Well, good morning.
It's a real privilege and honor to be here at Christ the King, to be able to preach this
morning.
And it's an honor for a number of reasons.
One is the people, there have been people in this church who have played a big role
in my life and in my wife's life.
So to be here and preach at Christ the King is a privilege for that reason.
And it's also a privilege to come and preach here as the head of school of Kenosha Christian
Academy.
We are so grateful for Christ the King and your support of us, but also of the people
here who are on mission with us.
To be on mission with some of the families here at Christ the King is an honor and a
privilege.
So I appreciate the opportunity to bring God's word to us this morning.
So for the message today, I want to focus on a few stories.
From the world's perspective, it's odd that we're still telling these stories because they
have little to do with what we would see today as important.
The people aren't rich or famous.
They were actually poor.
They lived in small towns and lived ordinary lives when we first meet them.
We know little of their personalities.
And yet these stories are some of the turning points in God's redemptive work in the world.
The story that I'll start with begins in 1 Samuel, where God is establishing his kingdom amongst
the people of Israel.
And when the King of the universe wants to break into this sin-cursed world, when he wants
to reestablish his kingdom and fight the powers of darkness, what does he do?
Who does he use?
What does it look like?
These are some of the questions we'll look at today, and here's how we're going to do it.
We're going to look at these stories like four acts in a play.
So plays have these different acts that move the story along.
And so we'll have four of those this morning.
In the first act, I'll start by telling the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel, starting in chapter
1 and then chapter 2, which culminates in her prayer of thanksgiving to God.
It's a fascinating prayer because of its beauty and depth, but it's also fascinating because
in this prayer is the unifying thread for the rest of the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, revealing
the DNA of God's kingdom.
So after reading through the prayer, we'll walk through a few of those stories in Samuel
to show how the prayer helps us see the meaning of the book as a whole.
But the DNA of God's kingdom extends beyond the book of Samuel.
It reveals the very nature of God and his people.
And naturally, Hannah's prayer becomes an important passage at another key point in redemptive history.
After we walk through Samuel, we'll turn to the act 2 in the play, where there's another turning
point in redemptive history that draws from Hannah's prayer.
So we'll find this act 2 in the book of Luke and act 3 in the book of Acts.
These books are the continuation, the drawing out of the DNA of Hannah's prayer.
And when we look through these passages, here's going to be one repeating thing, one repeating
call on our lives.
As God's kingdom breaks into the world, humble yourselves before God.
So as God's kingdom breaks into the world, humble yourselves before God.
And if we humble ourselves before God and all that that entails, if we trust him to save
us and to work through us, then we'll be a part of this eternal kingdom, God's eternal kingdom
breaking into the world.
So before we get into 1 Samuel here, let me pray for us.
Father, thank you for your word.
Thank you for how it tells this grand and great story about what you are doing in the world
and how you are doing it and how we can be a part of it.
Thank you for this prayer from a young mom that tells us so much about your work and your
kingdom and about how we should respond.
We ask for faith and strength to respond to it rightly.
In Jesus' name, amen.
All right, so you can turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel.
So the background of 1 Samuel is we, when we get to 1 Samuel 1, we're still at the end
of the period of the judges.
And if you remember anything about the period of the judges, it was a pretty dark time in
Israel's history.
By the time the book of judges ended, we're at one of the most depressing parts in Israel's story.
You have these stories of Israel's incredible brokenness and rebellion against God to the
point that these stories are showing that Israel had become worse than Sodom and Gomorrah.
So the end of the judges leaves us with these refrains that there was no king in Israel and
everyone did what was right in their own eyes.
And it leaves us longing for someone, for some king to come and lead the people of Israel out
of this darkness and under God's good rule.
So that's the time we find ourselves in when we hear the opening words of the book of 1 Samuel
that tells us about a man named Elkanah, a man who has two wives, one named Peninnah and the other
Hannah.
And of these two wives, Peninnah has several children and Hannah has none.
Every year they would go up to the temple in Shiloh and they would offer sacrifices to God
there.
And this was a uniquely hurtful time for Hannah because Peninnah would use this time to rub
in that Hannah had no children.
And in this day, and even more so in that day, to not be able to have children was a really
painful thing.
It could even be a really shameful thing.
And so for Hannah not to have any children was deeply hurtful and discouraging.
