Hannah’s Prayer Of Praise

Sermon Transcript

We will be studying Hannah’s prayer, but I want to start with a few questions. First, “What is prayer?” Prayer simply is communication. Anyone can pray to anyone or anything. As Christians, prayer is communication with God. That’s who we are praying to. What we are doing when we pray is we are accessing God’s resources for our needs. I need God’s resources. We all understand that, and Hannah understood that.

Abraham Lincoln said, “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day.” Oh, that we would wake up each morning understanding that “Lord, whatever is coming today, I do not have the resources for it. But You do. Please give me your resources.”

The next question is, “Why do a study on prayer?” The Bible teaches us to pray. In fact, in the very first book of the Bible, in Genesis 20:7, we have the first mention of prayer and the first instructions given concerning prayer. God was speaking to Abimelech. Abraham had arrived in town, and to protect his own neck, he literally gave his wife, Sarah, away to Abimelech. But Abimelech did not know that the woman was Abraham’s wife. So God went to Abimelech and warned him, in verse 7. “Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.” In verse 17 it says, “So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; for the Lord had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.”

It is noteworthy for us to see that the first time prayer is mentioned in the Bible, we should see what kind it is. There are different kinds of prayer. This is intercessory prayer. That’s a fancy way of saying praying for someone else. So God was not instructing Abraham to pray for himself or for his family but to pray for Abimelech and his family. That is noteworthy.

In Matthew 6, the disciples were talking to Jesus and wanted to know how to pray. So Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, and He also taught them how not to pray. He used the words “when you pray” a few times. So Jesus was assuming, expecting that His disciples would pray.

So we learn that the Bible teaches us that prayer is the normal part of the life of a child of God. However, we must confess that it is not a normal part of life for the majority of God’s children. In fact, prayer is the weakest part of our lives.

How can I say that? There is no way I can know everyone in our church and know what your prayer lives are like. So how can I say that? Two reasons. First, church payer events. If you are trying to set the record for lowest attendance, plan a prayer meeting. It’s the simple truth. And I’m guilty of it. It’s difficult. Some of you may be prayer warriors, and I know some prayer warriors—some people who meet, pray and talk to God often. I guarantee this: if you were to talk to that person, that prayer warrior, and ask them, “Do you think you pray enough?” they would say, “No; I need to pray more. I need to pray for more of God’s blessings and more of God’s direction.” So prayer is the weakest part of our lives.

A man named E.M. Bounds wrote and spoke extensively on the topic of prayer. He said many, many years ago, “What the church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more novel methods, but men who the Holy Ghost can use, men of prayer, men mighty in prayer.” I think E.M. Bounds would not be offended if I said we could add the ladies in there besides the men.

“Why study someone else’s prayer?” is our next question. We know that we’re not supposed to just copy someone else’s prayer or pray form prayers. So why would we study Hannah’s prayer? Very simply, we learn from one another.

Many years ago, when I was about 20 years old, I was at a small Calvary Chapel in Colton. I would go in and sit in the back. I was a young husband and father at the time. I had a problem worshipping. I liked to sing, but I had trouble with lifting my hands to the Lord, because I was too concerned with what I looked like and what other people might think about me. At the time I thought that I was masculine, manly, and I couldn’t raise my hands because people would wonder what I was reaching for.

But one night I walked in and we had a guest speaker. He was a very large man. This was a small church mainly of Hispanics, who are not large people. And he had different colored skin. He sat in the front row and had a very deep voice. He worshipped. I don’t think he knew that any of us were in there. He was in love with the Lord and didn’t care who heard. He was shaking the walls and raising his hands. He had no idea, but God used that incident to set me free. I became unashamed and thought, Who cares what anybody thinks?! God used that.

We do the same thing. We come to Hannah’s prayer, we read through it hoping and expecting that it will stir us up also. We learn from one another. Isn’t that what Jesus did? He taught His disciples, so that His disciples could go on and teach other disciples. And those disciples could teach other disciples. That’s how Christianity works; we pass those things on to one another.

As we turn to Hannah’s prayer, we learn our first lesson before ever stepping into verse 1. Let me first give you some background. In chapter 1, we find out that Hannah and Peninnah were both married to the same man, Elkanah. Both wives knew that. That may bother some of us. You may say, “God shouldn’t have blessed them!” but He worked in both their lives. Peninnah had several children, so she was considered blessed. Hannah had no children. She was barren, “because The Lord had closed her womb” (1 Samuel 1:6). God had a plan and purpose in His time.

