Where True Honour Lies

The scripture reading comes from 1st Samuel chapters 1 and 2.

Please follow along on the screen the bulletin or your own Bible.

Starting in verse 1 we read.

There was a certain man of Ramathayim Suphiram of the hill country of Ephraim,

whose name was Elkanah, the son of Jeraham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuth, and Ephraithite.

He had two wives.

The name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah.

And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts at Shiloh,

where the two sons of Eli, Hophani and Peninnahai, were the priests of the Lord.

On the day when Elkai sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnahai, his wife, and to all her sons and daughters.

But to Hannah, he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.

And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb.

So it went on year by year.

As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her.

Therefore, Hannah wept and would not eat.

And Elkanah, her husband, said to her,

Hannah, why do you weep?

And why do you not eat?

And why is your heart sad?

Am I not more to you than ten sons?

After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose.

Now Eli, the priest, was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord.

She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.

And she vowed a vow and said,

As she continued praying before the Lord,

Eli observed her mouth.

Hannah was speaking in her heart.

Only her lips moved and her voice was not heard.

Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman.

And Eli said to her,

How long will you go on being drunk?

Put your wine away from you.

But Hannah answered,

No, my Lord.

I am a woman troubled in spirit.

I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink.

But I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord.

Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman.

For all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.

Then Eli answered,

Go in peace and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.

And she said,

Let your servant find favor in your eyes.

Then the woman went away and ate.

And her face was no longer sad.

They rose early in the morning and worshipped before the Lord.

Then they went back to their house at Ramah.

And Elkanah knew Hannah, his wife.

And the Lord remembered her.

And in due time,

Hannah conceived and bore a son.

And she called his name Samuel.

For she said,

I have asked for him from the Lord.

The man, Elkanah,

and all his house went up to offer to the Lord

the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vows.

But Hannah did not go up.

For she said to her husband,

And as soon as the child is weaned,

I will bring him,

so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord

and dwell there forever.

Elkanah, her husband, said to her,

Do what you seem best to you.

Wait until you have weaned him.

Only may the Lord establish his word.

So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him.

And when she had weaned him,

she took him up with her,

along with a three-year-old bull,

and ephah of flour,

and a skin of wine,

and she brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh.

And the child was young.

Then they slaughtered the bull,

and they brought the child to Eli.

And she said,

Oh, my Lord,

as you live, my Lord,

I am the woman who was standing here in your presence,

praying to the Lord.

For this child I prayed,

and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him.

Therefore, I have lent him to the Lord.

As long as he lives,

he is lent to the Lord.

And he worshipped the Lord there.

And Hannah prayed and said,

My heart exalts in the Lord.

My horn is exalted in the Lord.

My mouth derides my enemies,

because I rejoice in your salvation.

There is none holy like the Lord,

for there is none beside you,

and there is no rock like our God.

Talk no more so very proudly.

Let not arrogance come from your mouth,

for the Lord is a God of knowledge,

and by him actions are weighed.

The bows of the mighty are broken,

but the feeble bind on strength.

Those who were full have hide themselves out for bread.

Those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.

The barren has born seven,

but she who has many children is forlorn.

The Lord kills and brings to life.

He brings down to Sheol,

and he raises up.

The Lord makes poor and makes rich.

He brings low,

and he exalts.

He raises up the poor from the dust.

He lifts the needy from the ash heap

to make them sit with princes

and inherit a seat of honor.

For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's,

and on them he has set the world.

He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,

but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness,

for not by might shall a man prevail.

The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces.

Against them he will thunder in heaven.

The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.

He will give strength to his king

and exalt the horn of his anointed.

Then Elkanah went home to Ramah,

and the boy ministered to the Lord

in the presence of Eli the priest.

This is the word of God.

Great.

Thank you, Bernard and Angeline,

for reading that.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Great.

There are some people who are excited.

That's really good.

Welcome, everyone, to Watermark.

Just in addition to Simon's welcome,

it's really exciting to see you in 2022.

And as Oscar shared,

we have no idea what this year has coming up,

but actually I'm excited

because we're going to be moving

in a new sermon series in 1 Samuel,

and just really excited to see

what God's going to do in us

as a church over this year.

So let me, before we start,

let me just pray for us as we get going.

Father, I just want to thank you so much

that there is none holy like you.

Father, I pray that this year,

regardless of how our feelings are,

regardless of what our desires

and what our plans are,

I pray that the boast of our hearts

will be at the end of 2022.

There is none holy like our God.

That we'd say there is none besides you.

There is no one like you.

Lord, I pray that you would humble us this year

so that we see that our honor

and our glory comes from you

and not from anyone else.

