoice
that my salvation's in him. You know, Paul's just written
a passage of scripture, 1 Corinthians 1.30, of him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. I rejoice in him. He's my righteousness. I leap for joy over that. He's
my sanctification. He's my holiness. He's my wisdom. He's my redemption. Hannah said,
I rejoice. in the Lord. My horn, my strength
is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over mine
enemies because I rejoice in thy salvation." And she was talking
about that woman who made her to fret in 1 Samuel 1, verse
6. And her adversary also perverted
her sore for to make her fret because the Lord had shut up
her wounds. Now, she goes on to say, there
is none holy as the Lord. There's none beside
thee, neither is there any rock like our God. No one and nothing
can be compared to him." There's no comparisons. You can't say,
well, God's like this, or God's like that. He is utterly unique. You know the word holy means
other, altogether different. To say he's holy, that means
he's altogether different from you and I. He's other. He's holy. None is holy as the
Lord, for there is none beside thee. No one can be compared
to him. Neither is there any rock like
our God. He's the immutable rock. He never
changes. He's eternally, immutably, uncontestably
sovereign. He's the rock. Now, verse 3. In light of who he is, and this
is speaking to all men, talk no more so exceeding proudly
like Nebuchadnezzar did. Remember, he said, look at what
my hands have done. Look what I've accomplished.
Talk no more so exceeding proudly. Let not arrogance come out of
your mouth. The thought of being arrogant
before God, a sinner being arrogant before God, a worm of the dust
being arrogant before God. Let not arrogance come out of
your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge. He knows you all
the way through. You know, you can't fool Him. You can fool everybody else.
I can fool everybody else, but we can't fool Him. He knows exactly
what we are, and by Him, actions are weighed. The bows of the
mighty men are broken. And how many times has this happened
when the people who we thought would win, they didn't win. The armies that we thought were
more powerful, God caused them to be defeated. Now, God was
in control of that. You know, whoever wins a war
is the person God declares that's who the winner's going to be.
That's who wins, who loses. That's the person who God declares
is going to lose. The bows of the mighty men are
broken, and they that stumbled in weakness and inability are
girded with strength. That's just the way the Lord
does. That's his way of operation. Verse 5, they that were full
have hired out themselves for bread. And they that were hungry
ceased. How tables are turned, and once
again, it's the Lord. There's some people who everything's
going great, and all of a sudden they lose everything. I've seen
it happen. And there are other people who they seem like they're
on the bottom, and the Lord brings them up. Everything that happens
in the affairs of men, God is in control of. Remember, there's
not one sparrow that falls to the ground without your Heavenly
Father. He controls everything. So that the barren, that one
who could not produce life, hath born seven, and she that hath
many children is waxed feeble. Verse six, the Lord killeth. Now you're going to die, I'm
going to die, and that day that we die is the day God has ordained,
and anybody that dies is because the Lord killed them. He killed
them. The Lord killeth. And the Lord
maketh alive anybody that lives. It's because God is causing them
to live. He bringeth down to the grave
sickness. Sickness. I know a little bit
something about sickness. And I know who made me sick.
The Lord brought me down to the grave. You're going to get sick.
You're going to die of something. The Lord's in control of that.
And if you're raised up to health, you know why you're raised up
to health? The Lord did that. And he does that with everybody. Every human being is in his sovereign
control. The Lord, verse 7, maketh poor
and maketh rich. Now, there are poor people. and
people who have very little, and perhaps through irresponsibility
sometimes in their lives, they've been brought to that, or maybe
just because circumstances cause that, but ultimately, God's in
control of that. If you're poor, it's because
He made you poor. And if you're rich, it's because
He made you rich. That's the only reason. It's
not because you were more industrious or smarter. God made you rich.
