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1 Samuel 1:1-20, 2:1-10
1:1 There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite. 2 He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
3 Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the LORD. 4 On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the LORD had closed her womb.1 6 And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb. 7 So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. 8 And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”
9 After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the LORD. 10 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. 11 And she vowed a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”
12 As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. 14 And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” 15 But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD. 16 Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” 17 Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.” 18 And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
19 They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. 20 And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the LORD.”2
[1] 1:5
[2] 1:20
(ESV)
2:1 And Hannah prayed and said,
“My heart exults in the LORD;
my horn is exalted in the LORD.
My mouth derides my enemies,
because I rejoice in your salvation.
2 “There is none holy like the LORD:
for there is none besides you;
there is no rock like our God.
3 Talk no more so very proudly,
let not arrogance come from your mouth;
for the LORD is a God of knowledge,
and by him actions are weighed.
4 The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the feeble bind on strength.
5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.
The barren has borne seven,
but she who has many children is forlorn.
6 The LORD kills and brings to life;
he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
7 The LORD makes poor and makes rich;
he brings low and he exalts.
8 He raises up the poor from the dust;
he lifts the needy from the ash heap
to make them sit with princes
and inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s,
and on them he has set the world.
9 “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,
but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness,
for not by might shall a man prevail.
10 The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces;
against them he will thunder in heaven.
The LORD will judge the ends of the earth;
he will give strength to his king
and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
(ESV)
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
You have your Bibles. Please open them to first Samuel, the first chapter. We'll be reading the first twenty verses of that chapter and the first ten verses of the second chapter of first Samuel. Of course, it's also printed in your worship guide and available there. Here's God's word.
Speaker 1:There was a certain man of Rephidim Zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah, the son of Jerohim, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, and Ephrathite. He had 2 wives. The name of one was Hannah and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the 2 sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were priests of the Lord.
Speaker 1:On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah, his wife, and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah, he gave a double portion because he loved her, and though the Lord had closed her womb. And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her because the lord had closed her womb. So, it went on year by year as often as she went up to the house of the lord. She used to provoke her.
Speaker 1:Therefore, Hannah wept and would not eat. And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than 10 sons?
Speaker 1:After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli, the priest, was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. And she bowed a vow and said, oh lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head. As she continued praying before the lord, Eli observed her mouth.
Speaker 1:Hannah was speaking in her heart, only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore, Eli took her to be a drunken woman. And Eli said to her, how long will you go on being a drunk? Put your wine away from you. But Hannah answered, no, my lord.
Speaker 1:I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the lord. Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman. For all along, I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation. Then Eli answered, go in peace, and the god of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.
Speaker 1:And she said, let your servant find favor in your eyes. Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad. They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the lord. Then they went back to their house at Rama and Elkanah, knew Hannah his wife, and the lord remembered her. And in due time, Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, I have asked for him from the lord.
Speaker 2:This is first Samuel 2:1 through 10. And Hannah prayed and said, my heart exalts in the Lord. My strength is exalted in the Lord. My mouth derides my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation. There is none holy like the Lord.
Speaker 2:There is none beside you. There is no rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly. Let not arrogance come from your mouth. For the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
Speaker 2:The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who are hungry have ceased no hunger have ceased to hunger. The baron has born 7, but she who has many children is forlorn. The Lord kills and brings to life. He brings down to Sheol and raises up.
Speaker 2:The Lord makes poor and makes rich. He brings low and he exalts. He he raises up the poor from the dust. He lifts the needy from a from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and on them He has set the world.
Speaker 2:He will guard the feet of the faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness. For not by might shall a man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. Against them, he will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.
Speaker 2:He will give strength to his king and exalt the power of his anointed. This is the word of the Lord.
Jeffrey Heine:Thanks be to God. Pray with me. Our father, we ask that you would honor the very reading of your word. That even now, it would begin permeating into our hearts, into our minds, transforming us. Holy spirit, I pray that you would break down whatever walls need to be broken down, lord, so that we might receive your word.
Jeffrey Heine:For your words are life, and we need life. I pray in this moment that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore. But, lord, may your words remain, and may they change us. And I pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.
Jeffrey Heine:I talked to another pastor, not too long ago, and we were talking about things that we, like to preach from. And he said, I will never preach from the Old Testament at my church ever. He says, I just always want to preach Jesus. And, even went on to say he thought preaching from the Old was essentially a waste of time. And I was like, what waste of time?
