Hannah's Prayer
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Last week we began our study of the book of Samuel. We were introduced to a man by the name of Elkanah. We learned that he was a righteous man who followed the prescribed worship rituals of his day. We also learned that he had two wives: Hannah who had no children, and Peninnah how had children.
We saw Hannah’s desperate desire to have children, and the despair that she felt.
We were also introduced to Eli the high priest of Israel. We looked at his interaction with Hannah, where he ultimately told her, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”
And we left her giving birth to a son that she named Samuel. “Because I asked the Lord for him.”
Picking Up the Story
Picking Up the Story
Today we want to pick up the story with verse 21 of chapter 1. So if you have your Bibles, I want to encourage you to turn with me to 1 Samuel 1:21
When the man Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow, 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.” “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.
Elkanah and the rest of the family went to Shiloah to worship. And Elkanah was going to fulfill his vow to God—we’re not told what this vow was—but it probably was to fulfil the vow that Hannah made. Since he was her husband, and did not cancel the vow she made, he would have been required to offer the sacrifice required for the vow.
Hannah and the boy (Samuel) stayed behind until he was weaned (at about the age of 3).
Her plan was to wean Samuel and then to present him to the Lord and leave Samuel there to serve the Lord forever!
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.
At three, Samuel is weaned.
She took Samuel to Shiloh with: a 3 year old bull (some copies say 3 bulls—but a 3 year old seems best), and an ephah of flour (about 3/5 of a bushel—or 22 liters).
When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli, 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. I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. 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.
They (Elkanah and Hannah) sacrifice the bull.
Then they bring Samuel to Eli:
She explains who she is and reminds Eli of their previous conversation.
Here is the son that God gave me.
So now I’m giving him to the Lord—for his whole life!
“And he worshiped the Lord there.” Who is the “he?” Three possibilities:
—Elkanah—the leader of the family.
—Eli the priest to whom Hannah is speaking.
—Samuel, I prefer this view because in the context, Samuel is the object of the preceding sentence. If this is accurate, it marks the beginning of Samuel’s ministry before the Lord.
Hannah’s Prayer
Hannah’s Prayer
When we come to chapter 2, we have a prayer, or song of Hannah. Some theologians see this prayer as a “non-essential song of praise” that was included for sentimental reasons.
I don’t think that is the case at all. You see, Hannah’s prayer sets the tone for the rest of the book of Samuel (both parts), and is the key to really understanding and interpreting the book.
It contains NO petition—so it doesn’t ask God for anything.
Instead, the prayer expresses Hannah’s belief about God:
Her belief that He rewards those who trust in Him by blessing them.
That God turns barrenness into fertility, both in her situation but also universally.
Her belief that God executes His plan perfectly.
Two other things about this poetic song-like prayer:
It is at the beginning of the book of Samuel, and the song of David appears near the end of 2 Samuel—these two are very similar in their construction, and created a kind of bookends for the book.
The other thing to note is that Mary the mother of Jesus incorporated some of Hannah’s prayer into her own song in Luke 1.
Then Hannah prayed and said: “My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance.
She rejoices in the Lord! We need to constantly rejoice in the Lord.
Reference to “horn” is a reference to her strength. So God makes her strong, and displays that strength to those around.
Her mouth boasts over her enemies—Peninnah—because of all that God has done for her.
She delights in his deliverance.
“There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.
No god or person is holy like the Lord—Yahweh.
There is no one besides the Lord.
There is no Rock (fortress) like our God!
“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.
Hannah gives a warning:
Do not keep talking so proudly.
Don’t let your mouth speak with arrogance.
Because the Lord God is the one who knows!
God weighs the deeds of mankind.
“The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength. 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.
Examples of God’s upside down economy:
The mighty are broken.
The clumsy are strong and mighty.
Those who have everything end up having to hire themselves out to survive.
While those who have nothing never go hungry.
The barren woman ends up with seven sons.
While the woman who gives birth a lot ends up wasting away.
Hannah believes in God’s plan, and in His ability to carry out that plan. Look at verse 6.
“The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. 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.
The Lord brings death and makes alive!
He takes people down to the grave (sheol) and raises up
Sends poverty or He sends wealth.
God humbles and He exalts.
God can raise the poor out of the dust.
God can lift the needy from the ash heap and set them with princes.
He can cause the poor to inherit a throne of honor.
All of this happens because “the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s” the literal wording is the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s. So upon them he has set the world.
He will guard the feet of his saints, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness. “It is not by strength that one prevails;
The Lord guards the feet of the saints.
But the way wicked will be silenced in darkness.
It is not by our strength that we prevail!
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.”
This is a continuation of the last thought in verse 9: It is not by our strength that we prevail, because:
Those who oppose the Lord will be shattered!
God will thunder from heaven against those who oppose Him.
God will judge the entire earth!
God will give strength to His king—the king of His choosing.
He will give strength to the one He anoints.
This entire prayer (song) acknowledges God—it reminds us that God can do whatever God wants to do—simply because He is God!
In our world today, this is not a popular idea. Many of us, if not most of us, have bought into the ideology that God owes us an explanation! We believe we deserve to know what, why and how He is going to do everything—and we believe we can tell God how is should or shouldn’t affect us!
Hannah understands that is not how it works. We cannot demand and explanation from Almighty God, and we certainly cannot tell God what He can or can’t do to us or with us! It is all about God’s plan! And He can do whatever He wants to do with me! And He can do whatever He wants to do with you!
No matter what He chooses to do with us we need to learn to respond with Hannah’s prayer.