Let's open our Bibles again to
1 Samuel, chapter 1. Now where we pick up reading
here is about 12 years later. You remember, Elkanah had two
wives, Panana and Hannah. Panana had several children. Hannah had none. The Lord required
every male to come to Shiloh. Every male had to keep the three
feasts. But they had to go yearly to
Shiloh and worship God. The women didn't have to go.
Because of children and households and all these things, the women
could go if they wanted to, if it were possible. Like Hannah
went with her husband every year. until she expected Samuel and
she stayed home and never went back. You see that here now.
So here he is in chapter 1, verse 21. And her husband, Elkanah,
and all his house, the men of the house, and probably some
of their wives if they could go, went up to offer unto the
Lord the year of sacrifice and his vow. But Hannah went not
up. Now here's a reason. Listen to
her. She said to her husband, I will
not go up to Shiloh until the child be weaned. And then I will
bring him that he may appear before the Lord and there abide
forever. Now, on the best authority, the
weaning of a child, consisted of three things. This wasn't
a year old infant she took up there at all. The first weaning
of a child was weaning from his mother's milk. That's when she
weaned him from her own milk. And then these children, especially
of a household like Elkana, these children were turned over to
a dry nurse, a nanny, that kept them until they were seven years
old. took care of. And then the real weaning of
the child, these male children especially, was about 12 years
old. Remember the Lord went to the
temple in Jerusalem, he was 12, all for a sacrifice. But when
they were 12 years of age, weaned from their childish manners and
ways, a little child wouldn't be of any asset to a priest in
the temple to serve in any way. So this child now, she says this,
when he's weaned from his mother's milk and from his dry nurse and
from his childish manners, I'll take him up because I gave him
to the Lord and that's when I'll leave him and I'll go home without
him. And Elkina, verse 23, her husband,
he's a good man. I like this man. the way he talks
and the things he says, he said to her, Well, you do what you
think best. You do what seems good to you,
what you're comfortable with. Tell her till thou hast weaned
him. And only this, you remember this, the Lord established his
word. Now here's what he's saying to
her. The Lord fulfilled his promise to you. He fulfilled his promise
to you. He made the promise through the
priest and fulfilled it. Now you fulfill your word. That's
what he's saying. You do what seems good, tarry
till you've weaned him, only the Lord establish his word.
Let the word of the Lord and your word be established. So
she abode, she didn't go then, I said twelve years later, this
is talking early, but when she did take him up it was twelve
years later. So the woman abode, gave her son suck till she weaned
him, and all this other things had taken place. And verse 24
now, and when she had weaned him, she took him up with her. Now she's going up to Shiloh.
This is 12 years later here. And she's taken three billocks
and one ephra, a flower and a bottle of wine, and brought him into
the house of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young. He was
a young man. He wasn't an infant. And they
slew a bullet and brought the child to Eli. And she said to
Eli, she said, O my Lord, as thy soul liveth, my Lord, I am
the woman way back yonder that stood by thee right here in the
temple of the Lord praying to the Lord for a child. And for
this child I pray. And the Lord hath given me my
petition. which I ask of him. Therefore
also I have given him," as Brother Frank said, returned him to the
Lord. I have given him to the Lord as long as he lives, he
shall serve the Lord. And he, and I'd like to, he says
he worshiped the Lord. Now who, who is that saying worshiped
the Lord? Well, all three of Elkanah and Samuel
and the mother. This is a serious occasion here.
