Latest / Passing On The Faith / Hannah's Song of Praise

Transcript

Hannah's Song of Praise · Passing On The Faith

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Hitler and the Third Reich are in the trash bin of history and are absolutely despised by everyone.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: And then people like Cory Tenboom and Dietrich Bonhoeffer are praised because of what they did to care for others in those times.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: So the humble and the weak, the Lord will exalt them.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: It is only a matter of time.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: You're listening to Passing on the Faith, a podcast from generations.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Every week, we bring you a powerful moment from one of our sermons, audiobooks, webinars, or conference talks, handpicked to help you build a strong biblical foundation for your family.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: This week's episode is a sermon from Reformation Church of Elizabeth entitled Hannah's Song of Praise by Joshua Suisa.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: Now please stand with me as we read the Word of God.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: We'll be reading 1 Samuel, part of Chapter 1, and then 1 Samuel 2, 1 through 11.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: So start with 1 Samuel chapter 1.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: I want to read part of the account that we read last week in order to see how it connects to Hannah's prayer that we will read in chapter 2.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: So it will begin in chapter 1, verse 21, and continue through chapter 2.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Hear now the word of God.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: And the man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer unto the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his vow.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: But Hannah went not up, for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord and there abide for ever.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good, tarry until thou have weaned him, only the Lord establish his word.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: So the woman abode and gave her son suck until she weaned him.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: And when she had weaned him she took him up with her with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour in a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh, and the child was young.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: And they slew a bullock and brought the child to Eli.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: And she said, O my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here praying unto the Lord.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord, as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord there.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: And Hannah prayed and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord, my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies, because I rejoice in thy salvation.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: There is none holy as the Lord, for there is none beside thee, neither is there any rock like our God.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: Talk no more so exceeding proudly, let not arrogancy come out of your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: They that were full have hired out themselves for bread, and they that were hungry ceased.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: So that the barren hath borne seven, and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: The Lord killeth and maketh alive, he bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich, he bringeth low and lifteth up.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dung hill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon them.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness, for by strength shall no man prevail.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: The adversaries of the Lord shall be broke broken to pieces, out of heaven shall he thunder upon them.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth, and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house, and the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: All of God's people said, Amen, you may be seated.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: Let us pray before we enter into this passage that the Lord may give us understanding.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: Gracious Father in heaven, we ask that by your Holy Spirit you would open this word to us, that we would have understanding.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: We pray that you would open this passage verse by verse to the particular needs that we have, the particular struggles that we face.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: May we see how this word is a living word, how it speaks to us, and how it speaks to who you are today.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: And we pray this in Jesus' name.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's fitting that we today look at this prayer of Hannah on Mother's Day, because this prayer was made on the occasion of Hannah praising God for the gift of motherhood.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: She had been made a mother, a woman who was barren, unable to have a child, and now she has had this boy, and she praises God, who has done mighty things for her.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: And last week we looked at chapter 1 of 1 Samuel, and we learned how it was Hannah's desperation that led to prayer.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: She was desperate for a child.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: She had been barren for a long time and was unable to have children.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: She was provoked by this adversary, Panina, this woman, who was the wife, other wife of Elkanah, who would rub it in her face that she was not a mother.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so what Hannah did in chapter 1, she went to the tabernacle of God.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: She poured out her soul before the Lord.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: She wept.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: She vowed to the Lord that she would give her son to the service of the Lord all the days of his life.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what she did.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: And we see that the prayers of Hannah, a righteous woman, availed much, just as James promises us in James 5.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: God heard her prayers.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: He gave Hannah just what she wanted.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: She wanted a son, and that is exactly what God gave her.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: And we saw how Hannah's barrenness is a picture of our own need, that we all have a barrenness, a place that is empty, a need of some kind, a spiritual poverty that the Lord is powerful to overcome.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: The Lord is powerful to answer the prayers that we bring to him.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: We, like Hannah, can come to the throne of grace and find help in time of need, just as she did.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: Now in chapter 2, Hannah responds in this prayer of praise and thanksgiving.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: This prayer is so exalted that many have called it Hannah's Song.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's not technically a song, but it sure seems like it needs to be sung because these words are weighty, these words are incredible.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so I will often refer to it as Hannah's song or Hannah's prayer throughout here.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: Now, as we read earlier in the service, when we looked at Luke chapter 1, we read the words of Mary on the occasion of her meeting with Elizabeth, and you'll notice probably how many similar connections there were between those two praises, between what Hannah said and between what Mary said.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: They both spoke about how God brings down the mighty, raises up the humble.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: Clearly, we are supposed to make a connection between the life of Hannah and the life of Mary.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's no accident that their prayers of praise are so similar.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, it leads us as we read the words of Hannah's prayer to think upon the anointed one who was to come, our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: And in fact, I will argue as we look at verse 10 that that is exactly what is in view when Hannah speaks of the anointed one.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: So we we see also in this prayer of Hannah these big themes.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like I said, this is an exalted prayer.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: It is a big prayer.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: And you might be wondering, how do all these big picture things about God's work in the world connect to Hannah having a baby?
