A Mother of Greatness

Text: 1 Samuel 1:1-2:11, Title: Mother of Greatness, Date/Place: WHBC, 5.9.21, AM

A. Opening illustration: story about the woman punching the bear in the face over the dog

B. Background to passage: Israel was at a critical time in its history. Loosely organized, politically fractured, morally corrupt, and spiritually bankrupt. But God is not done with them. Much like Mary, the mother of Jesus, Hannah was used of God, not only to bring Glory to His Name, but to accomplish His will at a national and international level. Although God is absolutely sovereign, accomplishing all that He pleases, God’s will is not a mechanical thing in which we simply float along without interaction with the divine to aid in bringing about His plans. Hannah and Elkanah, much like Mary and Joseph, were normal people who were used mightly by God to change the course of the world.

C. Main thought: On this Mother’s Day, let’s look at the example Hannah set for us all

A. Woman of Great Pain (v. 10, 16)

1. The author here begins the story of the birth of Samuel, for his greatness in Israel was crucial to the beginning of the monarchy, with implications even to the coming Messiah because of the dynasty that would begin through David whom Samuel would anoint. Few of us understand the shame associated in this culture with the inability to have children, especially male children. Not only were children gifts from God, signs of His favor, but they were a source of income for the family, a promise of security and stability for the family name, care when parents aged, and provision for the legacy and inheritance of the family’s property and status. Few of us also understand the pain of Hannah in not having children. And this was exacerbated by a mean-spirited rival wife, constant reminder in worship at Shiloh, a husband unable to comfort her, and a clergy who accusingly mistook her actions. The words give depth to the intensity of the pain. Words that were better translated as “bitterness,” accompanied by the feeling of being cursed of God. Same term used for Naomi as she spoke of the deaths of her husband and sons. She not only wept, but wailed aloud. She would not eat. She spoke of “anguish” and “grief.”

2. Argumentation

3. Illustration: I read a book on depression that described the feelings of those who struggle with it,

4. Let me encourage you, most, if not all, great men and women (and ordinary men and women) who have accomplished anything significant in life, had great instances of pain. Spurgeon. For a more complete dealing with the subject, get the messages I did on Wed night a few weeks back on “Why Bad Things Happen.” Suffice it to say for now that God is good, loving, kind, as well as sovereign, allowing suffering for His good and wise purposes. Don’t begrudge the pain. Don’t let bitterness overtake you. Fight despondancy with Christ and joy in Him (as Hannah does later). God will use the pain. You have two options with pain, allow it to turn you to God, or let it push you away. Those of you suffering immensely today, run to Him and cling to the hemn of His robe with great tanacity. Forsake bitterness, anger, and dispair as much as relies on you. And abide in Christ even if the darkness doesn’t lift. Recommend, Piper-When the Darkness Will Not Lift, Tada-When God Weeps, and Welch-Depression A Stubborn Darkness.

B. Woman of Great Prayer (v. 11, 15)

1. Hannah did the later of the two choices—she let her pain push her to God. Year after year she continued in brokenness to plead her case before God. And it seemed that any down time she had while there, she spent “extra” time in prayer. It wasn’t simply lots of time or lots of words, it was a lot of heart. And you know that she didn’t just pray like this on her trips to Shiloh with her husband, but that she must have had a constant, ongoing, deep practice of prayer. She wasn’t too busy to pray, nor embarrassed by the way it made her look. She was accused of being drunk by a preacher.

2. Luke 18:1

3. Illustration: “There are so many mountains in your life, so many obstacles in your life; so many things in your life that seek to derail you−to stop you. And they’re going to stay there because some of those things just don’t go away by counseling. They go away by falling on your face before God until He delivers you.” ~Paul Washer

4. This is a great example for moms, and for all of us of how to handle great adversity—prayer! Where are the godly women of the church who labor tirelessly in prayer to bring about change! And we do have some of those godly women here. But my fear is that men and women here are horribly weak in prayer. We long for revival, growth, personal deliverance, salvation of kindred, reclamation of the backslidden, but we are not willing to labor for it. Prayer meeting is gone, the prayer room is barely used, and we see very few obvious answers to prayer that demonstrate His power. But be reminded here of the power of prayer and the God of prayer to overcome the most desperate, most painful, more hopeless of situations! It is powerful! It does change things! If we want to see God do things in our lives, our church, our town, we must recommit passionate, persistent prayer. And moms, pray for your children is the most important thing that you can do. I don’t like fad books, but there is a reason that all the Power of a Praying Wife, Mother... books changed lives—they compelled people to pray! Let them see you pray, let them know that you are praying for them, pray with them regularly, pray for them specifically! Oh, that the women of Western Heights would be those that could call down the hand of God upon us! You can do it, you can join it, you can start a wave of prayer and bring about awesome things! Hang on, keep praying, you who are weary.

C. Woman of Great Faith (v. 18)

1. What happens next is amazing. She had made a vow in v. 11 to dedicate a son to God if God would give her one. Then the incident here with Eli. Eli says to her, it is done. Then it is like life turned on a dime. She left, went and got something to eat, and was no longer sad! Years of pain and anguish and heartache, and now she was no longer depressed. What faith! What confidence in the God of Israel! She simply believed Eli, believed God, and began to walk by faith.

