What Your Worship Reveals

1 Samuel 1, 24.

And since the Lord gave me what I asked him for, I now give the boy to the Lord.

For as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.

Then he worshiped the Lord there.

Hannah prayed,

My heart rejoices in the Lord.

My horn is lifted up by the Lord.

My mouth boasts over my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation.

There is no one holy like the Lord.

There is no one beside you.

And there is no rock like our God.

Do not boast so proudly or let arrogant words come out of your mouth.

For the Lord is a God of knowledge, and actions are weighed by him.

The bows of the warrior are broken, but the feeble are close with strength.

Those who are full hire themselves out for food, but those who are starving hunger no more.

The woman who is childless gives birth to seven, but the woman with many sons pines away.

The Lord brings death and gives life.

He sends some down to Sheol, and he raises others up.

The Lord brings poverty and gives wealth.

He humbles and he exalts.

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the trash heap.

He seats them with noblemen and gives them a throne of honor.

For the foundation of the earth are the Lord's, and he has set the world on them.

He guards the steps of the faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness.

For a person does not prevail by his own strength.

Those who oppose the Lord will be slaughtered, shattered, and he will thunder the heavens against them.

The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.

He will give power to his king, and he will lift up the horn of his anointed.

Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy served the Lord in the presence of the priest Eli.

Eli's sons were wicked men.

They did not respect the Lord or the priest's share of the sacrifices from the people.

When anyone offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged meat fork

while the meat was boiling and plunge it into the container, kettle, cauldron, or cooking pot.

The priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up.

This is the way they treated all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh.

Even before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the one who was sacrificing,

Give the priest some meat to roast, because he won't accept boiled meat from you, only raw.

If that person said to him, The fat must be burned first, and then you can take whatever you want for yourself,

the servant would reply, No, I insist that you hand it over right now.

If you don't, I'll take it by force.

So the servant's sin was very severe in the presence of the Lord,

because the men treated the Lord's offering with contempt.

Samuel served in the Lord's presence.

This mere boy was dressed in a linen ephod.

Each year, his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went with her husband

to offer the annual sacrifice.

Eli would bless Elkanah's wife.

May the Lord give you children by this woman in place of the one she has given to the Lord.

Then they would go home.

The Lord paid attention to Hannah's need, and she conceived,

and gave birth to three sons and two daughters.

Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.

Now, Eli was very old.

He heard about everything his sons were doing to Israel, all of Israel,

and how they were sleeping with the woman who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

He said to them, Why are you doing these things?

I have heard all about your evil actions from the people.

No, my sons, the news I hear, the Lord's people spreading is not good.

If one person sins against another, God can intercede for him.

But if a person sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?

But they would not listen to their father, since the Lord intended to kill them.

By contrast, the boy Samuel grew in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people.

A man of God came to Eli and said to him,

This is what the Lord says.

Didn't I reveal myself to your forefather's family when they were in Egypt and belonged to Pharaoh's pals?

Because out of all the tribes of Israel, I chose your house to be my priests,

to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in my presence.

I also gave your forefather's family all the Israel food-like offerings.

Why then do you all despise my sacrifices and offerings that are required at the place of worship?

You have honored your sons more than me by making yourselves fat with the best part of all the offerings of my people Israel.

Therefore, this is the declaration of the Lord, the God of Israel.

I did say that your family and your forefather's family would walk before me forever.

But now, this is the Lord's declaration no longer.

For those who honor me, I will honor.

But those who despise me will be disgraced.

Look, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your forefather's family

so that none of your family will reach old age.

You will see distress in the place of worship in spite of all the good in Israel

and no one in your family will ever again reach old age.

Any man from your family I do not cut off from the altar will bring grief and sadness to you

and all your descendants will die violently.

This will be a sign that will come to you concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas.

Both of them will die on the same day.

Then I will raise up a faithful priest for myself.

He will do whatever is in my heart and mind.

I will establish a lasting dynasty for him.

And he will walk before me, my anointed one, for all time.

Anyone who is left in your family will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread.

He will say,

Please appoint me to some priestly office so I can have a piece of bread to eat.

