20260128 1 Samuel 1.1-10 Wednesday Bible Study Dave Dickmann

So for our introduction, I don't have a whole

lot to say. We just went through judges. And

hopefully we haven't forgotten everything we

learned about judges. And one of the main things

we learned was just the general state of chaos

in Israel that was a summation, really, of the

whole book in those last three chapters. That

continues on. That same type of condition is

the condition in which We're introduced to Samuel

in the first part of First Samuel and then to

Saul and then to David and Saul and then in Second

Samuel, David. And then at the end of Second

Samuel we have a similar type of summation to

the entire book. Originally it was just one book.

We're studying the first half of that book, First

Samuel, without any guarantees of studying the

second one. We'll see what the Lord has. But

in judges, we had what? We had judges. God mediated

his rule of his people through judges. And in

the first part of 1 Samuel, we have two judges.

Does anybody know who those two judges are? Eli

and Samuel. So we have this. transitional period

then, even at the beginning of 1 Samuel, where

we go from judges to kings. God is going to establish

a monarchy in Israel. And the question at the

beginning of the book, really in probably until

what the 12th chapter or something, is that Israel

wants a king like all the other nations. And

we don't necessarily need to take extra biblical

information on what those kings look like. But

Saul fits the bill. And he doesn't obey the Lord.

He doesn't follow the Lord. And he does other

things like talking to Samuel when he's dead.

and offering sacrifice. Those were all common

practices in Canaan. He does not only that, but

he does all the things that Samuel told him he

was going to do. So my position is that it wasn't

wrong. God had always planned on having a king

in Israel. We know that from Deuteronomy. That's

my position. The question is what type of king

and how is that king going to execute his God

-given responsibilities in Israel? and Samuel

lays out for us in chapter 12 how that works

that monarchy is not necessarily a bad thing

as long as what two things are going on when

what are those two things the king is following

God and then the people are following God and

under that scenario monarchy works pretty well

we might say if we wanted to look at our own

day and age that If your leader is following

the Lord and all the people are following the

Lord, there's probably not a whole lot of political

systems that wouldn't function perfectly well.

The problem is always sin. The problem is always

that some political systems do better than others

at mitigating the effect of sin in society. And

so, in Israel, A king following God along with

the people following God works very well. We

don't see it much, but when it happens, it does

work. And that's the way that God's design is.

Alright, as far as themes in the book, there's

three main themes. And two of these themes run

through the entire Bible, so they're not unique.

to First Samuel, but we will see them. And that

is God's perfect, righteous, holy, sovereign

reign through providence and wonder. In other

words, sometimes God directly overrules the so

-called laws of nature. In the time of judges,

remember, he caused great confusion in the armies

and Israel was victorious over them in spite

of their outnumbered, you know, ten or a hundred

to one, whatever it was. And through providence,

sometimes, God works. And we'll see that here

at the very beginning. So what are we saying

in that then? If God works through wonders and

providence to accomplish His purpose in the world,

then who is He or what is He? And the answer

is that He's King. And that is a theme that runs

throughout the Bible, but we ought to pay particular

attention to it here in Samuel because what?

David was a king after God's own heart. Saul

was not a king after God's own heart. So, what's

the lesson there? The lesson is that God will

execute His kingship through a human king, but

only on God's terms. So, that is why it is particularly

important that we see that in Samuel, because

this is the establishing of the monarchy. So,

what was Israel supposed to look for? How were

they supposed to know if they should follow the

king? How did they know if the king was exceeding

his authority? This is probably a theme that

is throughout the entire Bible. In fact, it is.

And that is God's unexpected use of unlikely

people. I mean, how many times in Judges do we

say that this person is totally unlikely to grow

up to be a judge in Israel? This person in their

background is unlikely to be used of God. This

person, because of their weakness, is unlikely

to be used of God. And yet God brings salvation

to His people and preserves His people. through

these very unlikely people. These people, what

else is it about the people that God uses? You

think about Saul. He stood a head taller than

everybody else. He was just what everybody wanted.

This great, handsome, strong king. David is just

this scrawny guy that tends sheep out in the

pasture. Nobody wants that guy for a king. And

yet, God does. So, where did Samuel come from?

What was Hannah's position here? She's just a

barren woman in misery and yet God through her

brings to Israel the great kingmaker. Obama thinks

he thought he was the president maker, but Samuel

is the kingmaker. He's the one who anoints both

Saul and announces Saul's end. Saul was king

for two years. Samuel announces the end of his

monarchy and that David is God's anointed. and

David some years later finally takes the throne.

