Hannah and her song

1 Samuel chapter 2, verse number 1. And Hannah prayed and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord, my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies, because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as the Lord, for there is none beside thee, neither is there any rock like our God. Talk no more so exceeding proudly, let not arrogancy come out of your mouth.

For the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bowels of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. They that were full have hired out themselves for bread, and they that were hungry ceased.

So that the barren hath borne seven, and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. The Lord killeth and maketh alive, he bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich, he bringeth low and lifteth up.

He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon them. He will 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 shall judge the ends of the earth, and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed. Now just going back very, very briefly, you will know that on Friday night we started with Hannah and her sorrow.

And there were different reasons that we saw that Hannah had sorrow in her heart. And we will not take the time to mention those again. And then on Saturday morning we saw Hannah and her supplication.

Because Hannah when she sorrowed, she knew that there was one person that was always willing and wanting and ready to hear her supplication. And so she was driven to her knees and she prayed. The Lord heard her prayer.

And our third message had to do with Hannah and her son, whose name is Samuel. And I tried to exhort, I don't know if I was quite clear enough or not, and if I wasn't I will do it again. I do trust that there are people that are praying for their own Samuels that God will use.

Hannah did. And I think that God met her expectations and I think that God exceeded her expectations. And Samuel became a man of God, greatly used of God in many different ways.

And we saw yesterday afternoon at the close of the message that when Samuel passed from this earth to eternity, that all the nation lamented. He was a respected man. And as men pass from assemblies into God's presence, we long to see others that will be raised up, men like Samuel.

And so this afternoon, I want to look at Hannah and her song. Now you will say perhaps it's not a song. I think it's a song.

It's like a psalm and a psalm is a song. So it's Hannah's song. I'm not bound to alliterate everything, but it does help me a little bit in my own mind.

This is not a petition that we find here coming from Hannah's mouth like we saw yesterday, but it is a note of praise. It is not a request, but it is a recognition of the greatness of God. And really, as we read through this, we don't even find that she is concerned about the blessing that she has received.

And if you look with me just for a moment or two, the context or the connection with chapter number one, this is happening precisely when she is handing back her son to God. And like we said yesterday, whether he was three or six or nine or whatever the case might be, it was obviously a difficult moment in her life. And we saw at the end of chapter number one that they worshipped the Lord there.

And Hannah prayed and said. So that gives us the connection or that gives us the context of this song. We have here a woman who is worshipping.

Now I know that this morning what we heard audibly were brethren that were worshipping, but women worship as well. And we have a wonderful example here of a woman who worshipped. It is very noteworthy, I think, that what we heard from my brother Brody yesterday, the Lord gave teaching concerning worship not to his disciples in John chapter four and not to a group of godly men, but he gave teaching concerning worship to a woman.

OK, so here we have an Old Testament example of a woman who worshipped. What were the conditions and conditions in Shiloh at this particular time? Well, we have seen already that there was corrupt leadership, Eli and his sons. We have found as well that the nation was, can I use this word, the nation was callous.

There was a hardness in the nation. They did not hear the word of God. They did not heed the word of God.

The word of God was precious. It was rare in those days. People were not interested in hearing what God had to say.

But here we find a woman who is deeply interested in what God is saying. And the response of her heart we find here in chapter number two of 1 Samuel. So a corrupt leadership, a nation that is callous.

You remember in Judges chapter 21, verse 25, that there was no king in the earth, that every man did that which was right in his own sight. It did not matter what God thought. They wanted to do what pleased them.

But Hannah did not live that way. The third thing that I notice here about the conditions in Shiloh, the very moment that she is turning back her child to God, her, at this point, at this point, her only child, her only son, this act of confidence in God, and she is giving him back to a man named Eli, who we have already mentioned was not the most godly of men. She had asked of him, she had asked of God for a boy, for a man child, God had answered and it says that she was lending him to the Lord.

And really that is the same word. I asked, you lent, is really this very same word. We don't have time to look at that.

