I've asked Brother Lance Heller
to bring our message tonight, so Lance, if you will come and
preach to us. Good evening. If you would turn
to 1 Samuel, the first chapter. I'd like us to look at this passage
and think about this woman that is spoken of here. I think, in
all likelihood, we're all familiar with it. It's a story of Hannah. And at least for myself, I can
say that over the years, the Lord has encouraged me and blessed
me. He's strengthened me through
reading this story from time to time. And I would hope that
that would be the case for you tonight. And, you know, we read
in Romans chapter 15 that for whatever things were written
before they were written for our learning, that we through
the patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. The Lord is patient with us,
isn't he? We're foolish and we're ignorant
and we're stubborn and our faith is weak but he's so gracious
and he's so kind and he's so long-suffering towards us. I know that these things like
this story of Hannah and all that transpired were written
for us for this purpose because he is patient with us and he
gives us these scriptures to comfort us. So for what reason
that we might have hope and we have a great hope, don't we?
And we need to be reminded continually of that and that's what he does.
So here in this first chapter of 1 Samuel. Let's consider some
of these things that the Lord has given us for our learning. Look at the end of the first
chapter. We'll go through this chapter, but the point that I'd
like to emphasize tonight is found in verse 27 and 28. There
we read that Hannah prayed, is speaking to
Eli, and she says, for this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted
me my petition, which I asked him. Therefore, I also have granted
him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he shall
be granted to the Lord. This, I believe, is one of the
most remarkable instances we find in the word of God of true
worship. This is true worship of Hannah. The Lord has granted to her her
heart's desire. It all meant so much to her embodied
in this child. And what does Hannah do? She
gives the child to the Lord. to worship him and serve him
all the days of his life. What a wonder, what a wonder.
So let's see and remember how all this came about. Look there
back in verse 1 and we'll start there. Let me just read the first
part of this chapter. And now there was a certain man
of Ramaytham, Zophim of the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was
Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of
Tohu, the son of Zuth, and Ephraimite. And he had two wives. The name
of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other was Peninnah.
Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. This man went
up from his city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of
Hosts in Shiloh. Also the two sons of Eli, Hophni
and Phinehas, The priests of the Lord were there. And whenever
the time came for Elkanah to make an offering, he would give
portions to Peninnah, his wife, and to all her sons and daughters.
But to Hannah, he would give a double portion, for he loved
Hannah, although the Lord had closed her womb. And her rival
also provoked her severely to make her miserable, because the
Lord had closed her womb. So it was, year by year, when
she went up to the house of the Lord that she provoked her. Therefore
she wept and did not eat. Then Elkanah, her husband, said
to her, Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? And why is
your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten
sons? So Hannah arose after they had
finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest
was sitting on the seat of the doorpost of the tabernacle of
the Lord and she was in bitterness of soul and prayed to the Lord
and wept in anguish. Then she made a vow and said,
O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look upon the affliction
of your maidservant and remember me and not forget your maidservant,
but will give your maidservant a male child, then I will give
him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall
come upon his head. And it happened as she continued
praying before the Lord that Eli watched her mouth. Now Hannah
spoke in her heart. Only her lips moved, but her
voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought that she
was drunk. So Eli said to her, how long
will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you.
But Han answered and said, no, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful
spirit. I've drunk neither wine nor intoxicating
drink, but I have poured out my soul before the lord. Do not
consider your maid servant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance
of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now. Then Eli answered
and said, go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition
which you have asked of him. And she said, let your maid servant
find favor in your sight. So the woman went her way and
ate, and her face was no longer sad. Well, let's stop there for
a moment. We'll finish up, but let's consider
this first portion first. Now, you know, as I read through
this first portion of this chapter, It's remarkable when we consider
how much detail is given about Hannah and her circumstances. Have you thought about that?