But it's Samuel that's involved in both of those

men to anoint them as God's chosen person. So

God sees what men don't see. How does the world

see? Only with their eyes. And so they're limited

then in what they can see. What can I see with

my eyes? I can see the surface, the surface level.

That's all I can see. And sometimes I can't even

trust my eyes. Because the further away I look

or the older I get, the less clearly I see. But

even if I am young and have perfect 20 -20 vision,

there are certain things that look like they're

straight lines, but they aren't. Or they look

like they're straight, but they aren't. So my

eyes... only function in the physical world to

see the surface sometimes clearly and sometimes

not. But how does God see? And what does God

see? God sees all that. He knows all that. But

what does God also see? God sees within the heart.

In other words, God sees at the center of a person.

He knows what our thoughts are. He knows what

we're going to do before we do it. And He knows

what the intention and the motives are in our

heart. Why is it that I'm doing what I'm doing?

God knows. No matter what Joel Osteen may say,

man's responsibility and obligation is to serve

his Creator according to God's terms. Serve me

this way. Do this. For my glory and for my good.

Not because you want to and not because it makes

you feel happy. The Christian's life is a life

of self -sacrifice. And that's what's expected

of God's leaders. Of His King in Israel. Was

expected to do the same types of things that

God did for His people. Rescue them. Serve them.

Declare to them God's Word. And then what else

do we see throughout Samuel? 1 and 2 Samuel.

We see a certain relationship between what? The

King and the priest. between the king and the

prophet. Now what's the prophet's job? To declare

his inclinations. Is that what God's prophets

do? What do God's prophets declare? The Word

of God. And every time they declare the Word

of God, what? It's perfect and it's right. And

in the case of Saul, he didn't hear the word

of God from Samuel. He ignored it. He didn't

trust it. It didn't find fertile ground in his

heart. He rebelled against it. He went his own

way and did his own thing. The exact opposite

is what we see with David. David did terrible

things. But when Nathan comes to him and corrects

him and reproves him in harsh words, what happens?

What does David do? Get out of here. I don't

want anything. Don't you know I'm king? David,

because his heart was with the Lord, was crushed

because he knew that God knew his sin. And David

falls down before his Lord in repentance. Now

that's the relationship between the Word of God

and the King. And it's unique, I think, to Samuel,

although I won't say that, I think. So don't,

if you can find an exception, please do. But

Samuel is both prophet and what? Priest. And

so we see prophet, priest, and king in Samuel

and David working according to God's design.

Where else do we see prophet, priest, and king

working out perfectly according to God the Father's

design? In the Old Testament? Or just in general?

Just in general. Well, if you can find one in

the Old Testament, that would be good. But in

the New Testament is what I have in mind. Because

all of the Bible points towards this prophet,

priest, and king who is... The Christ the anointed

one the one who was born Jesus of Nazareth by

Mary So then in that way at least we can find

this general Pointing and fulfillment in Christ

and we ought to see that Remember that our Bibles

are all about showing us Jesus. So we're never

studying the Bible strictly to understand what

was going on in this certain geographic area

at this certain point in time or who are these

characters. We don't study the Bible the way

that we might study American history. It might

be interesting for us to know something about

George Washington. That's as far as we can go

with that. But when we open our Bibles and we

learn about Samuel, we learn about David, we

learn about Saul, then what we're really learning

about or should be learning about is God and

Jesus. Because all the Bible points towards the

time when God's Messiah will come into the world

and of course that is Jesus. So I have a question.

Please. So how can Samuel be a priest? Because

I thought they were all supposed to be from the

line of Aaron. Good question. I think you've

just answered your question. What do you mean?

Well he was a Levite. He's from the tribe of

Levi. Who was? Samuel? Yeah. Well, we'll get

into the text here in a minute. What? But thank

you for the question. Okay, then the third theme

is that, and we've already hit on this, but if

you're taking notes you can write it down, how

should an Israelite king execute his kingship?

We see that from Samuel in chapter 12 when he

reestablishes the monarchy and he tells people

exactly how it should look. Now, we see all these

themes somewhere and this is... Interesting to

me. Hopefully it is to you. And we see it in

the song. Where do we find that song? No. Chapter

two. When Hannah delivers her praise to the Lord

for what he's done. So when we get there, maybe

next week. we will see these themes laid out.

