Mothers Day 1 Samuel 1
1 Samuel 1 (NIV)
Happy Mother’s Day. I want to take you to a passage this morning that tells about a mother that I think exemplifies a mother that trusts in God, not in her circumstances. Turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel 1
PRAY
1 There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. 3 Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the Lord. 4 Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb. 6 And because the Lord had closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. 7 This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. 8 Elkanah her husband would say to her, “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?” 9 Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s temple.
1. Hannah’s Problems made Hannah pray.
10 In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord. 11 And she made a vow, saying,
“O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”
2. Hannah’s Praying Opened Up Opportunities
12 As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk 14 and said to her, “How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine.” 15 “Not so, my lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. 16 Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”
17 Eli answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.” 18 She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast. 19 Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah lay with Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. 20 So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son.
She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.” 21 When the man Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow,
22 Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the Lord, and he will live there always.” 23 “Do what seems best to you,” Elkanah her husband told her. “Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the Lord make good his word.” So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him. 24 After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh.
25 When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli, 26 and she said to him, “As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. 27 I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.
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3. Hannah turned her intercession into a Testimony!
Then Hannah prayed and said:
“My heart rejoices in the Lord;
in the Lord my horna is lifted high.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
for I delight in your deliverance.
2 “There is no one holyb like the Lord;
there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
3 “Do not keep talking so proudly
or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
for the Lord is a God who knows,
and by him deeds are weighed.
4 “The bows of the warriors are broken,
but those who stumbled are armed with strength.
5 Those who were full hire themselves out for food,
but those who were hungry hunger no more.
She who was barren has borne seven children,
but she who has had many sons pines away.
6 “The Lord brings death and makes alive;
he brings down to the gravec and raises up.
7 The Lord sends poverty and wealth;
he humbles and he exalts.
8 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes
and has them inherit a throne of honor.
“For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s;
upon them he has set the world.
9 He will guard the feet of his saints,
but the wicked will be silenced in darkness.
“It is not by strength that one prevails;
10 those who oppose the Lord will be shattered.
He will thunder against them from heaven;
the Lord will judge the ends of the earth.
“He will give strength to his king
and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
11 Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy ministered before the Lord under Eli the priest.
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4. Hannah faithfully served God and saw God’s Blessing
17 This sin of the young men was very great in the Lord’s sight, for theya were treating the Lord’s offering with contempt.
18 But Samuel was ministering before the Lord—a boy wearing a linen ephod. 19 Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. 20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the Lord give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to the Lord.” Then they would go home. 21 And the Lord was gracious to Hannah; she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.
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RESIGNATION
I have a special announcement I want to read to you this morning.. Before I share it I want you to know that God’s favor is on this Church. Dayspring Church is a shining beacon of truth in this city.
I have thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the ministry this past year at Dayspring Church. To borrow a phrase from the apostle Paul….. a great door for effective work has opened to me. The Pastor of Bethel Temple in Ft. Worth announced his resignation last Sunday…..the Board of Bethel Temple has asked me to come and serve them for an indefinite period of time as Interim Pastor;
Since that is the case I am resigning the position of Interim Pastor at Dayspring effective June 1. I love you and I love this Church….but I can assure you of this. God has many good things in store for Dayspring. The board and elders are currently in the process, of finding another Interim Pastor. God is AT WORK. And you can look for more information regarding this next week.
We have plenty of time to visit about this, but we’re going to honor our mothers and have a great day…..LET’S PRAY AND BE DISMISSED.
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a Horn here symbolizes strength; also in verse 10.
b Or no Holy One
c Hebrew Sheol
[1]The Holy Bible : New International Version, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984), 1 Sa 2:1-11.
a Or men
[2]The Holy Bible : New International Version, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984), 1 Sa 2:17-21.