And Peninnah would rub it in that she didn't have any children and that Peninnah did.
And so this happened year after year as they went up to the temple.
And one year, Hannah was at the end of herself.
She was distraught.
And so she goes up to the temple and she pours her heart out to God.
And she cries out to him and she asks God to give her a child.
And that if she does get a child, that she will give this child back to the Lord.
And she's crying out in her heart to God.
And she's visibly moved and distraught.
But no words are coming out of her mouth.
And Eli, the priest, sees her in this state and he assumes that she's drunk.
And so he comes up to her and rebukes her and says, what are you doing?
Put your wine away from you.
Enough of this.
And Hannah responds, no, no, no, I'm not drunk.
You see, I'm crying out to God that he would give me a child.
And Eli responds by saying, may God grant you what you asked for.
So Hannah leaves and true to Eli's word, Hannah becomes pregnant.
She gives birth to a child.
They name him Samuel.
And after Samuel's weaned, true to Hannah's word, they take him back to the temple.
And leave him to be in service to God for the rest of his life.
And as they go up to the temple and worship God there,
Hannah breaks out into a prayer of thanksgiving to God.
And this prayer of thanksgiving to God, as we'll see,
sets the trajectory for the rest of the book and actually for the rest of the kingdom of God.
So let's read this prayer together.
It starts in chapter 2, and I'll read verses 1 through 11.
And Hannah prayed and said, my heart exalts in the Lord.
My horn is exalted in the Lord.
My mouth derides my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation.
There is none holy like the Lord, for there is none besides you.
There is no rock like our God.
Talk no more so very proudly.
Let not arrogance come from your mouth.
For the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength.
Those who are full have hired themselves out for bread.
But those who are hungry have ceased to hunger.
The barren has born seven, but she who has many children is forlorn.
The Lord kills and brings to life.
He brings down to Sheol and rises up and raises up.
The Lord makes poor and makes rich.
He brings low and he exalts.
He raises up the poor from the dust.
He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and on them he has set the world.
He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness.
For not by might shall a man prevail.
The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces.
Against them he will thunder in heaven.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.
He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.
Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, and the boy was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest.
So this passage would certainly warrant extended exposition for an entire sermon.
But what I want to do here is just draw out a few pieces of this prayer,
and then show how they're traced out through the rest of the book of Samuel.
So notice one of the main things here is that God is sovereign.
This is all over this prayer.
He talks about how God is the one who breaks the bows of the mighty.
He binds, the feeble bind on strength.
Those who are full have hired themselves out for bread,
but those who are hungry have ceased to hunger.
So there's, God is the one doing all of this.
Throughout each of these verses, you can see how God's strength, his power,
his ability to do any work in the world, that God has that power.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.
The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces.
We'll see this theme throughout, that God is strong and mighty,
and he can do as he pleases.
We also see that the God raises up the humble,
and he casts down the proud.
So you see how there's this reference kind of to Peninnah and Hannah and their situation,
that those who are full have hired themselves out for bread,
but those who are hungry have ceased to hunger.
The barren has born seven, but she who has many children is forlorn.
So there's this reversal of how things were.
Those who had a lot now find themselves with little.
Those who were strong and mighty are brought down.
Those who were poor, God makes rich.
God brings low when he pleases and he exalts.
And so the proper posture of God's people is to humble ourselves before him.
It's to recognize that we bring to God nothing,
that we don't go our own way, but submit to God and his words.
And then you see, so you see God is sovereign.
You see how he raises up the humble.
And then you see how he's going to raise up a king.
You see that in verse 10,
that he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.
And so through the book of Samuel,
we'll see this continuing on,
how God is going to raise up a king to rule over his people.
So with that, what I want to do now
is to take some stops throughout the book of Samuel
to show how some of the individual stories
and the details of this story
are drawing out the threads from this prayer.
So to start, we'll go to 1 Samuel chapter 3.
So Samuel is a young boy ministering to the temple.
And in the temple, you have Eli the priest
and his sons Hophni and Phinehas.
And these are some of the most powerful people
in the nation of Israel.
This is the priest and his sons ministering in the temple.
They have so much authority and responsibility.
And we see that the sons in particular,
Hophni and Phinehas, are abusing this authority.
They are using it to get rich,
to fill their stomachs.
They're using it to indulge in sexual immorality.