He's in control of everything. Do you like it this way? I do. If you're brought low, what it
says in verse 7, he bringeth low and lifteth up. If you're
brought low into darkness and depression so that you can't
see anything, God put you there. And he did it for a reason. And
if you're lifted up, he's the one who lifted you up He is absolutely
sovereign in the affairs of men. Proverbs 21.1 says, The king's
heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water, he turneth
it whithersoever he will. He controls everyone and everything. Verse 8, 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,
that's what upholds everything, are the Lord's." Paul and John got stuck in Europe
or England or something this week because of that volcanic
ash. You know why that happened? Because
the pillars of the earth are the Lord's. He controls everything. Now what was he doing in all
that? I don't know. I mean, there's all kinds of things that could
take place, but everything that happens, he is in control of. Verse 9, he will keep the feet
of his saints, his holy ones. That's what every believer is,
a saint. You look at St. Todd. Every believer is a saint
of God. He will keep the feet of his
saints. He'll preserve them, but the
wicked shall be silent in darkness. For by strength, by ability,
shall no man prevail. No man's going to prevail by
his abilities. Everything is under God's thumb. God is controlling
everything. This is my Father's world. The adversaries, verse 10, of
the Lord shall be broken to pieces. The Lord's got adversaries. Everybody
who is not a believer is an enemy of the Lord. And if the Lord
your enemy, you can't win that battle. 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. Now that
word ends is the nothings. Look unto me and be ye saved,
all ye ends of the earth. The ends of the earth are the
nothings, and the Lord will judge them. Now what does that mean,
he'll judge them? They're already judged in the sense of condemned.
What he's talking about is justification. These ends, these nobodies, they
were Described in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 26, you see, you're
calling, brethren, having not many mighty, not many wise men
after the flesh are called. God's chosen the base things
of the world and the foolish things and the things which are
nothing. These are the ends of the earth. He'll judge. He'll
justify. And that's the God we serve.
He justifies people like that. He shall give strength unto his
King, the Lord Jesus Christ, and exalt the horn of his anointed. His King is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Truly, we ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock. His
work is perfect. His ways are judgment. A God
of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He. Now, when Hannah describes God,
she describes one who has complete control over all the affairs
of men. I find such comfort in that.
When I realize that, I don't worry about anything. I mean,
I'm not worried. God's in control. His will's
going to be done. And I rest in that. Our God is
absolutely, completely sovereign. None can stay His hand. We're
saying to Him, what doest thou? He rules in the kingdom of men
and sets over at the basest of men, the scripture says in Daniel
chapter 4, verse 17. Now, boy, you can see that, can't
you? He puts the basest men in control. He rules. He reigns. And I say, thank the Lord for
that. But not only is this a hymn of
praise regarding God's sovereignty, it's also a beautiful description
of our experience of grace. Now, this is the experience that
every one of God's children have, the experience of grace. Now, I'm not saved by my experience.
I'm saved by Christ. Understand that. I'm not saved
by my experience. Some people try to make a sage
out of their experience. I'm not saved by my experience.
I'm saved by what Christ did without any experience on my
part. It's a completely objective salvation
that he accomplished, but boy, that's an experience. It's sure
enough an experience if you experience His grace and His mercy. Truly,
this is what Paul called the common salvation, that which
is common to all of God's people. Now, let's read this prayer once
again in that light. And Hannah prayed and said, My
heart rejoices in the Lord. Literally, my heart leaps for
joy in the Lord. Now what do I have in the Lord?
I have every blessing God has to give. In the Lord, I'm In
the Lord, I'm altogether righteous. When God sees me, He does not
see sin. And it's not just that it's covered
up. There's no sin there because the Lord put it away. In Him
is no sin. He was manifested to take away
our sin, and in Him is no sin. In Christ, I have no sin. God
looks at me. He's happy with me. He's pleased
with me. He sees me as altogether lovely.
That makes my heart rejoice. I rejoice in the Lord. Oh, I'm
so glad that all God sees when He looks at me is His Son. I
love it that way, and I don't want it to be any other way.
Oh, that I may win Christ and be found in Him. You know, that's
my prayer every day. And it doesn't get old either. Didn't you pray
that prayer yesterday? Yes, I did. And I'm praying it
again today, and I'll pray it again tomorrow. Oh, that I may
win Christ and be found in Him. My heart rejoices. It leaps for
joy to know that All that God requires of me, he looks to his
Son for. And all that God requires, I
have in the Lord. Truly, my heart rejoices in the
Lord. My heart rejoices in the Lord.
