Hannah a Portrait of Trust

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Preached:Nursing Home (February 2008)

9th AveLR

Hannah: A Portrait of Trust(I Samuel 1:1-2:11)

Introduction1. It is only fitting that her name means grace, for she lived a life of grace.

Her name is Hannah. As we begin, I want to share with you what oneauthor wrote about this wonderfully Godly woman:

Hannah almost despaired of ever becoming a mother.shewas childless and distraught over it. [Her marriage] wasplagued with stress because ofbigamy Hannah was anobscure woman living in a remote part of Israel with herhusband, Elkanah. Hannah faithfully traveled with Elkanah tothe tabernacle every year to worship and offer a sacrifice.Scripture portrays them as a devout family, yet living in a dismal

period of Israels history. The Bible reminds us that at the timeElkanah made regular trips to Shiloh to worship and offer hersacrifice, the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priestsof the Lord, were there (1 Sam. 1:3).Hophni and Phinehas were two of the worstpriests we evermeet on the pages of Scripture. They were greedy men whoillegallyand sometimes forciblytook the best portions ofpeoples offerings for themselves (1 Sam. 2:13-16). Worse yet,they used their position as priests to seduce young women(v.22). They had, in effect, turned the tabernacle into a bawdyhouse, and they had formed a kind of priestly mafia, bullyingworshipers and flagrantly showing contempt for Gods law. Theobvious result was that the people of Israel grew to abhorbringing their offerings to the Lord (v.17). All the people ofIsrael were aware of what Hophni and Phinehas were doing, buttheir father Eli made only a half-hearted attempt to rebukethem, even though he was the high priest (v.24).Of course, the visible manifestation of Gods glory that onceresided over the ark of the covenant was long gone. The arkitself had come to mean little to the Israelites. Hophni andPhinehas treated it like a talisman. The low point came whenthey took it into battle against the Philistines, presuming itwould guarantee Israel a victory. Instead, the Philistines soundlydefeated Israels army and captured the ark. The ark was neveragain returned to the tabernacle at Shiloh

The loss of the ark (1 Sam. 4:10-11) occurred just a few shortyears after Hannah is introduced to us in Scripture (1:2). It wasthe climactic and defining moment of that backslidden era.Incidentally, in the same battle in which the ark was captured,Hophni and Phinehas were killed. Eli fell over from shock assoon as he heard the news. He died toofrom injuries sustainedin that fall. Phinehass wife delivered a child shortly after that,


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and she named him Ichabod, meaning the glory has departed(4:12-22). It was an apt description of that whole era of Israelshistory. This was indeed a time of great spiritual darkness.[Now, I apologize for that long quote, but I wanted to read it toget to this conclusion. Here this writers concluding thoughts.]In those dry and gloomy days, Hannah stood out as a ray of

light. Not only was she the quintessential godly mother andwife, but in a spiritually cold generation she exemplifiedpatience, prayerfulness, faith, meekness, submission, spiritualdevotion, and motherly love. (MacArthur, Twelve ExtraordinaryWomen, pages 90-92)

2. What an amazing contrast. In the darkness of a terrible time, we areintroduced to an amazing example of faith. While she is not in the pagesof the Bible for very long, there are several things we can learn andemulate from her life.a. While Hannah was physically barren, she was far from spiritually

barren. The Bible tells us that she was barren, and this troubled hergreatly. However, she went to the temple to pray. When she was

praying silently, her mouth continued to move and the priest, Eli,thought she was drunk.

b. She convinced him that she was not, but was, in fact, pouring her heartout to God.

c. In that prayer, she asked God for a child. Specifically she asked for ason, and she made a promise to God. She promised to give the sonback to the Lord if He would grant this request.

d. God, by His actions, said yes to the prayer, and Hannah was blessedwith Samuel. And Hannah kept her promise as well. As soon asSamuel was weaned (which was probably when he was just 3 yearsold), she took him to Eli and Samuel began to grow up serving the Lordthere.

3. From this beautiful story, what are some things we can learn aboutHannah that will increase our faith and make us better people?

Hannahs Trustworthy HusbandA. You may recall that Hannah was not the only lady of the house.

She was one of two wives of a man named Elkanah. In First Samuel1:2, notice how we are introduced to these two wives: And he hadtwo wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the otherPeninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.1. I find it somewhat significant that Hannah is mentioned first as a

wife, but LAST when it comes to children. It must have beenthat she felt as though she was last (so to speak) for her lackof providing children.

2. It is also sad that Peninnah did not allow her to forget that shecould not have children. Verses 6-7 tells us, And her rival [sadisnt it that the two wives are called rivals?] also provoked herseverely, to make her miserable, because the Lord had closedher womb. So it was, year by year, when she went up to thehouse of the Lord, that she provoked her; therefore she weptand did not eat.