The boy Samuel served the Lord in Eli's presence.

In those days, the word of the Lord was rare and prophetic visions were not widespread.

This is the word of God for the people of God.

The grass withers, the flower fades, and the word of the Lord stands forever.

No word from God shall be void of power.

Let's pray.

Oh God, if you had left us for ourselves, we would still be in darkness.

We would have no way of understanding or seeing your glory, your true revelation of yourself in your word.

But we thank you for how the Holy Spirit is near your people right here ministering.

We thank you for how in the hand of the Spirit, the word of God is living and active.

And it accomplishes your purpose.

We ask that you will open our eyes, that you will minister your own word to us.

Thank you for giving us history.

Thank you for giving us poetry and for giving us stories.

Thank you for how your Holy Spirit was with Hannah, with the scribes, with the authors of every portion of Scripture.

Thank you, Lord, for how you've preserved it.

Thank you for how you've arranged every word, every composition in your word.

We ask, Lord, that you will open our eyes to see your sovereign presiding mercy,

to reveal yourself to people like us through your word once again today.

We ask this for your glory and for Christ's sake.

Amen.

Some of the most important work happens invisibly.

Think about how that's true in your own body, your anatomy, how you're put together.

It's invisible.

And until I say it, you're likely not even aware that your heart right now pumps, pumps, pumps.

Your lungs expand, contract.

They're doing that important, vital work, even though it's invisible.

We're not even aware of it.

Our bodies are this way because that's how God designed them.

And I think it's to teach us a lesson, a constant reminder that God is at work,

though it's often invisible and it's quiet.

God is at work preserving, redeeming, sustaining you and me.

Every moment of every day, he's doing this quietly but vitally.

And he loves it when his true worshipers see him working and appreciate his power.

God doesn't need a big show.

God doesn't need a large gathering.

He doesn't need emotional hype or worldly gimmicks.

He doesn't need any of that.

He is working powerfully, though quietly.

We read in John 4 this wonderful revelation, quiet, out of the way,

to someone who probably least expected it.

This wonderful news that the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

Jesus says this day is now here.

So beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

just as an ultrasound would reveal to us the heart and the lungs and their function,

our worship reveals to us that God is working vitally, though it's quietly.

I think that our worship also reveals a lot about ourselves, about you and me,

just as it revealed a lot about Hannah, contrasted with the sons of Eli the priest.

As we walk through these verses, I want to point out, first of all, this contrast in the two forms.

There's a poem, and then there's prose.

Then I want to highlight four truths.

I'm sure there's more in here, four for today.

And then finally, an offer for you and for me.

So first, why these two different forms side by side right here in 1 Samuel chapter 2?

1 Samuel 2 · chapter mention

The critics would say this is just patchwork, thoughtlessly put together.

The more I've studied that these weeks, the more I see purpose in God's very arrangement of his scripture.

Do you notice how Hannah's prayer, it's given to us in poetry?

In some of your copies, it's even typeset as poetry.

Whereas the history, this wicked, dark history of Israel, is given in prose.

See, the invisible work that God is doing, the spiritual reality, is revealed to us in this exalted language of poetry.

But then that ugly, earthly reality is given to us in bare facts.

The first 10 verses of chapter 2 are prayer, followed by 24 verses of prose.

God ordered his word this way.

Our confession of faith says that the inward work of the Holy Spirit inside true believers,

it will bear witness by and with the word of God in our hearts.

God has ordered his word in this way.

So here's the contrast I believe this sets up to teach us.

In the poem, the Holy One is revealed, God himself.

In the narrative, wrath-deserving sinners are described.

The prayer of Hannah, in this poetry, it swells up into greater and greater confident hope in God.

Whereas the narrative goes the opposite direction.

It spirals downward into deeper and darker despair.

The poetic prayer answers the problems raised by the complicated narrative.

I think they're meant to be read together.

And as we're going through this chapter, I'm going to have you look at one, then look at the other with each truth.

See, isn't it true in our lives that it's playing out that way?

Our faith in this world, but not of the world.

The wickedness of the world, we know that very well.

We see it by our own sight.

Can't deny it.