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: She just had a baby, boy.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: Is it that big of a deal for her to bring out all these other amazing things?
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: There hasn't been a military victory that just happened.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: There hasn't been some major battle.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: There's been no massive world-shaking event that affected millions of people?
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: Why is she making such a big deal about the birth of this little boy?
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: Now, is that seemingly small event in her life worthy of such big statements?
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: Why all this talk about the enemies of God, the bows of the mighty, the Lord killing the wicked, the Lord thundering from the heavens?
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: Do all these things really connect back to the birth of Samuel?
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: Do they have some relationship to those things?
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I think there's a good answer to that question.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe you noticed in my assumption when I was asking, these are little things in Hannah's life, that I'm assuming that they are indeed little.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: When in fact, these are big things that have happened.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: The answer to the question whether Hannah is making too big a deal of this is that she is not making too big a deal of this.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: This birth is a big deal.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: It isn't just a minor thing that Hannah has received this answer to prayer.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: The work of God in Hannah's life is a sample of all of God's saving work that He does.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so it is also with all of the answers to prayer that we receive.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: They are not little things, they are big things because they are just one part of a greater whole, what God is doing to redeem his people, what he is doing to bring down the mighty, to raise up the humble.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: And we see this over and over again.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: So Hannah is right on target.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: She gets it.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: She understands that this mini salvation, so to speak, is a part of God's bigger salvation in her life.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I can assure you one thing that you are never in danger of, and that is praising God too much.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: You are never in danger of that.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: There's no scripture that warns about too much thanksgiving, too much praise.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: Be careful, you might ascribe too much to God.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: No, you never find anything like that in Scripture.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: You are free to hyperbolize as much as you want.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: If you think it's hyperbole.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: So, what are the deliverances He has brought to your life?
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: What illness has he healed?
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: What have you overcome by the power of his grace?
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: What has God provided that you needed?
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: What great redemptions have occurred in your life that you can go as Hannah did and extol the works of God?
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: You can go as the psalmist did and say, Come here, and I will tell you the things that the Lord has done for me.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: Take all the deliverances of God, all the answers to prayer seriously, because these are the works of a great God who deserves much praise.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: Psalm 103 reminds us, as we sang earlier, forget not all his benefits, mention them, praise him, make a big deal about them, just as Hannah did.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: Now, we also have another thing that we should observe about Hannah's prayer as we look further into the chapters of 1 and 2 Samuel, and that is this.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: Hannah's prayer is an introduction to the entirety of these books.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, many of the things that she mentions in her prayer come to pass over and over and over again in the stories that come in 1 and 2 Samuel.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: For example, take chapters 2 through 4.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: In those chapters, we will see how the house of Eli, the high priest, is brought down, and Samuel is raised up.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: The proud, the wicked sons of Eli are destroyed, and Samuel, this humble little boy, is raised up to replace them.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so we see the truth.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: God raises up the humble, he brings down the proud, just as she said.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see the same thing happen in the lives of Saul and David.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: Saul, who will be anointed as king, will be quickly replaced.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: He will be brought down and replaced by this humble shepherd boy, whom nobody thought was good king material.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: We have Saul, who's the tallest man of all Israel, but then when Goliath shows up, he's no longer the tallest man in Israel.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: And he faces a great enemy.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: And guess who comes and defeats Goliath by the power of God?