We would see that even as we look through

this book of Samuel,

Lord, that when we trust you,

that you are the one who is so faithful,

you are the one who is so true,

that we need to look nowhere else

other than to you at this time.

Lord, I pray for those of us

who have had a really tough 2021.

I pray, Lord,

that you would just minister to us

and give us courage and hope for 2022.

I pray for those of us

who had a great 2021.

Lord, I pray that for 2022,

Lord, we'd not trust in our own abilities

or our own success,

but we'd run to you

knowing just how much we need you.

Lord, I pray that this year

we'd be a church

which knows how to pray

in all weathers

and in all circumstances

and to see and rejoice

in your salvation.

So, Lord, we just give you this.

Please open our hearts,

open our ears to see you

and to hear you, we pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Great.

For those of you who don't know me,

my name is Chris

and I am not quite that short.

So, let me just...

All done.

There we go.

Great.

I have a love-hate relationship

with these things.

So, great.

Just really excited

to be going through Samuel

in this series

and if you've got your bulletin,

please kind of have it open

so that we can kind of refer

to the passage as we go.

But just to kind of set the scene

a little bit,

I don't know when you were a kid

what you wanted to do

when you would grow up.

For me,

one of the things I dreamed of,

I dreamed of being

a cricketer for England

and a rock guitarist.

Not at the same time,

but that was my career progression

that I was hoping to go for

and none of those

have materialized,

as you can tell.

But I bet

whatever you would answer

to that question

that none of you

would answer

that you wanted to be

a mortuary beautician.

Does anyone know

what a mortuary beautician is?

Rhoda does.

Okay,

you can talk to Rhoda afterwards.

But a mortuary beautician

is when someone has died,

it's someone who puts the makeup

on the corpse afterwards.

And I read in the SCMP

of one person

who described the work

that she did

for a relative of hers

who'd just died

and here's what she said.

She said,

my aunt looked so gorgeous

like never before.

And I read that

and I wondered

what her aunt had looked like

before she had died.

But in one sense,

the picture there

is actually,

the book of Samuel

is actually brilliantly

going to tell a narrative

which cuts right to the heart

to show us

that it's possible

to spend your entire life,

it's possible to focus

so much on the outside

and making up the outside

to look beautiful

when what's on the inside

can actually be rotten and dying.

And so the whole

of Samuel's message

can be summarized

from chapter 16

with this phrase

which is,

man looks at the outward appearance

but the Lord looks at the heart.

You see,

and you're going to see this

again and again.

You're going to see it

how Eli's sons

versus Samuel,

you're going to see it

with Saul versus David,

you're going to see it

with David versus Goliath

and all the way through

you're going to see

God actually looks

beneath the surface

and he looks to see

are you trusting him

or are you seeking

your own glory

and your own honor

for yourself?

And that's where the book

is all the time

through multiple narratives

is going to show us

this theme.

And originally

the book of Samuel

was actually,

it's so long,

it's actually one book,

one Samuel and two Samuel,

actually there was only

Samuel originally

but it was so long

that they put it on

two scrolls

and it became two books.

And it's the story

of the rise and fall

of two kings,

Saul,

King Saul

and King David.

And actually the way

that it's written,

the Hebrew Bible

actually has Samuel

coming straight after

the book of Judges.

The Greek order

which some of our

New Testament Bible

follows,

it has a different order

but the Hebrew Bible

has Judges first

and then Samuel next

because do you know

how the book of Judges ends?

And Samuel, by the way,

is the last judge of Israel.

The book of Judges

closes like this,

in those days

there was no king

because everyone

did what was right

in his own eyes.

That's the backdrop

to the whole book

of Samuel.

It's a dark time,

everyone's doing

what they want to do.

And even the religion

was corrupt

and you're going to find

that the sons of Eli's

who were the priests,

like the pastors

of the time,

they were a nasty,

dodgy piece of work.

So it's a dark time

and what we're going

to look at

in this first opening

chapter or so

is three things.

We're going to see

a family,

a little glimmer of light

that comes in this darkness

with a family

and we're going to look

at the shame of Hannah

because it's really

focusing on Hannah,

this first part.

The shame of Hannah,

the response of Hannah

and then the boast of Hannah.

Okay, so that's where

we're going

with this narrative

because in this story

what you find

is you find a husband

called Elkanah

and he seems like

a good guy.

He's still following

the Torah

which is the law

of Moses

which called you

to go up

to the tabernacle,

God's meeting place

which was at Shiloh,

this place at the time,

to offer what were called

fellowship offerings

as worship to God.

Okay, so

and this time

of fellowship offerings,

you would sacrifice

an animal

and then it was like

a community barbecue.

