First Samuel chapter 1. I want to give a title to the message
this evening and the title is Answered Prayer. I think most all of us here tonight
are familiar with this passage of scripture. And as we look
at the first 20 verses tonight, I have five things that I want
to point out to us. First, a faulty situation. A faulty situation in verses
one and two. Now there was a certain man of
Ramathah Emzofim of Mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the
son of Jehoram, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuth
and Ephrathite. And he had two wives. The name
of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other was Penanna. And Penanna had children. but
Hannah had no children, a faulty situation. Hannah's husband,
who is named Elkanah, which means, according to Strong's concordance,
that name Elkanah means God has obtained. But the thing that
I point out to us this evening is that he was guilty. He was
guilty of setting aside God's precept in the fact that he has
two wives. In the New Testament, when the
Lord Jesus Christ was asked a question about marriage, he answered their
question by going all the way back to the second chapter of
the book of Genesis, all the way back to Adam. We know that God created Adam
and he placed him in the garden and though everything in that
garden was free to Adam, was at his disposal except that one
tree, the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But we see with everything Adam
had that he needed and helped me. God saw that. God said that. And I like to
think, because in Romans chapter one, the apostle says that the
eternal power and wisdom is displayed in creation, that also we see
the goodness of God. When we read about the week of
creation, the goodness of God, when God saw that Adam was not
complete without an help me, And I thought about that. Adam,
though he had everything, but he didn't have a helpmate. He did not have someone to love. He did not have another person
like himself to love. He did not have another person
with which to share. He couldn't love the animals.
He couldn't share with the animals. Animals are animals. Adam was
a man. God saw that it was not good
that the man should be alone. And so he made for him and helped
meet someone that he could love, someone with which he could share,
a companion. I've spoken to elderly men for
the most part over the years whose wives have passed away
and they're left alone, many after having been married for
50 years or 40 years or whatever. But I remember my uncle was in
that position and he told me this, he said, David, because
he married a second time, he said, David, you just cannot
understand the loneliness, the loneliness that I felt. in my
house every evening. Well, I'm sure I can't understand
that. I acknowledge I've never been
in that position, so I can't understand that. But Adam was
in that position. But you see the goodness of God,
don't you? In making him a helpmate, a companion,
someone he could love, someone he could share with in the things
of this world. But the Lord Jesus Christ took
these Pharisees all the way back to this place in Genesis and
he asked them, he said, have you not read? Have you not read
that he which made them at the beginning made them male and
female? Isn't it amazing that we have
advanced in society and learning and education and till we're
at the place now that so many people cannot admit that there
are only two sexes. What are they denying? They're
denying God. God created man, male and female. And no matter how much a man
thinks he's a woman, he'll never be a woman, and vice versa. And it shouldn't be that hard
to understand. I don't find it hard to understand,
do you? When God made them, he made them,
at the beginning, male and female, and then he said, for this cause.
Now, there's a cause. For this cause, a man. And I
think that's important, especially in some societies, maybe not
so much here in the United States, but in much of the world. When
two young people get married, they live with their parents,
either the wife's parents or the husband's parents. And I
think for the wife's sake, since she's going to be in the home
most of the time, that as the scripture here says, that for
this cause shall a man leave father and mother, the man leaves
his father and mother. and shall cleave to his wife. If they must live with the parents,
it's only right that they should live with the parents of the
wife, because she's going to be in the home, and you know
how difficult it is for two women to be in one kitchen. You know,
that usually doesn't work out well. And I believe that's what
we see here. So the man leave father and mother
and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh. They twain shall be one flesh.