Think of this, Hannah, it seems that she's a completely insignificant
person, nothing to recommend her. She's this woman who is
married to a husband who has two wives, she's persecuted,
her life is miserable and yet the word of God gives a whole
chapter to describing every circumstance about this woman. The intimate
details about her life. Even the thoughts of her heart. And here we read, there was this
man, Alcona, and he had two wives. And the name of one was Hannah,
and the name of the other was Penina. And Penina persecuted
Hannah. You know, Robin and I understand
these types of situations. There's many, many men who have
multiple wives in the tribes we work with. I don't think you
can understand it. In most cases, these are miserable
relationships. The wives hate each other. Just imagine the circumstance
of a man with two wives and the envy in the jealousy and the
anger and the bitterness that exists typically between these
women. There's a backbiting and cruelty
to one another. It seems that all the natural
sinfulness of man just wells up in these types of circumstances,
and you can understand that, can't you? All the emotion tied
up in marriage relationships, and then you throw that in. And
here is Penina, and it's obvious that's the circumstances that
she and Hannah are living in. It's clear, we know Hannah is
one of the Lords, and Penina persecutes her mercilessly, mercilessly. She mocks her and derides her,
and was focused particularly upon the fact that Hannah was
barren. Hannah was barren. Now, I want
us to think of this. Hannah was barren, why? because
the Lord had closed her womb. That's what it says. The Lord
had closed her womb. Think of this. None, none of
Hannah's circumstances are outside the will, outside the purpose
of God. None. Here is this great grief
that she has. She has no children. She has
no son. She's in a, situation where she's
persecuted mercilessly but this is according to the Lord's will
and purpose. The Lord had closed her womb
and it appeared too that this persecution intensified tremendously
when the time of the yearly offering approached and they would go
up to Shiloh at that time to worship and we see that whether it's because of the favoritism
of Elkanah towards Hannah or what, takes this time and hears
Hannah and she says, so it was year by year when she went up
to the house of the Lord that she provoked her, Penina provoked
her, and she wept. and did not eat. We're mindful
of that psalm where the psalmist cries out, why art thou cast
down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within
me? And in that psalm, he says, my
food, my tears were my food day and night. And this is the situation
that Hannah's in. It's a terrible situation. It
really is. One wife pulled down another
wife while the third wife got a pot of boiling water and dumped
it on the third wife. You may have read this story
thinking, well, why is this such a distressing situation for Hanukkah? I mean, lots of people live with
difficulties, don't they? But polygamous marriages are
terrible. They are terrible. And there
is no escape. And it's day and night. And here is Hannah. And what's
her response? Well, her response, the only
response we see, is no retribution toward Penina. Nothing. She weeps. She weeps. And she has no appetite. And that's what we find. Well,
what? Here's all these details. I go
through all this to bring out the situation, but also to bring
out again all of these specific details that the Word of God,
the Holy Spirit, is laying out before us. Well, what is that
to tell us? What can we learn from this? Well, we can learn
that the Lord knows Hannah, doesn't he? He knows everything about
her. He knows every circumstance of
her life. Nothing's outside of his knowledge.
Nothing is outside of his power. Nothing is outside of his providence. The Lord has brought all these
things about to work for her good, whether she understands
that or not. And you know, this is a great
comfort to you and I, isn't it? It's a great comfort to all the
Lord's people. It always has been, that the Lord knows us. He knows us. That was Peter's
great comfort, wasn't it? When he'd sinned and he'd fallen
and turning his back upon the Lord and denying him and the
Lord is asking him those questions repeatedly three times. And you
remember Peter finally said, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. That
was a comfort to Peter, wasn't it? And it is for us, too, in
our lives. The Lord knows us. He knows us
intimately and perfectly. And turn to Psalm 139. It's a
psalm, of course, that speaks of these things. Psalm 139. Let's just look at a few of these
verses of David in the Bible. Encouragement he finds from these
thoughts, 139. In verse one. Oh Lord, you have searched me
and known me. You know my sitting down and
my rising up. You understand my thought afar
off. You comprehend my path and my
lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is
not a word on my tongue, but behold, oh Lord, you know it
all together. And here's Hannah and the Lord
knows her, doesn't he? He knows her sitting down. He
knows her rising up. He knows of the persecution of
Penina. He knows of the bitterness of
her soul. He knows the tears of her anguish.
