Great Texts of The Bible: A Baby is Born | Samuel | Pastor William Hixson

And so that's what we're doing if you're

joining us and this is uh uh something

new for you. And the point of this

for all the years I've been here, I

usually preach on the New Testament

Sunday morning and Old Testament Sunday

night or Wednesday.

But the point of this series is I want

us all to love the Old Testament.

Many Christians just camp out in the New

Testament, right? And they spend a

little bit of time in the Old Testament

and it uh they get overwhelmed with the

the amount of material there and uh they

just don't really become familiar with

that part of the word of God.

But all scripture is given by

inspiration.

All scripture is given by inspiration of

God. Not just the New Testament. And in

Luke 24, Jesus started at Moses and all

the prophets and the psalms and taught

him the things concerning himself.

Uh so it's important for us to follow

that pattern

and become

more familiar with the Old Testament.

I I would I think it's safe to say most

American Christians, I'm not talking

about non-churchgoers,

I'm talking about churchgoers, are

fairly uninformed about the Old

Testament other than some of the uh

Bible stories they heard in Sunday

school. Haven't gone past that.

And that's too bad because we need this.

And you say, "Well, this is hard for me.

I'm not sure I like it too much. It's

just so much work well to even

understand what's going on. The books

are so big and all that. Uh I remember

back in the 1950s when I was a child

growing up

in our family, we were just like other

children. You were picky about what you

ate.

And my grandson's that way. He wants

pizza and tacos. That's it. That's the

only thing.

And so I I was fairly much like that.

Wasn't pizza and tacos, but it was

something. I don't remember what it was.

But I know my parents had a policy with

us as little children. They would fix

something that we liked, but they would

introduce something we hadn't had

before. I mean, the kind of stuff that

kids go, "Oh, no."

That's what you say.

>> Well,

broccoli,

you know, asparagus,

spinach,

that kind of stuff. And they wouldn't

give us a whole portion. They would just

say they just give us a taste.

But we had to taste it.

That was the deal.

So they didn't say, "Here's a bunch of

spinach. Eat it."

stay here till you eat the spinach. But

they did want us to at least taste it.

And I believe that was a good approach

for parents because the kids could say,

"Okay, I got to swallow. I got to chew

this and swallow it or you know, but I

don't have to eat a whole lot of it."

And sooner or later your taste buds get

adjusted.

So that's what we're doing. We're

getting a taste of the Old Testament.

That's all it is.

We're just getting a taste. so that we

can get an appetite

for God's Old Testament as well as the

appetite for the New Testament.

So that's our goal. Now turn with me to

1 Samuel

1 Samuel 1 · chapter mention

chapters 1 and two.

That's where we are.

We've left we've left the book of

Judges, the book of Ruth, and we're

moving to First Samuel. Now, some of you

know this if you were in our uh books.

We we actually as a church, we studied

through 1 and 2 Samuel about 11 years

ago,

verse by verse.

You know, it's some think some say it's

the longest book in the Bible. You wait

a minute, Psalms is more. It's got more

chapters. Yeah, but Samuel's got more

verses.

You put 1 and 2 Samuel together,

it's the longest book in the Bible, and

I think the second is Jeremiah. Or it

might be the other way. Either way,

we're studying the two big books in the

Bible right now. Doing Jeremiah uh and

and on Sunday nights sometimes, and

we're doing this.

And by the way, we'll finish up our

church government series. No, we won't

finish up. We'll be on congregational

government tonight.

Sometimes we're in Jeremiah.

But actually

in the Hebrew text,

there is no first and second Samuel.

They're just Samuel. It's one book

in the Hebrew text.

And it's the same. It's the same

material. It's just one book.

Now, what happened in church history and

Old Testament history was the Jews

translated their Hebrew Bible into

Greek.

But there's a difference between the

Greek language and the Hebrew language.

It's kind of important.

Hebrew has consonants and you the reader

supplies the vowels when he reads.

They have their vows but you supply

them. In the Hebrew language it's it's a

tricsonal root of every every word and

you supply the vowels and aixes and

prefixes and so forth.

The Greek has vows where Hebrew doesn't.

You say, "Well, why is that

significant?"

Because once you once you print the vows

or write the vows, you've taken up more

room.

So the Hebrew Old Testament, 1 Samuel

and 2 Samuel could all fit on one scroll

or maybe it was two scrolls, but I think

one scroll.

But they couldn't do that with the Greek

language

because there were vows that had to be

written.

And so that's where the whole 1 Samuel,

2 Samuel comes

in late Old Testament history. A couple

hundred years before Jesus was born, the

Jewish people translated their Old

Testament into Greek and it's called the

Septuagent.