This is her only child that God had given her. And she promised
him to the Lord. She brought him down here in
the temple and said, here he is, standing beside her. It's a serious time. It's a heartbreaking
time. And I believe when it says, and
they worship the Lord. I believe Elkanah, the father,
a loving father, a kind and wonderful husband, and he gave thanks to
God for this child. He'd already told his mother,
now you keep your promise. You obey the word of the Lord,
you do what you said. God did what he said, now you do what
you said. And that man worshiped the Lord. He agreed with his
wife, and though difficult, he bowed his head and gave thanks,
like Job of old, when God took all of his children to worship
the Lord. And not only did Elkanah worship
the Lord, but Samuel was standing there. He knows what's going
on. He knows he's going to live here. His mother and father are
going home. And he's going to be left here
with Eli. It's been promised to the Lord. And this young man,
trained and brought up to submit to his parents, and to the will
of his parents, and to the will of God, Standing between his
mother and father, he bowed his head and worshipped the Lord.
Elkanah worshipped the Lord, Samuel worshipped the Lord, and
Hannah. What a trial. Only child. And such an unusual child. Oh,
must have been a... Samuel that we read about all
through here must have been an awesome young man, too. But like
Job, They didn't charge God with folly, they worshiped the Lord.
And then in chapter 2, verse 1, Hannah prayed and the Lord,
Hannah prayed, this time I believe out loud. I believe she did. And the Lord is pleased to record
her prayer during this awesome occasion when she's about to
go home and leave her child. here in Shiloh. So she prayed
and listened to what she said. She said, My heart rejoiceth
in the Lord. I'm sure she rejoiced in her
husband. He must have been a very unusual
husband. And I know she rejoiced in him.
Thank God for him. He was encouragement to her,
a support to her. But she said, she didn't say,
My heart rejoices in my husband. I'm sure she rejoiced in that
son. to have such a gift of God and knowing that he was going
to serve the Lord for the rest of his life. She rejoiced. I
know she gave thanks for that young man. She was proud of him.
And she didn't say, I'm rejoicing in this present situation because
it was a hard, trying time. But she said, my heart rejoices
in the Lord. That's a mark of a true believer.
That's the reason the Apostle Paul said over in Philippians
chapter 3, we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit,
worship God in the Spirit, who rejoice in the Lord, who have
no confidence in this flesh. And that's what she's saying.
That's what Mary, who gave birth to our Lord, said in Luke 1.
She said, my soul does magnify the Lord. And my spirit rejoices
in God my Savior. So that's her first word. My
heart rejoices in the Lord. Now listen to the next line.
She says, My horn, mine horn is exalted in the Lord. Now you
can just put strength there. Often when the word is used with
the horn of the Lord, it's the strength of the Lord. It's the
power of God. And she's talking about her strength
here. What strength? She says my strength
is lifted up in the Lord. In other words, she's saying,
my ability to conceive and to give birth to a son is
by the grace of the Lord. That's the only reason that I
have this son, is he gave me the strength. He made it possible
for me to bring forth a child. So my strength is lifted up in
the Lord. That's why I rejoice in the Lord.
And listen, my change The change in my state. She was a miserable
woman. She had the things of this world,
I'm sure, in abundance, but she didn't have a child. That's what
Pam said to me that time. She didn't have no child. Janet
taught the class. Pam came out to tell me about
Hannah. She said there was a woman named
Hannah. And he had another wife, and
she was a mean woman. You remember that? And I said,
well, what about Hannah? She was sad because she didn't
have no child. I said, what happened? She said, God gave her one. Our
children are learning. And that's what she's saying.
The change that's taken place in me. He said, by the Lord,
I'm different. I'm happy. My joy is by His grace. And she's saying, my spiritual
hope and peace and the strength to leave this boy and go home
without him, that's of the Lord. That's of the Lord. I am what
I am by the grace of God. All right, look at the next line.
She said, and my mouth is enlarged over my enemies. You know, Penina,
the other wife, She was an adversary. That's what it said over here.
Her adversary provoked her. But she said, I've had to be
silent, but now my mouth's open. I've got something to tell of
what the Lord's done for me. When she talks to me now, I can
tell her what the Lord did for me. My mouth is opened over my
enemies because I rejoice in the Lord. Mary said this too.
She said, He that is mighty, hath done great things for me.