Now that's convenient for us, and it is a miracle

of God that He's able to put together the Bible

in such a way that it is eminently readable,

that it is eminently understandable, and that

it is eminently easy to find the point of His

message to us. He has condescended to us in that

way. to make His will and to make His Word accessible

to all of us. All that is required of us, though,

is what? Reading and faith. It's not by osmosis.

Having your Bible on your desk, having it on

the front seat of your car, is not going to accomplish

any good unless you open it up, read it, and

study it. But if you will do that, you will find

within it just the glorious beauty of a God who

has made himself known. So I'm encouraging us

all that we ought to be those types of people.

Alright, there are three stories in Samuel. What

are they? The first one is the story of who?

Samuel? That is correct. What's the second story?

Saul. And what's the third story? David. And?

Saul. Okay, and then in second Samuel we have

the story of David. So we have the beginning

of the book is the story of Samuel. Where did

he come from? Who was his mom? And what were

the circumstances under which he was born or

into which he was born? Then we have the story

of Saul and then we have this The longest segment

which is the interaction between Saul and David

at the end at the end of the book so I'm saying

that it goes from Chapter 1 to chapter 8 is the

story of Samuel 9 to 15 is the story of Saul

and 16 to 31 Through the end of the book is the

story of Saul and David If you want to get more

technical of that, you can find links between

the stories in certain places. There's also a

story of what? It's a fairly big story. David

and Jonathan? No. The story of the Ark. Right?

That's a that's another interesting story to

say the least and that's within the story of

Samuel All right, so let's read These first 18

verses of 1st Samuel now there was a certain

man of Ramathiam Zophim of Mount Ephraim and

his name was Elkanah the son of Geroham the son

of Elihu the son of Tohu the son of Zuf and Ephrathite

and he had two wives the name of the one was

Hannah and the name of the other Panina and Panina

had children but Hannah had no children and this

man went up out of his city yearly to worship

and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh

and the two and the two sons of Eli Haphne and

Phineas, the priests of the Lord, were there.

We'll just stop there and talk about those three

introductory verses first. So I guess you're

thinking that because he's an Ephrathite, that

that must mean that he is not a Levite. Is that

right, Rebecca? Is that why you're... Yes. Okay.

So you've misunderstood. And that's not, there

is no tribe called Ephrathite. He was in Mount

Ephraim. That doesn't say that he was from there,

it just says that that's where he was living.

He's of Mount Ephraim. What translation do you

have? He's not from the tribe of Ephraim. No,

he's not. Yes. My King James and all my commentaries.

Yes, it does say that. Aphrodite. At the end

of verse one is what you're asking me. You're

saying it would just say Ephraim, because he's

from Mount Ephraim. It can designate one of two

things, but it doesn't have to designate that

he's of the tribe of Ephraim. Remember, we already

saw Levi that was what? He went down. There was

a person from the tribe of Ephraim, and he was

living down in Benjamin, remember, at the end

of Judges. And he was there working. So just

because a person lives somewhere doesn't mean

that he's necessarily from that tribe. We tend

to think of Israel as this well -organized machine

that, according to God's word, they grabbed their

inheritance. But what did we see in judges? They

never did. They never did settle the land and

settle in their God -given territories. It just

didn't happen. It was chaos. So we saw the chaos

on the religious side. We saw the chaos on the

moral side. It shouldn't be surprising to us

that we see that same type of chaos with people

all over the place. Alright, he had two wives,

Hannah and Penina. And Hannah had no children.

Every year he went up to Shiloh. to worship where?

At the temple. Not a temple like Solomon's temple,

but in some kind of way. Remember, we saw Shiloh

repeatedly throughout judges. There was some

kind of tabernacle there, some kind of tent,

some kind of permanent type structure there in

Shiloh. And they had feasts there, and that's

where several of the judges were. And that's

where Eli is. There's some good things to be

said about Elkanah. He was apparently interested

in the Lord. He was interested in worshipping

the Lord. He made it a point once a year to take

his entire family up there to Shiloh to worship

the Lord. Later on we see where he takes Hannah's

vow as his own. That was up to the husband. If

the wife made a vow it was the husband that decided

whether or not he would take that. into the family

and he did. So apparently he had money, he had

enough money for two wives. Now we see the sacrifice

that Hannah brought up was three young bullocks.