Jeffrey Heine:Do you, do you just like fast forward to the final chorus of a song? You know, when you listened to it on a CD, do you, do you just skip straight to the last chapter in a book and just read that? So we don't do that. When when you watch Star Wars and actually use this analogy, I said, you know, when when you watch Star Wars, do you just watch the scene where, Darth Vader says, Luke, I'm your father because that's like the pinnacle of all of them. It makes no sense unless there's a build up.
Jeffrey Heine:I actually got to watch Star Wars with my kids, last year. And when it got to the scene where Darth Vader says, Luke, I am your father, I was just watching my kids the whole time, and, and my oldest Caroline just grabbed her mouth and she couldn't breathe. She she actually couldn't breathe. Natalie, my middle child, got up and just started running. She just started running running in circles, running around the house.
Jeffrey Heine:She she couldn't she didn't know how to process what had happened. The next morning, Lauren didn't know that we we had watched this, and she is serving breakfast to the kids. And Caroline comes in for breakfast and is just very melancholy. And, she won't eat. And Lauren's like, you know, what's wrong?
Jeffrey Heine:And Caroline's like, I just rather not talk about it. And she's trying to just like, get this out. And then finally Caroline says, I just, I learned something yesterday. I was like, what is it? And all these things are going through Lauren's mind.
Jeffrey Heine:What did she hear? What does what is she too young to have heard? And and Foshee goes, Darth Vader is Luke's dad. And it just blew her world, and it took her a week to get over it. The only way it ever has an impact like that is if you've been going through the movie and you allow it.
Jeffrey Heine:Once you hit that moment to have the emotional impact it's supposed to have. Going through the old testament is similar. We kinda, you know, you wanna just let's just jump to Jesus. Let's jump to Jesus. But if you really want to understand who Jesus is, you've got to walk the path of the old Testament to get there.
Jeffrey Heine:We study the old testament in order to understand and appreciate the new testament even more. As a matter of fact, you have to you have to read the Old Testament if you want to know who Jesus is. After the resurrection, possibly, you'll remember the story. 2 disciples were walking on the road to Emmaus. And this is after Jesus has risen from the dead, and they come upon Jesus and he joins them, but they don't recognize who he is.
Jeffrey Heine:He's just a stranger to them. And so as Jesus is walking along with them and He's dialoguing with them, we read this in Luke 24. And he said to them, oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that Christ should suffer these things and enter into glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets he interpreted to them and all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
Jeffrey Heine:This is really a remarkable story because Jesus is walking next to these people who'd already knew him and say, you know, let me feed you from, just from some loaf of bread. Let me feed 5,000 or, or let me do some other grand miracle. He doesn't do that. He says, let's go to the old Testament. Let's go to the scriptures.
Jeffrey Heine:And he walks through scriptures in order to reveal himself to them. And I love how it's described afterwards, after he came and left. They said, did not our hearts burn within us as he opened up the scriptures? My prayer for us as a church is as we go through the life of David, as we go through the old testament, that our hearts would be set a flame, that they would burn within us a new passion about Jesus, that we would understand him more, that we would love him more through our study of the old testament. Exodus, and we got to see how all of them point to Jesus.
Jeffrey Heine:All of them lay the foundation for who he is. And so when he come to Abraham, you see how Abraham, yes, he answered the call. Yes, he went out to a land unknown but Abraham is merely pointing forward to a truer and a better version of himself. He's pointing to a god who left everything that was comfortable to go and to form a new people of God. Jesus is the truer and the better Isaac who was not just offered up to the, on the altar and survived.
Jeffrey Heine:Jesus was literally offered, sacrificed in order that we might be saved. And just as God said to Abraham, now I know since you have not withheld your only son that you love me, we can look at the death of Jesus and say to God, now we know that you love us because you have not withheld your only son. Jesus is the truer and the better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice that we might receive life and be blessed. Jesus is the true and better Joseph who at the right hand of the King, now offers forgiveness to those who betrayed him, those who sold him, and uses his new power to save them. Jesus is the newer and the better Moses who stands in the gap between us and God as our mediator.
Jeffrey Heine:And we've seen this as we've walked through the Old Testament, and now we come to the life of King David. Who if you're reading through the old testament, David absolutely dominates the pages of the bible. Outside of Jesus, there is there there are more pages devoted to the life of David than any other person. You cannot overstate his importance. Even in the New Testament, he's mentioned 60 times.
