Question
Hannah’s Prayer
1 Samuel 2:1-11
Key Verse 1
“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.”
Read verse 1. How does Hannah begin her prayer? (1a) How does she get strength? (1b) Why does she boast over her enemies? (1c)
Read verses 2 and 3. What is Hannah’s confession about God? (2) What is her warning to those who speak proudly? (3)
Read verses 4 - 8. How does God change peoples’ lives? (4, 5,7, 8a) What is God’s sovereignty? (6, 8b)
Read verses 9 - 11. What will God do? (9a, 10b) What happens to those who oppose God? (9b,10a) What did Samuel do before the Lord? (11)
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Message
There is No One Holy like the Lord!
1 Samuel 2:1-11
Key Verse 2
“There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our
God.”
Today’s passage covers Hannah’s Prayer—also known as Hannah’s Song or Song of Thanksgiving. Here Hannah prayed after giving her son, Samuel to the Lord. It is a prayer of victory; like Jesus’ words from the cross, “It is finished”. Hannah completed her mission before the Lord, and was full of praises for what God had done, and for who God is. We will take a look at this passage in two parts.
Part I. “My Heart Rejoices in the Lord” (1-2)
Last week, we learned how Hannah kept her vow and gave Samuel to the Lord. But what about, after keeping her vow? After giving Samuel to the Lord, Hannah could have felt sorry. She could have entertained a sense of loss or even regret, and then complained to her husband. But what did Hannah do? She prayed to the Lord.
Look at verse 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.
Hannah’s prayer here came out of her great joy. She rejoiced from her heart! But what was the source of her joy? The source of her joy was “the Lord!” Hannah rejoiced “in the Lord”—in the relationship with the Lord. Of course Hannah was happy when God answered her prayer, and she greatly enjoyed the moments together with her son. But she knew that these joys alone could not sustain her. In order to be truly joyful, Hannah needed the Lord himself.
Only the Lord himself is the source of complete and lasting joy. The joys that come from this world are good, but they are temporary in nature and superficial at best. Without a connection to the Lord himself, these joys are all destined to fade and in the end leave nothing but total emptiness.
Then, the question to consider here is, “Where is my joy?” “Is my joy in the Lord or in something else?” Of course, God’s blessings are for us to enjoy, but we should never seek them as our source of joy. Only God himself is our true source of joy, and we must not put anything else in the place of God.
Look at verse 1 again. “… in the LORD my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance.” Here, the word “horn” symbolizes strength. Hannah not only found joy in the Lord, but she also strength in the Lord, especially in the power of salvation. This power of salvation makes way for the joy of the Lord by giving us deliverance over our enemies.
In Hannah’s case, because the Lord had closed her womb, her rival, Peninnah kept provoking her, and this went on year after year. But the Lord delivered Hannah. As a result, Hannah could have boasted to her enemy, but she didn’t do that. She boasted to the Lord and she delighted in the Lord’s deliverance. She knew that the strength to win the victory came not from her, but from the Lord.
What Hannah went through reminds us of our situation under the power of sin and Satan. Year after year we were provoked and accused because of our cursed condition and our sins. But God sent Jesus to deliver us from the enemies of sin and Satan and all the ill effects of the sinful nature and this fallen world! In the Lord Jesus we have the power of salvation and true joy. There’s a worship song used by CBF.
I'm trading my sorrows
I'm trading my shame
I'm laying them down for the joy of the Lord
I'm trading my sickness
I'm trading my pain
I'm laying them down for the joy of the Lord
And we're singing
Yes Lord, yes Lord, yes yes Lord
Yes Lord, yes Lord, yes yes Lord
Yes Lord, yes Lord, yes yes Lord, Amen
How can we call it Hannah’s song, without any singing?
OK, now look at verse 2. This is our key verse. And, it is Hannah’s personal confession of who God is to her! It reads, “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.”
How did Hannah know that there is no one holy like the Lord? Of course she met the Lord when she made her vow. But I believe that there was also a weaning process to go through in order to know the Lord more deeply.
At first, Hannah wanted to find her everything in a son. She felt that a son could be her rock, to give her life a source of security and stability. And probably, such desires remained strong even after making a vow to give him to the Lord. It might have grown even stronger after little Samuel was born and began to nurse. As he nursed, a strong bond was formed, and Hannah must have realized that it would not be easy to keep her vow. So she made a clear decision that after the boy was weaned, she would bring him to the Lord.
Then, as Hannah began the process of weaning Samuel, she also began to separate herself from her own desires and attached herself to the Lord. In this way, Hannah came more and more into the holy presence of God.
Weaning is necessary in order to know that Holy God. David testified in Psalm 131:2, “But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.” Our soul should become like a weaned child in order to know the holy God. We should separate ourselves from our sin and ever selfish desire, even those that can appear noble, and we must attach ourselves to the Lord. But the weaning process is not easy. Don’t expect it to be easy! In some respects, making a vow is easy—meeting the Lord is relatively easy, but weaning off our sinful desires in order to know the holy God deeply is not easy. But if Hannah did it and many other saints throughout history did it, we also can do it!
