turn back to a reading first samuel in particularly chapter 2 verse 1 to verse 11
where we see hannah's prayer or hannah's song as some identify it too there's both a sense of
praying to god and a sense of praising god in this
have you ever made a promise to god a promise at a time perhaps when you've been
in a difficult situation and your promises start with the words lord if you help me through this
i will and then you can add your promise at the end of that i'm sure we've all found ourselves in
different situations where we have cried out to god for help with a sense we've said to god too that
if you bring me through this well this is what i will do for you but have you kept that promise
or if the lord has helped you through a certain situation have you just carried on and just kept
going without acknowledging god's help in it or god's helping you through it well the life of of
hannah here is a quite remarkable life she is a woman of faith and such a great faith as we see with so
many women through the scriptures she was one who had a real trust in god but so often her faith
was tested and so often her faith led to very difficult experiences like we read in chapter one
of first samuel as you look at chapter one you see the struggles that she faced in life
hannah was married to a good man elkanah but as it was in those days there wasn't often just one wife
in the marriage and hannah was a partner to elkanah but also there was another woman benina who was in
the marriage as well hannah loved her husband and her husband loved her very much too but there was an
issue in the midst of this relationship hannah much as she longed to couldn't bear children whereas penina
the other wife she was able to bear children conceived and gave elkanah a family but you're given an insight
into just how much elkanah loved her in chapter one when you see that even as they were together
helkanah would give a portion to penina at the time of going up to worship but to hannah he would give
a double portion there was this strong bond between them but there was this difficulty in their midst as
well and you see another side of this relationship too in verse six of chapter one when hannah was unable
to give birth to give birth to a child it says the lord had closed her womb well her rival as it says
there in verse six and that's a strong word there her rival penina there was this rivalry between them
she mocked she provoked her grievously it says there in verse six to irritate her because the lord
had closed her womb and this would have been sore for hannah such a soreness in her life and it was going
on year after year but in the midst of this you see what great faith that she had and what great trust
that she put in the lord it's a remarkable faith a remarkable faith that leads to an astounding
promise from god as she prays to him it says in verse 11 as she was longing for a child oh lord of hosts
if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant
but will give to your servant a son then i will give him to the lord all the days of his life
she asked the lord for help and she made this promise to the lord if you give your servant a son
then i will give him to the lord all the days of his life can you imagine being in this situation
was it a request i was maybe doubting well he's not going to give me the son that i so desire so i'm
not going to have to keep this promise no it wasn't it was a request of faith with a promise being made and
that's the promise that we see that she kept well so we read uh in chapter the end of chapter one
verse 21 down to the end of chapter one there in verse 27 for this child i prayed and the lord has
granted me my petition that i made to him therefore i have lent him to the lord as long as he lives
he has lent to the lord she kept her promise she fulfilled her her vow and after she had weaned the
child after maybe three or four years she brought him to the temple and gave him to the lord
it's a wonderful it's a remarkable story the story of hannah
but she puts the child in the best place she gives the child to the hands of god and is there any
greater blessing than that but what does she do after this that's what we want to focus on this evening
how was she after she had kept this promise how difficult it would have been you can just imagine
to give her son to eli to look after him to raise him there in in the place of worship how hard it would
have been and how was she afterwards was she despondent was she afraid do you see her questioning what
she has done just full of regret and wishing she could just bring him back well what we see in chapter
chapter two is a word of praise a word of prayer to god she praises god in this wonderful prayer in this
wonderful song full of great truths about god as well as the great trust that she has in god
and it's a powerful reminder to ourselves to every one of us men and women together that we come
looking to the same god that we come able to praise and worship the same god but our trust
in this same god we are reminded here in this prayer of hannah that our worship to god is not just
as minister giving a sermon as minister giving a sermon our worship to god is collective all of us
together we come singing praise to god we come offering up our prayers together to god our praise our prayers
they're not just starter before the main course they are part of the whole of worship they are part of
the main course of the main course of coming to praise god we express our thanksgiving to god in prayer
we express it to him in song we express it to him as we receive his word and i want us to look at this
prayer tonight and see this prayer this song of hannah what it says to us both about the truths of god
and our own commitment and our own commitment and our own commitment to him as well we see hannah's
commitment to him and we see for ourselves is that our same commitment to god are we made promises to god
and are we keeping our promises to god and therefore rejoicing in god and the first thing that we see here
in hannah's prayer is this god knows that's one of the key things throughout hannah's life not just
in the prayer before us here but as you look back to chapter one as well how you see that god knows
her situation even though it's going on for a long time this pain that she is suffering this mocking
the penina is showing towards that even though that is going on we see that the lord knows
because you see here hannah's prayer begins with such strong confidence of who god is
in verse two there's no one there is nothing who compares to god in verse two there is none
holy like the lord there is none besides you there is no rock like our god there is none besides you
and what you have to remember that is in this situation hannah was surrounded by a people who would
have been worshiping many gods they would have been looking to to other gods gods that divided
their attention but yet hannah is able to come with these words there is none besides you in all the years