Jeffrey Heine:Jesus was born in the City of David. Jesus was called the Son of David. And when Jesus was arguing over who He was, when when he gave his apologetic for I am the son of God, the only apologetic he ever gave, he pointed to David. He said, you wanna know that I'm the son of God? Look at David.
Jeffrey Heine:Look at what he said about me in Psalm 110. So you can't overstate his importance. So I'm excited about walking through, the life of David with you. I was thinking a lot about where should we begin? And I thought, well, we'll begin at, the beginning before the beginning.
Jeffrey Heine:We're gonna begin by looking at the birth of Samuel who would be the one who anointed David as king. Actually, we're we're really going to, we're gonna focus in on this time because it's a transitional time in Israel's history. Up to this point before, Israel was kind of this loose confederation of states. They they didn't have a monarchy. They had judges that would come from time to time and deliver them, but there was no king.
Jeffrey Heine:And actually the judges that came got more and more evil and Israel began spiraling down into just moral decay, idolatry, and they had given up on god and they thought that god had given up on them. They were so defeated at this time. And this is where we come upon Hannah and Samuel. Hannah was barren. It's the very first thing we know about Hannah.
Jeffrey Heine:Hannah represents all of Israel at this time. She is fruitless. She's without hope here. Look at verse 2. It says this, Elkanah had 2 wives.
Jeffrey Heine:The name of one was Hannah. The name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. Now throughout the Old Testament, being barren is always a sign of hopelessness. So Hannah is a woman without any of hope there because there was no greater shame in her day than to be childless.
Jeffrey Heine:To be barren meant that you were useless, that you were fruitless. It's hard for us to understand this in our time, but but during Hannah's day, a woman's only value came in her ability to produce children, preferably sons. That was her only value. The great Hebrew and Jewish scholar Robert Alter says that in the ancient Near East, a woman had one great avenue to fulfillment, and that was through bearing sons. So that was enormous pressure if if you're a woman.
Jeffrey Heine:It's why Rachel back in Genesis said, give me sons or I'll die because you feel that. You will die if you don't have children. There was such huge pressure and and really you would die if you did not have children because children were needed for a number of reasons. You had to have children to keep your army up. Remember, these are loose tribes, always fighting with one another and fighting neighboring tribes, and whoever had the biggest army won.
Jeffrey Heine:And so you needed to produce sons. You also needed children in order to make it financially. You need sons to go out and work the fields, sow the seeds, plow. You needed them to be shepherds to take care of the sheep. You needed children for your retirement plan.
Jeffrey Heine:You know, there there isn't you don't have, like, your sheep mutual fund here. You have you have children who are going to take care of you when you're older. I keep telling my children that now. I, I'm like, yeah, I've gone to each one of them personally and I said, you know, when we're older, do not put me in a home. Okay?
Jeffrey Heine:Do not put me in a home. Take care of me. Alright? And I I in their eyes, that day's coming sooner than later. I mean, just last week, I'm working in the backyard.
Jeffrey Heine:I'm doing something. And Natalie, my middle child comes up to me and she goes, Daddy, that's really good for somebody your age. Wow. I mean, she she thinks I'm already out to pasture. In this day, children are essential if you're going to survive.
Jeffrey Heine:Probably one of the reasons that Elkanah got another wife is because Hannah was barren and he needed children. He needed somebody who could give that to him. To make matters worse for Hannah, Peninnah would constantly provoke and irritate her. Look at verse 6. Says, and her rival, that's Peninnah, used to provoke her grievously to irritate her because the lord had closed her womb.
Jeffrey Heine:The word irritate there does somewhat of a injustice. It's a word that's used to describe a thunderstorm, meaning that when, when Penaina would say these things to her, her her life was in turmoil. It was being blown all around. She was thundering inside. Every time they would, you know, they would go to the well and get water or something.
Jeffrey Heine:Hannah had to endure like all the whispers of other the women around. Look at Hannah. What what a moocher. What does she contribute to society? And then Penina is always like, I know.
Jeffrey Heine:I know. So this was the world of Hannah and this went on year after year and it probably intensified every year because Panana kept having children. As the years passed, Hannah's biological clock is ticking away. She's feeling more and more pressure. She begins to spiral into depression.