We know through Hannah’s testimony that God alone is holy. This means that He is separate from all He has created and cannot be attached to anything and cannot sin. But still, it’s difficult to conceptualize God’s holiness. So I came up with a word play. I’m sure if I heard this somewhere else or not, but it goes like this: God alone is holy—so without God we have a hole—but with God we are whole.
Part II. “The Lord brings death and makes alive” (3-11)
Look at verses 3-5. “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. “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.
Maybe Penninah had spoken arrogantly about her many sons in order to provoke Hannah. But after coming to know the holy God, Hannah did not judge her. Instead, she entrusted judgment to God who judges justly. Only the Lord knows and able to properly judge men’s deeds.
Furthermore, God is able to humble the proud and lift up the humble, and he is able to strengthen the weak and break the strong. The bows of warriors are considered a sign of human strength, but those that rely on them will stumble. And a full stomach is considered a sign of human satisfaction, but those that rely on that will go hungry. God does not want us to be self-reliant, but to trust in the Lord. Those that rely on the Lord will be strengthened and satisfied by the Lord. In this way, God uses the week and foolish to shame the strong. He even used a barren woman like Hannah to glorify God, using her condition as an opportunity for her to come to know the Lord.
Look at verses 7-8. “The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. 7 The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. 8 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.
Here, we can learn Hannah’s resurrection faith. In a sense she tasted the pain of death through her barren condition and through weaning off her sin and selfish desires. But the Lord raised up Hannah and she experienced resurrection power, when she had a son and when she attached herself to the Lord. It all happened when Hannah prayed and made and kept her vow to the Lord.
Through this Hannah was able to accept God’s sovereign power over life and death, that “… The Lord brings death and makes alive; that he brings down from the grave and raises up.” Just as in his creation power, the Lord God makes something out of nothing. He raises the poor from dust and ashes and seats them as princes. Ultimately, through this, we learn to have resurrection faith; that although we die, the Lord will rise us from he ashes of death.
Look at verses 9-10. He will guard the feet of his saints, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness. “It is not by strength that one prevails; 10 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.”.
Here Hannah picked up God’s vision for Jesus’ second coming and world salvation. In that day, God will save his saints, but will punish the wicked. He will judge the ends of the earth and will establish Jesus as his anointed king over God’s eternal kingdom.
Personally, through this passaage, I recognized my strong attachment to my children. Because of this I often tried to control or to micromanage their lives, only to give them a lot of unnessasary stress. Like Hannah, I need to entrust them to the Lord. But I learned that while a vow or at least a clear decision are important, I also need to make a daily struggle to separate myself from the thing of this world and come close to the Holy God. Rather, than thinking that I have already accomplished something in my spirtual life, I need to continually go through a weaning process in order to know God better.
Look at verse 11. Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy ministered before the Lord under Eli the priest
In Hannah’s day, the priesthood became corrupt. God had a plan to remove Eli and his wicked son and to raise up Samuel in their place. This the significance of Hannah’s vow, that God used it to turn the nation back to God, through Samuel.
In conclusion, Hannah confessed that the Lord alone is holy. There is no one else who give us true joy and though whom we can experience the power of salvation and resurrection. Therefore, we ought to put our hope fully in the Lord and seek him only.
Through 1st and 2nd Samuel, we can learn how the Lord raised up Israel as great and spiritual nation, especially through establishing the Kingdom of David. And, it all began with one woman Hannah. May God bless us learn her faith and prayer continually.
One word: No one holy like the Lord.
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Biblenote
Hannah’s Prayer
1 Samuel 2:1-11
Key Verse 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.”
Introduction:
This passage records Hannah’s song of joy. After dedicating her only son Samuel to God, She could have regretted what she had done and experienced intense sorrow. She might have become a patient of panic attack whenever she think about an unreliable high priest, Eli. But she neither regretted her decision, nor did she sorrow over it. Instead she was full of joy. She gave all credit to the Lord. We can learn many things from her. May the Lord help us to increase our faith and render glory to God.
Read verse 1. How does Hannah begin her prayer? (1a) How does she get strength? (1b) Why does she boast over her enemies? (1c)
1-1) Read verse 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.
1-2) How does Hannah begin her prayer? (1a)
Hannah’s prayer begins with rejoicing in the Lord.
Hannah is not rejoicing in leaving her son.
Hannah is joyful for her son only.
Hannah is rejoicing in the Lord himself.
Joy is “Jesus first,” “Others second,” and “yoursef last.”
When we fulfill the will and purpose of God, we are truly happy.
But we are often times taught to seek first our own kingdom. But it was not the way to be truly happy.
Hannah had hard time in her barren womb. But she did not fight against other human beings, rather she prayed and waited to see through how God was working in her life.
At God’s right time her prayer has been replied and she came out as a woman of deep understanding of God’s way of working and who God really is.
She graduate the period of human sorrow thanks to God’s grace and mercy.
That’s why it is natural for her to rejoice in the Lord rather than His blessing no matter how good might seem to her.
What did Apostle Paul say? when he was in prison and the church of Philippi was having a problem.
Philippians 3:1 “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.”
Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice!”