So we have a lady who has a song in her heart despite conditions that are not ideal. And we can learn a lesson from that, can we not? That oftentimes, no matter where we live, no matter which assembly we might happen to be in, no matter which nation we happen to live in, the truth of the matter is that conditions are not always ideal. They don't always please us.

There are things that grieve us in our hearts. But here we have a woman who is not going to allow the circumstances of life to rob her of her worship. And she is not going to allow the conditions around about her to rob God of what he deserved to hear, worship from her heart.

Because oftentimes we have this wonderful ability to blame our poverty, our spiritual poverty on the conditions around about us, on the circumstances in which we find ourselves. And here we have a woman and it doesn't matter, the circumstances are far from ideal. Conditions are very poor and yet she has a heart full of worship.

So let us not rob God of what he deserves and let the circumstances not rob us of our joy in the Lord. How does she commence her prayer? Just verse number one, my heart, mine horn, my mouth, mine enemies, I rejoice. And so you say, well, Hannah, what's this about me and my? Well, after verse number one, we don't find reference to me, my and I. She starts out thinking about that, thinking about herself, perhaps just in a very limited way, because she says, my heart rejoices in the Lord.

Mine horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies, which are obviously the enemies of the Lord as well. I rejoice in thy salvation.

And so although we see a little bit about Hannah herself, the truth is that she is looking outward. She is looking upward even as she commences this prayer. And again, oftentimes we can fall into the trap, shall I say, of thinking first about ourselves.

And worse yet, not just thinking first about ourselves, thinking only about ourselves. But Hannah wasn't like that. And so her prayer is not going to be focused on herself.

Her prayer is going to be focused on God. And that is why I say that as we go through this song of Hannah, it really is a song of worship. The heart is the place of affection.

The horn is the place of strength. The mouth is the way that we can express these things. And so she says, my heart, my affection is set upon the Lord.

This verse made me think about the first verse in Psalm 45 that we heard yesterday. My heart is indicting a good matter. It's almost the same that we have here in verse number one of 1 Samuel 2. My heart is indicting a good matter.

Her heart was full. And as her heart is full, it is bubbling over. And she, as it were, in a very positive way, she cannot contain herself.

And she is speaking to her God. I do not know who else heard these words. You remember yesterday that as she prayed, her mouth moved, but there were no audible noises coming from her mouth.

And Eli thought she was a drunken woman. I'm not sure exactly what was happening here, whether other people heard her or not. But what I do know is this.

This has come to be part of the inspired Word of God. And there is much that we can learn from it. As we read through these verses, and we've noticed it already in verse number one, twice we find in verse number one, the Lord.

And as you look through these ten verses, nine times over, she is focused on the Lord, on Jehovah, if you wish, the God who keeps his promise, the God of the covenant. And you will see that as we go through this portion that we are looking at this afternoon, that she knew that he was a God, that he is a God who keeps his promise. He is the God of the covenant.

So in chapter one and verse number ten, just to see a little contrast, she was in bitterness of soul and prayed unto the Lord and wept sore. And here she's not weeping sore. Here she is rejoicing.

Her heart is exulting. So that's the way the prayer commences. And really it says, why? I rejoice in thy salvation.

I trust that you and I rejoice in our salvation as well. But remember, it's not so much our salvation. She says, I rejoice in thy salvation.

He is the source of salvation. And so again, the focus wasn't so much about her. I rejoice in thy salvation.

Now come with me. The next thing that I want to look at is her comprehension of the scriptures. I sometimes use these words and I wonder whether I'm using words that are commonly used up here anymore because there are lots of words that we use in Spanish that I realize after years there are words in the English dictionary too that people never, ever, never say.

Now comprehension is not a difficult word. She understood. She had a good grasp of the scriptures.

And again, she didn't have the advantage that you and I have of having a Bible in our hand from Genesis to Revelation. And she didn't have even the Pentateuch on her iPhone or her iPad or anything like that. None of that.

What she knew she would have heard and she would have put into her memory. And it went from her mind into her heart. Because today we have lots available, lots of helps, scriptures on every hand and every way you want to find them.

She didn't have that. And yet she knew the scriptures. And even more than knowing the scriptures, she knew the author of the scriptures.