He knows her barrenness. He knows it all. And Hannah pours
out her, Her soul pours out her heart to the Lord in prayer and
she makes this remarkable petition and promise, doesn't she? And there's not a word on her
tongue that the Lord doesn't know already. He's put those
thoughts in her heart. He's put those words on her tongue
to make that petition, hasn't he? because his purpose is to
raise up the prophet Samuel from Hannah and Elkanah and make him
a great prophet in Israel. God has ordered it all. He knows
all her ways. Look down at verse nine. If I
take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts
of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me and your right
hand shall hold me. You know, it seems as the spirit
describes the situation of Hannah that she's in the extremity of
suffering. Listen to the language used by
the scriptures. Her adversary provoked her severely. She was made miserable. She wept
and did not eat. She was in bitterness of soul.
She wept in anguish. She was a woman of sorrowful
spirit. Her grief is described as an
abundance of grief, a grief which is overflowing and pouring out. And it's true. It's true. There are times when we find
ourselves in places like this, isn't there? We find ourselves at times, as
it were, dwelling in the uttermost parts of the sea. We find ourselves at times dwelling
emotionally, physically, and spiritually, figuratively speaking, in the
uttermost parts of the sea, feeling that we're far from any hope,
far from any hope cast up. But what do we read? Even there,
your hand shall lead me. Even there, your right hand shall
hold me." This is a comfort to David, isn't it? It's a comfort
to all his people. And in her soul languish, Hannah
was in a place of real darkness. You see that as you read through.
Hear her prayers, hear her cries, hear her groaning. She's in a
place of real darkness, but look there in verse 11 of this psalm. If I say, surely the darkness
shall fall on me, even the night shall be light to me. Indeed,
the darkness shall not hide from you, but the night shines as
the day, and the darkness and the light are both a light to
you. Yes, there is this night of sorrow, of pain, of anguish,
of bitterness, loneliness, fear, which encompassed Hannah and
was pressing in upon her. And she, like the psalmist would
say, surely the darkness shall fall on me. But what does the Lord do? Even
the night shall be as light about me. Isn't that a wonderful truth? You know, here, the darkness
and the light for his people are both a light to the Lord,
aren't they? What a wonder. And would it be
that we would remember this in the darkness? Wouldn't it help that the darkness, even the darkness
is light to the Lord for his people? He works all things together
for the good of his people. Look down at verse 16. Your eyes
saw my substance being yet unformed, and in your book they all were
written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none
of them. Well, who fashioned Hannah's
days? The Lord did. Hannah's days were
fashioned for her before she was ever formed. What days? Well, these days too. These days
too. These days of anguish and sorrow. These days of bitterness of soul.
These days of affliction and suffering. Days fashioned for
her. Fashioned for her. Not by chance.
Not by circumstance. No, her days were fashioned in
everlasting love. Beloved, our thoughts are not
the Lord's thoughts, and our ways are not his ways. We need
to remind ourselves continually of that. His thoughts are too
high for us. His ways are too broad for us. His thoughts are too wise for
us. His thoughts are too gracious for us. His thoughts are too
good for us. Think of this, ask yourself,
what kind of thoughts does the Lord have towards you? What kind
of thoughts does the Lord have towards me? What kind of thoughts
does the Lord have towards his people? Well, David tells us,
verse 17, look there. How precious also are your thoughts
to me, O God. How great is the sum of them. Uncountable, innumerable. If
I should count them, they would be more than the number of the
sand. We'll look back in 1 Samuel. We see in the richness of this
narrative of Hannah that her faith is a true faith. It's a
true faith and it's such a glorious testimony of the work of God
in the heart of his people when put up against all of the hypocritical
faith that exists in all generations. Here is Hannah, a woman of faith,
a woman of true faith. This is not superficial, self-serving
religion, but the true religion of the heart and of the spirit,
of the soul. That's the religion of God, isn't
it? You know, it's not coming in
Sunday morning and sitting and singing songs and walking out.