Hannah, instead of taking revenge on Peninnah for teasing and persecuting her, began to pray. We learn that when we have issues and problems, we need to pray. So she prayed and asked God for a son. She told God that if He gave her a son, she would dedicate him to God and give him back to God (1 Samuel 1:11). Sure enough, God answered her prayer. And when Hannah finished weaning her son, she brought him to the tabernacle and left him there.

Can you imagine how she felt? So many of you moms have sons. We know how moms and their sons are. I have three daughters and one son. My wife loves our kids equally, but there is something different about her and our son. That’s her baby boy forever.

My mom went home to heaven many years ago. But up until the day she died, she called me her baby boy. And she could barely speak at the time. I would mess with her and say, “Leave me alone, lady! I’m not a kid!” It didn’t matter what I did. If I had gone to prison, she would have been proud of me for keeping my cell clean. That’s how moms are. And mess with your son, and mama bear comes out!

Yet Hannah took her son, Samuel, to the tabernacle. It was believed that he was about three or four years old at that time. He was a young child, and she dropped him off to Eli, the priest, at the tabernacle, so her son could learn to serve God under the tutelage of Eli. After she dropped Samuel off, at the end of chapter 1, we come to verse 1 of chapter 2 where it says, “And Hannah prayed.” That’s the first lesson. It’s praying after the fact.

A lot of us have trouble in our prayer life; it’s a weak area. I struggle with it also. We struggle with praying in the first place, and now you’re telling us to even pray afterwards?! Come on!

There are three Cs to help you remember to pray. The first C is to conceive it in prayer. Whatever you’re thinking about, dreaming about, wishing for, whatever is crossing your mind that you think might be a good idea—conceive it in prayer. Don’t talk to anybody about it. Don’t ask anyone’s opinion. Just start talking to God.

The second C is conduct it in prayer, or continue it in prayer. Once you’ve conceived it in prayer and God begins to bring it to fruition and you see God moving and leading you, continue it in prayer.

What we see Hannah doing is the third C: conclude it in prayer. Come back and say, “God, thank You so much for what You did” or “God, thank You so much for what You didn’t do.”

All three of these were on display in Hannah’s prayer life. You’ll see all those in chapters 1 and 2.

I have two, main divisions in chapter 1. Verses 1-8 I titled praise. Hannah prays but she’s giving praise. And verses 9-10 I titled prophecy.

Now keep in mind that Hannah has just dropped off her precious, little baby boy. In verse 1, it says, “And Hannah prayed and said: ‘My heart rejoices.’” How can that be?! She just gave away her son! Notice what she said her heart rejoices in. “My heart rejoices in the Lord.” She didn’t rejoice in the fact that she had to leave her son. I can’t imagine that was a pleasurable thing for her to do. But you must understand that Hannah loved God more than what God had given her. She held that precious, little baby boy loosely; it wasn’t a death grip. It wasn’t, “Never mind, God! I’m breaking my promise. I can do a better job raising this child than You can!” No; she trusted God with that precious, little baby boy.

Oh that we might learn to hold the things that God has blessed us with loosely, so God can give and take as He sees fit.

Continuing with verse 1, “My horn is exalted in the Lord.” “Horn” means “strength.” When she says “horn,” think of an animal horn, like a bull or ram’s horns. Those are symbols of strength. She’s says, “I smile at my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation.” Notice that two times in the very first verse, while she has just left her precious, little baby boy, she “rejoices.”

How could this woman possibly rejoice? The secret is right in the middle of verse 1: “My horn…” or “strength” “…is exalted in the Lord.” In other words, her strength came from the Lord.

Remember is said that prayer was accessing God’s resources. Hannah needed to pray in order to do this and access God’s resource of strength. Then God gave her strength. That even enabled her to say, in verse 1, “I smile at my enemies.”

When you go back to read chapter 1, you’ll find out that Peninnah gave Hannah a very difficult time; she teased and mocked her, because she could not have children. It would seem that Hannah kept this quiet but talked to the Lord about it. We don’t know if Hannah had Peninnah in mind when she said, “I smile at my enemies.” But the point here is that God has brought restoration.

And why did she “smile at [her] enemies?” Because she rejoiced in her salvation. That’s a difficult thing to do. That coworker rubs you the wrong way, and you would rather not deal with him or her. In order to deal with it with a smile on your face, you need to access God’s resources by spending time in prayer. Say, “God, help me! I hate that person! I need your love.”

That’s what Hannah was doing here. She said, “…because I rejoice in Your salvation.” Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Salvation is God’s to give.