Because it is possible that we can know the Bible and not get to know the God of the Bible. But she knew the Bible, the Bible that she had, and she knew the God of the Bible as well. Now, when I think about how this happens, it's obviously a process of learning.

You don't just all of a sudden become imbibed with the scriptures. It is a process. And she went through that process.

And you will know, perhaps, that people often say that for the women it wasn't as important to learn the Word of God as it was for the men. Well, obviously, there are lots of examples of women that did know, that did learn, that took the time to learn the scriptures in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament. So there's a process of learning.

But you know, there's a price in learning as well, isn't there? And I'm thinking not just of young men amongst us, because oftentimes our comments are directed towards young men when we speak about wanting to know the Bible, needing to know the Bible, but for sisters as well. There's a price that needs to be paid if you are going to come to know the scriptures. It doesn't just happen.

It's not osmosis, okay? It's a matter of taking time and energy and doing it. Now, I don't know exactly when she started learning, obviously as a child, and I don't know how old she is here, but she is full of the scriptures. She knows the scriptures.

There's obviously a place of learning as well. And I'm not talking about the Sunday school, although that's a great place for the children to learn scriptures. And I'm not speaking about the ministry meeting, although we should learn the scriptures in the ministry meeting as well, but the place of learning, first of all, is in the heart.

And that's what was affected in her life, wasn't it? Because you'll come to the words of the Lord Jesus in Luke's Gospel, chapter number six, and he will say this, and you can change one word if you want. He will say this, a good man out of the treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good. I'm going to skip the next part.

And he says, for of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaketh. So the place of learning ought not to be only the head, start with the head, but it needs to move to the heart. And so we have a woman here, and her heart is full.

That's the place of learning. She had learned God, and she had learned the word of God. Now, when we think about her comprehension of the scriptures, we're looking at something, the story is happening about 320 years, perhaps, after the Exodus.

So a number of years have passed, the judges have lived and died. Things are not very good, as we've mentioned, in the whole society. But she is leaning on the scriptures.

That is what is helping her through her life. And what helps us through our life is when we lean upon the scriptures and upon the God of the scriptures. I know this is very basic, but too often, perhaps, we're looking to other places, to other people.

But God is the one that can give us what we need. The first thing that I noticed that she understood about the scriptures was this, something about God's person. What does she know about God's person? We heard, I think it was last night, God is holy.

And that is what she will say in verse number two, there is none holy as the Lord. There is none holy as the Lord. That's the first thing she learned.

The second thing she learned was this, God is unique. Because she will say in verse number two, there is none beside thee. We heard that as well in the gospel meeting last night from the book of Isaiah.

I am God and there is none else. She knew that as well. Around about her, perhaps, there was much idolatry, but she understood there is no God like my God.

My God is a holy God and my God is the only God. That's the second thing. The third thing that she understood was this, my God is trustworthy.

My God is worthy of my confidence. And where do I get that? Neither is there any rock like our God. That's just a pebble.

My God, she says, is a rock. Where had she learned that? Well, I know after roast beef and potatoes, everybody's rather tired. But if you have any strength at all, just look back in Deuteronomy chapter number 32, and you will see that she learned this from the scriptures.

Now, she might not have been able to say Deuteronomy chapter 32 and verse number 30, but that's where she learned it. Deuteronomy chapter 32 and verse number 30. This is the song of Moses.

For their rock, verse number 31, their rock is not as our rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. So she knew the scriptures. She knew that our God, her God, was dependable, was trustworthy.

He was solid. And that's the same God that we have. So he's holy.

He's the only God. He's unique. He's trustworthy.

And then as she comes into verse number three, she will say this towards the end. The Lord is a God of knowledge. He's omniscient.

He knows everything. Now, some would say, well, if God knows everything, why does he bother praying? God knew that she wanted a man child. Why does he have to pray? Well, God longs to hear his people's voice.

He loves to have communion and fellowship with them. She understood that, but she says, the Lord is a God of knowledge. He knows all things.