So the Septuagent

is where you first find first and 2

Samuel.

Does that help?

The Catholic Bible translates it first

and second Kings.

Catholic Bible comes off the Latin Bible

and there's a lot of deals with that.

Anyway, that's where the differences

are. So, in in uh uh

maybe that'll help you a little bit,

maybe it doesn't.

Now, as we move through this section,

then we remind ourselves it's all one

book. And so, we're looking at it that

way.

Um,

let's read a little bit of this and

we'll get started.

Verse six. Now there was a certain man

of Ramathim Zofim of Mount Ephraim and

his name was Elena, the son of Jam, the

son of Eliu, the son of Toh, the son of

Ze, an Ephraamite.

And he had two wives.

The name of one was Hannah and the name

of the other uh Penina. And Panina had

children, but Hannah had no children.

So, and this man went up out of his city

yearly to worship and to sacrifice to

the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. This is

before temple. This is at the tabernacle

at Shiloh.

Had one place to worship, right? other

than your homes.

So, it's not like you had a whole bunch

of synagogues at this point or a whole

bunch of churches. One place to worship

uh yearly you would go up uh to Shiloh.

And this man went out of his city yearly

to worship to sacrifice to the Lord of

Hosts. I'm not saying they didn't

worship at home. I'm simply saying

public worship was in Shiloh. And they

made the trip.

And the two sons of Eli, Huffni, and

Phineas, the priest of the Lord, were

there.

And when the time was that Elena

offered, he gave to Panenna his wife,

and to all her sons and her daughters

portions.

And to Hannah he gave worthy portion, or

a double portion,

for he loved Hannah, but the Lord had

shut up her womb.

and her adversary also provoked her

relentlessly to make her fret because

the Lord had shut up her womb. And as he

did so year by year, when she went up to

the house of the Lord, so she provoked

her, therefore she wept and did not eat.

Then Elena her husband said to her,

"Hannah, why weepest thou? And why

eatest thou not?

And why is your heart grieved? Am I not

better to you than 10 sons?

And I'm going to stop right there and

we'll move forward with this as we move.

Thank you, Lord, we can be here today.

Help me and bless me as I speak and each

of us as we hear in Jesus name. Amen.

Now,

what comes after this

Hannah is so desperate

to have a baby

that she

comes to the temple in bitterness of

soul and she's weeping and praying.

Think you know this text. I mean, she

just had it.

The other wife has sons and daughters.

He's got nothing.

And she's had it with this harassment

from the other wife.

Bigamy is not

biblically. Bigamy is described in the

Bible, but it's not it's it's a you got

to know the difference between

description and prescription. The Bible

is not saying this is what you ought to

do. that's saying this is what happened.

One man, one life wife life is the rule

in the Bible from Genesis on.

When you do see something like bigamy,

if it's me, Abraham had Sarah and

Tamar. No, Tamar

Sarah and

Hagar. Tamar Hagar.

Uh, and uh, then of course Jacob had

Ruth and Leah.

Rachel and Leah. Okay. Very good. All

right. Got away from my notes there.

>> Yeah. Pay attention, pastor. So, but

whenever you've got whenever you've got

uh a a deviation from the biblical norm

of one man, one woman, you're you're

you're getting in trouble. It's not an

addition, it's a subtraction.

So, you remember what happened with

Abraham's wife Sarah and Hagar?

And Sarah kicked her out because she was

harassing her, making fun of her. I got

kids and you don't.

And you remember, same thing happened

with Rachel and Leah in the baby wars,

who could have the most babies, and

Rachel was way behind, and it was just

nothing but pain in that family.

So the Bible is describing what

happened, not what should be.

And aren't you glad God works even when

our lives are not all they ought to be.

So this man Elenov, for whatever reason

we don't know, had two wives.

And the one was having babies is totally

provoking, poking the bear, can't leave

the other person alone, and using and

especially doing it at the time

and they go to worship.

When people go to worship,

there's often satanic attack

and Satan uses individuals

to do it.

Now, when God wants some to accomplish

something in the Bible, he causes a baby

to be born. Have you ever noticed that?

Why does Samuel begin with the birth of

Samuel? Why didn't it begin with David?

You know, you got three great

characters, Samuel, Saul, and David. And

Samuel anoints both Saul and David to

the kingship.

But we're not talking about the adult

Samuel now. We're talking about the baby

Samuel that hadn't even been conceived

yet. This se section is dealing with

Samuel's conception.

And so it's very interesting. Sometimes

we wonder, why do I have to have this

problem? I want an easier life, Lord.