That's no small gift and sacrifice to bring to

the Lord. So presumably Elkanah was successful

in his employment. whatever that was that's all

that we know about anybody oh and and then we

have this term here in verse three they were

sacrificing to who the lord of hosts does everybody

have that in their bible okay you don't have

that in your new american standard verse three

yeah it just says Thank goodness for that. So

this is the first time in the Bible where that

name is given to God, the Lord of hosts. And

it's interesting because it does seem to change

or to become more focused in one area, that is

God as champion, God as conqueror in judgment.

He's the God who controls the army and who defeats

the enemy army by his strong arm. Back here though,

I don't think we have that type of focus on that

word. So what's the focus here on the Lord of

Hosts? or Jehovah of hosts, Yahweh of hosts.

It's God's personal name of hosts. Remember the

theme. What's the theme of 1 Samuel? Who's king?

God. And so, what does every king control? Huh?

Every king controls a kingdom, right? And within

this certain geographic area then, and speaking

of earthly kings, he controls all the people

that are within there and everything that is

within that geographic area belongs to the king.

There is no personal property in a monarchy.

Everything belongs to the king. The king gives

to whom he wills. and allows certain people to

be stewards over what is his. And how does an

earthly king come to be? How did the kings of

Canaan come to be? By might, by their arm, by

some kind of military victory. They took a territory,

declared themselves king, and executed their

kingship according to the power of their army.

Remember in Proverbs where The king set in his

army. That's the man of God. Who can stop? Who

can resist that? A man in the middle of his host.

That's who you are. That's who I am when we're

in Christ. But the earthly king comes by his

kingship in a totally different way than the

way that God does. How does God come to be the

Lord of hosts? By virtue of what? creation by

his word all things that exist came into existence

and by his word everything that is continues

to exist upheld by the word of his power so God

is king and so everybody in the world whether

you're a Christian whether you're a Muslim whether

you're a Buddhist or whatever else you may be

you owe and are obligated to your Creator certain

things Whether you acknowledge the existence

of the God of the Bible or not, you owe to Him

your very existence and your very continuance.

And you owe Him not a portion of what He's given

to you, but you owe Him everything that you are

and everything that you have. You owe Him every

good thought. You owe Him every thought. You

owe Him every deed. That's why God is the Lord

of hosts because whether it's things in heaven

or things on earth all things have come into

being because of his word and so he is the Lord

or the King over all of those things. I read

somewhere that in the Old Testament this term

Lord of hosts is used most of the time when God

is getting ready to do something spectacular

and so It's not surprising then here in Samuel

that God was about to do an amazing thing. He

was about to do an amazing thing for Hannah.

He was about to do an amazing thing for Samuel.

He was going to do an amazing thing even for

Saul, but especially then to establish his monarchy

in Israel through David. So if that's interesting

to you, you can see. Remember in Zephaniah, He's

called the Lord of Hosts, and that's right before

we talk about the promised new covenant, the

promised kingdom that's going to be established

by God through Messiah. Now that's, of course,

an amazing and a powerful thing. So at least

in these two instances, that theory works out.

If someone's interested in that, they can report

back to us and see whether or not it's true each

time. But it's a big name. later on it does take

its focus and the context is what will determine

how you understand it. And here it's undoubtedly

and without a question God, King over everything

and everyone. So that's how the book opens with

that kind of declaration. Now if you don't acknowledge

that then you don't acknowledge anything else

that's going to be in the book because everything

else that's in this book of judges has that as

its context. That is the thing that sets our

focus. This is God at work in His creation and

in His people. And it's God at work for a very

specific purpose. We can never forget that. In

Ephesians, Paul calls it God's ultimate purpose.

Now what is God's ultimate purpose? Is it to

establish? certain geographical area in the Middle

East where people that are called today Jews

live? Is that God's ultimate purpose? Is He going

to bring all of history back to the place where

there's this Jewish kingdom over there? And the

answer is obviously no. What is God's ultimate

purpose? To bring a people to Himself that will

be like Him, that will acknowledge Him as their

King and as their God. and will order their lives

according to His will and He will do that in

this world and He will secure it and finalize

it in the world to come where there is no more

problem of sin, there is no more sorrow, there's

no more distraction. It's just God and His people

living together in perfect harmony and perfect

unity because of the work of His Son on behalf

of His people. That's God's ultimate purpose.

