I delight in your deliverance
1
Sam 1:1-2:11
Key
Verse 2:1 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:
Is your life productive? When we fail to produce good things in our
lives, others as well as ourselves bring up a question, are you right or good?
Or is your life worthy and meaningful? Is God with you? Here is
a lady, Hannah, who could not prove her goodness. She poured out her soul in
prayer to God and finally she became productive and proved her goodness in God.
Through this she found the meaning and joy in God Almighty who gave her victory
over her enemies that accused her of ungodly life. It is about victory in life.
It starts when we kneel down in prayer to God with total dependence in His
grace.
1.
Hannah's
bitterness [1-8]
At
that time there was a man named Elkanah, a descendant of Kohath, a division of
Aaron' priest family. It was the end of the period of the judges, before Israel
became a kingdom. During this time, it is said that everyone did what is good
in their eyes. There was the Law and
there was a priest and there was a tabernacle [the ark of God]. How one would do with these provisions for
faith were left to individual discretion and what each one or family did
varied according to how each family implement the law and its meaning. Then
high priest Eli’s two sons were doing ungodly things before God. But Elkanah
and his family went to Shiloh to offer sacrifice and to worship God every year.
Regardless of what others did, he was faithful to the Lord and kept the law.
But
there was a problem in this family of God. One wife Peninnah had many children
but Hannah, the other wife of Elkanah, did not have any children. Elkanah loved Hannah more than Peninnah. Most
likely out of jealousy Peninnah provoked Hannah to anger. Her
charge might have been that Hannah was not a godly lady that God cursed her not
to have any children. Such assumption was pretty well tuned with God’s
word. In the beginning of creation when
God created man, God bless them and said be fruitful and increase in number. So
having many children is considered as a sign of God’s blessing. While Abraham’s
Sarah was barren God promised him that God would make him a great nation,
indicating that God would bless him with many children. All the more having children
was wife’s duty. If a wife does not bear child for her husband, according to
the custom of the time, it made an enough reason for divorce. All these things put together, what Peninnah
was saying about Hannah was not far off from the truth at least on the
surface. Simply she was considered to be
bad in the eyes of God and unworthy of God’s blessing.
Could Hannah do anything about it? It
is more than likely that she might have tried many things to get pregnant. But
nothing worked. Simply she did not have any mean to deny such accusations as
long as she was barren. She had no choice but to bear with such accusations.
Once a year, the whole family went on trip to Shiloh where the ark of God was
in order to offer sacrifices. This was the occasion where all presented
themselves to God with offering sacrifice so as to be forgiven of sins and made
right in the eyes of God. Everything of Elkanah’s family was going well except
one thing; Hannah was barren. Hannah’s barrenness was the only sore spot within
the family. Here Peninnah’s remarks were
biting and sarcastic and very corrosive to the hearts of Hannah! Such things
went on year after year for many years! So if anything goes wrong within the
family it is because of Hannah’s wrong and ungodly or unrepentant life. She
felt like a scapegoat of the family. Unproductive
wife! Who is she like?
‘You
are ungodly, wrong, bad, and even evil, unrepentant!’ Such accusation comes to
us when we are unproductive in our lives.
When we are fired from our job again and again, family members will say,
‘what’s wrong with you?’ When we failed our classes, and could not graduate.. .
When we get a letter of rejection one after another, when bad things come one
after another… when our life is unproductive! Our families and friends raise
such questions. It is not just them; such thinking sneak into our hearts. Why
am I not productive? Why am I in so much trouble? We are like a barren woman. We question to ourselves, ‘I am not good and
unworthy of God’s rich blessing!’ What people say of us may be true-you fool
and bad boy! We question about our
whole being, its meaning and worthiness. Hannah was in such situation.
For
such troubled wife, the husband has the best position to comfort her. Also Elkanah is the head of the family, the
authority of the whole household. Whatever he says shall weigh more than anyone
else’s word! What did he say? "Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why
are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?"[8] He did
not just give her empty words; He loved her and counted her more valuable than
Peninnah by giving her double portion of the meat. Truly he was giving her the
best of his blessing to her.