It's hearing the word of God, hearing him speak to you and
I, and having that word teach us of himself, of his glories,
of his person, of his glorious attributes, of all that he has
done for us, for his people, that we might magnify him. And
here, Hannah does what every true believer does. She looks
to the Lord in her distress, doesn't she? Finally, maybe it
takes us a long time, but we'll do it eventually, we will. She finally looks to the Lord
in her anguish and in her affliction. She goes to the Lord in her trouble.
And there in verse 10, let's read it again. She pours out
her heart before the Lord. And we read that she was in bitterness
of soul and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish. Then she
made a vow and said, O Lord, if you will indeed look upon
the affliction of your maidservant and remember me, and not forget
your maidservant, but will give your maidservant a male child,
then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and
no razor shall come upon his head. Here she is. at the tabernacle, at the temple.
Think of this now. Think of this. She gives no thought
to Eli, the priest, sitting on the doorpost of the tabernacle.
She gives no thought to the priests going and coming in their service
of the Lord. She gives no thought of the people
who must be miling about. She gives no thought of how she
might appear. She is, her one thought is upon
the Lord, isn't it? She's praying to the Lord. What
does she say? The Lord of hosts. And she believes
in him, doesn't she? She knows he is there. And Hannah makes this startling
prayer in which she makes a petition and a promise, as we know her
heart's desires for a son. That's her petition, isn't it? This son, and naturally speaking,
it would seem that the son would be the answer to all her needs,
that in this son would be found peace. Peace from her adversary. In her son would be found joy,
joy to take away the sorrow. In her son would be found love
and satisfaction and security, hope for the future and everything
else that is bound up with having a child. But Hannah sets all
this aside. Think of that. She asked for
a son. But she asked to be given a son that she would then give
to the Lord to serve him all the days of his life. Not just
as a Levite, but a Nazarite. A Levite who would go into service
in adulthood and finish maybe around 50, but no, a Nazarite
to serve the Lord all the days of his life. This is her prayer. You know, as we read this story
of Hannah, we might think that the most important thing in the
world to Hannah was to have a son. You might think that. But it's
not, is it? No, it's not. The most important
thing to her is the Lord of hosts. And that's why she makes this
remarkable petition and promise that she'll give her son to serve
him. Well, Hannah's hope is in the
Lord. Look in verse 18. We read another remarkable thing. There's so much here, but look,
in verse 18, well, let me just go down and remind you. Hannah,
Eli sees her. caught up and consumed in her
prayer to the Lord. And she's pouring out her soul
to the Lord, as she says, out of the abundance of the grief
that is in her. And Eli, the priest, he thinks
she's drunk. It's the morning and he's annoyed,
he's upset, and he rebukes her. What are you doing? Get out of
here and come back when you're not drunk. And Eli, how graciously
Hannah responds, didn't she? I read this, this is an aside,
I think of all the mistakes I've made with the Lord's people. We do that, don't we? Look, here's
Eli. He doesn't know, he doesn't understand,
but the Lord does, doesn't he? And that's our comfort too, even
if others don't understand, others of the Lord's people. We're often
so quick to be hurt, aren't we? But it doesn't matter, we're
all the same. But the Lord won't misunderstand,
will he? The Lord knows everything, everything
having to do with Hannah's situation. But we read here that Eli speaks
to her, and then look in verse 18, and she said, let your maid
servant find favor in your sight. So the woman went her way and
ate, and her face was no longer sad. Now why? Why was her face
no longer sad? Because her hope was in the Lord. Hannah, after bringing her cares
to the Lord, pouring out her heart to the Lord, was at peace. It says she was no longer sad.
Her face was changed. Her countenance was changed.
She came to this place expressed so well by the psalm. Turn over
to Psalm 43. Let's just look at that. Psalm 43 in verse three. And here's what the psalmist
says. He says, oh, send out your light
and your truth. Let them lead me. Let them bring
me to your holy hill and to your tabernacle. Then I will go to
the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy. And on the harp I will praise
you, oh God, my God. Why are you cast down, oh my
soul, and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God, for I
shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance." And
what might we say? We might say that Hannah was
brought by the Lord from the uttermost parts of the sea. She
was brought out of darkness. She was brought by his light
and led by his truth. She was brought to his holy hill.