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: But little humble David, a boy ready and youthful.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: And he is the one that God raises up to be the next king of Israel.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: And there's many other examples, but that's just a number of them that come from these books that we will see God's work repeated throughout these stories.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: Now I want to summarize for you the main theme of Hannah's prayer before we go into these verses in more detail.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I think if we get a hold of this primary theme, it will make clear all the different illustrations that are given.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: And the main theme is this God has the power to humble the proud, and he has the power to exalt the humble.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: To state the theme another way, God has absolute power to reverse human fortunes.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: He has the ability to turn the tables and change everything, bringing down the proud, raising the humble.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so let's look at some of these comparisons briefly that are given.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: We'll look at each comparison first, and then we'll go into the verses in more detail.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: So let's begin with verse 4, which is the first comparison.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: It says, the bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_01: So here the weapons of the mighty are broken in pieces, and then those that were stumbling, those that were unable to fight, are given strength and power.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's the first comparison.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: Second comparison, verse five.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_01: Meaning, the ones that had pantries and pantries full of food now have none, and now they're having to work for their food.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: Whereas those that were hungry, those that were without food, are no longer hungry.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's the second comparison.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: The third comparison says, So that the barren hath borne seven, and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: This one, of course, hits closest to home for Hannah, because she's been given this child.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: But now she's saying, The fruitful woman is no longer fruitful.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: No more childbirth for her, but for the woman that was barren, now she is giving birth to ch children, many children.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Comparison number four, number verse six.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: The Lord killeth and maketh alive, he bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: He gives life, he takes life, he has the power to do just that.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: Verse 7, which is comparison five.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich, he bringeth low and he lifteth up.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: He is able to change who has the riches and who has the wealth in this world, and he can take it away from the rich.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: Comparison number six.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: He raiseth up the poor out of the dust and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill to set them among princes.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: Here it's just describing the poor being lifted up to sit with princes and kings.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: Now over and over again, Hannah drives this point home.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: The Lord is the one who exalts, the Lord is the one who humbles.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: And that leads us to remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 23, where he said, Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: Our great God brings down the proud, he raises up the humble, and this is exactly what happened to Hannah.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: So let's look now more in more detail at verse 1.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: And Hannah prayed and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord, my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies, because I rejoice in thy salvation.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: Now, what an amazing transformation has happened to Hannah.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: If you look back at chapter 1, where she is weeping, pouring out her soul before the Lord because of her barrenness, now where is she?
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: What an amazing transformation.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: She has been at the lowest depths, and now she is at the height of victory.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: God has raised up her horn.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: He has made her victorious.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: And that brings us to this first observation.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: What a difference it makes to go to the Lord in prayer.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: What if she had never gone?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: What if she had never gone to that tabernacle, kneeled and weeped and asked the Lord for his help?
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: What would have happened?
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: Now the Lord has raised her up.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: And so, brothers and sisters, behold the power of God to do mighty things.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: If you have faced defeat for so long, if you have faced barrenness for so long, he has the power to raise you out of that.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: No matter what physical or spiritual barrenness, the Lord can raise you up to sit with kings and princes.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: He can take that horn that is not exalted and make it exalted.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: He can give you strength to overcome your enemies, whatever they may be.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: And Hannah says, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: And when Hannah says, My horn is exalted, she's describing how animals would raise their horn as a sign of victory.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: Think of a ram that would raise its horns as it's fighting, perhaps another ram as a sign of victory and power.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: In the birth of this little boy, this child, Hannah has experienced a great victory over her enemies.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: She has overcome by God's power.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: God has raised her up.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: She says, My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: This is Hannah speaking to her enemies and saying, See, behold God's salvation.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: He has saved me.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: He has given me the victory.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: This is a triumph that was not possible without the God of heaven, and Hannah knows it.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: She knows that this was not her strength that brought about this answer to prayer.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: We do not depend on any human tool for the ultimate victory.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: Does God use means?
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, he does.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: But we always go back and say, the Lord provided what I needed for this victory.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: And when God does grant the victory to you, it would be foolish to give all the credit to the human means.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: We don't put our trust in horses and chariots, and so don't praise the horses and chariots when that victory comes.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: What would you have thought of the children of Israel if they sat after Jericho fell and said, Man, that was some amazing horn blasting y'all did back there.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: What an incredible level of decibels we were able to achieve to bring those walls down.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: Well, of course not.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: It would be ridiculous because it was not the horn blasting that did it, it was the power of God.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: God was teaching them in that I will bring the walls down.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: You just blow your horns, I'll do the rest.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: What if Gideon and his men said that the victory over the Midianites was due to their talent when they hit those jars and broke them and scared everybody?