Jeffrey Heine:You look at verse 7, which says, so when on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore, Hannah wept and would not eat. So so she's full of tears. She's losing her appetite.
Jeffrey Heine:She's sad. These these are clinical signs here of depression. And and notice that it's even happening when she's supposed to be going to worship. So when she's going to the tabernacle, when she's going to the house of the lord, this is when these things would intensify. And I just kind of picture the scene of Peninnah, you know, maybe maybe going late to the house of God and say, you know, I'm sorry I'm late.
Jeffrey Heine:You know, I just had so many children I had to get, you know, had to get ready for that I'm always late for these things. Almost every comment would just be stabbing, would provoke her. It had to be hard to even worship. Now, today, we don't use our children for our security. I can tell you right off, you don't use them for financial security because they are a huge drain financially.
Jeffrey Heine:They cost a lot of money, but we still struggle with the same things as Hannah. Every culture places an ultimate value on something. In America, I would say it's your looks, it's your education, it's your money, it's who you know. If you are a tall, you know, blonde, beautiful woman and you go in for a job interview with other equally qualified people, do you know who's going to get the job? The same one who got asked to all the dances in high school, the same one who got asked to all the parties, the same one who gets all the attention when they walk in the room, because that is what we value, beauty.
Jeffrey Heine:If somebody were to come in here, or, or if you were to meet 2 people, 1, 1 very poor and one educated and, you know, they, they pull up, one one guy pulls up in their new Porsche and they come in wearing the Rolex and another guy takes the city bus here and, you know, is wearing his Timex. Who do you naturally want to be a friend with? Who do you want to take advice from? If, if the rich man came to you and said, you know what you should do with your life? Are you like, yeah, I gotta wait.
Jeffrey Heine:I gotta write this down. But if the poor guy comes to you and says, you know what you should do with your life? Are you, are you really listening? What do we value? And so our modern culture might look down on Hannah and say, it's very primitive, but we have our own things.
Jeffrey Heine:She'd probably look at, you know, us and say, well, all right, my culture puts a premium value on having children, but you know what? At least we don't struggle with eating disorders, But that's how much you value a unattainable level of beauty that you would do anything to attain it, try to attain it. So every culture has something that we go to and we say, this is what makes us something. And we can relate to Hannah in this. Well, in verse 8, Elkanah tries to comfort his wife.
Jeffrey Heine:Look what he does. In Elkanah, her husband said to her, Hannah, Now, this sounds really sweet at first that, you know, Elkanah, he's really trying to comfort his wife, but actually he's becoming more of a problem. He's making things worse for her. He tells her, you know what? You don't, you don't need children to find your value.
Jeffrey Heine:You you don't need that. You you can find your value in my love. And so do you see what he's doing? He's saying, don't build your life on having children. Instead, build your life on having my love and my affection.
Jeffrey Heine:But all he's doing is transferring her identity from one sinking sand to another sinking sand. Let me tell you, I love my wife. I am absolutely devoted to her and yet I will disappoint her. Probably the biggest hurts she ever has in life are going to come from me. If she builds her identity on my affection, on my love, she's going to falter.
Jeffrey Heine:And ultimately, someday, we will part. Either she will bury me or I will bury her, and then where is our identity built then? Last week, I was listening to Doctor. Phil, and I I think it was doctor Phil. I need to explain myself.
Jeffrey Heine:I I was at the gym and in the men's locker room. They had a TV on and doctor Phil was on. Okay. I don't normally watch doctor Phil. And doctor Phil was trying to comfort a woman who, had lost a child.
Jeffrey Heine:And I think it was Doctor. Phil. He's the bald guy. Right? All right.
Jeffrey Heine:And this, this woman just, she could not be comforted. All right. And, and, and so it finally he goes, you have another son, don't you? And she says, yes. And he said, now that's her.
Jeffrey Heine:That's him right there. She's like, yes. It's like, now look look at look at him. He needs you. He is looking to you for strength.
Jeffrey Heine:You have a purpose for living. He's right there in front of you. Now I was thinking that is horrible advice because all you're doing is transferring once again. Hey, you want to know your reason for living? What wasn't in that child?
Jeffrey Heine:Nelson, this child. What if something happens to that child? Does she no longer have a reason for living what he should have done? So you know what? You need to build your life on the solid rock of Jesus Christ, who will never disappoint you, who will never leave you, whose love always goes towards you.
