​​​"The Joyful Prayer of a Faithful Woman"​
1 Samuel 1:21-2:11
Pastor Luke Tanis
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Introduction:
We are in the second sermon of our new series in the book of 1 Samuel
Pastor Josh did a great job last week giving the backstory that leads to 1 Samuel. If you weren’t here last week I’d highly recommend you go online and listen
Just to give a quick Recap: After the death of Moses and Joshua, we have the time of Judges, lasts around 300 years. This was a time of great wickedness. The last verse of Judges reminds us.
Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
1 Samuel picks up in the last days of the judges, and ultimately will reveal the story of Israel first 2 kings, Saul and David.
Context: Great Wickedness surrounded the tabernacle, in the coming weeks we’ll see more of that wickedness descried but against this backdrop of wickedness and darkness, Hannah remained faithful and God did not forget her. 1 Samuel 1-2 reveals for us God’s working in and through Hannah.
In some ways you could say Hannah is a key that unlocks the rest of the story that leads to the New Testament and where we are today. It flows through her weakness and her faithfulness. God using a willing servant to fulfill his covenantal promise and bring about his perfect plan. And our text today is the response of Hannah to God’s amazing answer to her honest prayer.
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The First day of school.
For kids there is a nervousness, what will it be like, will I make new friends
for parents though dropping off their young child for the first time can be much harder. Maybe it’s the first time being gone that long from your child in a while, will my child be ok, what will happen if they get hurt
Our text today reveals Hannah at a first day experience, but unlike most first day experiences she is going to drop off her little toddler and he will never return home. He has a lifelong calling.
If you put yourself in her shoes you can try to image what it would be like to say goodbye to the child you’ve so desperately longed for and prayer for.
yet what’s amazing about our passage today is Hannah’s unwavering resolve and confidence in God’s plan. Hannah’s prayer in Chapter 1 was not merely for a selfish title of mother but rather a desire for Gods’ perfect plan. Now Hannah may have been nervous, she may have shed a few tears but the text does not record that this time. The text reveals a joyful prayer of a faithful woman.
Throughout this song there is the reality that Hannah will be leaving her toddler.
Hannah watched God answer her prayer and because of her confidence in God before she received a child, she had confidence in God that He would use her son in amazing ways.
Our text begins with a few verses explaining the response of Hannah and Elkanah to God’s blessing them with a child.
Read 1 Samuel 1:21-28
Hannah’s prayer is powerful because she stands at the cusp of history. Her act of surrender and faithfulness leads to many more acts of surrender and faithfulness.
Her prayer is significant for the
What stands out most of out from this prayer of Hannah’s is how much of God’s character is displayed. Because of Hannah’s Genuine belief she makes much of God.
What does genuine belief look?
Hannah’s prayer or song reveals 4 examples of what genuine belief in God looks like.
Genuine belief looks like:
1.God’s Gracious Character Experienced
A. Hannah’s experience is Personal
Hannah’s powerful prayer begins with her personal experience.
Look at what God has done for me.
(3 uses of My, her song will reflect Israel but for now this is Hannah’s personal song)
My heart rejoices
My horn is exalted. My horn is raised high!
Here Hannah uses a common symbol or metaphor of strength, The Horn of an ox is what she has in mind which was connected to military Strength.
Hannah shows that her strength comes from the Lord
“I smile” (my mouth boasts, speaks boldly), at my enemies
Because: “I rejoice in your salvation”. She has tasted and seen that God is good, he provides.
When Israel was in a leadership crisis, so few people knowing and fearing God, Hannah not only knew God but had a personal relationship with the Lord of Hosts. She had specific, personal instances she could point to of God’s gracious character.
B.Hannah’s experience is Transformative
Look at her prayer from last week, chapter 1, She is sad
1 Samuel 1:10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish.
vs 15 I am a woman of sorrowful spirit.
Now contrast that with a rejoicing and exultant heart
1 Samuel 2:1 I rejoice in your salvation”.
Hannah’s Transformation: Sad/bad soul, troubled spirit poured out—-now “my heart exults in the Lord”
Her prayer reflects some of the same language used by the Moses.
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Hannah knew God’s character in the past and saw him personally transform her life.
God provided for her in amazing ways. God answered her prayer
Hannah didn’t just know facts about God. Hannah knew the Lord of hosts personally and her prayer was answered because she had genuine belief and was willing to ask.
Answered Prayer,
“God delights to hear us ask” God used the prayers of a faithful, humble women to bring about one of the most significant developments for the nation of Israel.
