Waiting in Anguish

A. Background to passage: One book, about 100 years, mainly three lives, turbulent times, finalized during the first return of the exiles, although the content both historically and literary happened about 1100 BC. First of the major characters in Samuel, and so we begin today with his birth.

Polygamy. Male descendants. Brokenness, and shame in the community. Bullied by the other wife. Life that could have pushed her away from God, turned her toward Him. The theology that Hannah was taught was the one upon which she relied, and then was passed along to the first of the great prophets of scripture.

1 Samuel 1:1–20 ESV

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. 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. 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. 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, 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. 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 ten sons?” 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 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.” As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 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 drunk? Put your wine away from you.” 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. 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.” 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 Ramah. 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.”

B. Opening illustration

C. Main thought:

1) The Problem of Pain (v. 4-7, 10)

1 Samuel 1:4–7 ESV

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, 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. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat.

1 Samuel 1:10 ESV

She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.

1) The Problem of Pain (v. 4-7, 10)

Explanation: Hannah’s pain — value of a woman in that day was her ability to produce children. It is what made her respected and necessary to the family and to the nation. Barrenness was a shame, a curse, a reason for divorce, a reason for polygamy, the epitome of hopelessness, to fail the family, the Jewish Talmud even said that “a woman without children is as good as dead.” We can’t understand, even infertility in our day does not even approach the pain of Hannah’s day.

Her pain was magnified by the other wife, by her husband to a degree, by worship at Shiloh. Dread of everything related to their annual trip. Year after year she endured the “roaring” assaults, demeaning looks, and agony of embarrassment, anxiety, vexation, and bitterness of soul (loss of a child).

Don’t have time for a full on theodicy, but note that the Lord closed Hannah’s womb.

Argumentation:

Illustration: Got asked for the first time ever, what would you want to happen to your estate if all of you passed at once...

Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Samuel Hannah’s Hopelessness (1 Samuel 1:2–7)

in a culture that puts all of a woman’s significance and security in her children, she can’t have kids! Practically speaking, she has no significance, no life, and no hope!

Application: We live in a broken world. The effects of sin are not only widespread, but comprehensive, affecting all points of life. Some pains are inconveniences and first world problems. Some pains are crushing, overwhelming, leading to despondency. Depression can cripple us. Grief comes in waves. Loss upon loss comes upon us at points in our lives. I hear your stories. Sometimes, I can’t do anything but weep with you. Crying liquid prayers.

Like Hannah many of our struggles are not ones we can take a pill for, or flip a switch and fix. Many of ours are like the woman with the issue of blood for 38 years, or the man born blind for 40 years, or the Job’s who lose all they own and every family and friend in the course of a day. I look across this room and I know your journeys, aches, pains, heartbreaks. The most painful ones are not the ones that are super intense but short-lived, but those that go on and on and on, like Hannah’s. “So it was, year after year.”

Know that you are not alone. Do not suffer in silence. God has placed us here for each other. We are to comfort one another with the comfort that God has comforted us with.

2 Corinthians 1:3–4 ESV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

2. Pain is not something to be avoided at all cost. Pain is a wise teacher and an instrument in the hands of the Potter. Don’t fall into the Disney trap of the happiest place on earth. It is a dream and a fantasy.

3. Learn to weep and lament. Learn to weep and lament with each other. We don’t have to fix it. God is sufficient, his grace is sufficient, his mercies are new every morning, great is his faithfulness

If you are here this morning in great pain, I want to pray for you now.

2) The Solution to Pain (v. 9-11, 18)

1 Samuel 1:9–11 ESV

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 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.”

1 Samuel 1:18 ESV

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.

2) The Solution to Pain (v. 9-11, 18)

Explanation: What we see in Hannah as the solution for her pain is faith.

1, 2 Samuel (1) The Lord Opens Hannah’s Womb (1:1–20)

In spite of—or perhaps because of—her infertility, Hannah was a woman of faith. In fact, Hannah is portrayed as the most pious woman in the Old Testament. Here she is shown going up to the Lord’s house; no other woman in the Old Testament is mentioned doing this. In addition, Hannah is the only woman shown making and fulfilling a vow to the Lord; she is also the only woman who is specifically said to pray (Hb. pll; 1:10, 12, 26–27; 2:1); her prayer is also among the longest recorded in the Old Testament. Furthermore, her prayer includes the most recorded utterances of Yahweh’s name by a woman (eighteen). She is shown avoiding the faults of the first infertile covenant woman by seeking help from Yahweh rather than pursuing crafty schemes (cf.

1, 2 Samuel (1) The Lord Opens Hannah’s Womb (1:1–20)

Relief from this sort of pain is never pictured in the Hebrew Bible as coming from a human being; in each case divine intervention was the only remedy. Wisely, Hannah also went to the Lord for help.

1:11 Hannah’s prayer was specifically addressed to the omnipotent deliverer of those in distress, “the LORD Almighty” (cf. comment on 1:3). Her pain had made her a theologian—no character in Scripture prior to Hannah had ever used this term to address the Lord.

The wildest thing about her vow is that if the Lord would “remember” her and give her a son, she would give him back. He would remove her pain, shame, and brokenness, then she would receive it back again. The benefits of having a son (work, inheritance, grandchildren, nation building, care in old age), are relinquished. She puts the LORD first. Holds all things loosely. Willingly decreases so that God can increase. She is willing to be the kernel of wheat that dies so that a crop is brought forth. She is the one who is willing to be crucified to her own desires and will that she might do the will of Him who is the Almighty LORD.

Argumentation:

Illustration: “Where are the young men and women of this generation who will hold their lives cheap, and be faithful even unto death, who will lose their lives for Christ’s, flinging them away for love of him? Where are those who will live dangerously, and be reckless in this service? Where are the men of prayer? Where are the men who count God’s Word of more importance to them than their daily food? Where are the men who, like Moses of old, commune with God face to face as a man speaks with his friend? Where are God’s men in this day of God’s power?” -Howard Guinness

Application: 1) We can allow pain to push us away from God in our response, or we can allow it to push us into God. The basis for how it will turn out is faith. 2) We must believe in a God who is sovereign, good, and gracious in everything, even in pain. We must embrace that there is purpose and design in pain; it is never meaningless. 3) We must recognize that God is the God of “little ol’ me’s”. Don’t draw the conclusion that we can bargain with God by making promises to do things.

Are we willing to give it all to God? Are we willing to suffer shame for the sake of his name? Are we willing to look to things in this life and let them go. 4) What are you unwilling to give up?

Luke 14:26–27 ESV

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Luke 14:33 ESV

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

A. Closing illustration: Denbigh Cherry’s song, If You Asked.

If you asked for my heart, would I give you my money?

If you asked for my soul, would I give you my life?

If you asked for my death, would I give up my family? Sacrifice my children, surrender my wife. And if you ask for my worship, would I give you allegiance?

If you ask for my name, would I give up my pride?

If you asked me to fight, would I give up my freedom?

If you asked me to live, would I be crucified? These are questions burning inside of me demanding me to answer every one.

To be honest, God, they frighten me cause you want me not just my religion.

B. Recap