Jeffrey Heine:When you hold on to Jesus's hand, even death cannot separate it. That's what he should have said. That's what you build your life on is the solid rock of Jesus. Not just transferring from one sinking sand to another. This is what Elkanah should have done.
Jeffrey Heine:He should have told his wife, look to god, find fulfillment in Him, but he didn't. Well, thankfully, Hannah does what what my wife does a lot. She ignored him. Listen to the Lord instead. She doesn't even respond to him.
Jeffrey Heine:Instead, she pours out her heart to the Lord. Look at verse 10. It says, She was deeply distressed, and she prayed to the Lord, and she wept bitterly. But will give your servant a son. Then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.
Jeffrey Heine:Now this is an astounding prayer when you study it. At first, you think she's, she's interacting like, my wife and I do a lot. You know, hey, I'll give you a 15 minute back rub. If you give me a 15 back rub and we're like, you know, deal, you know, we're gonna do that. You know, God, you give me a son and I'm gonna worship you, you know, deal.
Jeffrey Heine:And that's not at all what's, what's happening here. She does get a son, but it's not a deal because when she gets this son, she's immediately giving him away. He's gonna be raised in the temple. She's gonna give him to the Lord, make him take take a Nazarite vow. So he's not gonna live with his mom.
Jeffrey Heine:He's gonna spend his whole life working and serving in the tabernacle. And this means that all the reasons for which Hannah initially wanted a child for security, a child to, you know, to be a productive member of society so they could go off and fight in the army. So he could provide me financial security. He's my retirement plan. All of those reasons are gone because she is giving that child away.
Jeffrey Heine:Even the, the emotional side of having the child, holding the child, watching the child play with other kids, gone. Because he'll be raised in the tabernacle. If anything, this is going to hurt her because do you know how hard it would be To where at the age of 2 or maybe at most 3, which is what Samuel was, to take your 2 or 3 year old and give your only son away. Do you know how hard that would be? Even harder than you think because she's giving them to Eli.
Jeffrey Heine:Eli in chapter 3, you find out is a horrible father. She is giving her child and entrusting him to a horrible father. To work in a temple that has a horrible reputation. I can't imagine the pain that she went through in doing this. And I I've heard this said.
Jeffrey Heine:Before Hannah had wanted a child just for her, but now she wanted a child for the lord, a child that the lord would use for his glory. When you look at her situation, nothing actually changes when she's done praying. She's still barren. She's still not pregnant. Nothing changes, but look at verse 18.
Jeffrey Heine:Says, then the woman went her way and she ate and her face was no longer sad. That's what happens when you transfer your identity from sinking sand to the solid rock of God. She's lifted. She's secure because she's no longer entrusting in something that will fade away. Well, within a year, God did give her a child whom she named Samuel.
Jeffrey Heine:She kept her vow, and so probably ages 2 or 3, she gave Samuel into Eli's care at the Tabernacle. And then after she does this, she she burst into song and I would have thought it would have been like a lament because I, it had to be just such sorrow. I would have thought, but actually it is a glorious, glorious prayer slash song. One of the best that we have in the Bible right here from her. Look at chapter 2, we'll read the first couple of verses.
Jeffrey Heine:And Hannah prayed and said, My heart exalts in the Lord. His strength is exalted in the Lord. His mouth derides my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation. There is none holy like the Lord. There is none besides you.
Jeffrey Heine:There is no rock like our God. What, I mean, what words? God, there's no other way, there's no other place I'd rather go to build the identity of my life than you. No rock like you. And I am secure from all my enemies when I do so.
Jeffrey Heine:And the rest of this prayer, it's remarkable. She she prays this great reversal. Basically, how the rich are gonna be thrown down and the the poor are gonna be made rich. How the poor are gonna be exalted, how the hungry are going to be filled. And how God is going to work an incredible redemption.
Jeffrey Heine:And then we get to this, remarkable verse in verse 10 at the end. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. Against them, he will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king and exalt the power of his anointed.
Jeffrey Heine:The word anointed there is the the same word as Messiah. But what is so remarkable about this is she prays this 70, 80 years before Israel has a king. The king's not even on the radar right now, But yet she says the Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king and exalt the power of his anointed or his messiah. And what's happening here is as she's as she's praying or as she's singing these things and she's seeing how God uses weakness for his glory.