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2. But more importantly, she trusted God. She knew that Godwould be listening to her fervent prayer, and she knew that Hewould do what was best.a. She prayed out of the very depths of despair, but she never

lost sight of Gods faithfulness. Notice the passage beginningin verse 10: And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to

the Lord and wept in anguish. Then she made a vow andsaid, O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the afflictionof your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Yourmaidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child,then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and norazor shall come upon his head. Verse 12 tells us that shecontinued the prayer.

b. What trust! What faith! How do I know she had faith? Thereis an interesting statement after her encounter with Eli. Inverse 16 of chapter 1 Hannah convinces Eli that she is notdrunk. In verse 17 Eli, now convinced of her faith, says toher, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition

which you have asked of Him. She answers Eli, but thenthere is an interesting final phrase at the end of verse 18.(1) The Bible says, So the woman went her way and ate,

and her face was no longer sad.(2) What an amazing example for us! She had prayed out of

the depths of despair. Eli had said to her that Godshould grant the prayer, but notice he did NOT say, GodWILL grant it. Eli simply said, God grant. This is atype of priestly prayer from the lips of Eli as well.

(3) But that was enough for Hannah. She had prayed, andnow, in her trust, she was able to leave her requests withGod and go her way. She resumes her normal activities

because she has put her thoughts in Gods hands.(4) Let me ask a question, if I may. How often are we able

to do that? We are so much more prone to do somethingelse. We often pray to God for something to happen(whether large or small). But then, are we able to leaveit there? Most of the time, we feel as if we have to pray,and then take care of things ourselves! While there maybe times we need to do certain things, we need to beable to let God handle the situation. Hannah was able topray and then leave things with God. We need to beable to do the same.

B.

Hannahs Truth to Her PromiseA. When God granted her petition (as Eli called it), Hannah still had a

decision to make. She could have decided NOT to give her littleboy, Samuel, to the work of the Lord.1. But Hannahs faith was much too strong for that to even be a

choice! She only waited until Samuel had been weaned, andthen she took him to Eli to work.


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1. Hannahs praying didnt stop once she was granted her request!In chapter 2 of First Samuel, she prays one of the most beautifulprayers found in the Bible, and it is a prayer of thanksgiving forGods faithfulness to her. But, how she thanks God is interestingto me. Notice the end of chapter one. The last line says, Sothey worshipped the Lord there. Chapter 2 opens with, And

Hannah prayed and said.2. This is a prayer of worship and thanksgiving to God, but the

entire prayer, which spans 10 verses in the English Bible, isnothing but praise to God! Lets take a moment and read theprayer. [READ First Samuel 2:1-10]

3. Isnt that a beautiful prayer of praise? By the way, for your ownstudy, you might want to compare this prayer and the famousprayer of Mary found in Luke 1:46-55. You will be amazed at thestriking similarities. It is also interesting to me that, just a fewyears after Mary prayed that prayer for a Child Who would beborn miraculously, it is said, And Jesus increased in wisdom andstature and in favor with God and man (Luke 2:52). And after

Hannah prayed this beautiful prayer we have just read togetherfor a child who was born miraculously, it is said of him in chapter2, verse 26, and the child Samuel grew in stature, and in favorboth with the Lord and men.

B. But what can we learn from Hannahs wonderful prayer? We canlearn how to react when God says yes!1. How often do we pray for something and God grants us the

request, and then it is as if we have forgotten Him.2. Do we ever say thank you?3. Do we ever extol and praise Him for just how majestic H e is?

When God says yes to a prayer today, it is, in many ways,even more amazing than His saying yes to Hannahs request.

Why?a. Hannah lived during a time when miracles happened. She

prayed for, and was granted, a miracle. We no longer live ina time when God does such things. Instead we live in thetime of Gods providence.

b. What makes that more amazing? Think of it this way: whenGod performed a miracle in days gone by, He simplydammed up the stream of time for a moment and interjectedthe change necessary for the miracle and then the streamflowed again. But for Gods providence to handle a situation,something more amazing has to happen. God has toorchestrate hundreds or even thousands of events at just theprecise time and in just the precise way for the desiredoutcome to occur. It is truly awe-inspiring. For proof, rereadthe story of Esther, and notice how many things had to occurexactly in the right order and time for that story to unfold.And, really, there is not a single miracle in the book!

c. Words do not give justice to just how amazing God is! As weoften sing to Him, How Great Thou Art! Or, to use anothersong we sing in honor of God, You are beautiful beyond


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description, too marvelous for words; too wonderful forcomprehension, like nothing ever seen or heard.

Conclusion

1. What a phenomenal example Hannah is. While her story is only on a very

few pages on the Bible, her story will never be forgotten.2. From Hannah, may we learn to trust in God, even with the most difficult

things in life. May we learn to leave things in His hands, and then, if Godsays yes, may we truly learn how to praise Him for His amazing powerand providence in providing our needs.

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Hannah a Portrait of Trust