We teach that to the children, don't we? He knows all things. Just a little phrase before that, just taking a little sidestep. Talk to him more exceedingly proudly.

Don't let arrogance come into you. Think about the greatness of our God. And she says, if you think about the greatness of our God, arrogance is going to disappear.

I think we've heard a little bit of pride this weekend as well. If we understood how great our God is and how small we are, perhaps we would have a little bit less pride in our own hearts. The next thing that I noticed about her knowledge about who God is comes in verse number five.

Sorry, I'm still in verse number three. I'll adjust my bifocals up here. By him, actions are weighed.

By him, actions are weighed. He is just and he is the judge. He is righteous.

He does all things right. So the fact that he knows all things leads us automatically into this, that by him, actions are weighed. Nothing escapes God.

And we could obviously even preach the gospel from that this afternoon. God knows all things and by him, actions are weighed. But don't think it's only for the gospel.

That's for us as well as believers. God knows all things that we do and by him, our actions are weighed. He is the just one and he is the one who judges.

And then as you read through the rest of the verses that we'll look at just in a moment or two, we will find out one more thing about her knowledge of who God is. God's person. He is sovereign.

And you will see that as we go through different aspects of what we have before us. But God is sovereign. God is in control and she understood that.

And not only did she understand it from the word of God, she understood it from her own experience in life. So her comprehension of the scriptures helped her as she understood how great her God is. And as we consider the character of God, the person of God, the attributes of God, we should almost want to sing out this afternoon, and if I see more people falling asleep, we maybe will do it.

How great thou art. That's what she would have sung had she known it, I think, how great thou art. But not only God's person, she thought about God's power too.

So as you come into verse number four, she says, the bowels of the mighty men are broken and they that stumbled are girded with strength. Perhaps there are other occasions when you can see this in the Old Testament prior to her coming on the scene. But what came to my mind was a man named Abraham, who one day has 318 men that he is going to take to battle against numerous kings.

I don't think his 318 men were expert soldiers, but Abraham trusted in God and he takes those men and he defeats the kings and he rescues his nephew Lot. So she is saying, ah, the bowels of the mighty men are broken, they that stumbled are girded with strength, Lot is rescued, God helps Abraham. That is the God that we have, a God of power.

And then she says, not just on the battlefield, the next thing she mentions in verse number five, they that were full have hired themselves out for bread and they that were hungry ceased. Who does this make you think about? You remember a man named Joseph and Joseph one day was a little bit hungry, he was down in the pit and there were perhaps other occasions in his life further along when Joseph was a bit hungry, but all of a sudden there was abundance in his life and those that had plenty all of a sudden had none and they had to come to Joseph. So she says, they that were full have hired themselves out for bread, they have come and they have bowed before Joseph and Joseph who suffered hunger is the one who has much.

So God is interested in the, shall we say, the social realm of things. And then she continues, talks about those who are barren and those that have many children that are wax feeble. Those that are barren have born seven and those that have many children, she says, have wax feeble.

Leah had a number of children and then God closed her womb and then God again in Genesis 30 verse 19 opened her womb again, but God had control of that as well. And others like we saw Rachel and other examples, Sarah and God opened their womb. They had children.

And so all these things are reminding this godly woman as she worships God, as she sings this song of praise, she says, my God is a great God. He's a God of tremendous power. Then it says the Lord killeth and maketh alive.

He bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up. We may mention yesterday to Abraham. Now, her sacrifice perhaps was not as great as the sacrifice that Abraham made.

Abraham thought when he laid his son upon the altar, this looks rather complicated. However, he had, he had hope in God that God would raise him from the dead. God takes away and God gives.

God has the power over death as well. And perhaps that was what was in her mind as she sings this song. He has power over the physical realm as well.

And then he's going, she's going to speak about the poor. He raises up the poor. He bringeth low and lifted up.

He bringeth a beggar out of the dunghill. The poor, the rich. Remember again, a man named Lot.

God made Lot wealthy. They were so wealthy. Lot and Abraham were so wealthy that one day they looked around and said, listen, we can't all stay here in the same area.