This why am I in this sit? I don't want

to be in this situation.

Other people got it better than me.

Why don't they have the problems like I

got?

You watch when someone's in pain. You

watch when someone's lacking and God

withholds something. You watch that

person because God's going to do

something with them. He's not doing with

the people that got all the other stuff

that they don't have.

God's ways aren't our ways.

And his thoughts are not our thoughts.

You remember John the Baptist mother?

She had him when she was old.

too old.

Remember Sarah?

She had her Isaac when she was old.

Too old.

Both of those women.

It's interesting. Some of these

beautiful women can't have babies. They

got good looks.

Sarah was good looking. Egyptian Pharaoh

wanted a shot at her.

And Rachel was goodlooking

but no baby.

Um,

nobody gets it all.

When God blesses you in one way, he

holds something back because he's

working in that issue he's holding back.

And so, uh, it's been interesting story

whether you get, uh, uh, Isaac's birth

or Jacob's

two sons and how God was working there

and the baby wars

and baby wars of the two wives fighting

each other. Jeremiah, before you were in

the womb, I knew you and ordained you to

be a prophet to the nation. Job, all of

it is fascinating stuff.

When God wants something done, he has a

baby born. But you can't have a baby

born till you got a mother and a father.

And so God's working ahead of time. I I

I think we get that sense. God's working

ahead of time.

He is behind it all.

And talk about four-dimensional chess.

I mean, God is working in all of it.

So, and here's a beautiful thought as we

move through the book of Samuel. The

book of Samuel is framed by Hannah's

song, praising God for the baby she was

wanting in chapter one. She praises God

uh in later in this chapter. Hannah's

song is starts out the book of Samuel

and David's song finishes it

which is Psalm 18 in our Bible but also

in 2 Samuel the last couple of chapters.

Samuel begins with a song and ends with

a song.

It begins with people who suffered

greatly praising God,

praising God's providence.

And that's a glorious thing.

And the the book of Samuel is bracketed

by these two songs. And that's a

stunning thing. And they're all praising

God for his promise.

Someday you will praise God for the

trouble you've got now.

Someday you will praise God for what you

didn't get that others got

at some point in your life.

Someday our church will praise God for

that.

The Lord gives, the Lord takes away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord. Job

learned Job knew that and he learned it

a lot more in that battle.

Now, this morning, I'm not trying to be

encyclopedic as I was 11 years ago when

we studied the book of Samuel. I'm just

going to glean some stuff that happened

2,000 years ago, and hopefully this will

be helpful to us. I'm looking at Hannah.

You say, "Why you looking at Hannah?"

Well, I'm looking at Hannah because

guess who used Hannah's song

in the New Testament?

the Virgin Mary.

Mary's Magnificant in the Gospel of Luke

is is uh

parallel in in thinking to Hannah's song

here.

Why? Because God's writing history and

God the God that writes history writes

the Bible.

And so what Hannah is going through

in some way Mary went through. How would

you like to be somebody that had a

virgin born kid? How much criticism do

you think she got? How much pain do you

think she had before she ever delivered

Jesus?

But Mary had a song and it's in our New

Testament. Bible scholars say there's so

many things in that song that are taken

from Hannah's song. This is an important

section and it's a marvelous thing when

you read these things in the Bible. God

God didn't just write the Bible. God's

running history.

So the Bible is recording things that

happened that are pictorial and

prophetical of things that will happen

later.

So let's look at Hannah and let's look

at the pain she went through and all

that happened here.

I have three points this morning I'm

seeking to emphasize to glean from our

section.

Number one, the pain that drives us to

prayer.

Let's bring this up to the present. The

pain that drives us to pray. Number two,

the problems that hinder our peace.

When our peace is hindered, what do we

do?

Well, hopefully you pray.

But the problems that hinder our peace

and finally the pleasures

that fuel our praise.

the pleasures

that fuels our praise.

Okay. Number one, the pain that drives

us to pray.

When you have pain, I'm talking

emotional pain, physical pain, uh all

kinds of uh all kinds of pain, doesn't

that drive you to prayer?

what it did for Hannah.

Hannah's pain drove her to prayer.

And the text says

she was so upset

she could not eat.

Now that's upset.

It says it twice.

Now, this was a longstanding

pain.

And there's pain

whenever people don't follow God's word.

You think two wives are better than one?

Get some pain. You'll find out they're

not.

Two husbands better than one.

Talking about bigamy now.

Um there's a pain, a barrenness.

Many women have to go through their

whole life without

want kids. God doesn't give God's got

purposes in that.

You've heard me say often I wonder why

didn't God give those people kids?