This same God delights to her his children ask. Not selfishly but honestly,
small prayers-small God. Big prayers-Big God.
if you genuinely believe God does your prayer life reflect it? Have you seen God answer prayers you yourself struggled to even believe?
For Hannah, her prayer was not merely a wish, it was a prayer based on the character of God. No matter how God responded, she could put her trust in God knowing His way is best.
Application: If you were asked to fill a blank sheet of paper with your personal experiences of God, what would you say?
2. God’s Unique Character Declared
2 “No one is holy like the Lord,
For there is none besides You,
Nor is there any rock like our God.
Part of praise is saying to God things that are true of Him. This brings God glory. Our acknowledgement of the truest reality.
God you are______.
this is what it means when Jesus says “Hallowed be your name”
Hannah praises God declaring how unique and different than everything else He is.
“no one holy like the Lord”
“none besides you”
Deuteronomy 6:4–6 4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!
Hannah was saying this against the backdrop of many false gods being worshipped, false teachings about others gods. She stood firm in her belief and her declaration that there is no one holy like the Lord.
She was not ashamed and she was proud to know and serve the one true God.
“no rock like our God”
Hannah does not just use generic descriptions or terms, God has been revealed to be a rock
Psalm 18:2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
and she has cast herself on the rock and found Him to be stable.
The human heart is fickle and so easily tempted to look to the world for stability. Hannah looked to God as her Rock. She desired that others would cling to God and trust in Him when all other ground is sinking sand.
Note: This flows out of Hannah. Why would she devote so much time to coming to the tabernacle to pray? To devote herself to prayer? Why did she persist?
Because she knew God’s character.
She knew God personally, She knew who He was and what He had done in the past. She knew there is no one else like God. Her language used to describe God is found throughout the first 5 books of the Bible. She knew Scripture and she knew God personally.
Holiness
Leviticus 11:44 For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
Uniqueness
Exodus 15:11 “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Rock
Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.).”
SLIDE: Holy perfection,
No Competition
Rock-like-protection
3. God’s Powerful Character Displayed
verse 3-8 are the heart of this prayer and song. this is where Hannah connects God’s character to every day life. She shows just how real God is.
A. God is a God of knowledge
3 “Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth,
For the Lord is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed.
Before God, The prideful are silenced, arrogance is stopped.
He is all knowing and he is just and righteous
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B.. God is a God of Reversals. Reversals are common with God. (4-8)
C. God is a God of Power
8b “For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, And He has set the world upon them.
Hannah not only experienced this personally but her song is introducing a major theme of reversals that is seen throughout 1-2 Samuel. God’s way of accomplishing is plan is different than anyone else.
When people obey and respond to God’s will he displayed his power in amazing ways. He is the creator, the sustainer.
No problem is too big for God.
No story too messed up that it can’t be redeemed.
As Hannah stood at Shiloh, she reflected on all the ways God is at work.
This is who God is and her worldview enabled her to lean in and trust God even at a time when so few people respected and obeyed the word of God.
What difference is God making in your every day life?
in your worries, in your prayers?
Does belief in Him provide you a firm foundation? An ability to not be thrown around by the dizzying 24/7 headlines you read or hear about?
God is powerful and He is to be trusted.
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4. God’s Just Character Anticipated.
Vs 10 now brings us to Hannah’s triumphant anticipation of God’s just character.
Hannah’s know’s God personally, she’s she seen what He does and she knows what God has said He will do. No matter how bleak or upside things may seem, Hannah confidently anticipates that God will do what He said He will do!
Because Hannah’s faith is genuine, and personal Hannah is confident about what God will do.
This is why she can leave her long awaited son at the steps of the Temple. Because God is the one who rules over the world. She has only and always found him faithful and she knows He will be faithful to do what He said He will do.
at least 7 times in these 2 verses Hannah speaks of what God will do in the future.
The Book of 1 Samuel opens with this powerful anticipation of what God will do and the rest of 1-2 Samuel is the first chapter of God’s working
7 times in vs 9-10 Hannah anticipates
1 Samuel 2:9
A. 9 He will guard the feet of His saints,
But the wicked shall be silent in darkness. “For by strength no man shall prevail.
B. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces;
From heaven He will thunder against them.
C. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.
D. “He will give strength to His king, And exalt the horn of His anointed.”
A. God will Protect his people
B. God will Punish his enemies (shattered, broken, thundered)
C. God will Judge the world
D. God will Provide a King
Here is humble Hannah referencing a future king at a time when no king had been established.