Our cattle are far too many. We have to separate. And Lot looks over there and says, that looks absolutely wonderful over there.

I'm going that way. And he went that way and God blessed him and he had lots of wealth. Abraham too.

But what happens after a while? Lot moves towards the city. Lot moves into the city. And then the city is burned and Lot loses absolutely everything.

Was that in Hannah's mind as she sings this song? He raises up the poor out of the dust. He lifted up the beggar from the dunghill. But then she's going to speak finally.

I'm not sure whether I should mention this word or not, but the political realm as well. Because to set them amongst princes and to make them inherit the throne of glory. The throne of glory.

Set them among princes. She says, it's God who sets princes. It's God who puts kings in their places.

Now, there was no king in Israel yet. I understand that. But she understood God is in control of that as well.

Now I've mentioned already and I'll mention it again. I'm a Canadian, live in Mexico, visit the United States. And I know that no matter where, where, where you go, people are concerned about politics.

I understand. But she says, it's God that does it. And we know that.

Don't we know that? I'm sure we know that. That's why Paul tells us to pray because we know that God is in control. Daniel knew that God was in control.

And so she understood my God is a God of power. He is in control of the political realm as well. So in every sphere of life, in every sphere of life, God is involved.

God is sovereign. God has power. You will notice as well in these verses that we have just read together that he is taking, she is taking up in each of these phrases, the cause of the needy.

Maybe there's one exception, but the cause of the needy. God is always involved in the cause of the needy. Those that are weak, those that are poor, those that are barren.

God is concerned about those that are in need. And so again, whatever your need might be today as a believer, maybe it's not a material need and maybe it's not a physical need. Maybe it's something that's bothering your own spirit.

Maybe it's children that have wandered far from God. Whatever the need happens to be, she would give us this confidence. We can trust in our God.

Our God is sovereign. He is in control of all these things. And that ought to bring perhaps not so much a course of how great thou art to our minds, but it should bring a level of comfort to our hearts when we understand our God is a mighty God.

He is a God of power. But the next thing that I noticed, she understood something about not only God's person and not only God's power, but God's purposes. What is God going to do? Because she is going to take us all the way from creation to the kingdom.

Because she mentions here in verse number eight at the end, for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's and he has set the world upon them. Now, I don't know whether you've ever visited the Creation Museum over there in Kentucky or whatever state it happens to be in. So over there in the corner, I always get confused.

If you've ever listened to anything that they teach there, you know there's seven C's. I'm not talking about the seven C's today, okay, but seven C's, not S-E-A-S, they all start with C. Taking us all the way from creation to the consummation. Interesting place to visit.

Well, you know, Mr. Ken Ham didn't invent that, did he? No, we find all those things in the Bible. And actually, we find a lot of those things right here, not maybe at all, but we find a lot of it right here in 1 Samuel chapter two from a woman who is living in a very small town and she's worshiping her God. And she knows how great her God is, and she knows all the power that her God has, and she knows that God has wonderful purposes.

And you and I today need to remember this, that God has great purposes for us, for his church, for his people, for his nation, Israel still, God has great purposes in mind. And oftentimes, we almost are wearing blinders, and all we see is the little bit of life that's right before us, and we don't lift up our eyes, and we don't see that God has wonderful things in mind for us. She knew that.

Here she is. I don't know whether they were wealthy or poor, I really don't know. I tend to think maybe they had a little bit of wealth, three bullocks, or maybe one three-year-old bullock, whatever the case might be, there they went and they offered that and they offered their son, but whether she was poor or rich makes no difference really.

She says God has great purposes in mind. So let's not forget as we go from this conference that God does have great purposes in mind. And I'm not speaking so much about individual lives, although he does as well.

But for his people in general, for the church. So just follow with me very briefly here. What does God do? Taking us from creation to the kingdom, the first thing that I notice here in verse number nine, he will keep the feet of his saints.

He is a God of preservation. And what he starts, he will finish. He will keep the feet of his saints.

Our salvation does not depend upon us. Thank God. Thank God.