Holy is his name. That's what Hannah's saying here. My mouth is open to tell everybody
what the Lord has done for me. Do we do that often enough? Our
Lord said to the demoniac out of whom he cast the devils, he
said, go home and tell them what great things God's done for you.
And that's what Hannah said. My mouth is enlarged, it's open
to speak and declare what God's done for me, and I rejoice in
his salvation. All right, verse 2. Now I want
you to look at verse 2. You know, we think a lot about
some of these Old Testament people, how much did they know and how
much did they understand. I want you to think about how
much understanding this young lady had of the character of
God. Now listen to this. There's none holy as the Lord. The first thing she considers
is God's chief attribute of holiness. There's none holy as the Lord.
Sounds like Isaiah, doesn't she? In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw the Lord. High and lifted up, his train
filled the temple. And the cherubims and seraphims
cried, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. None holy is the
Lord. That's what our master said to
that rich young ruler. He said, there's none good but
God. There's none holy as the Lord. That's what Anna said.
Essentially holy, perfectly holy, unchangeably holy, there's none
holy as our Lord. And listen, and there's none
beside Him. Isaiah said that six times, in
one chapter, Isaiah 45. He said, I am the Lord, there's
none beside me. I am the Lord, there's none else.
I am the Lord, there's none like me. And that's what she said,
there's none like him. He's the way, he's the truth,
he's the life. There's none beside our God.
There's no hope except in him. There's no savior except him.
And neither, she said, is there any rock What's a rock? It's a foundation. There's no
rock like our God. There's none as holy, there's
no other way, and there's no other foundation. Behold, Isaiah
said, I lay in Zion for a foundation of stone, a rock, a tried stone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation, and he that believe
it will never be ashamed. He's a rock to hide us from the
storm. He's a rock to provide nourishment
and water. He's a rock to shelter us from
the storm. And He's a rock to support us. There's none holy as the Lord. There's none beside Him, and
no rock like our God. She knew, didn't she? All right,
verse 3, listen. Now talk no more so exceeding
proudly. This is the thing all of us have
to battle, is this thing of self-righteousness and pride. We have no room to
complain if we are barren. We have no room to complain.
We have no room to boast if we are blessed. For who maketh thee
to differ? What do you have that you did
not receive? Paul said, hath not the potter
power over the clay? Of the same lump to make a vessel
under honor or a vessel under dishonor. A man can receive nothing except
it be given him from above. Let's curb it. Boasting and pride and praise
of self. Don't talk any more, succeeding
proudly. And then she says, let not arrogance
come out of your mouth. I looked up a word in the dictionary
today that I don't remember ever using the word. I've used the
word arrogance because I've been kid to a lot of you. You probably
haven't used the word arrogance. You know what it means to arrogate?
I'm not talking about arrogating the golf course now. This is
arrogance. You know what arrogance is? Here's
the definition. Now let not arrogance come out
of our mouths. To arrogate is to claim merit
without the right to it. To arrogate is to appropriate
credit without reason. It is to attribute to ourself
anything that we didn't do. So we don't arrogate about anything,
do we? Let not arrogance come out of
your mouth. Let's just be done with pride
and be done with arrogance at taking credit for anything that
we are or have or do, because it's the Lord. Paul said one
time, talking about all the apostles, he said, I labored more than
any Yet not I, but Christ in me. He wasn't me at all, it was
Christ. I'm just an instrument. One instrument
plows, another plants, another waters, and God gives the increase. For the Lord, now watch this,
this is interesting here, she says something here, she says,
don't talk proudly, and don't arrogate, or not in arrogancy,
come out of your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge. And
by him actions are weighed. He's the Lord of knowledge. What
does that mean? It means that he knows everything, omniscience. That he has all knowledge of
our thoughts, of our imaginations, of our deeds, and of our motives. And God weighs actions in respect
to motives. By him, actions are weighed,
weighed how? They're weighed according to
the attitude, according to the motive, according to the reason. Now, for example, what seems
to be good can be bad. What appears good to me may appear
bad to God. I'll give you an example of scripture.