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: It was the power of God to bring about the victory.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: And so just as Hannah did, we exalt in the Lord.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: Any victory, any answer to prayer, any overcoming, let us ascribe it to God who has done these mighty things for us.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: Now the question comes: when Hannah speaks about her enemies, is she speaking about Panina in particular?
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: Is she saying, is she gloating at Panina now that she is victorious?
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: Is that her target?
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think so.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: You'll notice in chapter one, Hannah never complains about Panina in her prayers.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: She doesn't focus on Panina as her problem.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: She asks the Lord for help.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: But you'll notice that Hannah refers to enemies, plural.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, it's definitely more than Panina, at the very least.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: But she points to all these other things that are outside of Panina.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: Panina does not seem to be the concern here.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: She speaks about the bows of the mighty, the proud, the wicked, all the forces that oppose God, all the enemies of God as her focus.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's not Panina who is her target here.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: And if you look at the entire prayer, then you see that Hannah is thinking about the bigger picture.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: She's not just limited to her small peripheral vision of Panina, Elkinah, Eli, all of these things.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: She is looking to the bigger picture.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: She is focusing on far more than just her situation.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: And this is a lesson for us.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: As we face our own challenges in life, as we face that barrenness, there's a bigger picture here.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: What if you do have that person that you are in conflict with that is an enemy of sorts?
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: Are they the biggest problem right now?
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: Or are there other enemies that you're facing?
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: Spiritual enemies.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: Forces that are in high places that exalt themselves against God.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: Paul tells us that our weapons or our battle is not against the flesh, it is against spiritual matters.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: And Hannah had many enemies.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: One of Hannah's enemies was her own despair and her own sense of worthlessness that was overcome by God's great power in this victory.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: And it's noteworthy, whenever the psalmists speak of the enemies, they don't focus on just one person.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: They usually broaden it out to all the enemies of God, and they call for God's justice, not personal vengeance.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_01: The psalmists never focus on personal vendettas, getting back at their enemies.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: They pray for God to be exalted in his justice.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: That is our concern as well.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_01: And then Hannah speaks about the uniqueness of God in verse 2.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_01: She says, There is none holy as the Lord, for there is none beside thee, neither is there any rock like our God.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: So she gives us these three examples of God's absolute uniqueness.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_01: First, she says, there's none holy like the Lord.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: Secondly, there's no God beside the true God.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: And thirdly, there is no rock like the Lord.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: Now the point of this description, the point of describing the uniqueness of God is, as we will find in verse 3, to humble the pride of men.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: There's no room for human pride when you take into account who God is in this verse.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: Are you perfectly holy as the Lord?
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: Answer: No.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: Are you God?
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: Are you all powerful?
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_01: Conclusion, you should not see yourself in any respect as above the God of heaven.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: That is the point of verse 2.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: No matter who you are, no matter what amount of power you hold in this life, no matter what your station in life is, it's nothing compared to the power of God.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: And that's exactly what Hannah tells us in verse 3.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: She says, Talk no more so exceeding proudly.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: Let not arrogancy come out of your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: She rebukes the proud.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: She says, God knows all things.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_01: All the things that happen in this world, he knows, and he weighs every action that takes place.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: God's knowledge extends to everything that happens, and he ordains everything that happens.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_01: And there's no place for arrogance before a God who knows all things, judges all things, foreordains all things.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: There's no room for human pride.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: And over throughout Scripture we see God bringing down the pride of men.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: Both in Scripture and outside of Scripture and history, God repeats this over and over again.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_01: Genesis 11 is a good example of this.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: The Tower of Babel.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: Here was mankind united in a single project with a very evil purpose: to reach to the heavens, to be as God.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: Just as Adam and Eve wanted to achieve that status by taking of the forbidden fruit, they had decided to repeat that project on the plains of Shinar by building a tower.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: It was a monument to human pride and arrogance.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: And what did it take for God to destroy that project?
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: But a little confusion of the languages, and the whole project came to a screeching halt.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: And whatever the projects of men are, however intricate, however big, however amazing the towers are, they always have a limit.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: They always reach to a certain point, and then God knocks it over like a Jenga tower.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: He pulls that little block out and it tumbles to the ground as if it was nothing to begin with.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so we see the pride of man over and over again.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: Men set out to accomplish great things.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_01: The Tower of Babel is the first attempted record at one-world order, and it did not go well for them.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: As you look at world history, you see these empires that lasted for centuries.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes they got really big.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: Perhaps you think of the Roman Empire.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: It was massive for a time, but it came down eventually.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: This great city of Rome was sacked by the barbarians and was nothing of its former glory.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_01: It came to an end.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: Similarly, you might think of Hitler's ambitions in World War II.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: He wanted the Third Reich to last a thousand years, to be the most glorious empire on earth.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: And how long did it last?