And God's revelation stirs us and calls us to trust him by faith.

And it elevates us above that.

So I do see in the very arrangement of this chapter, God's purposeful, masterful, beautiful, and striking providence.

How he's arranged his own word.

Our confession also says what I'll ask the Holy Spirit to help us with.

That we could see the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts.

And the end of the whole, which is to give glory to God.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, what is it that's in focus in this chapter is worship.

The pure worship of Hannah in prayer versus the corrupt worship of the sons of the priest.

The way they worship reveals much about each one of them.

It reveals their contrasting appetites in worship.

These are worshipers that don't know God on one hand in the history of Israel versus true worshipers who do know the Lord.

The Lord reveals himself to, like Hannah.

Notice how they all claim the same God.

But as we get to the end of chapter 2, we see how the destiny of each is very different as it unfolds.

They have contrasting appetites.

Would you look at 1 Samuel 2, verse 5?

1 Samuel 2:5

And this is how the chapter ends.

A curse upon these wicked sons of Eli that fulfills what Hannah prayed for in verse 5.

Those who were full, these wicked sons who were taking the offerings that the people brought,

they have now hired themselves out for bread.

They're depicted at the end of the chapter as begging to have something to eat.

And the hungry, like Hannah, who wasn't even feasting with Elkanah, was just in Shiloh praying in the presence of the Lord instead,

have now ceased to hunger.

God has fed them.

Contrasting appetites revealed in worship and contrasting destinies.

Well, friends and brothers and sisters, how you and I worship, it reveals much about us as well.

It reveals the condition of our soul and ultimately our eternal destiny.

You and I either worship like Hannah or we worship like these sons of Eli.

Here are the four truths I want to highlight for us today.

Number one, how you worship reveals how you view yourself.

How you worship reveals how you view yourself.

Would you look at verse 12 with me?

We are told, now the sons of Eli were corrupt because they did not know the Lord.

We're good without God.

That was their attitude.

They're described as being corrupt.

In the original, there's a play on words here.

It could also be translated, these are sons of Belial.

These are sons of corruption.

To be a son of something means that's what you're defined by.

What defined these two sons of Eli was being wicked, worthless, evil.

In Paradise Lost, John Milton depicted the demon Belial as the last one to fall.

In the vilest of them all, he was the demon of impurity and lies.

And that's how these two sons of the priest are depicted.

I'm good without God.

Beyond that, they viewed themselves as at liberty to play around with spiritual things without knowing the true God, with no reverence for him.

I don't think it's a stretch to associate them with demonic worship.

We're told later in this same book, 1 Samuel 28, 3, that mediums and spiritists were in the land of Israel at this time.

Their names were Hophni and Phinehas.

The name Eli is a very Jewish name.

El means God.

And Eli means ascend, like one who would ascend to God.

That's a great name for a priest.

But for reasons we are not told, he named his own sons, Hophni and Phinehas.

One means tadpole.

And the other means copper mouth.

Both, copper mouth snake.

So both snakes and frogs were used as part of Egyptian pagan worship.

We're only a few generations out of this people of Israel being slaves in Egypt.

And now this priest is named his two sons with these Egyptian names, alluding to these pagan, false, demonic gods of Egypt.

And these two sons, they saw themselves as entitled and above God's law.

In verses 13 through 17, it's describing for us how in their pride, they took the fact of the offering for themselves.

What does this represent?

What are we to learn here?

Well, going back to the reference in Egypt, it was the Pharaoh under God's sovereignty who told Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 45, 18,

Come to me and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you shall eat all the fat of the land.

The fat, the marbled meat, it's considered the choicest portion.

But in their pride, these men despised the law of God, which was very clear in Leviticus 3, 10.

The priests were to remove the fat.

Verse 11,

Verse 17 of Leviticus 3 tells the priests,

You shall not eat the fat.

Well, in their pride, they despised the law of God.

They despised the law of God because they despised God.

Leviticus 7, 20 also shows they despised belonging to God and being his people.

Leviticus 7, 20 says that the person who eats the flesh of the sacrifices of the peace offering that belongs to the Lord,

while he is unclean, that person shall be cut off from his people.

