Hannah's Prayer

Hannah’s Prayer (1 Samuel 1:3-11, 2:1-10)

January 10, 2021

How should we respond? + How should we respond …to what’s going on in the world today?

…to an attack on our nation’s capital by its own citizens? …when some of those committing violence were carrying a Christian cross and others a confederate flag?

…to a global pandemic that is killing thousands of people a day? …to the millions of abortions that have happened in this country?

+ How should we respond? + What is even going on? How could this even happen? + It seems that many people are only concerned about who to point the finger at…who to blame. + We live in a world that looks a whole lot like the very last verse of the book of Judges:

“ In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

Those are some big questions. + We can’t answer them all today…there’s no way. + But here’s an even bigger question… …where is God in the midst of all of this? + What does God think of everything that’s going on? + How is God responding to corruption and deceit at the highest levels of government?

Today, we begin a new sermon series in 1&2 Samuel.

+ It is an old story, but it is an old story that is going to sound incredibly familiar and current. + It’s a story that will help us to answer some of those big questions that I was just asking.

+ As we read through the stories of Samuel, Saul, David we will witness goodness and evil …beauty and tragedy …righteousness and murder …money, sex, and power

…the best and the worst of humanity.

+ Open up your Bible…to the very beginning… Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,

Joshua, Judges, Ruth…1& 2 Samuel

+ In our English Bibles, 1&2 Samuel comes right after Ruth.

Judges — Samuel — Kings

+ 1&2 Samuel, like 1&2 Kings, was originally written as one book (sometimes I’ll call it Samuel).

+ In the Hebrew Bible, Samuel is found right between Judges and Kings. (Ruth is placed later…writings.)

+ This makes sense because the books of Samuel document the transition that happens from when the people of Israel were ruled by Judges to the time they were ruled by Kings. …transition from a Theocracy to the Monarchy. + In other words, the story of Samuel begins right where the book of Judges leaves off, with everybody doing “what was right in his own eyes.”

Narrative Structure

+ 1&2 Samuel are full of long stories. + We won’t be able to read all of it together in church. + That’s why each week we’ll ask you to read ahead. You can see in the bulletin our reading for next week. READ 1 Samuel 1:3-11, 2:1-10 and PRAY

1&2 Samuel focus on the stories of 3 main characters. …Samuel (the last Judge of Israel), …Saul (the first king of Israel) …and David (the king after God’s own heart) + Most of 1&2 Samuel will focus on King David’s story. + But the book begins with Samuel’s mother. + Hannah was barren. She was unable to have children. And when we meet her she is crying out in anguish.

Hannah was married to Elkanah. + He was a man with two wives, and he proves to be a pretty good case study for why having two wives is not a good idea! + Elkanah’s second wife was named Penninah,

and she tormented Hannah because of her barrenness.

She teased her to the point of tears.

+ Elkanah tried to console her, but failed miserably. “Why are you so sad? You’ve got me! Aren’t I better than ten sons?” + Side note to the husbands out there, when your wife is upset, don’t try and console her by focusing on yourself and how awesome you are.

And so, out of her anguish, Hannah prays to the LORD. + This is where our journey in 1&2 Samuel begins… …it begins with pain. v. 10 — “deep anguish…bitter weeping”

v. 11 — “misery”

v. 15 — “deeply troubled”

v. 16 — “great anguish and grief + For a woman in Israel, everything depended

on your ability to have kids. + The Lord commanded “be fruitful and multiply.” + For a Jewish woman, not being able to “be fruitful and multiply” felt like a death sentence.

Why was Hannah barren? + We read that the Lord had closed her womb! (v. 6) + God was sovereign over the whole situation. God was in control. + Just like Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel before her, Hannah cried out in the anguish of barrenness. + And just like Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel, the Lord opened Hannah’s womb and she had a son, named Samuel.

+ And Hannah followed through on her promise and dedicated her son to the service of the Lord.

Infertility

+ I have known many friends and family who struggle with infertility.

+ Hannah’s story isn’t written here to say that if you can’t have kids and you want them then all you have to do is pray and it will work out 100% of the time. + Hannah’s story is pointing to something bigger. + But Hannah teaches us that, if you are in pain, there is no better thing to do than pray.

+ It is not a silver bullet, that if you pray God will always do what you want. + But Hannah shows us what “true prayer” is all about. + True Prayer is being in God’s presence being persistent, and being willing to submit to His purposes.