She was brought to his tabernacle, which is the place of help, isn't
it? It's the place of the presence of the Lord. It's the place of
the preaching of the word. It's the place of the assembly
of his saints. It's the place of singing and
joy. And that's where our help is,
isn't it? Brought by the light of the Lord. And Hannah is brought. She's brought to his holy hill.
And Hannah trusted the Lord to give her according to his will. Now note, the Lord hasn't promised
that he would give her a son, but she's at peace and she's
no longer sad. She knows that the Lord's thoughts
toward her are precious thoughts and whatever the Lord does, Whether
he gives her a son or whether he doesn't give her a son, she
rests in the Lord. She believes in the Lord. And
her heart is at peace. And she was no longer sad. Well,
look, go back to 1 Samuel. Let's finish up there. 1 Samuel,
her hope was in the Lord. And it says that she ate and
her face was no longer sad. And then verse 19, then they
rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord and
returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew his
wife and the Lord remembered her. So it came to pass in the
process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son and called his
name Samuel saying, because I have asked for him from the Lord.
Now the man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the
Lord the yearly sacrifice and his vow. But Hannah did not go
up, for she said to her husband, not until the child is weaned,
then I will take him, that he may appear before the Lord and
remain there forever. So Elkanah, her husband, said
to her, do what seems best to you. Wait until you have weaned
him. Only let the Lord establish his
word. Then the woman stayed and nursed
her son until she had weaned him. Now when she had weaned
him, she took him up with her with three bulls, one ephah of
flour, and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the
Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young. Then
they slaughtered a bull and brought the child to Eli. And she said,
oh my Lord, as your soul lives, my Lord, I am the woman who stood
by you here praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed, and
the Lord has granted me my petition, which I asked of him. Therefore,
I also have granted him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he
shall be granted to the Lord. So they worshiped the Lord there. So we read that in the process
of time, Isn't that wonderful when the
process of time is governed by the Lord of all things? He remembered
Hannah, and in the process of time, she conceived and bore
a son, this son that she desired so much, and she named him Samuel. And when the time came, once
again, that yearly time when they would go up to Shiloh to
sacrifice. When this time came, Hannah tells
her husband that she won't go up until the child is weaned.
She says, when he's weaned, I'll take him up and I'll leave him
with the Lord forever. Now it's clear too, that Alcana,
he's a faithful man, isn't he? He might have weaknesses, but
he's a faithful man. He's a man who worships God,
and he knows how difficult this is gonna be for his wife, doesn't
he? Naturally speaking, he knows she'll never find enough strength
to take that boy up there and leave him. Not only leave him,
but leave him forever. How could Hannah do something
so hard? And this is what he says, now
listen. Only let the Lord establish his
word. You know some translations have
only let the Lord establish your word. It doesn't matter which,
they're both the same, isn't it? Her words are the words that
the Lord put in her mouth. He gave her these words and she
made this promise. But Elkanah knows, naturally
speaking, that Hannah will never have the
strength. And so he says, but yes, no she
won't, but God will. God will give her all that's
necessary for her to perform the word that she promised. God
will establish his word. But you know what? Elkanah didn't know that the
Lord had already done that. You know, Hannah did never intend
to not do this. The Lord had already established
his word in her heart. And Hannah knows when she goes
up to worship, the next time she goes up to worship, she's
going to take Samuel. She's going to take this son
that he might appear before the Lord forever. When the Lord does the work,
the work's established, isn't it? Well, 24, look, look there. Let me read that again. Now,
when she had weaned him, she took him up with her and her,
with three bulls, one ephah, flower, and a skin of wine, and
brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child
was young. And then they slaughtered a bull
and brought the child to Eli. And she said, oh, my Lord, as
my soul lives, my Lord, I am the woman who stood by you here
praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed, and
the Lord has granted me my petition, which I asked him. Therefore,
I also have granted him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he
shall be granted to the Lord. She took this child up, and he,
the word tells us he was young. He was young, maybe two or three
years old, and she brings the child to Eli. whether she's carrying
him in her arms or he's standing by her. But here he is, think
of this too, a young child, bewildered and apprehensive, wondering what
is going on. And she reminds Eli of who she
is, casting back a few years and says, I am the woman who
stood here crying unto the Lord in my trouble, in my sorrow,
in my distress. I am the woman who stood by here
praying to the Lord. And for this child I prayed.