Mine horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over my
enemies because I rejoice in thy salvation. You know, I read
that verse six. In chapter one, her adversary
also provoked her sore for to make her fret. Does your sin
ever do you that way? It provokes you sore to make you fret and
worry and just you think, what's wrong with me? Well, of course
it does. But you know what? The Lord answers
my enemies and the Lord defeats my enemies. My sins are my enemies
and he's put them all away. Truly, I rejoice in his salvation. Verse two. There is none holy
as the Lord. I love to think about the holiness
of the gospel. You know, people talk about the world's great
religions, and they talk about Christianity, and Judaism, and
Buddha, and Hindu, and all those different religions, and they
talk about the similarities that they all share. I mean, there's
differences, but there's similarities they all share. No! No! The gospel doesn't share anything
with any of these religions. The gospel is holy. The Lord
Jesus Christ is holy. How holy the gospel is. There's
no darkness in it. No, you can't compare it. There's none beside the Lord.
There's none holy as the Lord. There's no similarity between
the gospel and the so-called world religion. Our gospel is
a thing of perfect justice, pure mercy. What a rock. He is. Malachi 3, 6 says, I'm
the Lord, I've changed not therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Is there any wrath like our God?
Now, in light of that, salvation is by grace, sovereign grace.
Salvation is in Christ. In light of that, let no, talk
no more so exceedingly proudly. Let not arrogancy come out of
your mouth. What do you have that you didn't
receive? Who made you to differ from another? You have an interest in the gospel
right now. You have a hope that Christ died
for you. Who made you to differ? There
are other people who could care less. There are other people
who believe in salvation by works. Who made you to differ? You don't
have anything to be arrogant about or proud about in that
sense. I'm proud of the Lord, but I'm
certainly not proud of myself. Let not arrogance come out of
your mouth. He's a God of knowledge. By him,
actions are weighed. Now, here we have our experience
of grace. The bows of the mighty, the things
that we think protect us and the things that we think will
save us, they're broken. They're broken. And we're made
to see that there's nothing we can do to save ourselves. The
mightiness we thought we had is turned into nothing but weakness. The bows of the mighty are broken,
and they that stumbled in weakness are girded with strength. And who strengthens them? The
Lord. They that were full, and there
was a time when we were full, they that were full have hired
out themselves for bread, and they that are hungry has ceased. Now, they that were full are
no longer full. They're made to be hungry. There
was a time when I was satisfied. I was satisfied with the world.
People say people are just hungry to know the truth. No, they're
not. People are happy with things just the way they are. They're
not hungry to know God. I was satisfied. But one time
I wasn't. Who made me that way? He delivered
me from being full and made me hunger, hunger and thirst after
righteousness, knowing I couldn't produce it. I became hungry. And that person who becomes hungry
is what? Filled. Blessed are they that
hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. They'll be satisfied. And I was
thinking about this. I am satisfied with the Lord
Jesus Christ. I'm satisfied in the same thing
that God's satisfied with. God is satisfied with his son,
completely. I used this illustration in Sunday
school a couple of weeks ago, but if you haven't heard it,
if you are heard it, well, hear it again. If somebody murdered Aubrey,
if you got them and put them in prison for a thousand years,
I still wouldn't be satisfied. If you did it for 10 million
years and inflicted pain on the person who did it, I still wouldn't
be satisfied. The only thing that would satisfy me is if Aubrey
was raised from the dead. Now, if she was raised from the
dead, I'd be satisfied. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ, the
reason hell is eternal is because God never gets any satisfaction.
That sin is infinite. But when the Lord Jesus was raised,
that means God was satisfied with what he did, and he raised
him from the dead, and he's satisfied. Now, God's satisfied with Christ,
and God's satisfied with me. And you know what? I'm satisfied
with that. Are you? I'm satisfied with what God has
satisfied me. I'm a hunger and thirst after
righteousness, because I can't produce it, but I'm satisfied.