Now this man that we read about tonight, Elkanah, he has two
wives. He's clearly disobeyed the precept
that God set down by creating Adam one wife. He didn't create
him two wives, created him one wife. Marriage, you know and
I know, those of us here tonight who are married, marriage is
one of the choice blessings. It is, it's one of the choice
blessings that God has given unto man. I consider it one of
the greatest blessings in my life, to have a wife. A good wife. What a blessing,
right? A helpmate. Someone who has stood
with me and followed me and been a help in the ministry. And the
same is true of other men and their wives. Marriage is a chief
blessing. We've had so many blessings,
right? The food, the clothes, the place
we live. What a, God's just blessed us
in so many different ways, but this is one of his chief blessings,
a marriage, a marriage between one man and one woman. You might say, well, did God
permit men to have more than one wife as this man did? The
key word there is permit. Come on in, sit down and stay. The key word is permit. Yes,
God permitted. He permitted it, just like he permitted
other things. Divorce. God permitted a man
to have more than one wife, and he even included that to regulate
that in the law, part of the civil law. If a man had two wives,
this is the way the law goes. I'll just kind of give it to
us in my words. But the first wife, he doesn't
care for her as much as he does his second wife. But the first
wife has a son first. The second wife then has a son. When he dies, who's going to
inherit his goods? Though he loves the second wife
the most, No, God said, the first wife, the firstborn, he's going
to inherit. So God incorporated this into
the law, regulating it, just like he did divorce. He permitted
divorce. He regulated it. Remember, they
said Moses commanded, but in the beginning, God, the Lord
said it was not so. Divorce, the law concerning divorce
regulated marriage. And the same thing is true concerning
a man having two wives. Robert Hawker said, and I quote,
having more wives than one never did nor ever can produce happiness. Let me say that again, read that
again. Having more wives than one never
did nor ever can produce happiness. And I just thought about the
examples we have in the word of God of men who had more than
one wife and the trouble that they had in their families. For
instance, Abraham, he took Hagar to be his wife, didn't he? At
the advice of his wife, Sarah, but it caused problem, it caused
jealousy. And then Jacob comes along and
he ends up with four wives. And we know the story there,
the jealousy that took place in that family. And you just
go through the scriptures and those who are mentioned, you
see, as Robert Hawker said, having more wives than one never did
nor ever can produce happiness. And Mr. Hawker went on to say,
marriage is a beautiful type of the mystical union between
Christ and his church. This sweet order is broken in
upon such means. The Lord Jesus Christ, he doesn't
have two churches. He doesn't have two wives. He
has one wife. The church that he loves and
the church that he gave himself for. So that's the first thing,
a faulty situation here. Man married has two wives. The second point, Worship, worship
of the Lord of Hosts, verses three through five. And this
man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto
the Lord of Hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni
and Phinehas, the priest of the Lord, were there. And when the
time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah, his wife,
and to all her sons and her daughters portions But unto Hannah he gave
a worthy portion, for he loved Hannah. But the Lord had shut
up her womb. This was the first time. Now,
you know the law commanded that the Israelites, the men, three
times a year, they had to go to the place where God had recorded
his name. three times in the year. At this
time, it was still in Shiloh. That's where they raised the
tabernacle. When Joshua and the men came,
the Israelites came into Canaan, they set it up in Shiloh. And
so that's where they're going as they were commanded. It says
yearly, but what's interesting to me is God told the Israelites that
he would protect The homes, when the man left his home, left his
farm, and you've got these enemies all around Canaan who were just
looking for opportunities to invade the land and to steal
and do all kinds of evil things. But God said, God promised them
when the man leaves and obeys the word of the Lord, God would
protect the home. This is the first time that we
have this name of God, the Lord of Hosts. The first time in the
scripture we have this name, the Lord of Hosts. And we know
what that means. That is, he's the Lord of the
armies. We read in Daniel, of course,
Nebuchadnezzar's confession concerning the Lord. He doeth according
to his will in the army of heaven. and among the inhabitants of
the earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what
doest thou? The Lord of hosts, they went
up to worship, and as God had promised, he would protect, he
would keep safe the family. Someone asked me recently this
question. They, on their job, they were
supposed to be on call on Sunday. Very important that they be able
to answer a text or a phone call from their work. This only came
around every so many weeks or so many months. I'm not sure
about that. But he said, you know, I claim this promise. I
didn't sit home by the phone. He asked me, he said, do you
think that's That's okay. I said, well, sure. All of these
promises, none, no scriptures given for just one person. When,
when God opens a well for one of his people to drink from,
you're free to drink. You're free to come and, and
drink the water from that well, unless there is some specific
limitation. This is a promise of God that
he will protect and keep his people when we put him first.