And so, as we saw in Hannah's prayer,
that's not what God expects of his people.
So we have this story
of God bringing a word of judgment
to these powerful people.
Samuel, and who does he use but a little boy?
You might know this story.
Samuel is sleeping, and he hears this voice of Samuel.
Samuel.
So he runs over to Eli,
thinking that Eli was calling him.
But Eli tells him to go back to sleep.
And this happens a few times.
And Eli realizes it was probably a message from the Lord.
And so Samuel goes back the next time
and hears God's voice.
And God tells this little boy
that he was going to judge Eli and his family.
And so Eli ends up getting this message
of judgment on him and his family
from a little boy.
God raises up the humble,
and he casts down the proud.
So that's one of those stories.
Let's take a stop at another one of these stories.
I'll just give an overview of the story of Saul here.
So Israel is in a place
where they don't yet have a kingdom.
They're this large family group of people
under Moses' law,
but they don't yet have an established kingdom.
And they look out, and they see the world,
and they see the world have these impressive kings.
These kings who rule over them,
who lead them in battle.
And Israel sees these other nations,
and they say,
we want to be like them.
We want kings like them.
They think,
they're thinking like the world thinks.
They think that power and status
is what's important.
And so God, to start,
gives them what they want.
He gives them a strong
and good-looking king
who can lead the people in battle.
And you see,
Saul has military victory after victory.
He's conquering Israel's enemies.
He's doing everything
that a world might want in a king,
except he's doing it for himself.
He's doing it to grow his own power,
to grow his own kingdom.
And God,
even though Saul was so powerful and strong,
he was no match for God.
That God is sovereign,
and so God decides
that he's going to cast Saul down.
He gives a word of judgment to him
because Saul was proud,
and so God casts him down
and said that he's going to reject Saul
and his family.
And that leaves them in need
of another king,
and that takes us
to the story of Samuel
going to Bethlehem
to find a new king.
Bethlehem wasn't the first place
that you would think
that he would go
to find a king,
but he does.
He knocks on the door of Jesse.
Jesse has eight sons,
and he goes into Jesse's house,
and Jesse brings before him
his oldest son,
and the oldest son
is what you would think of
as a king.
He was good-looking.
He was tall and strong,
and Samuel thinks,
surely this man
should be the next king of Israel,
and God tells,
do you remember what God tells him?
Like,
man looks on the outward appearance,
but God looks on the heart.
And so,
Jesse brings out his next son
and his next one,
and God says,
no, no, no,
and he says no
to all seven of his sons,
and Samuel says,
is there any more?
And Jesse says,
well, there's one more,
but we didn't invite him
because he's the youngest,
and he's out watching the sheep.
So they bring in David,
the youngest son,
smaller than any of his brothers,
still young,
and God tells him,
this is the one.
Like, this is who I want
to be king of Israel.
You see,
God raises up the humble,
and he casts down the proud,
because we see David's heart
for the Lord,
that he didn't have,
at that time,
the outward appearance
that would have marked him
as a king,
but his heart was devoted to God,
and that's what God wanted.
That's what God cared about
in a king.
And so,
in the next story,
we get the story
of David and Goliath.
And if you read the details
of this story,
you see that
throughout this story,
there's this heightening
of the different power dynamics,
of status and significance,
of showing Goliath on one hand,
the mighty and strong Goliath,
and the details of the text
show his strength and his size.
And then we see how Israel cowers
before Goliath
as he issues this challenge
to the army of Israel.
Israel.
So as they're out
waiting
across from the Philistines,
David's brothers
were part of the Israelite army.
And so one day,
David's father
tells David
to come in
from watching the sheep
and to go out
and give his brothers
some food.
And as he sends
his brothers out with food,
notice he also sends them,
he sends David out
with some cheese
for the commander
of their thousand.
So again,
these details show
he wants to schmooze
the important people
in the army.
So you have
the commander
of the thousands,
you have Saul,
you have David's
strapping brothers,
and then you have David,
this boy,
coming in
and he starts
to hear
these rumblings
of what's going on
of this mighty Goliath
defying the living God
and he gets upset.
He gets worked up
and he says,
well,
I can take him.
And his brother,
do you remember
his brother's response
of saying,
what are you doing here?
Like,
who's watching
those few sheep?