You'd eat the meat,

you'd kind of

offer the sacrifice,

you'd kill it

and then you'd share

out the meat

and everyone would sit around

and have an amazing party.

It'd be like Christmas

and New Year

all rolled into one.

Deuteronomy 12

actually tells us

like everyone

was to rejoice

before the Lord.

It was a happy occasion

and so

you have here

this family

who's going up

and there are two wives.

There are two wives.

One is called Hannah

and one is Penina

and if you notice

Hannah's name

comes first

in chapter 2

which commentators think

means she was

the first wife

married

and

so what happens

as she's coming there

and it's supposed

to be this

joy-filled time

everyone else

is laughing

but Hannah

is weeping.

She's the first wife

and yet

the text

then says

in verse 2

it says

Penina

had children

and Hannah

had no children.

Do you notice

whose name

comes first now?

You see

Hannah's name

now comes last

because socially

she's considered

inferior

because she can't

conceive.

She can't

have a child

and in a family

culture

where your honor

your status

your whole identity

for a woman

was wrapped up

with whether

you could bear

children

and carry on

the family name

this was

absolutely

devastating for her.

There's no

kind of medical

support

to help

things along

and we know

this in Hong Kong

you know

for some of you

who've experienced

the pain

of not being

able to conceive

and you may

know people

with that

it can be

a really painful

hard

situation

but in Jewish

culture

it was

so huge

for them

I mean

do you remember

the story

of Abraham

and Sarah

and God

comes to Abraham

and says to Abraham

listen

I'm going to

give you

an amazing

reward

and Abraham

replies

what can you

give me

I don't have

a son

like there's

nothing you

can give me

that is worth

anything

if I don't

have a son

and that's

the guy

imagine what

it was like

for the woman

in that time

for a woman

to be unable

to bear children

was considered

by many

to be a curse

from God

for maybe

some secret

sin that she

had

and the text

seems

that says

twice

the Lord

had shut

her womb

and for Hannah

she has got

every right

to think

well maybe

God's against

me in some

way

what's going

on

and if that

wasn't bad

enough

you then

see different

responses

from people

but I mean

Elkanah

though he

loved Hannah

he didn't

do what

Isaac

in the book

of Genesis

did when

his wife

was barren

Genesis 25

says this

Isaac prayed

to the Lord

for his wife

because she

was barren

and the Lord

granted her

granted his

prayer

Elkanah

doesn't do

that

he's a kind

of typical

guy

okay

he takes

the matters

into his own

hands

he tries

to fix

the situation

and does

what everyone

else in the

culture would

do

because Hannah's

not getting

children so he

marries another

wife

which was

Penina

and his

little plan

seems to

work

because Penina

is just

knocking out

kids like

nobody's business

and Hannah's

there looking

on left

behind

and here's

where it

says

it says

verse 6

her rival

notice how

it's phrased

her rival

used to

provoke

Hannah

grievously

with deep

grief

it caused

her

why

to irritate

her

what a

wonderful

woman

right

like just

to show

that she's

superior

and she's

better than

her

year after

year at

this

celebration

she cruelly

rejoices in

Hannah's

failure

like what

good are

you Hannah

like why

are you so

useless

and Elkanah

that's kind

of Penina's

response

pretty harsh

right

Elkanah's

response

well like

most of us

guys

he's actually

got good

intentions

okay

ladies

if you are

married or

if you're not

most guys have

some good

intentions

okay

but he's

totally

clueless

when it

comes to

this kind

of deeper

emotional

issues that

are going

on right

now

and so

his response

in verse

8

when Hannah

is weeping

you know

a lot of

guys don't

know what

to do

when women

are crying

and so

what he

does

he goes

why do

you weep

why do

you not

eat

why is

your heart

sad

super

empathetic

right

you want

him as

your

counsellor

and he

goes

oh

and what

he says

have another

piece of

steak

a double

portion

that will

make everything

better

isn't my

love enough

for you

and Hannah's

kind of response

I can imagine

is no

Elkanah

you don't

get it at

all

my wife

often says

that to me

you know

but I'm

trying in my

logical way

to kind of

fix the

problem

come up

with solutions

and it

doesn't

work

okay

that's

just a

tip

for you

husbands

and

actually

as

husband

let me

just

talk to

the guys

for a

second

if you

are

a

husband

many

of us

when we

have

marriage

issues

many of

us

when we

have

just

issues

with

our

family

we

turn

into

fix

it

mode

we

try

and

find

the

solution

and

the

worst

thing

for us

is

actually

if it

ever

seems

to

work

for a

while

because

it

blinds

us