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: About twelve years, out of those a thousand intended years that he had.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: And it seemed that for a time the wicked were winning.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: And the Christians are losing because they're in concentration camps.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't seem like the victory is here, and yet all it takes is God to intervene and to stop the human project of pride and to raise up his people.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: And now, where do we find these same people?
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: Hitler and the Third Reich are in the trash bin of history and are absolutely despised by everyone.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_01: And then people like Cory Tenboom and Dietrich Bonhoeffer are praised because of what they did to care for others in those times.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_01: So the humble and the weak, the Lord will exalt them.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_01: It is only a matter of time.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: Verse 5, it says, They that were full have hired out themselves for bread, and they that were hungry ceased.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_01: And so she gives this picture of this rich man who has massive amounts of food.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_01: He has pantry after pantry, he has all that he needs.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: He has servants waiting on him day after day, caring for him, providing for him.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: He has no concerns about being hungry at all.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: But then one day the Lord changes all that.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: His debts are called in, his income sources are lost, his house is taken from him, his property is taken from him, and now what does he have to do?
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: He has to hire himself out for bread in order for him to eat now.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_01: But then the hungry are provided for food.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: The Lord gives those who had hungered exactly what they needed.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: We have an amazing parallel of this in the parable of the rich man in Lazarus in Luke 16.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: You may recall the parable of the rich man who had all that he needed, and then the poor man who had nothing.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: And what happened at the end of that story?
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: I'll read a portion of it.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_01: Luke 16, verse 22.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_01: And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_01: The rich man also died and was buried.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_01: And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_01: And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's a complete reversal.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_01: Lazarus sat at the gates of the rich man day after day, dogs licking his sores, no food, not even crumbs.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_01: And the rich man feasted sumptuously.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_01: He had his purple clothes, he dined as a king every single day on all different kinds of food.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_01: And then it came that the judgment comes, and the rich man goes to hell and is suffering.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_01: And things have been reversed.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_01: Now Lazarus is in the bosom of Abraham.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_01: He is enjoying the feast of God's table in God's kingdom, a feast that he'll never have to worry about running out of.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_01: And though the rich man enjoyed the good things in his life, now Lazarus got to enjoy the truly good things that were to come.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_01: And so it will be with many others, as Hannah tells us in her prayer.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: The rich who were full of pleasures in this life will ultimately find themselves hungry on the day of judgment.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_01: But those who hungered and thirsted for righteousness, who longed for God, and who were always hungry for more of Him, they will find themselves exalted by God and find themselves in abundance of food provided at the king's table forever.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: The question for us is then, what side of this reversal will we find ourselves on?
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: There is going to be a great reversal, is what we find promised.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: Will we be the humble who are exalted by God or the proud who are brought low by God in the day of judgment?
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_01: If you have ever thought that you can ultimately get away with your pride, I'm here to assure you that Scripture infallibly promises that no one will get away with that pride.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_01: And history bears witness to it over and over again.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_01: The proud projects of men come crashing down.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's only a matter of time.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's not a matter of if, but when will the Lord humble.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_01: And then in verse 5, Hannah speaks about her exaltation in particular.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: The exaltation of becoming a mother, of bearing a child, Samuel.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: She says, so that the barren hath borne seven, and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_01: And she says, the barren woman who could at once, at one time not give birth to any children, is now giving birth to many children.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_01: She has now been made fruitful by God.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: Perhaps some of you in your own families can relate to these very words.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_01: Perhaps you had a time where you were not able to have children, and the Lord in his mercy gave deliverance from that and provided the child that you wanted, and maybe provided many children.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_01: Praise him for his deliverance in these things.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_01: Interestingly, we learn later in chapter 2 that Hannah had actually six children in total.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_01: The reason that seven are mentioned is because seven is that number of perfection that we see mentioned so many times in Scripture.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's the idea of seven as this maximum amount of number that would be a fullness, an example of God's goodness in providing children.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_01: And so all these examples prove the same point.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_01: As Hannah says, the pillars of the earth are in the Lord's hands.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_01: The lives of every single person on this planet are in his hands, and the wombs of every woman are in his hands as well.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_01: Verse 6 says the Lord killeth and maketh alive.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_01: As children, sometimes we'd sing the song, He's got the whole world in his hands.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_01: He's got the itty bitty baby in his hands, he's got you and me, brother, in his hands.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_01: He's got the whole world in his hands.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_01: And what we were speaking about there was how God cares for all things.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_01: And this song was a comfort.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's meant as a comfort, that we know that God has us in his hands.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's good news if we're in Christ, isn't it?