of waiting in all the years of longing she didn't go away and try any other god even though maybe people
would have said as they often do your god's not listening your god's not hearing by this god
she knows there is none but god there is none besides you and in this there is a reminder for her too
of the contrast there was in the relationship that she had in her marriage and the relationship she had
with god there is the contrast of the shared love the shared love that she experienced
with elkanah who had two wives therefore divided loyalties but she shared a love with god that was not divided at all
there is none besides you there is no rock like our god through all her years of anguish and pain
she still knew she still knew that god was there her commitment is not divided he is god and there is no other
and there's a lesson in that for ourselves even as the world will tell us that god is not real
that we can depend on other things apart from god we can say with hannah there is none besides you
there is no other who is like you there is no other who is worthy of all our worship there is no rock
like our god he is the security of our lives back in deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 39 there it says
know therefore today and laid to your heart that the lord is god in heaven above and on earth beneath
there is no other and it's a reminder there in the heaven above but he's not always distant to us in
that sense because it says and on the earth beneath everywhere god is and there is none besides him
and the wonderful thing as you look at hannah's life is she knows this god she loves this god
she worships this god and she is in this relationship of fellowship with god even when she was accused of
of being drunk by eli in chapter one hannah answered in verse 15 no my lord i am a woman troubled in spirit
i have drunk neither wine nor strong drink but i've been pouring out my soul before the lord
she is in this relationship with god she is in this relationship with god there is no one else to go to
it's a powerful reminder to ourselves we can depend on god and we must come to god the way to
assurance is god is not to look to ourselves or beyond ourselves to anyone else apart from god in all his
attributes and in all his promises to us there is none besides you
and so this coming to god in prayer is a reminder to us as she she draws on scripture here it's to know
our bibles well and to pray through the word of god when you come to god in prayer do you come
with his word and do you lean on his promises as you pray lord you have said and as you go through the
bible what do you see that god has said he's made so many promises to his people do you pray his promises
to him do you plead them with him and what's quite remarkable about hannah's prayer here is if you have
a bible with cross references or a little exercise for when you go home this evening or tomorrow is to
look at the cross references in chapter 2 verse 1 to 11 and to look how many reference psalms
there are many references to the psalms in this prayer but the prayer came before many of the psalms were
written
the psalms are referenced and they appeared all the psalms that we're singing this evening are from
the cross references from this prayer referenced in other psalms and we've been singing these these words
these promises of god as a powerful reminder to us to lean on and depend on the word of god
so when you look to god as we see with hannah here we see that we can depend on god in all his promises
because he knows our every situation he knows our every need but there is also the assurance
of god to us as well as hannah's love for god there is the assurance of god's love for us as well
in verse 3 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 lord knows us he knows and sees
all things and the remarkable thing in that is that he loves us
he loved hannah you see that even in the midst of her pain he was still a god who was with her
and you see it as his promise to her is fulfilled he shows his love to her and that's the assurance
we can take too that we can find in god the one who knows us and knows all our faults and yet still loves us
and there when you go through these verses again you you see the great knowledge that that god has
of us how powerful it is he says his love for us is a steadfast love a covenant love
he's always promised his people that i will be your god and you will be my people
and hannah worships god in the knowledge of his promises and the knowledge of his love
and that is how we come to god too or how we should come to god too in the knowledge of all his promises
but in the assurance of his love too god knows every one of us he knows our every circumstance
our every joy or every pain and he loves us with a steadfast love
that's the first thing we see the second thing is this god strengthens and surrounds
god is always with his people that is so evident but what it is here we see even more is just how
powerful that witness is to us that no matter what the circumstances are that we can go on in his
strength when god answered hannah's prayer and she kept her promise she gave samuel back to the lord i
have lent him to the lord as long as he lives he has lent to the lord she said at the end of chapter one
you might expect the sense of despair over her son samuel but as we see instead she goes in to this praise
of god and as you see with god who knows and sees in this psalm in this in this prayer he is also the god of
providence and he is the god of purpose he is a god of greatness even in the midst of human weakness
and part of the theme of this psalm is that god works through the weak through the humble and not the strong
look at verse six there it says the lord kills and brings to life the lord kills another way of looking that
the lord allows the providence of life problems and difficulties to come our way but in the midst of
all that it says and brings to life he is able to deliver us from them and you see through verse six to
verse eight that there's many contrasts there he brings down to shoal and raises up he makes poor and
makes rich he brings low and he exalts so it goes on there's all these different kinds of contrasts
but it's a reminder to us that in our strengths he is there with us in our weakness he is there with us
it's so similar to what paul says in the book of philippians paul himself who went through so many
experiences of ups and downs in life he says in the book of philippians i have known what it is to be
to be healthy i've known what it is to be weak i have known what it is to be in poverty i've known what it
is to be in plenty he's had all these contrasting experiences but what is his testimony i can do all these
things through christ who strengthens me i can go through it all through christ who strengthens me
and what you see here in verse nine is quite similar to what paul is expressing there in verse nine it
says 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 it's not through our own strength but through the strength