to

our

actual

incompetence

and

this

passage

for

husbands

there

is a

challenge

here

Elkanah

at no

point

you see

him

praying

but

actually

you can

be a

nice

guy

like

Elkanah

but

actually

the

passage

is

going

to

call

us

if

we're

going

to

lead

our

wives

and

lead

our

families

well

in

2022

do

you

know

the

number

one

thing

that

you

need

to

be

doing

as

a

husband

your

wife

so

how

are

we

doing

in

that

because

you

know

it

can

be

like

hey

the

kids

are

going

crazy

okay

you

go

hey

love

let's

just

pray

about

it

together

because

that

is

what

Christian

leadership

is

going

to

look

like

for

us

to

be

guys

who

initiate

and

lead

by

praying

with

and

for

our

wives

not

trying

to

fix

the

issues

that's

an

aside

but

that's

there

because

Elkanah

who's

fixing

leads

to

Hannah

being

trampled

on

and

crushed

and

this

doesn't

happen

just

once

do you

notice

what it

says

verse 7

it says

it went

on

year

by

year

man

that's

crushing

isn't

it

there's

just

no

way

out

of

this

oppression

and

this

sense

that

she

doesn't

know

what's

going

and

then

to

make

Hannah

worse

okay

if

that's

not

bad

enough

society

shames

you

it's

not

bad

your

rival

wife

is

shaming

you

your

husband

doesn't

get

you

and

then

it's

even

worse

because

it feels

like

church

is

judging

you

as

well

because

she

goes

to

pray

and

Eli

the

high

priest

who

is

the

most

respected

religious

leader

of

the

time

he

sees

her

praying

silently

and

he

knows

what

the

culture

is

like

everyone

has

just

had

a

big

party

and

so

in

her

most

vulnerable

state

he

comes

over

to

her

and

identifies

her

as a

worthless

good

for

nothing

drunk

he

says

how long

will you

go on

being

drunk

put your

wine

away

from

you

do you

know what

he's

saying

he's

basically

telling her

we don't

want your

type

around

here

get

out

man

cursed

cursed

by

god

she

feels

rejected

misunderstood

judged

shamed

even

by

the

religious

people

around

you

how

do

you

respond

when

you're

in

that

place

you know

I heard

one

pastor

say

this

and I

think

it's

true

he said

when

people

are

mildly

distressed

they

often

pray

you know

you've

got a

job

interview

or

something

you're

feeling

a bit

stressed

you might

pray

about

it

when

you're

moderately

distressed

you

sometimes

pray

but

when

people

are

deeply

distressed

they

rarely

pray

we

rarely

pray

when

you're

really

hurt

or

when

you

really

feel

helpless

we

often

fail

to

pray

but

these

moments

are

the

defining

moments

of our

lives

they are

the

crossroads

of our

hearts

because

how we

respond

will

shape

the

entire

trajectory

of your

heart

and life

when you

are in

those

moments

that is

where

Hannah

is

in the

moment

of the

deepest

pit of

shame

hurt

judged

misunderstood

offended

in so

many ways

what's

her

response

and I

love this

because

what you

discover

as you

look through

and verse

nine

you see

that Hannah

she's a

victim

right

but she

doesn't

have a

victim

mentality

she's

a

fighter

she's

a

woman

of

backbone

and

steel

in her

in the

midst

of her

helplessness

she doesn't

just stay

bitter

she doesn't

just stay

kind of

comparing

it's not

fair

she doesn't

kind of

withdraw

she doesn't

just vent

to her

friends

she doesn't

go

I'm

going to

show

Penina

verse

nine

it says

after they'd

eaten and

drunk

in Shiloh

Hannah

rose

I love

that

some of

us need

to learn

how to

rise

because

some of

us have

stayed

living in

the court

of human

opinion

for too

long

living under

the offense

of other

people

maybe hurtful

comments

maybe even

just jealousy

or just

comparison

at work

or in

other places

you stay

bitter at

circumstances

and we're

coming into

2022

and God

says there's

a new

chance

because

Hannah

in that

place

she rose

she gets

up

out of

the place

of shame

she goes

to the

tent

of God's

presence

to pray

and here's

how she

prays

verse 10

she was

deeply

distressed

and prayed

to the

Lord

and wept

bitterly

that's not

how many

Christians

pray

many of us

as Christians

we kind of

pray superficial

prayers

she pours

out her

entire

soul

to God

some of

us think

you can't

tell God

if you're

angry

if you're

hurting

or you're

in pain

because

you know

Christians

you're supposed

to be full

of joy

all the time

and you know

he might

get a bit

annoyed

that's

actually

the enemy

because

you know

shame

always wants

to isolate

you

from others

but also

from God

in the deepest

wounds

of your

heart

and that

just leaves

you with

yourself

but actually

the place

of helplessness

is the

place

of prayer

because it

is a great

place to be

author

Oli Hallisby

said in his