Well, who was it that would have authority to cut off these wicked men, Hophni and Phinehas?

It would be the high priest.

It would be Eli himself.

Eli neglected to practice discipline and cut off these two sons,

saying you are not in the covenant people of God.

You despise the offering of God himself.

You see how these men were revealed, their view of selves, by how they worship God.

The way they lived and worshipped is said, we're good without God.

We don't need him.

You keep your God.

By contrast, let's go to the poem.

Hannah says, I'm dead without God.

These wicked men say, we're good without God.

And Hannah says, look at verse 6.

The Lord kills and the Lord makes alive.

He brings down to the grave and he brings up.

She has a high view of God.

He's the giver of life.

And without him, I'm dead.

You can keep a finger, a marker right here in 1 Samuel 2.

But if you would, please flip back to Leviticus chapter 3.

Leviticus 3 · chapter mention

I just want you to see this for yourself.

Leviticus chapter 3 is what I was mentioning as the peace offering.

Leviticus 3 · chapter mention

That's the offering relating to the fat.

That was the best portion reserved for God.

But there are two offerings that are given before that.

So Leviticus 3 is about the peace offering.

Leviticus 2, right before that, is the grain offering.

It's an offering of gratitude.

Well, what are you grateful for?

You got to go back one more.

So Leviticus 1, in your copy of God's word, what does it say?

What needs to happen in Leviticus 1?

What's the first offering?

It's the burnt offering.

The burnt offering comes before the peace offering.

The burnt offering, it represents a substitute taking your place to receive God's wrath,

to be fully consumed, destroyed.

That's what Hannah recognizes.

That's what we recognize when we sing some of our greatest songs and hymns.

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing, sent Him to die,

I scarce can take it in that on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,

He bled and died to take away my sin.

The Son of God, God the Son, became the burnt offering,

so that you and I can enjoy the peace offering.

The Lord kills and the Lord makes alive.

He brings down to the grave and He brings up.

This is the right view of myself before God.

And Hannah's right worship reveals the right view of ourselves before this holy God.

I need the burnt offering before I can enjoy this peace offering the way God's given it.

Well, number two, how you and I worship, it reveals not only how we view ourselves,

it also reveals how we view God.

How we worship reveals how we view God.

Isn't this true?

Hophni and Phinehas, they worshiped like the pagans.

Would you look at verse 22, please?

We're told that Eli was very old and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel.

There's the passive, permissive priest.

And how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

Not only did these men view themselves as above God's law and despised His offering,

they had no reverence for God.

And their lack of reverence was doing injury to the lives and the faith of God's people.

And their dad, Eli, sitting there.

Now, we read in Exodus 38, 8, that there were women serving that would assemble at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

That was nothing wrong there.

That's just part of people gathering around the place where God will dwell and serving and being organized to serve.

But what Hophni and Phinehas were doing is bringing pagan practices into the presence of the holy God.

Nothing new under the sun once again, right?

We know those early churches, that's exactly what would happen in these temples to demons among the Greeks in the Roman Empire.

Is that there would be cult prostitution, all kinds of immorality as part of their worship to the goddess Aphrodite.

And these fake demon gods and Hophni and Phinehas are treating the tent of meeting in Shiloh,

the place where the holy God dwells and meets with His worshipers,

they're treating as if it's a pagan temple.

They're behaving and worshiping as if God were made in man's image.

As if God could be manipulated for their own pleasure.

And God's people were led by these priests who are now no different than the worldly worshipers of Satan.

Do you see how dark the spiritual condition of God's people in this point in redemptive history?

Eli scolded them.

Look at verse 25.

It says,

You are sinning against the Lord.

Who will intercede for you?

He's saying,

I'm a worthless priest.

I can't do it.

You've directly defiled God Himself.

Well, you can't defile God, but you've defiled yourselves in His presence.

And who's to stand between you and the wrath of the holy God?

But Eli's words were powerless.

We're told they did not heed the voice of their father.

They also didn't heed the voice of Scripture.

And maybe there are some who need this stern warning.

In Job 13, 9-11, the Word of God says,

Will it be well with you when the holy God searches you out?