I'm full. That's our experience of grace.
We go from being full to being hungry, and then when we become
hungry, He fills us up. Look what it says in verse 5.
So that the barren hath born seven, and she that hath many
children is wife's table. Now, the barren, that person
who can't produce life, bears seven. That's the completion.
That's the number of perfection. Bearing life. And that person
who... Here's a person who... Can't
bear life. They don't have the power of
free will. They don't have good works. There's nothing they can
do. They're barren. They can't do anything to produce life.
God causes them to produce life by spirit. And that person who
has the ability to produce life, they think that they can do things
to save themselves. They think they have the power
of free will. What about them? God makes them barren. And they're
not able to do anything. They wax feeble. Verse 6. The
Lord killeth and maketh alive. And notice what comes first.
The Lord killeth. He kills you so that you don't
have any hope in yourself. You're brought to despair. You're
made to see that you can't save yourself. This is what comes
first. The Lord killeth. And everybody he kills, you know
what he does? He makes them alive. He doesn't kill anybody and leave
them there. He kills them to give them life from the dead,
spiritual life. The Lord killeth and the Lord
maketh alive. This is called regeneration.
Ephesians 2.1. And you have he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins. The Lord killeth and the Lord
maketh alive. Look what it says in verse 6
next. He bringeth down to the grave and he bringeth up. Now,
isn't this our hope? When Christ went to the grave,
I went to the grave with him. That's what we confess in baptism.
When somebody's baptized, they're confessing, here's my hope of
salvation, that when he lived, I lived. When he went into the
grave, I went into the grave. When he was raised from the dead,
I was raised from the dead. I'm confessing my only hope is
union with the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is our gospel. He brought
us into the grave when Christ went into that tomb. You know
who went with him? All of the elect. Every believer,
I was right there in that tomb with him because I was in him
then. And when he walked out of that tomb, you know who else
walked out of that tomb? I did. As he's seated in the
heavenlies right now, I'm right there with him. What a glorious
gospel. He bringeth to the grave, he
bringeth up. Well, I love thinking about that.
It says, He bringeth down to the grave. He bringeth up the
Lord, maketh poor. He shows us our spiritual poverty. And He makes us rich. First,
He makes us poor. And then we're made to see the
riches we have in Christ Jesus. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. That though He was rich, yet for your sakes
He became poor, that you through His poverty might be rich. He does all those things. The
Lord maketh poor and He maketh rich. He bringeth low. And he
lifts up, and see this as your experience. He raises up the
poor, verse 8, out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from
the dunghill, to set him among princes, and to make them inherit
the throne of glory for the pillars of the earth of the Lord's, and
he hath set the world upon them. Now let's look at this picture
for a moment. Two ways to describe me. Poor. Penniless in merit. Penniless
in ability. Absolutely poor. Poor and a beggar. A beggar. You know, I went to
the Reds ball game last night, and every time I go, there's
beggars coming out. I mean, there's tons of them
on the way to the stadium. They all have the signs, you know,
we'll work for food. No, they won't. They say that. And then
the other ones, they try to be real bright. They say, you know,
I'm not Phil, I just want beer money. You know, I mean, they
have those different things. They're beggars, you know, and they're trying to get
money. Beggars. And what can you say good about
a beggar? You know, the only thing I can say good about a
beggar is they do have importunity. They're shameless in what they
do. They're shameless. And, you know, that's the way
we come to the Lord. Shameless. Lord, have mercy on me. Importunity. You can imitate a beggar like
that. Importunity. Shameless persistence. Lord, have mercy on me. Lord,
give me... That's the way Hannah was in
this prayer. Every year she was begging and crying and pleading
with the Lord, just like a beggar. poor and a beggar. Their place,
the dust of Dunghill. That's my place. But what's he
do? He takes them and raises them
up and makes them princes. Join heirs with the Lord Jesus
Christ. What a prince! And were made
to inherit the throne of His glory. For the pillars of the
earth are the Lord's. He holds everything up, and He
has set the world upon them. Now, look at this promise. Now,
we see our experience of grace in that. He brings down, He brings
up. He kills, He makes alive. He makes poor, He makes rich.