Because they're be better parents than a

lot of us that have them. But God

withheld that. And I believe there's

purposes because sometimes they those

people have time to spend time with

people that aren't their biological kids

but need attention

because they got it. They don't have any

other people to give it. God's got

purpose in the pains of barrenness. The

pain of bigamy, that's another one.

And the pain of provocation, that was

another. But this woman's got a lot of

pain.

She has the pain of barrenness. He

wasn't expecting that.

She has the pain of bigamy. I don't know

if she expected that or not, but she got

it daily, constantly, and especially

when they go worship.

The pain of this provocation,

this provocation, she was provoking her

or vexing her. It happened repeatedly.

It was heartless. It was hateful. It was

habitual. It was poking the bear. It it

was it came at the worst possible time.

And most of us know something of pain

that drives us to prayer. Paul did. The

thorn in the flesh drove him to prayer.

He asked the Lord three times he'd take

it away. 2 Corinthians 12. The early

church was uh uh driven to prayer. When

Peter was locked up and James had his

head chopped off. Uh, Acts 12:5,

Acts 12:5

King David was driven to prayer. Yes, he

was

confession. But it wasn't just that. God

said, "Because the enemies of the Lord

are blaspheing because you did this. You

stole a man's wife. You murdered the man

to marry his wife. Therefore, the child

conceived

is going to die.

David was crushed.

He spent a week on his face not eating

praying.

And then when the baby died,

it's something to eat.

Now, there's interesting things in the

Bible. Sometimes we're not sure is these

are these people that aren't eating, are

they fasting

or are they upset?

And I I've been I've been looking

through that with this whole Hannah

thing. Which one was going on here? Was

she fasting so that God could hear her

prayers to get her out of that or was

she just emotionally and physiologically

to the place she could be?

We don't know for sure.

And you go to different verses in the

Bible in different situations and some

time you think is this person fasting

because often they would fast and pray

or are they just unable to eat because

they're upset.

Remember King Saul when

down through the medium

Samuel told him tomorrow you and your

sons are going to be with me. You're

going to lose the battle. You're going

to be dead.

He wouldn't eat.

Finally, he did.

And the witch picked some food for him

that had the seance and she killed the

calf and did a lot of work, let him eat.

I don't know which one was going on with

him, but you know, we don't always know.

It was either I am so upset that I'm

going to be dead tomorrow and I'm so

upset that my sons are going to be dead

tomorrow and I'm so upset that we're

going to lose the battle tomorrow

and I'm so upset that I couldn't fight

God's providence successfully trying to

kill David all these times and David's

going to be in inset

you

but I don't know if he was trying to

change my God's mind and pray. I think

he was just upset. I just think he lost

his appetite.

Uh there's times in u Paul Paul's life

when he got saved, he didn't eat for

three days. Didn't eat or drink

for three days.

That's another one. Was he just upset

that he been wrong?

His appetite lost. He was so upset that

he'd sinned against God,

was on the wrong side, and murdered

people and imprisoned people. I would

think that would be upset.

Or was he trying to fast? I don't know.

That that that's one of those you could

go either way.

And

so you have those sections in scripture

uh and where you're not quite sure.

But I have I I have in this one. I think

I know what it was, but I'm not sure.

So we will get to that in just a moment.

So our our our first issue is the pain

that drives us to prayer.

And she had a praise. Remember the text

in verse 9 and following. She goes and

she's praying in bitterness of soul and

Eli the priest misrepresents her. How

about that for more pain? You got pain.

You're trying to ask God to answer your

prayer. and some religious leader

criticizes you and falsely accuses you

of being a drunkard

when he wouldn't even discipline his own

sons enough who were stealing food and

in drunkenness and immorality and now

he's jumping your case.

Don't think everybody didn't know it.

But anyway, she's she's got this issue

that she's going through

and uh uh we're not quite sure all

that's going on, but we know she had

enough pain. She was absolutely driven

to prayer. Let's watch this in verse n.

So Hannah rose up after they'd eaten and

oh, excuse me. Um

verse five. But unto Hannah he gave a

worthy portion for he loved Hannah. But

the Lord had shut up her womb, and her

adversary provoked her relentlessly to

make her fret. She did this on purpose.

We've all hurt people, not meaning to

hurt them, said the wrong thing, said it

the wrong way,

but this gal was sticking her sticking

the knife in.

She provoked her relentlessly to make

her friend because the Lord had shut up

her womb. And as he did so year by year,

when she went up to the house of the

Lord, so she provoked her, therefore she

wept and did not eat. And Elena her

husband

said to her, "Hannah, why weepest thou?