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_01: But for those that are not, that's a very scary thing.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, the Bible says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_01: Because God can give life and he can take life.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_01: He bringeth down to the grave and he bringeth up.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_01: God has the power to kill both body and soul in hell, and he has the power to give spiritual life and eyes to see the glories of Christ, to receive him, to believe in him, and to receive that inheritance that he gives.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_01: And then in verse 9, we see the identity of the humble further identified for us.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's made clear who Hannah is speaking of.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_01: It says, He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness, for by strength shall no man prevail.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_01: So it says, God will guard the feet of his saints.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_01: Who are the saints?
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_01: Well, what we learn from the rest of the prayer is that the saints are the humble ones.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_01: Those two are meant to connect.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_01: We're speaking about the same group here.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_01: The saints, by definition, are to be the humble that the Lord exalts.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_01: That is what is assumed in this prayer.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us the same things and the Beatitudes when he describes the characteristics of the true Christian.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_01: He says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_01: It is the humble, the ones that hunger and thirst for righteousness, the ones who rely on God for their exaltation and their raising up.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_01: And that brings us to an important personal question for each one of us.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_01: Where do you find yourself in Hannah's prayer?
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_01: Are you identifying with Hannah as she prays these words of confidence in the salvation of God?
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_01: If you are one of the saints, the set apart ones, are you the humble ones?
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_01: Are you in the position of Hannah praying for the Lord to exalt rather than exalting yourself?
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_01: There are so many who spend their entire lives building personal towers of Babel, little towers for themselves that they want to make big.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_01: People want more power, more money, more renown.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_01: But it ought not to be so with us.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_01: We rely upon the Lord for our exaltation.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_01: Psalm 75 says, For promotion cometh neither from the east nor from the west, nor from the south, but God is the judge.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_01: He putteth down one and setteth up another.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_01: If God is the one who humbles and exalts, then it is for us to remain content in the position that He has placed us in, in our station in life that He has given us as His saints.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_01: And the fact of the matter is, humble positions are the safest positions for us to be in.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_01: It may be that your particular humble position is not the one that you most desire.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_01: I understand that.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_01: But if you had all the success you ever wanted, all the money you ever wanted, all the power or fame you ever wanted, or all the removal of afflictions that you ever wanted, that would not be good for you.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_01: It very well may be deadly for you for the Lord to remove all those things and to give you everything that you want.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_01: The Lord knows what medicine his children need.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_01: He provides exactly what we need.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_01: Charles Spurgeon speaks about this.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_01: He says that in the times of weakness, depression, and affliction, it is a safe and great place for us to be in because it is so good for us.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_01: He says, Uninterrupted success and unfading joy would be more than our weak heads could bear.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_01: Our wine must needs be mixed with water.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_01: He says, You gotta dilute the wine, or we'll just go crazy.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_01: He says, Lest it turn our brains and make us drunk.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_01: By all the casting down of his servant, God is glorified, for they are led to magnify him when again he sets them on their feet, just as he did Hannah.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_01: And even while prostrate in the dust their faith yields him praise.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_01: They speak all the more sweetly of his faithfulness, and are the more firmly established in his love.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_01: Glory be to God for the furnace, the hammer, and the file.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_01: Heaven shall be all the fuller of bliss, because we have been filled with anguish here below.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_01: And earth shall be better tilled because of our training in our adversity.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_01: So he says, It is so good for us to be in that humble place, to be content in the place that God has given, and then ask him for the exaltation, ask him for the deliverance, ask him for the victory, and wait until he grants it, for he knows the right time.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_01: Now at the end of Hannah's prayer, she turns now, in a somewhat unexpected way, to the anointed one, to the king.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_01: Which is amazing because there was no king at this point in history.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_01: It was to come very soon, but there was not yet a king, a human king that was reigning.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_01: It says in verse 10 The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces, out of heaven shall he thunder upon them.