that god gives and this is the strength that hannah has known through all our years she has known
the presence and the strength and the help of god
and that's again a lesson for ourselves how do we go on do we go on in our own strength
or do we go on in the strength of god a problem so often is that we're not too weak for god to work in
us but that we're too strong we trust ourselves we can think we think we can do it in our own strength
or maybe just a little boost from god have you ever gone to the doctor when you're not feeling well and
you think you know what you're going to go in for you're going to ask doctor just give me a pill
and i'll carry on i'll be able to go on then but the doctor knows best
and the doctor will sometimes say no a pill is not what you need here you need something more serious
than that something more major and is that the way we come to god sometimes god just just give me a
little boost to help me go on here when god is actually saying no stop be still and know that i am god
that's the position that hannah was brought to and she was willing she stopped before god she pleaded
with god knowing lord only you can do this is that our approach with god as well
if we go on in our own strength how will we ever praise god aright we'll only praise ourselves or we'll
praise others we ask for god's blessing but then we go on and do things in our own way we might even
say to others i'd like this and they might get on well but who will get the praise they'll thank us
instead of god better to say ask god take it to him be like hannah come and give your soul pour out your
soul to the lord and then if he provides or if he gives you your request you praise him you look at
psalm 107 it's a psalm full of different situations in life where people are coming through difficulties
along the way and what happens in each situation they cry to the lord in their trouble and he delivers
them and there's always a reminder at the end of each section of psalm 107 oh that men to the lord
would give praise we praise god if it hadn't been for the difficulties and trials that hannah had to
experience would she have ever offered up this prayer of praise it was only through it that she could come
to the point where there is this rich prayer of praise to god full of the truths of who god is how weak we are
but how great god is and that's sometimes the way we have to experience life too to go through the
difficulties to go through the dark periods to go through the troubles but to know that god is there to
strengthen and god is there to help perhaps at this point hannah was given a glimpse of why god
had allowed penina in her life the one who mocked her her rival as she was called who made it so hard for her
and yet did that not shape her faith and strengthen her faith god's providence is not always easy
but god's providence always has a purpose and so often the purpose is that we might seek the lord
even more that in our weakness we will come to him psalm 34 another psalm that's referenced here this poor man
cried the lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles and then the psalm goes on to say the angel
of the lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them there is these times of trouble
the assurance of the assurance of the presence of god who delivers that's the god that hannah knew and was
praising here is that not the god that we know too now we can give testimony to that the lord
has been our strength the lord has been our help in the poorness of life in the riches of life in all
experience there is none like him the final thing i want us to take from this
prayer of hannah's the god who saves you notice how the song this prayer begins my heart exalts in the lord
my strength is exalted in the lord my mouth derides my enemies because i rejoice in your salvation
there is a note of salvation there is a note of salvation here then you notice how it ends in verse 10
the lord will judge the ends of the earth he will give strength to his king and exalt the power of his
anointed
what's interesting about this is hannah is speaking of a king he will give strength to his king but as yet
israel has no king
but she is getting an insight into the plans of god and the purposes of god for his people
that god will provide a way a way to salvation i rejoice in your salvation
the hannah says here when you go forward into the new testament into the book of luke chapter one
you've got another song another prayer there the song of mary
and in that song mary says this my spirit rejoices in god my savior
so similar to what we have here and what was mary rejoicing in
the savior who was the king king jesus
throughout the scriptures we are given assurances and confidence that god is a god
of salvation that he will provide for his people and god sees every life in such a personal way
and when you look at hannah here when she is praising the your salvation as she says and the king
who will come and exalt the power of his anointed
there's a sense here of not just hannah's life but a far greater work that god is doing
a salvation for all of his people how he would provide a king so that all people who trust in him
can rejoice in that salvation too
from our perspective we see the bigger picture as we turn from the old to the new testament when we see the fulfillment of what hannah is saying to us here
that god has a plan and a purpose
not just for the son of hannah to be given over to the service of the lord
but for the son of god who would come as a servant of his people
who would come and give his life
for his people
that is who we are being directed to through this prayer
through this song to the lord jesus christ
and that is the one
who keeps his every promise
for us
here we see hannah who made a promise to god
not in a rash way
not in a way doubting that god could do it but through faith
and she kept her promise
do we keep ours
i'm sure we've broken
many of the promises that we've made to god
but the great thing is
god never breaks any of his promises
to us
and it's on that
we rely
the same as hannah was relying
on the promises of god
so
do we
somebody once said
you can't break god's promises
by leaning on them
and so may we lean
on all the promises
of god
the one
who is our salvation
the one
who gave strength
to his king
to come
and be the messiah
the anointed one
who gave his life
for our salvation
let us pray
oh lord our gracious god
we thank you
for all the promises
of your word
and we ask that you will bless them to us
and help us
to lean upon them
even as hannah
so long ago
where she saw
the lord's strength
and the lord's presence
with her
the lord's providence
in her life
and difficulties
but also in great joy
we pray lord
that in our experience
of all the highs and lows
that we will rejoice
and exalt the lord
who is alone
worthy
of all our praise
for there is none
beside you
hear our prayers
lord
and continue with us
pardoning our sins
in jesus name
amen
out po own
so
thank you