Why eatest thou not?

And why is thy heart grieved?

Am I not better to you than 10 sons?"

And we'll get to that a little bit.

So

this brings us

not just to the pain that drives us to

prayer

because she had that.

And that's exactly what she did. She

rose up after they'd eaten in Shiloh and

after they drunk. Eli the priest sat on

the seat by a post in the temple. She

was in bitterness of soul. That was her

pain. and prayed to the Lord and wept

bitterly. And she bowed a vow and said,

"Oh Lord of hosts, if you'll look on the

affliction of your handmmaid, remember

me and forget not not thy handmmaid will

give to your handmade a male child. I

just want one." She didn't ask for

Baker's dozen. She just said, "Give me

one.

Then I'll give him to the Lord all the

days of his life,

and there'll be no razor on his head.

Came to pass as she continued praying

before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth.

Now Hannah, she spoke in her heart. Only

her lips moved, but her voice was not

heard.

Therefore, Eli thought she was drunk.

Eli said, "How long will you be

intoxicated? Put away your wine from

me."

Hannah answered and said, "No, my lord.

I'm a woman of sorrowful spirit. I've

drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but

have poured out my soul before the Lord.

Count not thy handmade as a wicked

woman. For out of the abundance of my

complaint and grief have I been

speaking. Eli answered said, "Go in

peace. The God of Israel branch of

petition you've asked of him." And she

said, "Let thy handmade thy grace in

your sight." So the woman went her way

and did eat. continuous

appetite came back.

Interesting, isn't it? So, she had

assurance from this uh religious leader

that God was going to hear her prayer.

So, as we work through this section and

think about it, the pain that drives us

to prayer, she had that. the problems

that hinder our peace.

Some of those come from the by the Lord.

He closed her womb. Some come by our

enemies. That was the woman that was

married to her husband. Some of it came

by her husband. He was trying to help

and he just hurt.

Have you ever hurt somebody trying to

comfort them?

If you haven't, you haven't done much

comforting.

We've all hurt people we're trying to

help.

And I I' I've read this and thought

about this and I thought about that

husband's comfort and he says, "Why is

your heart grieved? Am I not better to

you than 10 sons?" That wasn't the right

thing to say.

He should have said instead of saying,

"Am I not better to you than 10 sons?"

Um,

he should have said, "You're better to

me than 10 wives."

You ever thought about the situation?

He if he was a better comforter,

maybe she wouldn't have prayed so

perfectly.

But she wasn't getting out of her

husband what she needed at that moment.

I don't think he meant to hurt her, but

he was just pouring gasoline on the

fire.

So the problems that hinder our peace,

she had a problem that came from the

Lord. The Lord closed her womb. She had

a problem came from her rival. She's

constantly constantly uh trying to make

her uncomfortable. She had a problem

that came from her husband. He was like

Job's comforters. Miserable comforters.

Y all he didn't do the right job. And

she had a problem that came for herself.

What was that? Well, was either that

she's fasting because she wants her

prayer to be heard or she can't eat

because she's emotionally

overloaded.

I tend to think that one is probably it,

but I don't know.

And the sad part of it is, and this is

where I I enjoyed thinking about this

this week,

the sad part of it is that it came

especially at a time of worship.

And it also came at a time when they

could eat something they didn't normally

get a lot of.

I'd read this in several books over the

years, and I just wanted to confirm it.

So, I got online and I got on a diet.

I got on a a a section and on on the

online about the daily diet in biblical

times.

That's what it was called.

And I knew this, but it was confirmed by

what this person wrote.

The Israelites would normally eat bread,

wine, olive oil, legumes, fruit, uh,

vegetables that were, uh, vegetables,

dairy products, fish, and meat.

But what was the daily diet of every

Jew?

They actually ate three times a day.

But if you ask the question, what was

the daily diet of every Jew? What did

they eat?

This writer said the short answer is a

lot of bread.

They ate a lot of bread.

Not the terrible sliced bread we have in

America. I'm sure

there's a lot of countries that got we

got a lot of things better in a lot of

countries, but our bread isn't normally

one of them.

If you ever been to another country and

they make that bread fresh every day and

you go into a panderia or something,

that's a whole different level of bread,

but they they ate a lot of bread

and they would they they would also eat

fruits, vegetables, oil, salt, other

things. And the bread but the bread was

either wheat or barley. That's the book

of Ruth.

But what did they eat for each meal?

That's where they This guy broke it down

and really helped

for breakfast. What' you have for

breakfast? I had eggs.