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_01: The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth, and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_01: So Hannah has spoken about her own horn being exalted in this victory, but she wants us to think about the exaltation of the anointed one of God, who would be given the victory.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_01: She wants us to think bigger than her situation to the anointed one of God.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_01: Now, as I noted earlier, Hannah's prayer serves as an introduction to 1 and 2 Samuel, and so she is anticipating the anointed one, in particular David, who is to come in the stories that will follow in 1 and 2 Samuel.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_01: This would be David.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_01: He would be anointed by God to bring redemption or salvation to Israel in the sense of deliverance from their enemies, the Philistines, and to reign over God's people.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_01: But what's so important about this verse is that it is the very first reference in the entire Old Testament using the word Messiah.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_01: Anointed one.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_01: That word anointed is the word from which we get Messiah, Hebrew, Masiach, the anointed one of God.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, we know that that anointed one stretches far beyond David.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_01: David is just one of the first.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_01: He is certainly not the last, because as we look at the Davidic covenant, we see that promise given to David that the kings to reign thereafter would reign eternally, his house would be established forever.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_01: And we know that our Lord Jesus Christ is that anointed one.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_01: When he came to that time of baptism, when John the Baptist baptized him, it was a sign of his anointing.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_01: God said, God the Father said, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_01: He is the anointed one who will accomplish salvation for God's people.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_01: And we see the same dynamic of humbling and exaltation in Jesus Himself.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_01: In the days of Caesar Augustus, we read in Luke 2, there was a new king born into the world in the least likely place one could imagine, in the most humble of circumstances.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_01: And Christ's humility just began with his birth.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_01: It did not end there.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_01: His entire life was one of utter humiliation.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_01: He faced opposition from the leaders of his day.
• 46:21
  SPEAKER_01: He said that he did not have a place to lay his head.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_01: The foxes did, but he didn't.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_01: And beyond all those things, of course, the scriptures tell us that the greatest act of humiliation was death on the cross.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_01: Philippians 2.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_01: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_01: Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth, and things under the earth.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_01: Now our Lord is at the right hand of the Father.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_01: Now he is ruling and reigning, and all his enemies are being f brought under his footstool.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_01: And one day every knee will finally bow and confess that he is the Lord to the glory of God.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_01: And so truly the words of Hannah, which she prayed so many thousands of years ago, have now come to pass in Jesus Christ.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_01: The horn of Christ has been exalted far above every rule and authority.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so, do you want to see the greatest example of victory?
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_01: As you think about the victories that have been brought in your life, and as you pray for more victories, look unto the victory of God the Father in exalting his Son Jesus Christ to his right hand.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_01: If you want to know how God brings about victory, see it there.
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_01: And then see it so many other places in your own life as well.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_01: Hannah's song of praise reminds us of these big truths.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so I hope that as we see the deliverances, that we would also think about the bigger picture.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_01: That when that healing comes from a cold, we would go as Hannah did and say, Blessed be God who heals us of all of our diseases, he forgives us of our sins, he delivers us from our enemies.
• 48:39
  SPEAKER_01: May we also give more and more praise to God.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_01: May we never be afraid of hyperbole, what seems hyperbole to us.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_01: And no matter how great or small, quote unquote, may we praise God, for he has done great things for us, and he has exalted our horn in Jesus.
• 48:58
  SPEAKER_01: Let us pray.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_01: Our Father in heaven, there is none holy like you.
• 49:04
  SPEAKER_01: There is no rock like you, our God.
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_01: You, O God, are a God of knowledge.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_01: Every human action is weighed in your hand, and you hold the pillars of the earth, and therefore you also hold our lives in your hand.
• 49:19
  SPEAKER_01: We praise you for your sovereign power, and we thank you that you stop the wicked in their tracks, and you preserve the feet of your saints.
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_01: We ask, O God, that you would exalt our horns in victory.
• 49:32
  SPEAKER_01: We desire to see the conquering work of Jesus in our lives, conquering sins, strengthening us in faith, subduing our enemies under our feet, crushing Satan under our feet.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_01: We pray that you would exalt your servants, O Lord, that we would not exalt ourselves, but that we would be exalted in you.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_01: Teach us also to redirect praise back to you.
• 49:55
  SPEAKER_01: Help us to see you, Lord, as the victor and not ourselves, and also to look to the ultimate champion, our Lord Jesus Christ, whose horn has been exalted above every rule and authority.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_01: And we pray this in Jesus' name.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_01: This has been a production of the Generations Media Network.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_01: For more information, go to generations.org/slash media.