Just doing everything
he can
to contrast
the status
and power
of themselves
and of Goliath
with David.
But David
is insistent
that he knew God,
he knew him so well,
and he also knew
God's promise to him.
Because remember,
Samuel anointed
David
as the next king
of Israel,
and David knew
that God
would keep his promise.
So David
works his way
up to the king,
Saul,
and says that
he wants to fight Goliath.
So Saul,
at first,
sends him out
with his armor,
which David
can barely move in.
So David says,
I'm just going to,
no,
I'm just going to go out
with my sling
and these rocks.
And David does.
He goes out
to the battlefield,
this boy
with no armor,
a sling in his hand
against this giant warrior
with this incredible armor,
and he gives this speech
to Goliath
that you come to me
with a spear
and a sword,
but I come to you
in the name of the Lord.
Do you remember
that line from Hannah
for not by might,
not in might
does the Lord
raise up?
That God is the one
who doesn't need might
to win a battle.
So David takes out
his sling with a rock,
he slings it around,
throws the rock
through the air,
and strikes Goliath
in the forehead
and kills
the mighty Goliath.
God raises up
the humble
and he casts down
the proud.
So do you see this?
How Hannah's prayer
operates as this thread
that's woven
through the book of Samuel?
How it's becoming
the DNA
of God's kingdom
and what God's people
should be?
Hannah gives us
the keys
to understand
these stories.
And if you read through
from 1 Samuel 1
through the end
of the book,
you'll see how
it goes through
the entire book.
You'll see how
God rejects Saul
and casts him down
because of his pride
and he raises up
the humble David
who trusts in him.
And as you read on though,
you'll see that
David becomes proud too.
He ends up committing
adultery and murder.
He issues the census
and God casts down
even David.
But God made this promise
that he would use
David's house,
that he would use
the house of David
to restore his kingdom
and his world
in the world.
So act,
this first act
comes to an end.
We get to the end
of Samuel
and see the kingdom
being passed on.
We see that David
wasn't the savior
that they had hoped for
and neither were his children.
We're left longing
for one of David's sons
to restore his throne
and to restore
God's proper rule
which brings us
to Acts 2.
Around a thousand years later,
Israel was languishing.
They had returned
from exile,
but God
was silent.
Israel was under
Roman rule.
A king from David's line
was nowhere to be found.
People of all different
kinds
were speculating
about how God
would intervene,
how God would
restore his people.
So how would the great
living God
return to establish
his kingdom?
C.S. Lewis describes
the moment this way.
The whole thing
narrows and narrows
until at last
it comes down
to a little point,
small as the point
of a spear,
a Jewish girl
at her prayers.
That's right.
The grand story
of redemption
zooms in
on an engaged
Jewish girl
from no special family.
An angel appears
to her
and tells her
that she will give birth
to the king
who will sit
on David's throne
forever.
The story continues
with Mary
visiting her cousin
Elizabeth,
a previously
barren older woman,
remember Hannah,
who is also expecting.
Mary greets her cousin
and then sings
a song of praise
to God.
Here are a few lines
from that,
from Luke 1,
51 through 53.
He has shown strength
with his arms.
He has scattered
the proud
in their thoughts
of their hearts.
He has brought down
the mighty
from their thrones
and exalted
those of humble estate.
He has filled
the hungry
with good things
and the rich
he has sent away empty.
Does that sound familiar?
It's almost a,
part of that,
it's almost a quotation
from Hannah's prayer
in 1 Samuel 2.
This new work
happening in God's kingdom
is following
the same storyline
at the beginning
of Israel's kingdom
in the book of Samuel.
A barren woman
giving birth.
God raising up
the most unlikely people.
A song of praise
from the mother
singing about God's work
to raise the humble.
The establishment
of a new king.
The weaving of these things
throughout the rest
of the book.
It's just like before.
It seems as though
God had picked
the least likely people
to be a part
of this new turn
in his redemptive work.
But if you know
the DNA of God's kingdom
from Hannah's prayer,
then it's not
that all unlikely.
God had been working
this way all along.
Using the humble,
the people no one else
expected.
Those who trusted
in him
and not in themselves.
This DNA,
as we see it worked out
in the rest
of the book of Luke,
shows up most clearly
in the Davidic king,
Jesus himself.
So as Israel is charged
with,
in that time,
Israel has so many
expectations of a Messiah.