Or can you deceive the holy God as one deceives a man?

The holy God will surely rebuke you.

Will not His majesty terrify you?

And the dread of Him fall upon you?

Who's going to be interceding for you?

Who?

The narrative tells us the reason why the sons of Eli had such a low view of God.

Would you look at verse 12?

The sons of Eli did not know Yahweh.

By contrast, Hannah says in verse 1, you can please look there back at the poem,

My heart rejoices in Yahweh.

Hannah knew God in spirit and in truth, just like the woman at the well in John 4.

My heart rejoices in Yahweh.

Notice what Hannah says in verse 2.

These sons of Eli are acting as if this God, Yahweh, the true God creator of all,

is just like the pagan demons.

Hannah says, no, no, no.

Verse 2, no one is like holy Yahweh,

for there is none beside you.

In Psalm of Canterbury, he wrote that the holy God is that of which nothing greater can be conceived.

God is that of which nothing greater can be conceived.

What a great expression of God's holiness.

God is unlike any other.

And Hannah says in verse 2,

Nor is there any rock like our God.

There's nowhere else stable, solid, a shelter, a fortress.

Our God alone is that.

Hannah has a high view of God as holy.

And look at verse 8.

Hannah says,

For the pillars of the earth are Yahweh's.

And he has set the world upon them.

This is the holy creator.

He's a rock.

You think this world, this cosmos is massive?

God is the one who put the pillars to even hold it in place.

Do you have this high view of God?

Does your worship reveal this reverence?

God, you are holy.

There's nothing greater than God that I can even conceive of.

We sing,

O Lord my God,

when I in awesome wonder

consider all the worlds thy hands have made,

then sings my soul,

how great thou art.

My heart rejoices in Yahweh.

He's absolutely above.

He is much more magnificent.

He is supremely other than anything else in all the world.

How great thou art.

How we worship reveals,

it reveals our view of God.

Third truth I want to highlight is that

how we worship reveals

to what end your life will come.

How you and I worship

reveals right now,

this moment in time,

before it's too late,

to what end your life and mine will come.

Either way,

your life will glorify God.

God will either be glorified in destroying the wicked,

or God will be glorified in redeeming the wicked

and calling them his beloved people.

Well, first the contrast with Hophni and Phinehas.

Look at verse 17.

We're told that the sin of the young men was very great

before Yahweh.

For these men of Horde,

they despised the offering of the Lord.

To what end will their worship lead?

Who despise the peace offering of God?

Would you see how in verse 17,

the default bent of their will,

and yours and mine under Adam's curse as well,

is to reject God's peace offering?

The call so far in 1 Samuel

has been to bow before the sovereign God.

The word sovereign,

you hear the last part of that word is reign,

that God reigns as king, supreme.

And the first part of that word, sovereign,

it alludes to freedom.

To acknowledge God's sovereignty

is to acknowledge his free reign.

That's what God shows us in this story.

And some of us,

this might be the one area

of your thinking about God

that needs to change.

It needs to expand even today.

Look at verse 25.

Why is it that these wicked men

did not heed their father's warning?

Verse 25 says,

they did not heed the voice of their father

because the Lord desired to kill them.

You should read that one more time for yourself.

They did not heed the voice of the Lord

because the Lord desired to kill them.

What can we infer from this?

Who is it that heeds the warning

that if you continue in your pride,

you will get the wrath of God?

It's only those whom the Lord turns.

See, all are dead in our trespasses and sins.

That's what the Bible says.

None of us would heed the warning

to repent and believe in Jesus,

turn and receive this free offer.

All of us would despise the offering of God

to have peace with him in Christ,

in our pride.

If you're here today

and you don't despise God's peace offering,

you joyfully, gratefully receive

the peace of God in Jesus,

it's not because of anything you did.

You can't take any glory or credit

for your decision.

But it's because God turned your heart.

He regenerated you.

See, I think that's what Hannah

recognizes in her prayer.

Would you go back to the poem?

Look at verse 8.

When she's pronouncing the condemnation

of the wicked,

in many ways it's simply a reversal.

You know, you were hungry, now you're fed.

