Hannah’s Prayer

1 Samuel 2:1-11

Key Verse 1 

“Then Hannah prayed and said: “My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance.”

Introduction:

This passage records Hannah’s song of joy. After dedicating her only son Samuel to God, She could have regretted what she had done and experienced intense sorrow. She might have become a patient of panic attack whenever she think about an unreliable high priest, Eli. But she neither regretted her decision, nor did she sorrow over it. Instead she was full of joy. She gave all credit to the Lord. We can learn many things from her. May the Lord help us to increase our faith and render glory to God. 

Read verse 1. How does Hannah begin her prayer? (1a) How does she get strength? (1b) Why does she boast over her enemies? (1c) 

1-1) Read verse 1. 

Then Hannah prayed and said: “My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance.

1-2) How does Hannah begin her prayer? (1a)

Hannah’s prayer begins with rejoicing in the Lord.

Hannah is not rejoicing in leaving her son. 

Hannah is joyful for her son only. 

Hannah is rejoicing in the Lord himself.

Joy is “Jesus first,” “Others second,” and “yoursef last.”

When we fulfill the will and purpose of God, we are truly happy.

But we are often times taught to seek first our own kingdom. But it was not the way to be truly happy. 

Hannah had hard time in her barren womb. But she did not fight against other human beings, rather she prayed and waited to see through how God was working in her life. 

At God’s right time her prayer has been replied and she came out as a woman of deep understanding of God’s way of working and who God really is. 

She graduate the period of human sorrow thanks to God’s grace and mercy. 

That’s why it is natural for her to rejoice in the Lord rather than His blessing no matter how good might seem to her. 

What did Apostle Paul say? when he was in prison and the church of Philippi was having a problem.

Philippians 3:1 “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.”

Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice!”

Acts 16:25 “Paul & Silas rejoiced even though they were beaten and thrown into prison”

We cannot always rejoice in the circumstances, but we can rejoice in the Lord, that is rejoicing in what Jesus Christ has done for us.

1-3) How does she get strength? (1b) 

Hannah is speaking of her strength and power being exalted in the LORD.

The horn is an often used as a picture of strength in the Bible (Psalm 75:4-5; 92:10). 

How many deadly horns(despair, anger, and fatalism) might have pierced her so far? 

1-4) Why does she boast over her enemies? (1c) 

For I delight in your deliverance. Again she did not gloat over the enemy because it was not a fight agains flesh, but a spiritual fight. She was boasting over her inner enemy of sins and experience her deliverance. 

She gave her credit to the Lord who was merciful for her without fail. 

Read verses 2 and 3. What is Hannah’s confession about God? (2) What is her warning to those who speak proudly? (3)

2-1) Read verses 2 and 3. 

2 “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. 3 “Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the Lord is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed.

2-2) What is Hannah’s confession about God? (2) 

There is no one like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.

“Rock” has to do with stability no matter what. 

It remind me of how Jesus named Simon into Peter. He was a sand like person. He was not reliable person. But God graciously win his soul and envisioned to bring him up as a rock like person. 

Likewise God is working in each person to be a rock like person through the personal encounter with Jesus. 

2-3) What is her warning to those who speak proudly? (3)

Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance. For the Lord is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed. 

The proud could be Peninnah. Hannah must have been hurt a lot due to her careless sayings. But looking back on, she came to know that God knows and every deed was weighed. 

It became one of great lessons for her and she came to know how to deal with the proud down the road from God’s perspective. 

Read verses 4 - 8. How does God change peoples’ lives? (4, 5,7, 8a) What is God’s sovereignty? (6, 8b) 

3-1) Read verses 4 - 8. 

4 “The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength. 5 Those who were full hire themselves out for food, but those who were hungry hunger no more. She who was barren has borne seven children, but she who has had many sons pines away. 6 “The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave[ HYPERLINK "http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel+2&version=NIV1984" \l "fen-NIV1984-7247c" c] and raises up. 7 The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. 8 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. “For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s; upon them he has set the world. 

3-2) How does God change peoples’ lives? (4, 5, 7, 8a) 

4 “The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength. 

The bows of the warriors are considered to be the ways and means to protect people. But God sees through what we do rely on. Contrary to our own expectations, God is working in the opposite way. 

God is diligently strengthened those who stumbled with their weakness through true dependence upon the arm of God. 

God’s way is so different that we must rely on the prayer, the word, and the Holy Spirit. 

We are often times very deceived by the visual aspect of this world. 

Nothing is more important than seeking Him with our whole hearts and souls and strengths. This is the only way to win. 

5 Those who were full hire themselves out for food, but those who were hungry hunger no more. She who was barren has borne seven children, but she who has had many sons pines away. 

7 The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. 

It is case by case. It depends on God who is the judge to decide who is qualified to receive his blessings. Behind our success and failure, God is in charge as the sovereign Lord.

In Luke 14:7-11, Jesus said when we have the opportunity to set ourselves high, we should take a low place instead. 

Then, when someone sets us in a higher place, it will be a pleasant experience. But if we put ourselves in a high place, someone may come and set us in a lower place, and then we will be embarrassed. 

Jesus concluded by saying, For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

8 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. 

Dust and the ash heap indicates complete impossible things from human eyes. But there is no impossibility in God who raised the dead. It has to do with Jesus’ cross and resurrection. 

Also we are nothing but dust without God’s breath in Genesis 2. Thanks to God’s creation, we became a living being. 

But due to sins, we came back to dust like condition that are supposed to be burned out and left as ash. 

But thanks to Jesus’ blood sacrifice, we are blessed with him and seated with him as priests and saints. 

So all the credit goes to Jesus.

3-3) What is God’s sovereignty? (6, 8b) 

6 “The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. 

8b “For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s; upon them he has set the world. 

God’s sovereignty has to do with his claim upon death and life and his resurrection power. 

Nobody is able to raise up the dead. Hannah saw the vision and hope in and through God. 

Read verses 9 - 11. What will God do? (9a, 10b) What happens to those who oppose God? (9b,10a) What did Samuel do before the Lord? (11) 

4-1) Read verses 9 - 11. 

9 He will guard the feet of his saints, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness. “It is not by strength that one prevails; 10 those who oppose the Lord will be shattered. He will thunder against them from heaven; the Lord will judge the ends of the earth. “He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.” 11 Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy ministered before the Lord under Eli the priest.

4-2) What will God do? (9a, 10b) 

He will guard the feet of his saints, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness

“He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

Hannah’s assurance is in the Lord. 

God will guard the feet of his saints.

“If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm;24 though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.” 

(Psalm 37:23,24)

God will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed. 

4-3) What happens to those who oppose God? (9b,10a) 

The wicked will be silenced in darkness.

Those who opposed the Lord will be shattered.

He will thunder against them from heaven

The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.

4-4) What did Samuel do before the Lord? (11) 

Hannah kept her vow to God because she put trust in the Lord.

Samuel has ministered before the Lord under Eli the priest. 

In conclusion,

Hannah prayed and said, “My heart rejoices in the Lord.” The Lord and God is repeated more than 10 times in this short passage. It indicates that Hannah’s joy came from intimate and personal knowledge about him. May the Lord help us to know the Lord at the time of difficulty and be a man and woman of faith to change the flow the history in a generation and continue to serve his own salvation purpose. Amen. 

One word: My heart rejoices in the Lord!

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