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Hannah’s rejoicing
Text: 1 Samuel 2:1-10
Hannah faces one of the hardest days of her life and one of the most joyful days in her life as well! She is giving up her only baby boy to be raised as a priest for the Lord and she is going to see him once a year from here on. Hannah is so thrilled to be able to give her son to the Lord after the LORD has given her this boy.
What faith Hannah has that produces such joy! On the day of the greatest sacrifice she will make in her life, she doesn’t even see it as a sacrifice. She blesses the LORD for having answered her prayer and given her the opportunity to give back to the LORD.
Here is why the Holy Spirit chose to record Hannah’s prayer. Hannah describes the work of the Lord Jesus Christ without knowing the name Jesus Christ. She describes what the work of the LORD is and will be. She attributes all this power to the Lord God. The only thing missing in Hannah’s prayer is the identity of the Lord Jesus Christ who will do all these things Hannah describes.
Salvation is cause for rejoicing (vs 1)
- Salvation is of the LORD!
- Thy salvation is a reference to Jesus Chist without Hannah knowing who the Christ will be, but she certainly knows salvation belongs to the LORD.
- Hannah isn’t thanking God for how well she was able to keep the law. Hannah certainly tried to do what’s right, but she knows there is no law that that would give her the power to have a son. Life is from Almighty God.
- You know the phrase to “toot your own horn” as it relates to magnifying yourself in front of others. Hannah says I don’t magnify myself, the LORD lifts me up!
- If someone is defeated their mouth is shut, they have nothing else to say. But in victory there is glory and congratulations!
- The LORD has given me something to say!
Rock of ages is cause for rejoicing (vs 2)
- None as holy as the LORD. No one can approach the LORD.
- He has no peers, the LORD has no equals. He alone sits atop His creation.
- He is the Rock like no other.
- Religions have their rocks, but the LORD is the Rock.
- Moses spoke of the Rock in Deuteronomy 32.
- David will speak of the Rock later in the Psalms.
- Isaiah would say there is coming a day when God will lay a stone in Zion. He is a tried stone, a precious corner stone, and if you trust in Him you won’t be ashamed.
- Daniel will identify the Rock as the Christ that will rule all nations and bring in the end of this present evil world.
- Then the Lord Jesus Christ showed up 1,200 years later and said the wise man is the one that builds his house on the Rock. He followed that up with upon this Rock I will build my church. He wasn’t talking about Peter. Jesus Christ was talking about Himself.
- Luke 20:17-18 And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
- Hannah says there is no Rock like our God! Turns out that Jesus Christ is the Rock of Ages!
Righteous judgment is cause for rejoicing (vs 3)
- Condemnation of proud speech weighed against the reality of actions.
- Don’t tell God what you’re going to do, show Him. Don’t tell God about your faith, show Him. He weighs actions, not proclamations. He weighs actions, not statements of faith.
Victory over evil is cause for rejoicing (vss 4-5)
- He will turn the world upside down.
- Matthew 5:3-6 The beatitudes as they’re called are a record of where the Lord puts his blessings and where the Lord is at home. These nine descriptions are the home address of the Spirit of God in this present evil world. It’s one thing to have a physical address, but how do you locate a spirit? How do you identify the address of a spirit? All of these things describe the spiritual address of the Spirit of God. And the spirit is evident before the physical is manifest. Some of these things are not fully understood until after the resurrection and I’ll show you why.
- Blessed are the poor in spirit… (vs 3) Isaiah 66:1-2, 5 – The LORD looking for a place of rest in the earth; a place to set his kingdom. And He’s looking at things He made like the earth, but He’s really asking what is the place you’ve made me? Isaiah 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
- Blessed are they that mourn… (vs 4) – Ezekiel 9:4 someone burdened by sin, Isaiah 61:1-3
- Blessed are the meek… (vs 5) – Meek: Mild of temper; soft; gentle; not easily provoked or irritated; yielding; given to forbearance under injuries. Meekness will make a place for God Almighty and the LORD will in turn give place to the meek.
- Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness… (vs 6) – Appetite for God’s righteousness shall be filled. Proverbs 11:4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.
Eternal life is cause for rejoicing (vs 6)
- Here is a resurrection!
- 1 Corinthians 15:54-55 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
- What Hannah knows is that God has the power of life and death. What Hannah doesn’t know is that power is the the man Christ Jesus who will appear on the earth 1,100 years later.