What did What did What did What did they

have for breakfast? Bread, fruits,

cheese. No cooking.

bread, olive oil, onions, some kind of

fruit or vegetable,

whether it was in season, pomegranates,

honey, yogurt, and figs. Now, not all of

that, but some of that. That was

breakfast. Do you know what's missing?

No meat.

And so, no sausage, of course. No, no

bacon. Of course, they didn't eat pork.

But they ate no meat of any kind.

What' they have for lunch?

A light meal of bread, grain, olives,

and pigs. That was lunch.

Whoa. What did you have for lunch

yesterday, pastor? Uh, I had a burger.

What? What did they have? A light meal

of bread, grain, olive, and figs.

How about the evening meal?

If they got any meat, it was then

they had a pot of stew

that was served in a common bowl.

That was evening me.

So normally in that diet, we think we

have to have meat almost every meal, a

lot of protein. I'm not saying that's

wrong. I'm not saying it's sinful. I'm

just saying they didn't have so much.

Well, when did you get meat? That was

for special occasions.

You remember Genesis 18 when the

pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ and two

angels showed up and and Abraham invited

him for lunch and they went out and

killed the calf. Big deal.

You ever think how work intensive that

is to just have lunch?

If you do that, you got to find the

calf, you got to kill the calf, you got

to skin the calf, you got to cook the

calf, and every anything that goes with

the calf.

We don't like a long wait at Bob Evans.

So look in Luke 15 when the prodical son

came home. Kill the cat patted calf.

That's special.

That's that's meant for special se

celebrations.

And you see these when when you brought

that kind of meat, it was a lavish

thing. It was something extra. It was

something uh not you didn't get every

day. So what am I saying? When they went

up and offered the sacrifice, they ate

the meat of the sacrifice. And that was

special. And that was of all times when

you didn't want to lose your appetite.

At all times when you wanted your

appetite to work and you want to be able

to eat, it would be at that feast.

and she got a double portion but

couldn't eat it.

Are you feeling her pain? Are you

feeling how that if you know the culture

a little bit how extra difficult this

was?

And so

um this same writer said cattle were

normally used for milk. Their

consumption usually was limited to a

religious holiday.

You kill one religious holiday like we

kill a turkey or you know we get or

something like that but normally meat

was limited to a religious holiday or

special occasion. Now this writer said

something else. The cows of those days

were extremely much smaller than the

cows of our day.

American cows are not all as big as

Texas.

a pretty good sized cow.

But apparently there were biblical cows

that were much smaller.

Lyn and I and Andrew went to a zoo in

Jerusalem for biblical animals. I can't

remember if we saw any cows or not. I've

forgotten. But the there's only 100

small cows left in Israel that are the

remnants of the normal cows back in

biblical time.

So

that was something special and she

needed the encouragement but the it was

something everybody looked forward to.

And then guess what the adversary did

under.

And all of a sudden she's upset Annie.

Behind all of that is the providence of

God

because she did Hannah did something.

She went to prayer.

She realized this is out of control. I

can't take this.

And there was the problem that came from

the Lord. He closed her womb. There was

the problem that came from her rival.

She's she's uh harassing her about her

barrenness. There was the problem that

came from her husband. He was he tried

to do it. He loved her. He loved her. He

was trying to do what he could. His

words just weren't quite rightly framed.

And the problem that came from herself,

the depression and the aggravation and

the emotional distress that you anybody

would feel in that kind of pressure

cooker situation.

God was sovereign.

And this problem that was so horrible

for her drove her to prayer. And that

prayer produced a baby.

And that baby was the leader

of the nation and became the anointtor

of King Saul and the anointtor of King

David. And that's what these books are

all about. It doesn't start with Saul.

Doesn't start with David. It starts with

Samuel.

And it doesn't start with Samuel the

adult. It starts with Samuel the baby.

Because what God's got something to do,

he calls somebody to be physically born

or spiritually born.

You were born physically when you were

born. And you were, if you're a

Christian, you were born again

spiritually when you were born so that

you could do certain work in God's

world.

Before I knew, before you were in the

womb, I knew you, Jeremiah, and ordained

you'd be a prophet to the nations,

before you even started to exist,

or those cells met in your mother's

womb.

And that's what's going on here, and

it's really precious.

Now, Mary's Magnificant,

we're not going to go to it for time

sake. In Luke 1:46, his famous Mary's

Luke 1:46

Magnificant is modeled after Hannah's

prayer.

And she's going to sing to the Lord as

Hannah did.

Hannah prayed to the Lord.

And she's thanking God.

And she used some of the words of Hannah

to do that.