And so God is working towards that end way back

here in 1 Samuel. And we see the end of that

working when Jesus Christ bursts onto the scene

there in the stable in Bethlehem. The King of

kings and the Lord of hosts is at work. And we

ought to pay good attention to it. And when the

time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Penina

his wife and to all her sons and daughters portions.

But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion for

he loved Hannah But the Lord had shut up her

wound Now It wasn't that she had a defect in

her body It wasn't that Her husband had a defect

in her body and therefore they she was unable

able to conceive God purposed that she would

not bring forth a baby until his time. So he

shut off her womb for this time. And it was the

cause of great stress in Hannah's life. Undoubtedly,

that's one of the reasons that Elkanah took himself

a second wife. He wanted to have some kids. And

he wasn't getting any kids from Hannah, so he

took a second wife in Panina, who gave him all

kinds of kids. But it was the Lord that was at

work. It's easy for us to say, and it's obvious

for us to acknowledge it, because that's what

the Bible tells us. The Lord had shut up her

womb. But when it comes to our lives, this is

difficult. This is the difficult part of our

lives. We have difficulties in our lives. And

who are we going to blame for that? Remember

the man that was born blind? And the Pharisees

and the Jews all thought that he was born blind.

Why? Well, it must have been something that his

mom and dad did. Or it must have been something

that he did. This was judgment in his life. But

what did Jesus say? He's not blind because of

his mom and dad did something or because he did

something. He's blind because God wanted to manifest

himself in me when I heal him. That man had to

walk around blind his whole life until Jesus

came on the scene and gave him his sight so that

Jesus could come onto the scene and give him

his sight. Hannah had to suffer at the hands

of Panina. Later we're going to hear her. Her

spirit was troubled. It was unbearable. She was

miserable is the words that the Bible uses about

her. This misery in her life was God working.

Why do bad things happen to good people? Because

God's at work. That's the answer. You live in

a world full of sin. You live in a world that

is damaged and scarred by sin everywhere that

you turn. And when you look inward, Your own

self is scarred by sin. You suffer the effects

of it. You suffer the effects of it from other

people, from yourself, and from everywhere that

you turn. Sometimes it's real personal. Sometimes

it's real bad. Sometimes it results in death.

Sometimes it's a lifetime of suffering. I don't

know what Paul was suffering when he talked about

his thorn in the flesh. But that was miserable

to him. But God was at work in him. And it was

there because God was going to accomplish His

purpose and that was one of the means that He

was using in the Apostle Paul. This was God's

means to accomplish His purpose in Hannah. He

shut up her womb and she had to suffer under

the ridicule and the cruelty of her, I don't

know what you call her sister wife, her co -wife.

Panina, but it was according to God's purpose.

Alright, anybody got any questions there? Verse

6, and her adversary. That'd be something, wouldn't

it? Your adversary, you live with your adversary.

You share a husband with your adversary. Also,

revoked her sore. for to make her fret because

the Lord had shut up her womb. In other words,

it was the Lord's working that was the cause

of all the grief that Panina brought into Hannah's

life. And as he did so year by year, that is

Elkanah who goes up to the house. And when she

went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked

her. Therefore she wept and did not eat. So it

seems that when Elkanah was given her her special

portion that was particularly troublesome to

Panina. It seems that the emphasis of Alcana's

love is placed on Hannah. He loved Hannah. Doesn't

tell us that about Panina. So apparently there

was this rivalry that even though Panina was

the one that brought the children to Alcana and

to the family, it was Hannah that still held

the special place in Alcana's heart. And that

drove Panina to cause Hannah to live in misery,

and in particular when they went up to the house

of the Lord. Then Elkanah her husband, then said

Elkanah her husband to her in verse 8, Hannah,

why weepest thou? And why eatest thou not? And

why is thy heart grieved? Am I not better to

thee than ten sons? Now there is some good help,

isn't it? We all read that and we're like, wow,

man, Elkanah is on the case. He understands what's

going on, and he just delivers just the perfect,

kind, encouraging word to Hannah. Is that what

we think? I mean, the best thing we can say is

he's trying, right? Maybe we could say that God

is somehow implied in there. because it was God

that put her and Elkanah together. But that's

what's missing in all this hell. There is only

one place from which encouragement comes. And

what is that place or who is that place? It's

from the Lord of hosts, the King of kings, the

God over all. You want to know why the world

is in despair? It's because this is the type

of things that they say. surface level and meaningless.