You were rich, now you're poor.

But verse 8 is very interesting.

It says,

The wicked shall be silent in darkness.

What that conveys is

you're going to be left on your own.

You're not going to be receiving light from God.

You're not going to respond rejoicing like Hannah.

You reject God's peace offering.

You're left in silence and darkness.

There is only one end for those

who despise God's peace offering.

Look at verse 27 now,

back to the story.

What end was in store for the sons of Eli?

We read in verse 27,

A man of God came to Eli and said to him,

Thus says the Lord.

We can sum it up in verse 34.

Your two sons,

Hophni and Phinehas,

in one day,

shall die both of them.

This is the free reign of God.

You continue in your pride,

rejecting his peace offering.

You will die.

You will be left in silence and darkness,

away from the presence of the Holy God.

By contrast,

let's look at Hannah

as one example of a believer.

What is the end for this worshiper?

In verse 11,

it's the last mention of her family.

Look at verse 11.

We shift from her poetry into the prose.

We're told then Elkanah,

up to this point it's been Hannah

as the main point of reference.

But now it's her husband again.

Elkanah went to his house.

See how after this glorious prayer,

this poem,

Hannah is no longer named.

She softly disappears from the book.

But her end is hopeful.

Look one verse prior, verse 10.

She says,

Yahweh will give strength to his king

and exalt the horn of his anointed.

What's the last word spoken by Hannah?

The word anointed.

You know what anointed is in Hebrew?

Messiah.

A king is coming.

Hannah's last word is looking to the Messiah.

The king will be anointed.

Yahweh will exalt him.

He will be Yahweh's strength.

Yahweh is quietly working.

What about her son?

What's Samuel's role here?

He's part of the fulfillment,

but he's not the king.

He's the last judge and he's a prophet,

but his special role is that

he is the anointer of the king.

Samuel prepares the way

and anoints David.

Can you see how this is foreshadowing

another barren mom,

another true worshiper

in the midst of corruption,

Elizabeth,

and her son,

who would be set apart,

take the Nazarite vow,

John the Baptist,

would prepare the way for the king.

Your life will serve

either to display God's wrath

against proud sinners

or to display his glory

in the anointed,

the Messiah.

The fourth truth for today is this.

It's that the Lord

secures true worship

for himself.

The Lord secures true worship

for himself.

Let's see how he does that.

I see three levels

in this story.

First,

look at verse 27.

The Lord quietly

raises up a true minister

that will serve

to deliver God's word

instead of to please

the men in power.

In verse 27,

we have this unnamed preacher.

He's just called

a man of God.

Just like John the Baptist.

He must increase,

I must decrease.

Don't even name him.

That man of God

came to Eli

and said,

thus says the Lord.

It's not the authority

of this man of God,

it's the word of the Lord

doing the heavy lifting.

And through this judgment,

by pronouncing the word

of the Lord,

the Lord is securing

true worship

and true worshipers

for himself.

Well,

the second way

God does this

is quietly

growing another minister,

another leader.

Did you notice

that that prose,

that narrative,

it was pretty long.

It was maybe

the longest reading

we've ever done.

Praise God,

we have his word

in a language

we can understand.

And most of that

is about the wicked,

evil sin of Israel

and the horrible worship

that's going around

in the tent of meeting

of the Lord.

It's almost painful

to sit there

and have to listen

to all of this

for seven minutes.

But notice these little verses

one at a time,

little notes.

Start with verse 11.

Would you look at verse 11?

Samuel ministered to the Lord.

Just drop it in there.

Now look at verse 18.

Samuel ministered before Yahweh.

Now look at verse 26.

The child Samuel grew

in stature

and in favor

with the Lord

and with men.

By the way,

when Luke describes

God's quiet,

raising up the leader,

the one who will come

to judge,

he's described

that exact same way.

And now look at

1 Samuel chapter 3 verse 1,

1 Samuel 3:1

the last verse

that John read for us.

The boy Samuel

was ministering

to the Lord.

Dale Ralph Davis commented,

these quiet,

subtle notes

remind us

that God

is already

at work

to provide

new,

godly leadership

for his people.