Did it help her in
anyway? No! The fact that she was wrong and unworthy was not right. All the
more so, she cannot bear and live with such understanding that she is bad and
unworthy. Unquestionably her barrenness seems to testify to this fact! Here is
the source of her bitterness. The sweet word of her husband could not do much
for her! She could not any longer sit with or live with the fact that she is
not right with God and she is barren! Did she pick up a fight against
Peninniah? I like to notice is the Bible does not record any skirmish or
quarrel that she exchanged with Peninnah.
One
thing the Bible tells us is that God
closed her womb. In the beginning of creation God blessed man and said ‘be
fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth’ Even after sinning God said to Eve that she will bear a child with
pain. So God did not limit child bearing. When Noah came out of the ark, God
bless them again, be fruitful and fill the earth. So child bearing is God’s blessing and this blessing is for all!
But
here God closed her womb. Why? When
Michal, daughter of King Saul, saw David dancing, she demeaned her husband
David. So it said that she bore no children[2 Sam 6:23]. At this time it was a
clear judgment on her failure to honor God and her husband David, God anointed
servant-king.
According to Peninnah, God closed her
womb because Hannah was not a good lady, evil and ungodly. She got much of her
husband, Elkanah’s attention and love she cannot hide her sin before God. She
is punished for her undisclosed sin and wickedness! Is this the reason that God closed her womb?
We will discuss this later. Now we go back to Hannah. What
did she decide to do?
2.
Hannah's
prayer [9-19]
V10,11[s] In bitterness of her soul, she suddenly got up and
presented to God in sorrow. She made her resolution to present this to God in
prayer.
She said; If you will
look upon your servant misery! Remember me! Not forget your servant and give
her a son. As we see through her prayer,
she is pleading to God for His attention to her and her misery! How can God remember her? She is asking for a
son. If God does so, then she would give him back to God. She is willing to
dedicate his whole life to God. She would not have him or enjoy him as her son
at all. So she is not going to do anything to him, not even put a razor to cut
his hair. The Son will not be hers at all. He will be God’s!
As we see in this
prayer, the primary concern was upon
herself; God may show his mercy upon her.
Having a son as her own was a secondary
importance. The son will be a proof of the fact that God is with her and she is
not a bad or ungodly lady! She must be good in God’s eyes!
Unproductive life always leads us to think about who I
am. Why is my life unproductive? What is
the meaning of my life? These answers cannot be found among men. We have to
seek the answer from God. God is the ultimate decision maker on each life. It
is not what men think and reason that determines our lives; the most important
thing is what God think of me.
So how did she pray?
Eli saw her very carefully v13-14[s]
She prayed in her heart; her whole being was demanding,
pleading and asking for God’s mercy. She did it from her inmost being. When Eli
saw her praying he did not know what she was doing. Eli saw only her lips
moving. He thought that she was drunken and inebriated. She was mumbling for a
long time. So Eli said this: How long will you keep on getting drunk? Through
Eli’s word, we can see that she prayed
quite a long time. Eli’s assessment of Hannah was somewhat similar to
Peninnah’s accusations. ‘Don’t be a bad and wicked lady!’ Isn’t it more distressing that even God’s
servant failed to see her genuine heart? When she heard Eli’s word, Hannah
defended herself strongly!
She explained herself in this way; V15[s]
She was deeply troubled and she was pouring out her soul to the Lord! What does it mean to pour
out her soul? She is hanging on to God with all her being; she was desperate
and praying with total dependence and total submission; it was a matter of
being counted in the eyes of God or to remain rejected or uncared for; or being
useless, unworthy or unproductive lady.
17 Eli answered, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what
you have asked of him." This might be the first time in long time she was
hearing the words of approval, particularly from God’s servant! What happened
to her then? [s]
V18 18 She said, "May your servant find favor in your
eyes." Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer
downcast.
She was no longer down cast. She entrusted all to God. She
found rest in God’s goodness and righteousness. This is the result of whole-hearted prayer till one find true peace and rest in God’s will and his
provision in God’s goodness. Have you ever prayed like this? Hanging on to God
with all your being in prayer!
We all want to live a good and godly life that produces rich
fruits of life. A life approved by God, a life God’s blessing is evident! Yet
our lives don’t go such a cozy road. We often got into such situation like
Hannah. The foundation of our lives is shaken and debased. We come to a question
on the meaning and purpose of our lives! Am I worthy? Why am I not fruitful
like many others around me?