2. Rom 8:24-25, Heb 11:33-34, Matt 8:13,

3. Illustration: Story of the church planter’s wife from the book about the Success Syndrome, laying hands on people for healing and deliverance, but not really believing that God will do it,

4. Moms, your children will be infused with a faith similar to yours. Do your children hear your affirmations of your trust in God for Him to do great things? Do you share with them the stories of answered prayer and providencial workings in your past? Wouldn’t it be great if all of us had this kind of faith? When we heard God say that He would do something, we just embrace that, stop worrying, stop begrudging, stop cynically second guessing, stop making back up plans, just lay it down and confidently look forward to what God is going to do with expectation. We are not talking about blind optimism that doesn’t deal with reality, we are talking about a solid, biblical, unshakable, God-honoring hope and trust that He will do what He says He will do. Cast off fear and worry, cast off disbelief and doubt, by the power of the gospel (remember this is not a will power religion), and walk by faith, pleasing God.

D. Woman of Great Worship (v. 19, 2:1-11)

1. Obviously, Hannah worshipped with her husband year after year. She offered sacrfices to the Lord on these occasions. Prayer is a form of worship, but two other places in this text it specifies that she worshipped the Lord. The word here means to bow down and place one’s forehead on the ground demonstrating submission, honor, reverence. In chapter two, we have her song that she sung to the Lord. Hannah bursts forth in glorious praise. It is probably one of Israel’s national hymns, because it anticipates a king. But it seems to capture her feelings at the time. The words illustrate her trust in the Lord and His sovereignty and power. They also indicate the location of her joy and rejoicing – “in the Lord.” She addresses her pleas and proclamations to God.

2. Argumentation

3. Illustration: Someone said this week on FB, “Honestly, I couldn’t be happier.” This was a person who claims to be a Christian, but I wanted to say, what about in the presence of Jesus?

4. There are applications here for families worshipping together. But note the way that she worshipped. Do we bow down before the Lord regularly? Note that her joy ultimately didn’t come in the child that she so longed for, it came from the Lord. Is our joy rooted in the blessings, or the Blesser? It is idolatry to prefer His gifts over Him. Worship should burst forth from us like a tidal wave of gladness that cannot be restrained. There should be an exstacy about worship at certain times. What do those around you think as they watch you worship? Our worship is based on who Christ is, and what He has done. He has done so much for you! And He is infinitely glorious and beautiful! Let me encourage you to worship Him with passion.

E. Woman of Great Devotion (v. 27-28)

1. One of the ways and Hannah expressed her worship was through her devotion and obedience. In verse 11, she made a vow to the Lord that she would declare her unborn son a Nazarite. Explain. And not only that, she said that she would give him back to the Lord. In those days a vow was a vow, and they kept them. They didn’t speak them if they weren’t willing to keep them. Jeptha and Herod. And so, in there verses we see that after she weans Samuel, she brings him to the temple and leaves him with Eli keeping her vow. Note that even though Elkanah had the right to negate his wife’s vow, he affirmed it and supported her even though this would have caused Him pain too. Also, note that whatever pain she must have felt, she worshipped with an offering 3X what it should have been. Can you imagine longing for years to have a child, then when he is a boy, leaving him?

2. Argumentation

3. Illustration: a man adrift in the sea, making promises to God in exchange for his deliverance, and renegotiating those promises as he gets closer to land,

4. Again, the feelings that we know that we would all feel are to be subjugated to obedience to the Lord. Know that sometimes obedience will cost us dearly. Spouses and families are to support each other in fufilling their obedience to God. Are you willing to sacrifice greatly to honor the Lord? What are the boundaries of your obedience? “I will do anything for you, but...” We need spiritual giants in our congregation. We need those who walk close to the Lord, so that others desire to be like them. If I asked my SS class, “who at WHBC do you want to emmulate spiritually?” What would they say? We need reservoirs of wisdom and experience and godliness. In the spiritual disciplines, in relationships, in love and care, in intimacy in the Lord, in hatred of sin, we need you! Many of you have had your spiritual mentors, examples, and heroes, and many of you need to be that. Moms and dads, grandparents, aunts and uncles, you determine much of the faithfulness of the coming generations! How are you doing? It is time to draw a line in the sand, and say, “thus far and no further.”

A. Closing illustration: "A mother…by her planning and industry night and day, by her willfulness of love, by her fidelity, she brings up her children. Do not read to me the campaigns of Caesar and tell me nothing about Napoleon’s wonderful exploits. For I tell you that, as God and the angels look down upon the silent history of that woman’s administration, and upon those men-building processes which went on in her heart and mind through a score of years; —nothing exterior, no outward development of kingdoms, no empire-building, can compare with what mother has done. Nothing can compare in beauty, and wonder, and admirableness, and divinity itself, to the silent work in obscure dwellings of faithful women bringing their children to honor and virtue and piety." Henry Ward Beecher

B. Just as Elkanah and Hannah gave their only son to the service of the Lord for the good of the people, God gave his only Son for the sins of the people out of the love that He had for them.

C. Invitation to commitment

Additional Notes