It says you are able to justify yourself before men. And you don't realize
that that which is acceptable to men is an abomination to God.
It may appear to be good on the outside, but because of the motive
that produced it, it's bad. I'll give you an example from
scripture. Back in the early days in the early church, people
were selling their property and bringing it to the apostles.
And the apostles would distribute it to the congregation. And some
people sold all they had and brought it to the apostles. And
when they did that, the people were highly acclaimed, you know. But Ananias and Sapphira came
and they said, we sold some property and here's the money we got.
Yes, all of it. Peter said all of it. They said
all of it. They had conspired together to
keep back some of it. And they told him all of it.
But now, nobody knew that. God knew it. They knew it. What
they had done looked good. They lied, but it looked good
to men. And God killed them. Killed them
for lying. But the motive was bad. And Peter
said to them, said, it was yours before you sold it, it was yours
after you sold it. You didn't have to tell that.
So that lie looked good to men. But God condemned them. But now
another lady told a lie. Her name was Rahab, you remember?
And she hid those spies. And the king came looking for
them. He said, you got those fellows, I don't know where they
went. She said, they left here quite some time ago. I said,
if you hear, you'll catch them. That was bad, wasn't it? It was
a lie. But God said it's good. Reason. Motive. That's the key. Anything you
do in reference to Him. It's got to come from an honest
heart. It's got to come from a willing heart. It's got to
come from a believing heart. It's got to come from an undeceitful
heart. It's got to come because he weighs
our actions in the light of our motives. He weighs our actions
in the light of our motives. It may appear good to men, but
not to him, because he sees the heart. God looks on the heart.
That's powerful. All right, verse 4. Now, Hannah knew that eventually in God's own time that he would
bring down the proud and exalt the humble. That's what James
said. James says, God resisteth the
proud and gives grace to the humble. And so she says here,
the bones of the mighty men will one day be broken, and they that
stumble will be girded with strength. God resisteth the proud and gives
grace to the humble. That's God's ways. That's God's
ways. And she said, They that are full,
they that are now full, one day will hire themselves out for
bread. And they that were hungry, their hunger will cease. So that
the barren hath born seven, and she that had many children, a
wax people. Let's turn to Jeremiah chapter
9. This is a good scripture to read
right here. in reference to that Lord eventually will deal with
rebellion in his own time, in his own way. You know, while
you're finding Jeremiah 9, let me read you a scripture over
here in Deuteronomy. You find Jeremiah 9 there a minute,
but over in Deuteronomy the Lord says, Now to me belongeth vengeance,
not to you. to me belongeth vengeance and
recompense. Their foot will slide in due
time, for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that
shall come upon them make haste." It's coming soon. Let's look
at Jeremiah 9. He says in verse 23, "...Thus
saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glow in his wisdom, Neither
let the mighty man glow in his might, let not the rich man glow
in his riches, but let him that gloweth, glow in this, he understands
and knows me. I am the Lord which exercises
lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, and
these things I delight, saith the Lord. I delight in these
things. All right. Now verse 6 and 7. I believe there's a two-fold,
I want to read verse 6 and 7, I believe there's a two-fold
reference here as Hannah's praying. She said, The Lord killeth and
maketh alive. Now we know that's true materially
and physically. Job said, Man is born of woman
is a few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower
is cut down. He fleeth as a shadow and continueth
not. Dost thou open thine eyes upon
such a one? The number of our months are
with the Lord. He set our bounds we cannot pass. The Lord kills. The Lord makes alive. There's
no death that he didn't will. He kills and he makes alive.