What should we do? We ought to pray, pray to God! Pray to
God with all our being! Pouring out our soul to the Lord! Then God’s peace will
find you!
3.
God's will in Hannah's life[20-28]
There are four statements about what happened thereafter. Hannah
was no longer down cast; Elkanah lay with Hannah; the Lord remembered her; She
conceived and gave birth to a son. In these four statements, there is nothing
unusual. It looked like ordinary events. There was no direct vision or
intervention to Hannah. Only thing, that was clear in her mind, was that she prayed to God and then she became pregnant and delivered a
son as she asked for. This was anything but ordinary: But God was on this event; God gave her peace and God remembered her and gave her a son as she
prayed. She knew it with certainty
without any trace of doubt! God is with
her in His mighty power and in His grace and mercy!
How did she express this certainty!
V2020 So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "Because
I asked the LORD for him."
She named the son, Samuel; meaning is ‘I asked the Lord for
him’ Nobody knew all the details of her
prayer or what she did in her prayer to God, but even her husband may not be
certain of God’s mighty hand on this. But she named him “Samuel’ for she firmly
believed that God heard her prayer. It is God’s power and grace. So Samuel is the symbol/mark or emblem of
God’s answer to Hannah’s prayer. Samuel
is a living reminder or proof that God heard her prayer and the true proof of
God’s love and care for her. Let the world know that God heard Hannah’s
prayer and that Hannah was accepted by God. Hannah is godly woman! In this way
there came an inseparable link of trust between God and Hannah.
When her husband Elkanah wanted to go Shiloh for the annual
sacrifice, Hannah decided to remain behind; the reason; she wanted to offer
Samuel to God for good. She wanted to fulfill her vow to God. This is full thankfulness and honor to the
God who heard her prayer.
It is strange thing that she along with the baby was left
behind while all the family went to Shiloh to offer sacrifices. This is a
family event and this is the event God commanded to do! But she did not
hesitate to say that she would go when the baby is weaned. What is the thing
that honors God most? It is to fulfill the vow and to give the baby dedicated
totally to God.
When we pray with full hearted mind to God, God give
assurance of his answer and his presence or confirmation of his abiding grace…
;full recognition of God’s power and his presence. When we received God’s blessing, we don’t need
anything else. God is our reward and is the source of our meaning and joy. It
is well expressed in her song/prayer.
4.
God,
the source of Hannah's victory [1:29-2:11]
Here is the song of Hannah. In her exuberant joy she sang a
song/prayer. This song tells us the true nature of the joy when God answered
her prayer. This is the joy that is far greater than any joy that we can find
in this world. I am sure that you had
many joyful occasions in your life. I had a great joy when my daughter married a man of God. But such joy cannot be
compared to the joy that Hannah found in God.
Let’s find the details of the joy of Hannah. It is very
distinctive and is far greater than any joy that we have in our common lives. It
is deeply founded in knowing God, His character and his plan of salvation of
men.
a.
Her joy is in God’s deliverance; Hannah rejoices in the Lord, for he delivered
from the enemies.-holy and rock[1-2]
i.
Rejoice in
the Lord: the Lord is in her side and her protection, deliverer, and her
righteousness
ii.
All these
are shown in his action of deliverance from the enemy!
iii.
He did
this because he is Holy and he is trustworthy and powerful like rock.
b.
Her joy is in knowing God’s righteous judgment on the proud[3-5]
i.
Do not talk so proudly and in arrogance—God
knows everything and by him the deeds are weighed.
ii.
The warriors /those who are full, those who have
many children—are rejected and broken but those who stumble, those who are
hunger, barren ; God cares for.
c.
Her joy is in knowing God as the Lord of all : "For the
foundations of the earth are the LORD's; upon them he has set the world. [6-8]
i.
God is the
owner of life: brings death and makes alive
ii.
Poverty and wealth/Humbles and exalts –God is
the Lord that disburse all blessings and
curses.
d.
Her joy is in knowing that in coming days God protects the faithful but those who
oppose will be shattered. He will give such power to the coming king, the Messiah
and through him all these will be accomplished[9-10]
i.
God cares
for the poor and needy
ii.
God guard
the saints /silence the wicked.
iii.
Who prevails? Not those who goes by strength ;
whom God will shatter, judge and thunder against.
iv.