Yet Hannah knew what God had said
All the way back in Genesis (Gen 17), God had revealed that his plan would include kings. Then again in Deuteronomy (17) God further reveals what a king would look like. Hannah along with Israel had awaited this fulfillment and now her son would help establish the monarchy a few chapters later.
God would give strength to his king, exalt the horn of his anointed.
What is amazing about this verse is if Hannah could be here today, and hold the New Testament, she would see the word Messiah used there and she would see the fulfillment of her words. Not only would there be anointed kings in the coming years but there would one day but the True and Eternal King, the King of Kings, the Messiah, the Christ that would come.
In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the word used for Messiah or “anointed” is the Greek word for Christ.
God’s promise keeping Character never changes and Hannah looked ahead at what God would do.
1 Samuel 2:11 Then Elkanah went to his house at Ramah. But the child ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest.
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Hannah knew God and genuinely believed God.
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The entire nation of Israel would receive blessings because of her prayer.
God records this faithful prayer at the beginning of Samuel to remind us it’s not about your position or status. God uses people based on their humility and willingness to lean on God not on their strength and status.
Great status and power will be seen in the lives of the Kings to follow a 1-2 Samuel unfold yet in God’s eyes they are equal with every human being. Each of us faces a choice every day to either rely on our own strength or rely entirely on God.
David’s life displays this. When He relies on God amazing things happen.
When he relies on his own strength, misery follows.
For Hannah, her strength came from her weakness. Here, in her brokenness, God displayed his power and his love and before our eyes we have Hannah’s experience recorded for us to learn from.
God used the songs of both Hannah and David to bookend 1-2 Samuel.
God brings together the song of a desperate but faithful women and the words of the mighty King of Israel. 2 people with vastly different purposes and yet both had the same perspective and insight about God.
Over a thousand years later, another weak and humble lady would echo the words of Hannah as she too would experience God’s power in weakness and share her insights in the form of song.
When Mary reflected on God’s plan, she used many of these same elements from Hannah’s song in her in song (Luke 1:46-55) .
Though times and circumstances change, God’s character remains the same.
Now 3,000 years later, when you encounter circumstances and struggles and are faced with a choice, How will you respond to the situations of life you find ourselves in?
Will you respond with genuine belief like Hannah did?
If you follow Hannah’s Pattern
you can rejoice in your salvation and personal experience of God, in God’s power displayed on the Cross. A salvation that leads to joy.
you can marvel at God’s unique character. Look at who God is, holy, no one else like Him. we look to him and we trust in Him.
You can take on the worldview of the Bible, no matter how much sin rages around you, remember how things operate in God’s kingdom. God is a God of reversals and you do not look to your own strength.
you can remain faithful to God even if the people all around you neglect or reject God’s Word.
You can have a confidence that God will accomplish His perfect plan in the future. He will judge the world in righteousness. He will make all things right.
You can have utmost confidence in the Holy, All-powerful God
For Hannah, her personal relationship with God revealed a genuine trust in God and an awareness of what God is capable of doing. She trusted and saw direct answers to her prayer. This only fueled her faith and trust in God even as she stood on the cusp of handing her son back to God. Confident in the goodness and power of God.
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Where are you today in your relationship with God?
Do you know him to be gracious, holy, powerful, and just? Have you personally experienced the goodness of God? Have you received the forgiveness of sins he offers through a personal faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation?
If you have never done that, then today can be the day you can rejoice in your salvation as you repent of your sins and put your faith in Christ alone for salvation. The one who took your place on the cross.
If you have experienced God’s goodness, you’ve experienced the joy that Hannah speaks of. Are you displaying a confidence in God’s character today? Is He your rock? Do you look to the future with the kind of confidence Hannah had? Knowing that God will one day judge the world. He will make all things right?
Hannah’s prayer and song of thanksgiving provide a powerful reminder of the importance of
looking back at (what God has done for us), reflecting on who He is and the joy that He brings to our lives.
Looking around and seeing God’s goodness on display in our lives and then looking forward to the future with hope that God is sovereign, he is powerful and His will will be accomplished in the world.
As we close today, we have an opportunity to follow the pattern of Hannah’s song. In a few moments we will observe the Lord’s supper, a time where you can just like Hannah’s song, reflect on God’s goodness and power displayed in your life, with thankfulness and joy, and praise Him for His work on the cross.
You can confess sin as you think of the cross, Sin that Jesus gladly forgives and then you can thank God for his provision of Christ, and take comfort in his future return when he will Come to judge the world in righteousness.
As Hannah prayed, There is none holy like the Lord.
Will you trust God completely today?