Can you imagine if your salvation depended upon you? I know so many people that profess to be believers down there in Mexico where I live and they think their salvation depends on them and how well they do and how much they read and how often they pray and if they sin or if they do this and they're never secure in their salvation, living in constant doubt and constant fear. She says, no, no, he, God will keep the feet of his saints. God is a God of preservation.

And what God commences, God will finish. We get that in Philippians chapter number one. The next thing that I notice, the wicked shall be silent in darkness.

God will punish the wicked. There is coming a day when God will punish the wicked. I will leave that.

The third thing that I notice here in verse number 10, the adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. Now, you might say that I'm inventing a little bit. I'm not sure.

I don't think I am. Because, again, I mentioned this is part of the inspired word of God. And it takes us far beyond this.

Adversaries. The adversaries not of Hannah. Hannah had an adversary.

Her name was Panina. But she's not thinking about Panina now. She's saying the Lord has adversaries.

What does she know about the book of Revelation? Probably not a whole lot. John hadn't been born yet. There was no revelation.

But I wonder whether God was just revealing to her just a little hint of what is going to happen when the adversaries of God are going to be put down forever and Christ is going to be upon his throne. Because she's taking us there, isn't she? The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. His power over all.

And the next thing I notice in verse number 10 as well, out of heaven shall he thunder upon them. And it says, the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth. His prerogative to judge all the earth.

Again, Revelation, right way throne of judgment. He shall give strength unto his king. His potentate.

His king. Now, again, Hannah, king? This nation doesn't have a king. What are you talking about, Hannah? God was revealing something to her that perhaps very few understood.

A spiritual woman in fellowship with her God and God was revealing something to her that was very, very true, very precious. And he says to her, perhaps, and she says back to him, he shall give strength unto his king. Now, I know it's not a capital K here, but I'd like to put a capital K. And then finally, he shall exalt the horn of his anointed.

The position. He shall exalt the power of this anointed one. We mentioned yesterday in prayer, she was the first one to mention the Lord of hosts, chapter number one.

Chapter number two, she is the first one that mentions the anointed one. It's amazing to me when we come to the New Testament as well to see women who knew their God and women who received wonderful revelations from God and how it was a woman to whom the very first time. And on and on we could go, but here we have this woman and she takes us all the way from creation right through to the establishment of the kingdom.

So, when I think about the purposes of God, when you think about the purposes that God has in mind, does it not give us a little bit of confidence that these, I was going to say little, that these issues and problems and challenges and difficulties that we face from day to day really are not so great in God's eyes? I'm not saying he's not concerned about it. I'm not saying that at all. He is.

Casting all your care upon him for he cares for you. But if God can take care of the big plan, of the big picture and fulfill all his promises and all of his purposes and all of his plans, does it not give us a little bit of confidence that we can leave these other issues of our own lives in his capable hands and say that he can work it out as well? That's the way that Hannah lived. Now, these are the last words that we find from Hannah.

There's no more in the Bible of words that we hear from Hannah. What a way to finish. Now, I'm not saying she finished her life here, but what a way to finish.

Focused not on the blessing that she had received, but focused on the blesser, the one who had given her the blessing, a word of worship. What controlled her life? What controlled her life was the word of God. And that's what had helped her when she was in need of a son.

As she looked at everything around about her, she says, I need a son because I know... I don't know whether she thought that maybe she would have the Messiah. That's really the word we have here at the end of verse number 10. Exalt the horn of his anointed.

She knew the world needed a Messiah. Maybe she thought her own son would be the Messiah. He wasn't.

But she knew that there was that hope that was coming. And what controlled her, what led her to pray, what led her to trust in God, was the fact that she knew the God of the word and she knew the word of God. And so, as we go from this conference this weekend, I hope that we go with a burden on our heart as we think of the tremendous need that exists around about us.

And I hope that we can go from this conference as well with a song in our heart, thinking about the fact that we do have a wonderful God. A God who knows us, sees us, hears us, answers us. And a God who is taking us towards wonderful and great things.

One day we will see, as Hannah desired, one day we will see that very one. We call him our Savior, we call him our Lord, and he is the one who is King of kings and Lord of lords.