He brings down to the grave and he brings up The Lord maketh poor and the
Lord maketh rich. If any man is poor or any man
is rich, it's the will of the God. He bringeth low and raiseth
up. This is true physically and materially,
all things of God. He killeth, he maketh alive,
he bringeth to the grave, he raiseth from the grave. He maketh
poor, he maketh rich, he bringeth low, he lifteth up, he brings
us to success or failure, whatever, for his purpose. But this is
a spiritual word here. Now she's talking about a spiritual
word and you can, the Apostle Paul deals with this too. The
Lord killeth and maketh alive. He said the law came and I died. And God quickened me from the
dead. God who separated me from my
mother's womb and called me by his grace revealed his son in
me. So the Lord slew him. And the Lord made him live in
Christ Jesus. The Lord bringeth down to the
grave and bringeth up, Ephesians chapter 2, he says, you hath
he quickened who were dead and trespassed as you see. Times
past you walked according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the fire and the air, the spirit that now
worketh in the children of the disobedient. But God hath raised
us in Christ Jesus, he quickened us. The Lord killeth, the Lord
maketh alive. The Lord bringeth down to the
grave, the Lord bringeth up. The Lord maketh us poor in our
own sight and makes us rich in Christ. Blessed are the poor,
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. He maketh poor and he maketh
rich. He bringeth low, brings us to a conviction of sin and
inability and unworthiness. And then he lifts us up in Christ,
gives us peace. So what she's saying here is
true, materially and physically. The Lord killeth and the Lord
maketh alive. The Lord bringeth to the grave
and raises up. The Lord makes people poor. The
Lord makes people rich. He makes people successful. He
makes people to fail. But that's spiritual. We all
have experienced that right there. All have experienced that. And
verse 8, we've experienced this. He raiseth the poor out of the
dust, beggars from the dunghill, to set us among princes, and make them inherit the throne
of glory, by the pillars of the earth of the Lord, and he hath
set the world upon it. All right, in closing, verse
9 and 10. And he will keep the feet of
his saints. Turn with me to Psalm 37. I read a while ago over in Deuteronomy,
their foot will slide in due time. He said, Vengeance is mine,
I'll repay, their foot will slide in due time. Now look at Psalm
37, verse 23 and 24. But the steps of a good man ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth
in his way. And though he fall, he'll not
slide, he'll not be utterly cast down. The Lord will uphold him
with his hand. Our feet will never slide, because
it's planted on the rock, Christ Jesus. He'll keep the feet of
his saints. But she says over here in verse
9 of 1 Samuel 2, but the wicked shall be silent in darkness, for by strength shall no man
prevail. By God's power the righteous
are kept, and by God's power the wicked shall fall. Then she says in verse 10, and
the adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. I want you
to look at 1 Corinthians chapter 15. The adversaries of the Lord,
the enemies of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. In 1 Corinthians
chapter 15 verse 25. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies
under his feet. The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death. The Lord will judge the earth
by that man Christ Jesus. The adversaries of the Lord shall
be broken to pieces, and out of heaven shall he thunder upon
them." 1 Samuel 2, verse 10. The Lord shall judge the ends
of the earth. But now, watch this, he'll give
strength to his King. Who is that? That's Christ. The
Lord has set my King on my holy hill of Zion. His is the power
and the glory and the strength and the majesty, and He'll exalt
the horn of His anointing. And then, a happy note on which
to close this message. Verse 11, And Elkanah and Hannah,
she closed her prayer, and they bent down and kissed their little
fellow. And they departed to their house. And the child stayed
there and ministered unto the Lord before Eli the priest. But
now look down at verse 20. Verse 20, 1 Samuel 2. And Eli
blessed Elkanah and his wife, and he said, The Lord give thee
seed of this woman, for the loan which is lent to the Lord. And
they went unto their own house, and the Lord visited Hannah.
And she conceived by three sons and two daughters. One of her pride and joys was
up there in Shiloh. He grew up before the Lord. Isn't
that a touching and precious story? That's Hannah's faith. Lord, give us faith like that.
a wonderful example.