book on

prayer

here's what he

said

he said

only he

who is

helpless

can pray

now listen

to this

this is

really insightful

only he

who is

helpless

can pray

your

helplessness

is your

best

prayer

it calls

from your

heart

to the

heart

of God

with greater

effect

than all

your

uttered

pleas

what does

he mean

he's saying

that prayer

that is not

from a place

where you know

your absolute

helplessness

and need

of God

is like

asking God

just to put

the icing

on the cake

but we'll

make the

cake

ourselves

it's like

we'll stay

in control

of our

lives

you just

kind of

fix a few

things

I can't

fix

but helplessness

invites God

into your

uncertainty

into your

distress

into your

weakness

into where

you feel

like I don't

know how

to do

this

and that's

where he's

going to

get glory

by showing

his power

in your

weakness

as he

brings his

answer

and you know

it can help

when you unload

your feelings

to your friends

or to your

spouse

but I fear

that many

of us

substitute

sharing with

friends with

actually talking

to God

about our

deepest

issues

even about

what you're

thinking for

2022

and so let me

encourage us as a

church

if your friend

unloads to you

listen to them

really well

don't be like

Elkanah

be empathetic

listen to them

but at the end

say hey can we

give this to God

now

because his

shoulders are way

bigger than mine

and he can

handle this

you see

Hannah prays

and runs to

God in a

helplessness

but the second

thing that she

does

and this is also

super challenging

second thing she

does

she surrenders to

God

her greatest

desire

here's what it

says

her prayer

verse 11

and she vowed

a vow

and said

oh Lord of

hosts

the God of

all the armies

all the

heavenlies

the most

powerful God

if you

will indeed

look on the

affliction of

your servant

and remember

me and not

forget your

servant

and give to

your servant

a son

then I will

give him

to the Lord

all the days

of his life

and no razor

shall touch

his head

this is really

remarkable

if I was to

say to you

what do you

want right now

more than

anything else

just think for a

minute

what do you

want more

than anything

else

and if you

were going to

pray for that

what would you

say

you know

better job

promotion

whatever it

is

we might say

hey God

give me this

I'm praying for

this God

help me out

of this

situation

whatever

but if

what you

then said

was

and I'm

willing to

surrender

completely

the answer

to you

it's totally

in your

hands

take it

it's your

will

I give it

back to you

just like

you remember

Abraham

offered his

most precious

son on the

altar

and just like

Hannah

now makes

a vow

and offers

the son

that she

craves

more than

anything else

in the whole

world

as a

Nazarite

which means

somebody who

is fully

devoted to

God

set apart

from him

to go

and live

in the

tabernacle

to be there

away from

home

in Shiloh

she says

I give him

away

back to you

it's actually

insane

because this

son could be

the answer

to every one

of Penina's

attacks

right

if you go

okay yeah

just look at

my son

this son could

remove all her

shame in the

village

this son could

give her a

new status

identity

and honour

and yet

she says

I am willing

I desperately

want that

but I'm

willing

to give him

back to you

in worship

do you see

what he's saying

she's saying

she's saying

I want this

badly

but actually

I want

to know

God

that you

care for me

that you

remember me

and that I

as your

servant

want you

to be honoured

more than I

just want to

get my

personal comfort

my situation

sorted out

I want

you to be

my treasure

and only

your love

can cover

my shame

more than

Elkanah's

come

more than

even having

this son

can cover

my shame

you are

the source

of it all

that's what

she's saying

I'm your

servant

it's not

about me

it's actually

about you

that's a

really powerful

prayer

because you

see everyone

else

Eli

Elkanah

everybody

else

they're

offering

small

animal

sacrifices

to God

on the

altar

as

worship

and

everyone's

going

oh you

guys

are

amazing

but

actually

they look

and judge

Hannah

as cursed

by God

but Hannah

is offering

the most

precious

and the

greatest

desire

of her

soul

to God

as

worship

because she

knows that

her God

is faithful

and her

God

is good

and God

sees

her

heart

it's

beautiful

I mean

what do you

want this

year

what do

you want

what are

you praying

for

how willing

are you

to say

God

I surrender

that to

you

and I

trust you

with the

outcome

more than

this job

more than

this relationship

because I

know that

you are the

place which

will cover

my shame

you are the

place which

gives me

honor

you are the

place which

will satisfy

me

you are my

treasure

because when

we trust

God in

that kind

of place

do you

see what