The king,
his anointed God will give strength—hope of coming of Messiah God’s
character; Through this victory in her life she sees coming victory that God is
reserved for the nation! What I experience today through prayer will open our
spiritual horizon where I can see with certainty the coming victory of God
almighty in coming ages.
This is not unique to Hannah. Such joy is also found in the
song of Moses[Exo 15] and in the song of Mary [Luke 1:46-55]. God impart such
victory and joy to those who seek him in prayer.
Are
we good in the eyes of God? This must be proven in our lives. How? It is
through something that God gave. This is ultimate relationship that we want to
establish. This is the ultimate joy and happiness as a man and woman of God.
“I
believe God” what does it mean? Does it
mean that I am willing to give a particular god a credit as good god or my god.
No! It is where we establish our relationship with God through prayer.
John 16:24 reads ‘Until now you have not asked for anything in my
name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.’ (NIV) This
is ultimate sealing of our relationship with God, we as his children and God as
our Lord and King!
How!
It is through our prayer and seeking him.
Prayer begins when we come to realize that
we are helpless in our sins! What I mean, utterly helpless! I cannot do my
own! I surrender myself to God and His mercy! So the other facet of prayer is
to honor God as our Lord and Master by entrusting all that I am worry about my
life.
This
year is the year of prayer; we present ourselves like Hannah a helpless woman,
barren and charged to be not good and even ungodly. We do not get answers from
men’s word or seek consolation from other human beings. We will seek God and
His approval; we will be fruitful in and by God’s mercy!
When
I say ‘we’ I mean that each one of us! Seek him in prayer and may God have
mercy on us!
True happiness cannot be formulated in and
among human relationships. Hannah had great joy in victory as she received
the seal of God’s approval, her son Samuel. As we see in Hannah’s song,
Victory in my present life starts with prayer! If we sum up
on prayer and God in the midst:
Prayer:
Prayer:
1.
Hannah could not establish her goodness or
righteousness: this was her dilemma and her bitterness of soul
2.
Start with utter dependence on God, asking His mercy
and honoring Him as the Lord.
3.
God is pleased to give those who seek him
4.
When one receives what he/she prayed for
5.
The relationship and trust is solidified
6.
There comes full knowledge of Him : God’s character
and his love and care ; his power
7.
Personal victory enables one to see the victory of
coming of the Lord.
The God who closes Hannah’s womb
1.
Forced/drove her to seek Him, to the extent of
‘bitterness of soul’
2.
Let her faith demonstrated fully ;genuine quality of
faith; let her faith shine in darkness
3.
God gave her Samuel—the assurance of God’s blessing
and proof of God’s salvation.
4.
God reveals her the richness of Himself as the Lord of
salvation, the Lord of all, the Lord who save those who are humble, and God
seeking
-------------------
I DELIGHT IN YOUR
DELIVERANCE
1 Sam 1:1-2:11
Key verse 1:11
1. [1:1-8] What was
the background and atmosphere of Elkanah’s family? (1-5a; 8; 1 Chr 6:26,35) Why
was Hannah barren? (2b; 5a) Why was she troubled? (5b-7) According to
Peninnah’s mockery, what was the reason for Hannah's barrenness? How did Hannah
view her barrenness?
2. [1:9-11] What did
Hannah do and when did she do it? (9-10) What is the 'bitterness' in
her? What was the content of her prayer? (11)
3. [12-18] How did Eli
understand her action and how did she explain her action? (12-16) According to
her prayer and her words of defense what was the most troubling thing to her?
How did Eli change his view on her and how did he bless her? (17) How was she
changed afterwards? (18) Why?
4. [1:19-28] How did
God answer her prayer? (19-20) What did she name her son? Why? Why didn't
she go to the annual sacrifice with her family? (21-22) After weaning the
boy what did she do? (24) Why? (25-28) Why was it important that Eli was to
know what happened before? (28; 2:11)
5. [2:1-11] What was
the cause of her joy? (1) From what? Who is the God that delivered her (2-3)? What
are two kinds of people? (4-5) How does each of these two pursue their
righteousness? How does God deal with each differently? (6-8) What did
Hannah know about God through this event?
6. Why did God close her
womb? What is the role of prayer in this?
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