9 Preaching/Teaching 1 Samuel 1
Notes
Transcript
Hannah- A Praiseworthy Mother
Hannah- A Praiseworthy Mother
I was in Jr. High, ready to go to High School, and running at 10 PM with my mom and our dog Pongo. Pongo was a too-energetic black lab that would pull us for three miles. Mom would get up to work at 4 AM, drive us to all our events, and at this moment in time, she went back to school to get her degree. As you can see, Mom taught me many lessons about life.
Pause for a moment and reflect. What are some of the invaluable lessons your mom has taught you that still resonate in your life today?
What lessons would other people learn from your life if you were a mom?
What about your kids?
What lessons does your life teach those around you? Your actions, your words, your very existence has the power to influence and inspire others.
Today, we are going to look at an exemplary mother in scripture. No, it is not Mary, just like my mom taught me many lessons. Hannah wants to teach us some lessons.
Now, she definitely wants to teach some moms some lessons. But as I was preparing this week, I realized I think, just like my mom, Hannah has some lessons she wants to teach all of us. And if we live these lessons out, they will impact our lives and those around us.
1. Hannah Teaches us to focus on the savior and not the situation (3-8)
1. Hannah Teaches us to focus on the savior and not the situation (3-8)
As I shared about Pongo, I took Mom for granted, as if she was supposed to do that. But she was teaching me a work ethic during that time.
Hannah wants to teach us to focus on the savior and not the situations.
She is married to a guy named Elkanah, and I guess Hannah is his gal that she had swept him off of his feet.
but to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, but the Lord had closed her womb.
But there was a problem. She could not have kids. In our culture, many people do not want to have kids, or they want to wait until they are 45 until they have kids. But in this culture, that was a huge problem.
In the book of Genesis, God chose the first Jewish man named Abraham, and he said you will have so many descendants that it will be more than the stars of the sky. How was that going to happen? People would have kids, and then their kids would have kids, and so forth.
But Hannah could not have kids. I have friends who cannot have kids, and this is a complex and challenging thing for them if infertility is not hard enough.
He had two wives: the name of one was Hannah and the name of the other Peninnah; and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
Her husband had another wife. Many speculated that he had two wives because she could not conceive. This wife was a continual reminder that her dream of having a family, she probably wanted a big family like ours, was DEAD.
Now this man would go up from his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the Lord there.
This is the only time in the Bible up to this point that God is called the Lord of Heaven's Armies.
Isn't it a great reminder that God is present even in our darkest places?
When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters;
This guy was providing for an entire family while being married to Hannah.
When Heather was in college, one of her friends discovered that her dad had an entire other family, but this was secretive. This is public information.
Her rival, however, would provoke her bitterly to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb.
It happened year after year, as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she would provoke her; so she wept and would not eat.
She would be regularly taunted, and this tells us that she was depressed.
Notice it says the Lord Kept her from conceiving.
Then 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 better to you than ten sons?”
Then we have a typical guy's responses
Any guy like Elkenah you are trying to fix the situation instead of listening to your spouse.
Hanna, even in this depressed phase, decided to focus on the savior and not the situation.
What situations in your life are not going well right now?
Marriage Struggling
Do you have a broken friendship or family relationship
Is your job stressful
Hannah wants to remind us to focus on the savior and not the situation.
2. Hannah teaches us to embrace prayer as our lifeline (9-18).
2. Hannah teaches us to embrace prayer as our lifeline (9-18).
Mom taught me to be generous. When we went to church as a kid, she always wrote a check. Mom's job had them work the day after Thanksgiving. Now, she could have taken the day off, but she would purposely not take her co-workers out and take them to a nice lunch and pay for it. Mom is on the board of a Christian camp called Carolina Christian Creek Camp. Mom isn't just generous with her resources; she is generous with her time, treasure, and talents.
Hannah wants to teach us that prayer is not an extracurricular activity; we should embrace it as our lifeline.
Is prayer your lifeline?
Do you do it sometimes?
Or is it your spiritual breath, and you cannot live without it?
For Hannah, prayer was her lifeline.
She, greatly distressed, prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.
Hannah was in deep anguish.
She did not come to God in prayer having it all together. She brought the pain to the Lord.
Could God, in his sovereignty, use even the hardest of situations to draw you closer to himself?
What are some hurts that you need to bring to God right now?
She made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.”
Hannah prays a God-glorifying prayer.
She shares her heart's desire with God.
Philippians 4:6–7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Did you know you can share your deepest desire with God? He wants to have heard everything. But notice that as she is praying, her prayer, which may even seem self-centered, turns God-centered. God, not only could you give me a kid, but I will give him back to you when you give me a kid.
Isn't that what happens when we pray-
God turns our desire from being centered on ourselves to being centered on God.
Example-
Lord, I pray you give me a promotion, which is how your prayer may start. But what if it turns into, Lord, I pray you would give me a promotion to impact more people for you?
Now it came about, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli was watching her mouth.