Of what this person
will look like.
And as that's happening,
the Messiah slips in
without almost anyone noticing.
He's born in a barn
laid to sleep
in a freeing trough.
He grows up
in the backwoods town
of Nazareth.
And as the book
of Luke unfolds,
we see
the resemblance,
we see the resemblance
to Samuel continue.
Just like Hannah's prayer
presents the theme
of the rest
of the book of Samuel,
Mary's prayer
sets the theme,
the major themes
of Luke
and Acts.
So this theme
introduced by Hannah,
that God raises up
the humble
and casts down the proud,
shows up everywhere
in the book of Luke.
Jesus ministers
to the poor,
the sinners,
the blind,
the outcast.
He proclaims good news
to them,
that God's reign
is coming.
Characters like
Zacchaeus,
Lazarus,
and the rich man,
the publican,
and the Pharisee
who pray in the temple,
the prodigal son,
those stories show up
only in the book of Luke.
And in Luke's gospel,
more than any other,
we hear Jesus calling
his followers
to minister
to the poor,
the blind,
and the outcasts.
It's continuing
the same message,
the same unfolding DNA
from Hannah's prayer.
And these stories
and these characters
are remarkable.
But it's nothing compared
to how this second act closes.
While most kings
are coronated
in a palace
with a lavish ceremony,
King Jesus is crowned
by dying naked
on a cross,
being tortured
and killed
to save his people
from their sins.
You couldn't imagine
a more humble
and humiliating way
to die.
Jesus embodies
the message,
the cry of Hannah's song
from so long before.
But the story
doesn't end there.
because Jesus
is raised up
by God
from the dead.
And this brings us
to Act 3
in the story.
The risen
King Jesus
ascends into heaven
and he sends
his spirit
to empower the church
to continue
his work.
I know you went
through the book
of Acts last year,
so you probably
remember the many ways
that the church
reflects the practices
of Jesus.
They carry the same
DNA as him,
humble, trusting
in the sovereign God
to bring people
to himself
and to build up
his kingdom.
And so the cast
of the early church
isn't Caiaphas
or Herod
or Nero.
It's fishermen,
slaves,
jailers.
God's people
aren't marked
by a hunger
to pursue fame
or influence
on the world's term.
They're marked
by humility,
care for the poor,
submission to God's word,
preaching of the gospel
just like Hannah
described,
just like Jesus
described.
And as Act 3
continues
or as we move
into application,
Act 3 isn't over.
We don't move on
from Act 3
as we come to today
because as
Christ the King Church,
this is your part
of the story.
This is your act.
The DNA
of God's kingdom
found in Hannah's prayer
is your DNA.
You're trusting
in a sovereign God
who will rescue
the world
through his King Jesus.
The risen Jesus'
spirit lives among you
working to make you
humble and godly
people like Hannah,
like Mary,
like Jesus,
like Peter.
And as we close,
I want to draw out
a few ways
that that looks
for us today,
both as individuals
and as Christ the King Church.
So for us
as individuals,
as we are surrounded
by pictures
of another kingdom,
maybe you're
a high school student
or a middle school student,
and when you're at school,
you feel the need
to fit in.
And you feel the need
to fit in
by being funny
or pretty
or by dressing
in a certain way.
You want to fit in
with the cool kids,
and that's not anything new.
That's what was happening
in Hannah's day.
It's what was happening
in Mary's day.
Or maybe you're
at a job
where all the time
you're watching
as people are jockeying
for attention,
for a raise,
for a new title.
They're schmoozing
the boss,
misrepresenting
their own work
and yours
in order to get ahead.
Well,
you see,
first,
that doesn't work.
To try
and gain
the approval
of others
and get satisfaction
from others,
it doesn't work.
To try and raise
yourself up
like that
doesn't work
because once you
become popular
or rich,
you realize
that it offers
no fulfillment
at all.
That you're left
emptier than
when you started.
Do you remember
those stories
of Eli
and his sons,
of Saul,
of the Pharisees?
God casts them down.
It doesn't work out.
God isn't impressed
with their power
or with their looks
or with their strength.
But know also
how God's ways
lead to life.
Instead of working
to puff up
your own image
or to fit in
with the crowd,
remember that
you're a part
of a kingdom
that follows
a crucified Savior.
