Sunday Sermon 2

Today we're going to talk about Hannah, the mother of Samuel. Samuel would become Israel's last judge and first prophet, the one who would anoint her first king and then her greatest ruler. His story didn't start out all that gloriously.

We see in verse 2 of chapter 1 that Hannah was married to Elkanah, who had another wife named Peninnah, and that Hannah had no children. Perhaps Peninnah was a second wife taken expressly for the purpose of having children. We learn in verse 5 of chapter 1 that Elkanah loved Hannah and treated her with favor. Hannah's relationship with Peninnah wasn't good;her rival would provoke and tease her due to her barrenness. She had every reason to despise God, but instead she turns to Him. So, in verses 10-12 of chapter 1, Hannah cries out to the Lord. God answers Hannah's prayer, and in our text, Hannah has just finished dedicating Samuel to the Lord.

What does Hannah mean in verse 1 of chapter 2 when she says "my horn is lifted high"? The horn is, quite literally, Hannah's strength and glory. It does not mean "I am proud", but rather, "my power is great in the Lord." Notice, though she mentions her enemies, she has the modesty not to name them specifically; it isn't about them. The horn is taken from the ox, whose strength was in their horns. Hannah is exalting God's power, literally proclaiming what He had done for her. We can, and should, do the same in our lives.

I. We come proclaiming His deliverance (v. 1)

"My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance."

Hannah delights in God's salvation. The Hebrew word is Yesua; the same word that means salvation and savior, and focuses on rescue from a harmful state by a savior.

Atheism and agnosticism may have many proponents in this day and age, but how many people have found new life and joy in them? On the other hand, through the ages we have heard the testimony of those who once had no hope, who heard the Gospel of the grace of God, and were delivered just as Hannah proclaims. There is only one source of that kind of deliverance!

II. We come proclaiming His holiness (v. 2-3)

"There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you"

The word "holy" in verse 2 is qados, and focuses on God as unique, "wholly other"

This "otherness" is what makes God irresistible, and what gives him the authority to weigh all deeds (v. 3). No matter how your deeds are evaluated here on Earth, they are understood by God, and their worth will be determined by His judgement.

The Bible is clear that we should be holy too. 1 Peter 1:15-16 says, "But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." Grace is not only the pardon that passes over sin, but also the power that produces Christ-likeness in us.

III. We come proclaiming His sufficiency (v. 4-5)

We see in these verses that God gives and takes away. Some look at the life of Hannah or others like her who received what they prayed for, and getting what they want becomes the motivation behind their prayer. Many did that with The Prayer of Jabez, and God is none too pleased when we live for our own increase rather than His. What we should see in Hannah's life is that she cried out to the Lord when she had nothing, and she praised Him when He blessed her, but in both cases, the focus was on God rather than herself. As C.S. Lewis said, "He who has God and many other things has no more than he who has God alone."

God is sufficient! While many are preaching a false gospel of prosperity, the sufficiency of God allows us to say, along with Paul, that we "have learned the secret of being content in every situation." God was no less gracious to my family in the year of our miscarriage than He was in the time of the births of my daughters. God is just as sufficient right now as my family faces significant financial constraints as He was when we were blessed with an abundance. Jesus said in John 6:35, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst." He is sufficient! If you've "tasted and seen that the Lord is good", then proclaim how he satisfies!

IV. We come proclaiming His sovereignty (v. 6-10)

Hannah proclaims that God is in charge of everything. He's the one who humbles and exalts. In saying this, she rightly proclaims that God was still in charge before He blessed her with Samuel.

It's become almost taboo to address the truth of God's sovereignty in the Church, for fear of the label that might be attached to you, but God is sovereign! During his days as guest lecturer at Calvin Seminary, R.B. Kuiper once used the following illustration of God's sovereignty and human responsibility.

"I liken them to two ropes going through two holes in the ceiling and over a pulley above. If I wish to support myself by them, I must cling to them both. If I cling only to one and not the other, I go down."

John Morren comments on Kuiper's illustration: "I read the many teachings of the Bible regarding God's election, predestination, his chosen, and so on. I read also the many teachings regarding 'whosoever will may come' and urging people to exercise their responsibility as human beings. These seeming contradictions cannot be reconciled by the puny human mind. With childlike faith, I cling to both ropes, fully confident that in eternity I will see that both strands of truth are, after all, of one piece." John Morren, Decision Making and the Will of God, p. 205.

Those who would debate God's sovereignty would struggle mightily to explain away Romans chapter 9. At the same time, those who spend their time debating the things of God miss the point altogether. Listen to John Piper's testimony regarding Romans 9:

"As I studied Romans 9 day after day, I began to see a God so majestic and so free and so absolutely sovereign that my analysis merged into worship and the Lord said, in effect, "I will not simply be analyzed, I will be adored. I will not simply be pondered, I will be proclaimed. My sovereignty is not simply to be scrutinized, it is to be heralded. It is not grist for the mill of controversy, it is gospel for sinners who know that their only hope is the sovereign triumph of God's grace over their rebellious will."

God is sovereign, and His greatness is what caused Hannah to lift her horn high.

One last thought. Go back to chapter 1, verse 19. After Eli had pronounced a blessing on Hannah, she left, and early the next morning she worshipped, before she lay with her husband. The glory of the sovereignty of God isn't that when we pray we get what we want, but that when we pray we can be assured of God having His way. And, if we truly love Him, isn't that all we really want?

Nearly a thousand years later, when Mary visited Elizabeth, she broke out into a similar song (Luke 1:46-55)

2000 more years later, will you, along with Hannah and Mary, proclaim His deliverance, His holiness, His sufficiency, and His sovereignty?