When we serve Him and obey His word, that's what God promised
them. And does He have that power?
Does He have that ability? He's the Lord of hosts. That
is, all the armies of heaven, the angels of heaven, and all
the inhabitants of the earth are at His disposal to keep,
save His people. Now, the scripture here says
that they went up to offer sacrifice unto the Lord. The sacrifices
here were probably peace offerings. They were probably peace offerings.
Now, peace offering, you brought the offering, let's say it was
a bullock, you brought the bullock to the priest and he would slay
the bullock. The blood, they catch the blood
of the animal, of course, and pour it out at the base of the
altar, the brazen altar, pour the blood out there. And we know
it is the blood which God has given to make an atonement, isn't
it? Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins.
And then the fat of that animal was put on the altar and it was
all consumed, it was burnt, it was an offering unto God. especially
under God, the fat was. The breast and the right shoulder
of the animal, that was the priest. That was how he was fed, how
he was taken care of. Now the rest of the, if it was
a bullock or a sheep or whatever animal, the rest of the animal,
of course, goes to the man who brought the offering. Well, Helcana,
I'm just supposing that he brought a bullock here, And he's got,
that's a pretty good size animal, isn't it? He's got a lot left
over. But he's got two wives. And he gives his, Penina, this
wife, and she has sons and she has daughters, and he gives them
an ample portion. And to Hannah, he gave a worthy
portion. In other words, that's the way
he showed his love to Hannah. His love to her, he gave her
a worthy portion. Hannah had no children. God had not given her children. Now, to an Israelite, a woman
of Israel, this was a special burden. From what I've read and
what I've learned over the years, not to have children was a special
burden to a woman of Israel. Why? because everyone hoped to
be the mother of the Redeemer, the mother of the Messiah, to
bring the Messiah into this world. Well, this woman, she had no
children. Incidentally, men, the Israelite men, they
felt what they considered to be blessings of the Lord was
long life. long life, and to see their children's
children. That's what they especially looked
at, the Israelite men, to be a blessing. Women, they looked
at having a son, bringing forth a son into this world. Now the third thing, we see Hannah's
adversary in verses six through eight. And her adversary also
provoked her sore, for 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, therefore she wept and did not eat. Then said Elkanah, her
husband, to her, Hannah, why weepest thou, and why eatest
thou not? Why is thy heart grieved? Am
not I better to thee than ten sons? Remember what they've gone
to do. They've gone to worship. That's
what we read. They've gone up to worship. And
it is at this time of worship that her adversary, which was
her husband's other wife, provoked her, especially provoked her
when she went up to worship. And one of the writers suggested
that Penina would somehow arrange her children. She had sons and
she had daughters. She'd somehow arrange her children
just to kind of stick her finger in the eye of Hannah. You don't
have any children. Tell Elkanah, she hasn't given
you any children. I've given you children. Here
they are. It was some way special. that
she would present her children, arrange her children to provoke
Hannah. We were reminded Sunday evening
in the message that Jonathan brought that our adversary many
times comes against us when we would worship. In times of worship,
times of prayer, times of reading the scripture, that our adversary,
that is Satan, will try to provoke us, especially, all the time,
but especially in times of worship. And that's what we have here.