Listen, don't think Hannah didn't have a

big role. She produced the baby that did

the anointing and she produced the song

that was kind of rewritten and redone by

Mary herself when Jesus was born.

What you and I are involved in sometimes

seems very small. Sometimes we're just

thinking about us or our family or our

future. But there's bigger

ramifications,

larger things going on in the little

ripple of our life. Like you throw a

rock in the pond and one ripple produces

another one and another one, another

one. And that's what's going on here. So

we see the pain that drives us to

prayer, the problems that hinder our

peace, and then the pleasure that fuels

our prayer.

You see,

this doesn't just end with prayer.

It ends with praise.

And thank God for that.

And do you remember Hannah,

she wasn't sad anymore. Soon as she

heard her prayer was answered, she was

good.

And Hannah in chapter two is going to

praise the Lord.

Baby's here.

The prayers have been answered. The

problems been solved. The pain that

drove her to prayer and the problems

that hindered her peace are now fueling

her praise. Because God did what nobody

would expect he did. He dealt.

So in 1st Samuel 2, Hannah prayed and

said part, this is the part that Mary

kind of keys off of later, thousand

years later. My heart rejoices in the

Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. My

mouth is enlarged over my enemies

because I rejoice in your salvation.

There's none holy like the Lord. There's

none beside thee. Neither is there any

rock like our God. Talk no more

exceedingly proudly. Let not arrogancy

come out of your mouth. For the Lord is

a God of knowledge, and by him actions

are weighed. The bones of the mighty men

are broken. They are stumbled. They're

girded with strength. They who were full

have hired out themselves for bread. And

they who were hungry cease to hunger, so

that the barren has borne seven, and she

who has many children languishes. The

Lord kills. The Lord makes alive. He

brings down the shield. He brings up

She's extrapolating. He It's not He's

not just into babies. He's into

everything.

The Lord makes poor and makes rich. He

brings low. He lifts up. He raises up

the poor out of the dust. He lifts up

the beggar from the refugees to set him

among princes and to make them inherit

the throne of glory. For the pillars of

the earth are the Lord's, and he has set

the world upon them. He'll keep the feet

of his saints, and the wicked shall be

silent in darkness. For by strength

shall no man prevail. The adversaries of

the Lord shall be broken to pieces. Out

of heaven shall he thunder upon them.

The Lord will judge the ends of the

earth. He'll give strength unto his

what? He'll give strength unto what?

His king.

There were no kings.

All they had was judges.

Even Samuel wasn't a king, but he was an

anointed of Saul and David.

And David was the one the Davidic

covenant promised.

Yes, God took one baby's life. He There

was no way David should profit by that

sin.

Wasn't the baby's fault. That baby went

to heaven. But David can't profit by

that sin that he murdered somebody. And

and and uh uh not King David.

But there was another baby born to

David.

That one became the ancestor of the

Messiah.

So in verse 10, the adversaries of the

Lord shall be broken to pieces. Out of

the heaven shall he thunder. The Lord

will judge the ends of the earth and

he'll give strength to his king and

exalt the horn of his Messiah. His

Messiah.

How'd she do that?

It's anointed.

God was inspiring.

This didn't come from her. This insight

came from.

You wonder why you got problems in your

life? You got pain in your life so you

can get pleasure in your life. You got

trouble in your life so you can have

insight into life.

Baldwin said the theology in the book is

in its dynamic

u forms revealed in human lives rather

than textbook definition. This isn't

like a theology book where it's you know

verses for this and verses for that.

This is people God working in people.

Real prophecy, real history, real

people.

You cannot tell today the full story of

Jesus Christ with telling the story of

King David and the Davidic covenant and

all the things that go to it, the man he

gave it to and all that it said about

the future.

How can we grasp the Davidic Messiah

without knowledge of David's covenant?

We must know that covenant. But we know

the history of King David to grasp the

covenant with King David. And Hannah had

a part, a big part in that.

The book of Samuel is all about David

because it's all about the Davidic

covenant. And it's all about the Davidic

covenant because it's all about Jesus

Christ.

Matthew Henry said, "We ought to bear

one another's burdens,

not add to them."

Sometimes we add to them, don't we?

FB Meyer said, "Only one who has greatly

suffered could have poured out such a

prayer."

And I would add such a praise.

There's a

There's a insight or a catalyst

to prayer and to praise.

It comes from pain

or from blessing.

God knows how to make music.

God knows how to make history.

Another

writer said, "Human tragedy can be

properly evaluated and appreciated only

when viewed with a consideration of the

end result uh and the ultimate purpose

that brought it about.

You got trouble. You got what's going

on? Why do I have to have this? Why

don't other people get this?