No slogans,

no campaigns,

no speeches.

It is all very quiet.

Yahweh is growing

his new leader.

And true,

vital,

divine growth

seldom makes noise.

End of the quote.

See how the Lord

works quietly,

but he works

powerfully

to secure

true worship

for himself.

And the third way,

the most glorious way

of them all,

how the Lord

does this.

It's in the prophecy

that this man of God

gives.

Let's look at verse 35.

The man of God says,

thus says the Lord,

I will raise up

for myself

a faithful priest

who shall do

according to what

is in my heart

and in my mind

and I will build him

a sure house.

Well,

prophecies like this

oftentimes receive

a near fulfillment

in national Israel

than an ultimate

fulfillment.

Let's talk about

the near fulfillment

first.

In 1 Samuel chapter 22,

1 Samuel 22 · chapter mention

there's a civil war.

It's Saul

versus David.

All the priests

side with David

because he fears

the Lord.

So to get revenge,

Saul orders

an Edomite

to come and kill

off all the priests

that sided with David

against Saul.

All but one priest

is killed.

That could be

one level of fulfillment.

The one that survived

his name was

Abiathar

and he did continue

then ministering

unto David

as the new king

when all the other

priests had been

wiped out.

Later on,

after David,

when Solomon is king,

there's a man

named Zadok

who comes from

a different line

and he remains

as the priest

until the Babylonian

captivity.

But I think even

Abiathar

and even Zadok

are only shadows

of the true substance.

The name Zadok

means righteousness.

You see,

man's problem

is even greater.

We have sinned

against a holy God.

We've despised

his offering

even with

these shadows,

these sacrifices

that were merely

meant to point

to a spiritual reality.

And even though

Eli was corrupt

and passive

in verse 25,

he understands

the problem

correctly.

We have a wrong

view of God

and we have a wrong

view of ourselves.

We'll always have

the wrong view

of the problem.

But Eli says

in verse 25,

you are sinning

against the Lord.

He's got a right

view of God

and a right view

of them

and himself.

And he has a right

view of the problem.

Who will intercede

for sinful men

like you and me?

That's the right view

of the problem

is that no man

can stand

as a priest.

In Hebrews 7,

24,

we have the glorious

fulfillment

that God

made his son

a priest

forever.

And he gave

to Jesus Christ

an unchangeable

priesthood.

Hebrews 7,

25 says,

therefore he

is able

to save

to the uttermost

those who come

to God

through him

since he always

lives

to make intercession

for you.

Jesus is praying,

interceding,

and all those

for whom Jesus

prays,

his prayer is effectual.

The prayer

of a righteous man,

Jesus Christ,

is effectual,

as he's praying,

and all those

for whom he prays

come to God.

Through Jesus Christ,

the only one

who can stand

between God

and man

as a mediator

and make peace.

Notice this prophecy

is of a priest

who will do

perfectly

what's in God's

heart

and in God's

mind.

And Jesus Christ

is the only one

who can fulfill

that requirement

for this glorious

priest.

He's the only one

whose priesthood

will endure forever.

And God will

build for him

a house

in which to minister.

Verse 35

brings priest

and king together.

He says,

he shall walk

before my anointed,

before my Messiah

forever.

And the one man,

Jesus Christ,

the king

and the priest

combined

to minister,

to mediate,

and to rule

over his people.

This is how God

secures true worship

for himself.

Isn't it glorious?

He says,

well,

those are the four

truths.

I still need to

give you an offer.

The offer is this.

All are invited.

You're invited

to receive

the Lord's

peace offering

and to worship

him.

But first,

you must see

yourself rightly.

You and I must

see ourselves

like a beggar.

If you're driving

around the Denver

metro,

you often will

pull up to a light

and there's a beggar.

And I hope that

next time we see that

and you,

you know,

you see this person

standing in the cold

asking for anything

you would want to give.

I hope that that

reminds us.

That's a picture of me

before this holy God.

That's how Hannah

saw herself

as a true worshiper.

And the glorious

promise of peace

with God through Christ

is only fulfilled

because we first

see ourselves

correctly in light

of God.