One that
looks to serve
people in his interactions
rather than
to be served.
And remember
that following Jesus
means looking different
from other people.
It means
often being unpopular
because we care
about different things.
And remember
that on the other side
of the cross
is resurrection
and life,
eternal life
with Jesus.
That's a word
to individuals.
Now,
a word to
the church
as the whole.
We looked at
the DNA
found in Hannah's prayer
and how it shouldn't
just mark individuals.
It should mark
the people of God
as a whole.
First,
the nation of Israel
and now
in the church.
The first thing
I want to point to you,
point out to you,
and point you to,
as Christ the King Church,
is the glory
of being part
of Hannah's story,
of Jesus' story.
The living God
has chosen the church
as the primary way
to display
his redemptive work
in the world.
As the world
looks to politics
and money,
you know that
God's redemptive work
is continuing
and breaking in
as you love the poor.
Study and submit
to God's word,
deny yourselves,
and gather regularly
around Jesus' table
to remember
his broken body
and spilled blood.
It breaks in
as you choose
to be humble before God,
as you seek
to love God and neighbor,
and if you have eyes to see,
you'll realize
that's what's going on
in these things.
And that is far better,
far more important
than what's going on
in Washington
or Madison
or Hollywood.
God's work
was through
a dejected,
barren woman,
a shepherd boy,
a teenage girl,
a crucified Messiah.
It can break in here
in this place
if you seek
his kingdom
above earthly values.
But there is still
a draw for us,
even as God's people,
to live by the rules
of other kingdoms.
We can be tempted
by money
and influence,
things that aren't bad
in themselves,
but become
the things we trust in.
we can be tempted
to place
or we can be tempted
for our conversations
to be surrounded
or centered around
values that more reflect
values of the world
than of God's kingdom,
where we're trying more
to impress other people
and show others
how important we are,
where we look
at outward appearance
more than the posture
of the heart.
But God calls us
to something different,
to not look
on the outward appearance,
but to look
on the heart.
So when someone
comes into Christ the King,
are they judged more
by their job
or social status,
or are they judged more
by their sensed need
for a savior?
One other note here
of application
for us as a church.
There is a draw
in the world
to think that politics
is the most important thing,
that that is
the most important activity
of the church.
But I think
a clear point
from Samuel and Luke
is that what's going on here
in the church,
in the local church,
is far more important
than politics.
There's an interesting passage
in Luke chapter 3
where Luke mentions
the most important people
in the world.
Remember, politics
were really important
in Jesus' day too.
They were really important.
It was what people
were talking about.
And so in Luke chapter 3,
it mentions them all.
Or the most important,
Caesar.
It mentions Herod
and Pilate.
But it mentions them
almost in order
to forget them.
It mentions them
and then goes on
to talk about
the Simeons
and the shepherds
and the fishermen
and John the Baptist.
It says,
yeah, there's Caesar
and, by the way,
there's Caesar
and Herod and Pilate.
Let's get to the real story.
Let's get to the most important
part of the story.
And it's the part
of the story
that's talking about
these humble people
who God is using
to establish
His kingdom
in the world.
And that's for us too.
That though politics
can be an important way
to love our neighbor
and to do good,
it is not more important.
It is not preeminent
over what is going on
in the life
of the local church
as we love each other
and submit to God's word,
as we preach the gospel,
as we do acts of love
in our city.
That is more important.
That's where God
is most glorified.
Christ the King,
we're a part of God's kingdom,
God's story.
And in a world
dominated by appearance,
status,
money, and power,
we're a people
pursuing humility,
submitting to God's word.
And as the church
in 2023,
we're still living
in this third act
of the story.
There's a fourth act
to come.
One day,
the trumpet will sound
and Jesus will return
to establish His kingdom
once and for all.
Hannah's prayer says
that God will exalt
the horn of His anointed.
And on that day,
with the world
made right again,
with death defeated,
with every tear wiped away,
every knee will bow
and worship the King
who became obedient
to death,
even the death
on a cross.
Let's pray together.
Father,
we are so grateful
to You
for how You are
working in the world.
You don't want
what we bring to the table,
but You want us
to humble ourselves
before You.
So may we do that.
May we live
and dwell
this story
of Hannah's prayer,
of David,
of Mary,
of Jesus.
And may we long
for the day
when You will come
and establish
Your kingdom in full.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.