As for Hannah, she was speaking in her heart, only her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard. So Eli thought she was drunk.
Then Eli said to her, “How long will you make yourself drunk? Put away your wine from you.”
a. Our heart posture is the most important thing in prayer.
“‘In prayer it is better to have a heart without words, than words without a heart, ‘said John Bunyan, and that’s the way Hannah prayed.”
b. We can’t be worried about what others think in prayer
She was not worried about what others thought she was getting her heart right before God. As I was thinking about this, I thought about the movie Meet the Parents.
What's crazy about this scene is that she was around a priest, so she could have thought, I have to act right around this guy. Instead, she did not even care or even know the priest was there. She was living for an audience of 1. Prayer was her lifeline.
But Hannah replied, “No, my lord, I am a woman oppressed in spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the Lord.
“Do not consider your maidservant as a worthless woman, for I have spoken until now out of my great concern and provocation.”
Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of Him.”
She has to explain to the priest what is going on.
She said, “Let your maidservant find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
Look at the result when we pray. Now, it does not say it will be easy or all our problems will disappear. What it does tell us is our sadness will go away.
We will have joy regardless of circumstances when prayer is our lifeline.
Is prayer your lifeline right now?
Do you real think God moves when we pray?
Hannah did.
3. Hannah teaches us to trust God with our most prized possessions. (19-28).
3. Hannah teaches us to trust God with our most prized possessions. (19-28).
Mom taught me how to support your kids even when you disagree with their decisions. I went on staff with a campus ministry after college. Let's say it was not my parents' chosen pathway for me. I was living off a whopping 1300 dollars and had to raise my support. I had to ask people to partner with me. Mom came on my team for 300 dollars a month in 2002. That was like striking the lottery. Did I mention she was not for me doing this?
Then they arose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned again to their house in Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her.
We can’t forget the Main Character of this story. God himself!
“Yahweh is the key actor in the narrative. Hannah could speak complaint and petition only because she submitted to Yahweh. Eli could give assurance to her only because he spoke on behalf of Yahweh. The son is born only because Yahweh remembered. Everything depends on asking Yahweh and being answered by Yahweh. Thus scene 3 [vv. 19–20] resolves scene 1 [vv. 3–8], but only by way of the decisive intrusion of Yahweh through scene 2 [vv. 9–18].”
When God remembers: big things are about to happen.
But God remembers his people:
He remembered Noah when he was out on a boat
He remembered Samson when he had made a mess of his life
He remembered the thief on a cross when he had rebelled and he said today you will be in paradise with me.
When Jesus was hanging on the cross he said to his father-WHy have you forsaken me and ultimately he remembred his son and he pulled up the biggest upset in history when he died for the sins of the world and he is still alive today.
In this book of Samuel the people of God were looking for a king.
Hannah was wanting a baby.
It isn’t ironic that Jesus came as a baby and ultimately became king of the world and he still today invites anybody into his kingdom who will believe in him.
John 1:12 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,”
This was the scripture memory for the day. This verse is still true today.
It came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of the Lord.”
Hannah Prayed, and God answered.
Hannah believed that the God of the universe cared enough to hear her prayer and would move on her behalf.
Then the man Elkanah went up with all his household to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and pay his vow.
But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “I will not go up until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord and stay there forever.”
Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you. Remain until you have weaned him; only may the Lord confirm His word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him.
I love that Elkanah was in touch with Hannah. She said I need some extra time with my kid.
Guys, earlier, we saw that Elkanah tried to fix a situation only God could. But right here, we see him listen to his wife.
I have seen this in my relationship with Heather. Most of the time, she is more in touch with the kid's deeper needs than I am. The times I listen are good.
Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with a three-year-old bull and one ephah of flour and a jug of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh, although the child was young.
Then they slaughtered the bull, and brought the boy to Eli.
She said, “Oh, my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the Lord.
“For this boy I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him.
“So I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.
Notice something else here: many times, we can make a promise to God, and then he comes through, and we don't follow through. Hannah was about to dedicate his son to the Lord's service forever. She did not make an empty promise to God. God, here is my kid. She followed through on her promise to God.
Illustration:
When we give God our most prized possession, it is like my kids at Christmas. Dad, can we go Christmas shopping to get you something? Then they go out and get you something, but it is with your money.
Hannah was giving back to God what was already his.
What are the most prized possessions you have that you are holding onto?
Is it your comfort?
Is it your schedule?
Is it your money?
Hannah would tell us to give it to God.
As I reflect on mothers day one of my other favorite memories was with mom during COVID 19-She took all her kids to Panama City Florida. And somehow I escaped from all my kids and Mom and I were walking on the Panama City Beach just here and I, and as I think about this mom, I just praise God for giving me a mom like he did and also for allowing me to marry an amazing mothers.
Today aw we leave let’s take these lessons that Hannah wants to teach us and let’s not just apply them to our lives, let’s teach them to those we come into contact with.