Jeffrey Heine:God God uses those who wait patiently for him, for his glory. God uses the poor for his glory, the uneducated for his glory. Those who are hungry for his glory, there's this grand reversal. And as she is seeing how all of this has happened throughout history up to this point, now what happened even more gloriously in the future, she says, in order for this to happen, we have to have a king. Because only a king can undo all the wrongs that are happening right now.
Jeffrey Heine:And so she begins to pray and say, a king will come. And she is pointing to David. King David will come. In many ways, you could kinda see her barrenness and having Samuel leading to King David, very similar to Elizabeth's barrenness, having John the Baptist proclaiming the way to Jesus, paving the way for the kingdom to come. And so she looks forward and she sees the need for a great king.
Jeffrey Heine:And David fills this part in part, but not in whole. If you go for you to the end of second Samuel, we actually read this at the opening of our service. 2nd Samuel in verse chapter 22, David is towards the end of his life. So David now has already been king and he's actually done so much of what Hannah prayed. It was a prophetical prayer about his life.
Jeffrey Heine:We're gonna see in the many weeks ahead that what she prays David unfolds. And then Jesus will unfold even more later. But David begins his prayer at the end of his life and see if these words are familiar. The Lord is my rock. He's my fortress.
Jeffrey Heine:He's my deliverer, my God, my rock, and whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation. Sound familiar? That later on he would go on to say, Who is a rock except our God? The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the rock of my salvation.
Jeffrey Heine:And so David, as he's looking back to the end, and at the rest of his life, at the from the end of his life, he's looking backwards. He's saying over and over again, God has been my strength. I waited patiently for him, and he placed me on his rock. It's the prayer of Hannah fulfilled at least in part Because we have to realize, and we're gonna see this so clearly in the weeks ahead, that David only partially fulfills this. David is always pointing to a truer and a better version of the king of the Jews, of the messiah, of the mighty deliverer.
Jeffrey Heine:In order to understand this in full, we have to look forward a 1000 years from this, and we have to see another barren woman. This time, not barren like Hannah, This one barren as in zero chance of a child. We need to look at the Virgin Mary. It says barren as you come. And while Hannah might have represented the barrenness of all Israel, married the barrenness of the world without hope, And yet, the holy spirit overshadowed her, and she gave birth to a king.
Jeffrey Heine:And what is so remarkable is when she was pregnant, she burst into song. You can read it in Luke 2. It's called a magnificat, and that song is Hannah's prayer in chapter 2. So much of it is drawn from that. She sees the birth of my child is the fulfillment of these things that Samuel pointed to, that king David pointed to, all fulfilled in Jesus.
Jeffrey Heine:Mary's song are full of the same themes. God overthrowing, the rich and raising up the poor. God turning the world completely upside down. God using weakness for glory. And we see that ultimately fulfilled in Jesus.
Jeffrey Heine:In which you had the death of Jesus in which you can't get any weaker, you can't get any more defeated, You can't get any more of a cosmic battle taking on your enemies. Yet it was through that weakness that the enemy, the greatest enemy of all death and sin was defeated. It's only looking at Jesus can we make sin or make sense of, of Hannah's prayer. When he comes to parts, I look in chapter 6, the Lord kills and brings to life. He brings down to Sheol and he raises up.
Jeffrey Heine:He raises up people from from Sheol. Well, David didn't do that. A matter of fact, this whole prayer for us can be seen as resurrection. God is the one who resurrects people. And we see that in Jesus Christ who conquered death itself.
Jeffrey Heine:Jesus is the rock that will never disappoint. He's the rock that never lets go. He's the rock on which we should build our entire life, and he's the rock whom Hannah, Samuel, David, all point. Pray with me. Our father, we thank you that you gave up your son.
Jeffrey Heine:You placed him in a world that was very hostile to him. We could see how that probably broke Hannah's heart to to give Samuel away to do your work in a place that was hostile, but nothing compared to leaving such majesty and descending to us. For we would beat your son, we would crucify him. But God, thank you that you work through weakness. You surprise us.
Jeffrey Heine:That death could not hold your son, Jesus. And in his resurrection, we find our resurrection. And he is the king that will judge the ends of the earth from one end to the other. And we praise you, Jesus, for being our king. And I ask that you would be our rock in which we build our entire lives.
Jeffrey Heine:We pray this in your name, Jesus. Amen.