In the time we have left, I want to look at Hannah’s (Second) Prayer in 1 Sam. 2:1-10. + She prayed for God’s blessing in chap. 1. + This famous prayer in chapter 2 is a response to God’s blessing, and it serves as a great prelude to everything that is going to follow in 1&2 Samuel.

+ The themes we see here will keep showing up.

All about YHWH

+ What’s the first thing we notice in these verses? She hardly mentions anything at all about her son! + She was praying that she would get pregnant. She did. But that’s not what this prayer is about. + Her prayer is all about the LORD (mentioned 9 times!), the focus is completely on Him.

+ So, the first thing this prayer teaches us about the Lord is this…

#1 — The LORD “humbles and exalts.” (vs. 7) + Another way to put it, the Lord brings low and lifts up. + v. 3: “don’t talk proudly, don’t speak arrogance.”

+ vs. 6: “The LORD brings death and makes alive.”

+ Hannah proclaims that God is sovereign and in control! + The LORD humbles/exalts is a major theme in Samuel.

+ Saul, described as a head taller than everyone else,

will be brought low.

+ We will hear David lament Saul’s death saying, “Oh, how the mighty have fallen.” (2 Sam. 1:19ff)

+ David, described as the youngest and smallest, will become great…he will be exalted. + At the end of his life, David will cry out, “You exalted me above my foes.” (2 Sam. 22:49)

#2 — The LORD will work good in the midst of evil.

+ Hannah tells of evil in the world, wars, famine. but God is at work! + God brings about a reversal… …the bows of the warriors are broken. (v. 4) …the hungry will be hungry no more. (v. 5) …the poor will inherit a place of honor. (v. 8) …the barren will have children. (v. 5) + Hannah proclaims that God is at work in all of this. + There is much evil in the world today. I don’t need to convince you…not THIS week… …the question is not, “Is there evil?” + The question is “How is God working in the midst of, in spite of, the evil of this world?” + We will see how this happens, all throughout Samuel, but know this…God will not be mocked!

#3 — The LORD is our strength. + Hannah’s prayer begins,

“My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high.” (vs. 1) + And the prayer ends like this,

“He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.” (vs. 10)

The Horn of Strength + The image of the Horn, like the horns on a powerful animal, is a metaphor for Strength. + This prayer is all about how STRONG God is!

+ Our strength is not enough… vs. 9, “It is not by strength that one prevails; those who oppose the LORD will be broken.”

+ “He will give strength to his king…”

#4 — The LORD will raise up a Messianic King. + What king? + Israel had no king when Hannah was praying. + Is she prophesying? Anointed (v. 10) = Messiah! + Is she looking ahead to Saul? To David?

Hannah’s son Samuel would be the last Judge in Israel.

+ When we get to 1 Sam.8, we’ll hear the people say, “We want a king like all the other nations.” + Listen to 1 Sam. 8:6-7…

“But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.”

The People want an earthly king because they have rejected their heavenly King.

+ Again, how much is this true of us. + We don’t believe God will solve our problems so we look to the kings, princes, presidents, prime ministers.

+ The Kings of the earth will fail. + King Saul will fail. + King David, a man after God’s own heart, will fail.

+ They need a true king. + Even here, Hannah’s prayer is pointing us forward

to the one true king, Jesus Christ.

Mary’s Song

+ If you joined us on Christmas Eve, you heard me read from Mary’s song in Luke 2. + Mary’s song, the Magnificat, is a direct and deliberate echo of Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2. + Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, was barren, but she had a son, John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus. + Hannah was barren, but she had a son, Samuel, the forerunner of David. + If you are listening to Scripture today, you hear an echo, words repeating over and over and over.

1&2 Samuel will keep pointing us to Jesus. + Keep your eyes open. Keep looking.

The nation of Israel was falling apart. but God made a way. …the Judges failed.

…the Kings failed.

…the People failed. God made a way.

…Hannah’s womb was closed, but God opened it up. …God made a way.

Nothing is impossible for God. God will make a way. + Does it feel like the world is falling apart right now? God will make a way. + Does it feel like your world is falling apart right now? God will make a way.

Nothing is impossible for God. God will make a way.

And God is still making a way for us in Jesus Christ.

PRAY

BENEDICTION

“Come to our shut down places” by Walter Brueggemann, from Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth, p. 119