The fourth thing is Hannah takes her burden to the Lord in prayer,
reading verse nine. So Hannah rose up after they
had eaten in Shiloh, after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest
sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord, and she
was in bitterness of soul and prayed unto the Lord and wept
sore. And 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 wilt thou, 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. And it came to pass, and she
continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth,
Now Hannah, she spoke in her heart, only her lips moved, but
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'm 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 her way and
did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. Hannah takes
her burden to the Lord in prayer. Some have likened Hannah's prayer
here to Jacob when he was at the brook wrestling with the
Lord. And he said in that prayer, I
will not let thee go except thou bless me. we see that she was
falsely accused by the high priest of being drunk. Because she was
praying in her heart, she was making the words with her lips,
but she wasn't speaking the words. She was praying in her heart,
and he accused her of being drunk. Now, think about this. On the
day of Pentecost, when God poured his spirit out upon the church,
the disciples of the Lord, What were they accused of? They were
accused of being drunk, weren't they? These men are full of new
wine. And I bring that out to us tonight
because I believe this shows us that Hannah was especially
moved in her prayer by God the Holy Spirit. As the scriptures
tell us in Romans 8, likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. Now here she is praying, and
in great grief, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for
we know not what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit
himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot
be uttered. And I point out to us that Hannah
vows to do two things. If the Lord will give her a man's
job, She vows two things. Now, in that dispensation, vows
were allowed. Now, if she made a vow, and her
husband heard her, and heard her vow, and he doesn't say anything,
then that vow is good. Now, if a wife made a vow and
her husband said, no, no, you're not going to vow that, well,
then her vow was, was negated. But I don't know if Elkanah heard
this vow or not, but it stood. And she promises two things.
She said, first of all, if you give me a man child, I will give him to the Lord.
Number one, I will give him to the Lord. Number two, I will
raise him as a Nazirite. No razor will ever come upon
his head. Now, that no razor is just one
part of being a Nazirite, but it stood for the whole thing.
Just like in the New Testament circumcision, it stands for keeping
the law, doesn't it? If a man is circumcised, he becomes
dedicated to keep the whole law. So here, she promises those two
things. If you give me a man child, I
bow. I'll give him to the Lord and
I'll raise him as a Nazarite. What is especially a blessing
here to me is Hannah believed the word of God which was spoken
by the high priest, verse 18. And she said, let thine handmaid
find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way and
did eat. And her countenance was no more
sad. She believed. She believed Eli,
didn't she? His word, he was a high priest.
He was a high priest. You remember in the New Testament,
as wicked as the high priests were when the Lord Jesus Christ
was here upon the earth. I believe it's John chapter 12
that one high priest spoke. He didn't know what he was saying,
but he was speaking the truth. shall not one man die for the
nation. She believed, and I thought about
that hymn we sing sometimes, take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. That's what she did. It's easy
to take your burdens to the Lord, isn't it? I say easy, it's easier. But to leave them, to leave them,
she did. She took her burden to the Lord
She got an answer and she was no more sad. It's also that scripture in Peter,
casting all your care upon him for he cared for you. One other
thing, answered prayer, verses 19 and 20. And 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 bare
a son and called his name Samuel, saying, because I have asked
him of the Lord. Notice especially in verse 20
the words, when the time was come. When the time was come. Whose time? God's time. God's time. We pray and we want
answers yesterday. We want answers. We want to set
the time. But the truth of the matter is
God is never early and he's never late in answering our prayers,
but always on time. But it's his time. And she named
her son Samuel, which means heard of the Lord or ask of the Lord. In closing, Let me remind us
that Hannah, when you think about the Bible, 1 Samuel, where it's
located in the Bible, you've got the Pentateuch, and then
you've got Joshua and Judges, Ruth, and now Samuel. How little
of the Bible she had. How few promises, if she had
the Bible, if she had a Bible, a copy of the Bible, how few
promises she would have had. where you and I, how many promises
do we have concerning prayer? How many? How many promises like
this one in Matthew 7? Ask and it shall be given you.
Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened
unto you. She didn't have that promise. She never read that
in the Bible. And all things whatsoever you
shall ask in prayer, believing you shall receive. She didn't
have these promises, but she believed God. She prayed, and
she believed God.