Look at verse 8.

Back to the poem

one last time.

Hannah declares,

God raises the poor

from the dust

and he lifts the beggar

from the ash heap.

This is imagery

of festering

compost piles

outside the city walls

where people would

dump their refuse

in the ashes

from their ovens.

And it was there

on the outside

of the city

where the beggars

and lepers

would sit

and they would

plead for alms.

It's an image

of deepest degradation.

And even these

wicked men,

Hophni and Phinehas,

if they would

humble themselves

and see themselves

as beggars

needing a savior,

the Lord's grace

and his righteousness

is sufficient

to cover that.

But first,

you must see yourself

in need

of such a great savior.

we're told of

our great savior,

Jesus Christ,

in Colossians 1.20.

In Christ,

God has made

peace with us.

How?

Through the blood

of his cross.

See,

it's only because

Jesus Christ

became our burnt sacrifice

that we can now enjoy

his peace offering.

we get to have

fellowship,

communion

with the holy God.

God shares

what is his

with his true

worshipers.

He says,

this is my table,

but you come

and sit with me.

You know,

the peace offering

was the only offering

that the Old Testament

people of God

were allowed to eat

and to share with him.

That's the purpose

to teach us.

You commune with God

now in Jesus Christ.

He is your peace offering.

What was God's?

What belonged to him?

The choicest portions.

He gave him son,

Jesus Christ,

to be the burnt offering

so that you could now

come and enjoy

the communion

and the fellowship

and the covenant

of grace

in Christ.

What a celebration.

God keeps his covenant.

He made peace

with us

through Jesus Christ.

What great reason

to feast.

He's our gracious God

and we're his people.

We used to be beggars

and look at verse 8.

Then in Jesus Christ,

the Lord,

he lifts you up

from being a beggar

like a leper

in the compost pile

outside the wall

and he brings you inside

and he sits you

on a throne

around him.

Verse 8 says,

the Lord sets you

as a prince

or as a princess

and makes you

inherit a seat

at his table

of glory.

And that's what

we're going to celebrate

here in a moment

with the Lord's Supper.

He has done this.

He has done this.

You are here

in his presence.

Don't have to go

to Shiloh

or Jerusalem.

Just like he promised

the woman at the well.

Anywhere in spirit

and in truth,

you're in the presence

of God spiritually.

In Hannah's prayer,

it began with her

personal experience

but it ends

with God's saving rule

over the largest

scope imaginable.

Commentators have

picked up on how

verses 9 and 10

of this wonderful

little poem,

they have a different verb.

The tense of the verb

changes

in verses 9 and 10.

They use the imperfect

tense,

which means

it's continuous

and it's looking forward.

It's to be read

and sung

as our prayer now,

our hope for the future.

We could read

verses 9 and 10

this way

in light of the finished

work of Jesus Christ.

Oh Lord,

we trust

that you will guard

your saints

in Christ.

For by strength

no man shall prevail.

The adversaries

of the Lord

shall be broken

in pieces.

And from heaven

you will thunder

against your enemies.

You, Lord,

will judge the ends

of the earth.

And you will give strength

to your King Jesus Christ

and exalt the name

of your anointed,

our Messiah,

the Lord Jesus Christ.

When Christ

shall come

with shouts

of acclamation,

what joy

shall fill our hearts.

Beloved congregation

of our Lord Jesus,

soon

He will come

as judge.

Right now

He offers

His grace.

He will come

to Him.

Don't despise

His peace offering.

Come to Him.

His righteousness

is sufficient.

His grace

abounds.

It overflows.

He won't run out

of grace

for you and for me.

And trust

that between now

His offer of grace

and until He comes

again,

God is at work

quietly preserving,

redeeming,

sustaining you

and me.

When we get a glimpse,

let's see together,

celebrate,

point it out

when God is quietly

at work.

He loves to work

in an invisible

but vital way.

And He loves it

when we respond

in grateful worship.

If God has revealed

Himself to you

as sovereign Lord,

then respond today.

Bow

in humble

adoration

and right here

proclaim,

my God,

how great

thou art.

Take a moment

to do that now.

And전

through the