How is that supposed to encourage Hannah? God's

nowhere in there. So if you're going to try to

bring encouragement into someone's life, if you're

going to try to answer someone's why questions,

you better have a firm grasp, a firm grip, and

a firm understanding on who God is. Because apart

from that, you're not going to bring any wisdom.

You're not going to bring any comfort. And you're

not going to bring any encouragement to that

person. And that's really what the person needs.

That's what the whole world needs is God. And

that's why the whole world is in despair. Because

they don't have a purpose. Because they don't

have a God. There is nothing in their life that

brings them fulfillment. So let's not be like

Elkanah here. Let's be like the Elkanah that

takes his family yearly to go and worship the

Lord. He takes good care of his children. And

good care of his wives. I'm not throwing a can

under the bus, but I am pointing out to us that

good counsel comes from God's Word. Anybody want

to say anything there? When you went up to sacrifice,

you took your animals with you. When you sacrifice,

then a certain portion of that went to the priests.

Another portion of that went to the person that

brought it. And they feasted then in the tabernacle

of the Lord. So apparently, or obviously, each

person in the family got a portion exactly what

Hannah's portion was, whether it was especially

worthy because it was more... or it was the choices

parts, whatever it was, it was obvious to everybody

there that she got a special portion. Okay? So

Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh

and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest

sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the

Lord. So again, that's a... Most people in the

Middle East, where do they sit? Where do they

sit? Well, have you ever eaten at a restaurant

that's modeled after a Middle Eastern restaurant?

Okay. Well, you sit on the ground. But you can't

be old when you go to eat at a Middle Eastern

restaurant unless you got somebody to help you

get up, because you're sitting about this far

off the ground on some kind of weird couch where

you lounge. And I'll never go back. But Eli is

sitting up. So probably is intended to show us,

number one, that he's a judge, that he has some

kind of authority. And it probably alludes to

the fact that the king is coming. There is going

to be a king that sits on a throne. It's not

Eli. But there he is, sitting up on his seat.

There at the temple of the Lord and she that

is Hannah in verse 10 was in bitterness of soul

and Prayed unto the Lord and wept sore Now if

you can read that and not be moved then there's

a problem Here's this woman who is beside herself

in misery that has lived her entire marriage

and her entire adult life under the constant

criticism and haranguing and trouble -making

adversary of Panina. Add that to the fact that

undoubtedly she's frustrated. She's frustrated

that she can't have kids. I'm sure growing up...

her expectation was God's gonna have a husband

for me and then I'm gonna have some kids and

I'm gonna live in a family and None of those

expectations had been met in her life and Somebody

was there to keep pointing that out to her She's

miserable And so what does she do go find a go

find a tavern on the on the corner? She run to

the nearest No comedy club to ease her pain.

She's trying to find some kind of drug that will

cloud her mind so she can forget about it all.

Maybe she takes some sleeping pills so she can

just sleep through her misery. Spend less time

awake, less time miserable. She goes straight

to the Lord. Now that's a word to you and to

me. that our God, your Father, expects, encourages,

and wants you to come to Him as you are. That

He doesn't intend for you to have to bear all

of your burdens by yourself. That He doesn't

expect you to live in misery without the benefit

of His encouragement. Not only did her misery

not keep her from God. Now listen, when you're

in that type of trial, you're in the fire, what

is the devil going to be whispering in your ear?

God doesn't love you. You think a loving God

would let you burn like this? He whispers those

things in your ear for what purpose? To drive

a wedge between you and your father. The one

place that you can go to find acceptance, to

find love, to find encouragement. He wants to

drive you away from that. Hannah... was not affected

by that type of thinking. Undoubtedly, the devil

was whispering in her ear. You think the devil

has changed? He's done nothing but try to cause

chaos and problems in the lives of God's people

and in God's creation at large. But Hannah didn't

give in to resentment. She didn't give in to

living her life asking, why? Why me? Why me?

Why can't I have kids? She went straight to the

Lord. And she poured out her heart to the Lord.

And he hurt her. Now we can't go any further,

but so we'll stop there. We'll be here till night,

which is OK. But let's make that a practice in

our lives. You're going through a rough time.

Where do you go? You go to the Lord. It's okay

to be having a rough time. The Christian is not

the one that tries to deny his present reality.

We acknowledge it. It's a bad day for me. It's

a disappointing day for me. It's this for me.

But where do you go with that? You go to the

one person who can help and that's the Lord and

He hears you.