That's the way the Lord operates, and that's our experience in
grace. But I love this statement. It says, He'll keep the feet
of His saints. His holy ones. That describes
every believer. A holy one. And at my feet, I'm
always fearful of what direction they're going to go. What direction
they're going to take me. I'm scared of myself. And I know
that at any moment, I could just go off in some horrible direction.
I really believe that. I know it. I'm just kidding.
But here we have this promise. He will keep the feet of His
saints. And you know why I won't go off?
Because He won't let me. Now unto Him that is able to
keep you from falling. You fear falling, don't you?
How close do you come to just falling and falling away? Thinking
this is it. Now unto Him that is able to
keep you from falling and to present you faultless but before
the throne of His Majesty with exceeding joy to the only wise
God our Savior. He'll keep the feet of His saints. Oh, truly we rejoice in His salvation,
don't we? Matthew 121 says, Thou shalt
call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.
I rejoice in that. I rejoice in being saved from
the penalty of my sins. I don't want to stand before
God and be judged for my sins. I rejoice in being saved from
the power of my sin. I'm believing right now. I'm
resting in Christ right now. I've been delivered from the
power of my sin in that sense. And one of these days, I'm going
to be delivered from the very presence of sin and stand perfectly
conformed to Jesus Christ. Now, he'll keep the feet of his
saints, his holy ones. Now, beloved, you're not going
to be any more holy in heaven than you are right now. It's hard to get hold of, isn't
it? As a matter of fact, the only
way you can get hold of it is by faith. That's how far this flesh drags us down. But he will keep the feet of
his holy ones. But the wicked shall be silent
in darkness. They won't be able to object.
Their mouth will be stopped. They'll be silent in darkness. For by strength, and that word
there, strength, means literally ability. By ability shall no
man prevail. Now there's two things I need
to be persuaded of. Number one, my inability. And number two, his ability. There's two things I need to
be persuaded of. My inability. The Lord said,
without me, you can do what? Nothing. Nothing. Paul also said, I can do all
things through Christ, which strengthens me. I'm persuaded
of my inability, and I'm persuaded of his ability. But by ability,
no man shall prevail, only by his ability. The adversaries,
the enemies of the Lord, shall be broken to pieces. Out of heaven
shall he thunder upon them, and the Lord shall judge. He shall
justify the ends of the earth." Now, every time you look at the
ends of the earth, it's a good thing to be at the ends of the earth.
You're looking to me and being, you say, oh, the ends of the
earth, because I'm God and beside me there's none else. That means
the nothings. The nothings. I can't tell you how many times
I've got such comfort from this little line. I'm a poor sinner
and nothing at all. But Jesus Christ is my all in
all. Spurgeon told the story of a
man who would go around singing that. And one day, the Lord brought
it home to him, and the Lord saved him. And he came to the
elders of the church. He wanted to be baptized, and
they wanted to question him. They shouldn't have been doing
that, but that's what a lot of churches do, try to put them
through the questions. He said, well, tell me what your experience
is. He said, well, I don't have any experience. I told you I'm
a poor sinner and nothing at all. What do I do? Do you have
debts or sorrows? I told you I'm a poor sinner
and nothing at all. Yeah, I guess I do. That's my experience. Well,
don't you have heights of joy? He said, well, I said Christ
is my all in all. Can't get any better than that. Now, there
you go. I'm a poor sinner. And nothing
at all, but thank God, Jesus Christ is my all in all. He shall keep the feet of his
saints. And by strength no man shall
prevail. He shall judge, he shall justify
the ends of the earth, and he shall give strength unto his
king, and exalt the horn of his anointed." Isn't that a wonderful
prayer? Hannah is a wonderful woman. We can learn a lot from her.
And in this prayer of Hannah's, She extols the absolute sovereignty
of God, and she also lets us in on the experience of grace
that every believer has. Let's pray together.