Acts 16:25 “Paul & Silas rejoiced even though they were beaten and thrown into prison”
We cannot always rejoice in the circumstances, but we can rejoice in the Lord, that is rejoicing in what Jesus Christ has done for us.
1-3) How does she get strength? (1b)
Hannah is speaking of her strength and power being exalted in the LORD.
The horn is an often used as a picture of strength in the Bible (Psalm 75:4-5; 92:10).
How many deadly horns(despair, anger, and fatalism) might have pierced her so far?
1-4) Why does she boast over her enemies? (1c)
For I delight in your deliverance. Again she did not gloat over the enemy because it was not a fight agains flesh, but a spiritual fight. She was boasting over her inner enemy of sins and experience her deliverance.
She gave her credit to the Lord who was merciful for her without fail.
Read verses 2 and 3. What is Hannah’s confession about God? (2) What is her warning to those who speak proudly? (3)
2-1) Read verses 2 and 3.
2 “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. 3 “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.
2-2) What is Hannah’s confession about God? (2)
There is no one like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.
“Rock” has to do with stability no matter what.
It remind me of how Jesus named Simon into Peter. He was a sand like person. He was not reliable person. But God graciously win his soul and envisioned to bring him up as a rock like person.
Likewise God is working in each person to be a rock like person through the personal encounter with Jesus.
2-3) What is her warning to those who speak proudly? (3)
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.
The proud could be Peninnah. Hannah must have been hurt a lot due to her careless sayings. But looking back on, she came to know that God knows and every deed was weighed.
It became one of great lessons for her and she came to know how to deal with the proud down the road from God’s perspective.
Read verses 4 - 8. How does God change peoples’ lives? (4, 5,7, 8a) What is God’s sovereignty? (6, 8b)
3-1) Read verses 4 - 8.
4 “The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength. 5 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. 6 “The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave[ HYPERLINK "http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel+2&version=NIV1984" \l "fen-NIV1984-7247c" c] and raises up. 7 The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. 8 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.
3-2) How does God change peoples’ lives? (4, 5, 7, 8a)
4 “The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength.
The bows of the warriors are considered to be the ways and means to protect people. But God sees through what we do rely on. Contrary to our own expectations, God is working in the opposite way.
God is diligently strengthened those who stumbled with their weakness through true dependence upon the arm of God.
God’s way is so different that we must rely on the prayer, the word, and the Holy Spirit.
We are often times very deceived by the visual aspect of this world.
Nothing is more important than seeking Him with our whole hearts and souls and strengths. This is the only way to win.
5 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.
7 The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts.
It is case by case. It depends on God who is the judge to decide who is qualified to receive his blessings. Behind our success and failure, God is in charge as the sovereign Lord.
In Luke 14:7-11, Jesus said when we have the opportunity to set ourselves high, we should take a low place instead.
Then, when someone sets us in a higher place, it will be a pleasant experience. But if we put ourselves in a high place, someone may come and set us in a lower place, and then we will be embarrassed.
Jesus concluded by saying, For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
8 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.
Dust and the ash heap indicates complete impossible things from human eyes. But there is no impossibility in God who raised the dead. It has to do with Jesus’ cross and resurrection.
Also we are nothing but dust without God’s breath in Genesis 2. Thanks to God’s creation, we became a living being.
But due to sins, we came back to dust like condition that are supposed to be burned out and left as ash.
But thanks to Jesus’ blood sacrifice, we are blessed with him and seated with him as priests and saints.
So all the credit goes to Jesus.
3-3) What is God’s sovereignty? (6, 8b)
6 “The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up.
8b “For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s; upon them he has set the world.
God’s sovereignty has to do with his claim upon death and life and his resurrection power.
Nobody is able to raise up the dead. Hannah saw the vision and hope in and through God.
Read verses 9 - 11. What will God do? (9a, 10b) What happens to those who oppose God? (9b,10a) What did Samuel do before the Lord? (11)
4-1) Read verses 9 - 11.
9 He will guard the feet of his saints, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness. “It is not by strength that one prevails; 10 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.” 11 Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy ministered before the Lord under Eli the priest.
4-2) What will God do? (9a, 10b)
He will guard the feet of his saints, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness
“He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
Hannah’s assurance is in the Lord.
God will guard the feet of his saints.
“If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm;24 though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.”
(Psalm 37:23,24)
God will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.
4-3) What happens to those who oppose God? (9b,10a)
The wicked will be silenced in darkness.
Those who opposed the Lord will be shattered.
He will thunder against them from heaven
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.
4-4) What did Samuel do before the Lord? (11)
Hannah kept her vow to God because she put trust in the Lord.
Samuel has ministered before the Lord under Eli the priest.
In conclusion,
Hannah prayed and said, “My heart rejoices in the Lord.” The Lord and God is repeated more than 10 times in this short passage. It indicates that Hannah’s joy came from intimate and personal knowledge about him. May the Lord help us to know the Lord at the time of difficulty and be a man and woman of faith to change the flow the history in a generation and continue to serve his own salvation purpose. Amen.
One word: My heart rejoices in the Lord!
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