I'd rather not have this."

Well, I don't personally enjoy the shots

the dentist gives me when he wants to

pull a tooth or fill a tooth.

But why does I why do you get that shot?

Sometimes if it's a big cavity, you get

two or three shots. You know, oh boy,

something's coming.

But why does dentist always say this

isn't going to hurt very much? And it

always does.

Once in a while it doesn't, but usually

it hurts.

The dentist is not trying to hurt us

when he sticks that needle in our gums.

The Lord's not trying to crush us and

destroy us when we have pain that we'd

rather not have.

The little pain that the dentist needle

gives is to deliver us from the greater

pain that the toothache gives.

You you get upset with the pain you got

because God's in your life.

How about when God's not in your life?

I mean, in the sense that you're not

saved and you're not a vessel of his

direction.

And I love this observation. It also

teaches that true power is to be found

not in one's position in society or

position but in our position before God.

True power. The true power in the church

isn't always the people that are the

officers or have the position. People

think they always have to have a

position to be used. That's foolishness.

You never know who God's going to use.

When I was at Dober Bible Church, God

used me mightily there and I didn't have

any I I didn't get a position. I did

later. They made me assistant pastor.

But when people were coming to church, I

was nothing.

I wasn't even a Sunday school teacher. I

was no position.

I just taught Bible classes and brought

people to church.

And I didn't even ask permission of the

pastor to do it.

So, let me get over excited about

position. If I had a position, I could

do something. Well, Hannah had nothing

and God used her. Well, she had

something. She was married to a guy that

worshiped the Lord, but you know, it was

it probably was a painful thing.

The power, someone said, is not our

position in society or our position

before God.

And so who had the power here?

Was it Edi

or Hannah?

Was it the husband

or was it the wife?

the husband that thought she's making

too big a problem out of this or the

wife who was really suffering

and yet she was the one God was using

immensely

solve the problems

of the nation

and the world's

life 3,000 years ago

And the nations n national life of

Israel

was changed. This

this problem that produced

this pleasure that came from that

problem being addressed.

And the whole world and everyone has has

benefited from what happened 3,000 years

ago in that home.

Everything in the two books or that we

have in our Bible, the two books are

really one book are to be seen in light

of the ultimate messianic purpose.

Um,

people who do not seriously and

fervently pray do not get the joy of God

answering their prayers.

Matthew Henry said, "What we win by

prayer, he may wear with comfort and

must

wear with peace."

Another writer said, "Hannah saw her own

experience of God's deliverance as an

example of how God works in the larger

world of people and nation."

Um, one more verse. Go to Psalm 116 and

I'm done. Psalm

116.

So, what are we supposed to do today?

Let's put all our lives and our own

specific trials

and what seems like unanswered prayers

into the context of God's bigger

purpose.

Have you ever said, "Lord, I wish this

person wasn't in my life."

Don't you think, Hannah? Wonder probably

thought that if this other woman wasn't

in my life, I'd have a perfect situation

if he just would not be part of this.

But God used even that person that was

being horribly wicked and devious in

her.

That doesn't mean she got credit for

that. Just means God's got purpose.

So let's put our own lives and our own

specific trials

that drive us to prayer

whether they come from family or whether

they come from uh people in the church

or whether they come from ourselves

or from the Lord in perspective.

Psalm 116.

I love the Lord.

Because

he's heard my voice

and my supplication.

Because he's inclined his ear to me.

Therefore will I call upon him as long

as I live. Can you say that?

You say, "Well, I prayed about this and

it didn't go the way I prayed." No. God

said no.

Have you lived long enough to thank God

for the nos?

As well as the yeses.

Sometimes God says yes. Sometimes God

says no. Sometimes God says wait.

And I thank God that my prayers aren't

sovereign,

but God is.

And so may we ask the sovereign God to

be merciful to us, to our church, to our

nation,

and to our world as he calls out a

people for his name.

Father, we come into your presence

today. We know every one of us have had

sometimes we call it unanswered prayer,

but those unanswered prayers have been

answered. It's either wait or no.

We thank you for the yeses.

Thank you for the nos.

We thank you for the weight.

Thankfully, our prayers are edited

and arrive in headed heaven better than

we prayed them as Romans 8 is very

clear.

And we rejoice as Hannah did so long ago

as we encountered a sovereign God

in our little lives.

And each of us who know the Lord

have a little part in something very

big.

that we will not live long enough to see

in this world.

But we'll know someday

why this happened, why that happened,

why this didn't happen, why that didn't

happen, why you said wait, why you said

no,

and why you said yes

in Jesus name. Amen.