And the Lord granted my petition, I asked of Him. And she comes
and she says, therefore, I have granted him to the Lord. As long
as he lives, he shall be granted to the Lord. You know, to Hannah,
This child was everything. And she gives everything to the
Lord. What a wonder. What a wonder. Well, let me just close with this,
a few questions. Think of this. Do you think Hannah
ever regretted her faithfulness? In chapter three, we read something
that's notable. In chapter three, verse one,
we read, Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli, and the
word of the Lord was rare in those days. There was no widespread
revelation. Now think of that. Consider now.
The state of Israel at this time, the word of the Lord was rare. There was no widespread revelation,
no prophet to speak the words of God. Now, you and I might
not think too much of that anymore. Look, we have the word of God every day. The Lord has spoken to us finally
and fully and completely in his son. And we have the entire revelation
God has given to man. But this wasn't the case in these
days. No, no, that Israel waited and looked for the prophet of
the Lord to speak the words that God had to give them. And the
word of the Lord was rare in those days. Can you imagine,
for the true believers, how they longed for a revelation from
the Lord? But the word of the Lord was
rare in those days. But you know the story, don't
you? Here is this boy Samuel, and
he's still a boy, and the Lord calls him, and the Lord calls
him to be his prophet. He puts his words in his mouth,
in the mouth of Samuel, and Samuel becomes a great prophet of Israel. At the end of that chapter we
read, then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh, for the Lord
revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord,
and the word of Samuel came to all of Israel. All of Israel. God spoke through Samuel to Israel
and made himself known. Now, do you think Hannah ever
regretted giving her son to the Lord? I don't think so. I don't
think so. Samuel, as you know, became a
great prophet. He appointed Saul and was the
Lord's instrument to remove Saul. He anointed the great King of
Israel, David. He did a mighty work and he was
a faithful prophet. You know, you think, just think
naturally of this mother, Hannah. As he grows up and becomes a
prophet of the Lord and speaks the words of the Lord, wouldn't
the mother say, he's my son, he's my son. No, I don't think
she ever regretted it. But two, I don't think we can comprehend
how hard that was, naturally. I mean, she was going to give
her son to the Lord, but how hard that must have been. How heartbreaking. But two, look,
let's close with the first verse of chapter two. She's just given
her son to serve the Lord. How devastating that must have
been. How distraught you would think she would be. But what,
look, Hannah prayed. Now listen to this, this is astonishing. Hannah prayed and said, my heart
rejoices in the Lord, my horn is exalted in the Lord. I smile
at my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation. Now we can't
go through this song, this prayer of Hannah's, but what grace was
granted to this woman. The Lord reveals to her, This
astonishing prophecy, this gospel prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This prophecy of the coming Redeemer and Savior. And the prophecy
there, she goes through magnifying the name of the Lord and look
down in verse 10. She continues and closes, the
adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces. From heaven,
he will thunder against them. The Lord will judge the ends
of the earth. He will give strength to his
king and exalt the horn of his anointed. Hannah rejoiced. Here she gave her son to serve
the Lord forever and she prayed and she rejoiced. She rejoiced
in God's salvation. She rejoiced in God's king. She rejoiced in his anointed. This great As you have time,
just read through that and think. The word of the Lord was rare
in those days. And here God speaks through this
woman and gives this prophecy which foreshadowed the
coming of Christ who would save his people from their sins. Amen.