I like Nehemiah 8:10, which says, “Then he said to them, ‘Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’”

In verse 2 of our text, we get our first subpoint. Our main division is praise, now our subpoint is God’s sovereignty or the fact that Hannah is highlighting that God is sovereign. What does “sovereign” mean? She’ll describe it for us in verse 2: “No one is holy like the Lord, for there is none besides You, nor is there any rock like our God.” She is saying that God is the biggest, the highest; there is no one above Him, there is no one who measures up to Him. That’s sovereignty. God is sovereign, all powerful, in control. That is what she is explaining.

These are excellent ways to begin our prayer time; to remind ourselves to remember who God is, what He can do, what His abilities are, what His resources are. To bring those things into your prayer life and say, “God, I remember that You are this and You are that and You’ve done these things.” That encourages us toward more prayer.

There is another subpoint in verses 3-8. Hannah mentions that God is just. “Justice” is a buzzword today. What does “justice” mean? Because justice originated with God, our text is a good passage to remember when we’re considering what justice is. She said, “Talk no more so very proudly; let no arrogance come from your mouth.”

For me, at this point in Hannah’s prayer, it becomes a psalm and not just a prayer. What’s the difference? In the psalms of David or Asaph or some other writer, they may have prayed a prayer in their psalm. Maybe it’s the same thing. Maybe it is or maybe it isn’t.

Here Hannah’s prayer seems to change, because in verse 3, she seems to be talking to someone. Maybe she is talking to herself. She’s certainly not talking to God; she wouldn’t say that God is proud and arrogant. So who was she talking to? She could have directed that toward Peninnah. But we aren’t told that specifically. Or maybe Hannah had some prideful thoughts and arrogance in her heart, because she finally had a child. And we don’t know anything about Peninnah’s children, but we know about Hannah’s son, who is now serving the Lord. So perhaps Hannah was harboring pride and arrogance in her own heart. We don’t know. But this certainly serves as a warning for us.

Now she tells us why we shouldn’t be proud or arrogant. “For the Lord is the God of knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed.” She is referring to the omniscience of God. What is “omniscience”? It means that God is “all-knowing.” I like Colossians 2:3, where Paul reminds us that “…both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” If we want knowledge, the best place to find it is with God, because He is omniscient; He knows all things. If I need knowledge, He’s got it.

Hannah is making a point here that is leading somewhere. She’s saying, “For the Lord is the God of knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed.” She’s talking about God being a judge. Since God has all the knowledge, therefore He is the best judge. That’s why she said, in verse 3, “Talk no more so very proudly; let no arrogance come from your mouth, for the Lord is the God of knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed.” God will fix things. He’ll set things straight.

Now in verses 4-8, Hannah will show us what God does. She gives us several examples. “The bows…” as in bow and arrow “…of the mighty men are broken, and those who stumbled are girded with strength.” There is a contrast here. She’s saying that the strong were strong because they had a bow and arrow in their hands, but the bow is broken and thus their strength is gone. She also says that those who were weak are tightened up with strength, are protected with strength. It came from God, who is “the God of knowledge” and weighs all actions.

Verse 5, she continues along that same theme. “Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread…” they had an abundance, but now they’ve lost and are out looking for bread “…and the hungry have ceased to hunger. Even the barren has borne seven, and she who has many children has become feeble.” You say, “Of course she was feeble; she had a lot of kids!” The idea is that the one who had giving birth—maybe she’s got Peninnah in mind, although it doesn’t say—God’s going to flip the script. He’s going to change things. The one who couldn’t have any was going to have seven.

In verse 6 she says, “The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up.” Hannah is remembering what God has done and what He can do. We know He has done that. There may be some here who have actually, literally died; they’ve been on an operating table, in an accident or something happened that caused them to die for a short time. But the medical staff was able to bring you back to life.

Yet even if you were not physically dead, Christians at one time were spiritually dead. God brought you back to life. For me it was when I was 20 years old. At the age of 20, I was dead, but He brought me back to life. That was in 1993.

Sometimes my son will say, “Did you listen to this band or rap group?” I didn’t have a clue. I died in 1993, and when God brought me back to life and woke me up, I was different. He changed me dramatically. My mind was different. My mouth was different. My thoughts were different. He has done that for all of us. That’s what He does. He brought Lazarus back to life. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead after a few days.

Verse 7, “The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the ash heap, to set them among princes…” such as Joseph in the book of Genesis, who was a slave, a prisoner and eventually second in command only to Pharaoh in commanding Egypt “…and make them inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and He has set the world upon them.”

The last part of this verse critics have taken note of over the years and said that the Bible’s not accurate, because Hannah thinks the earth is on “pillars.” Her prayer here was poetic. I argue that she had been filled with the Holy Spirit as she was praying, although it doesn’t say that. The point Hannah is trying to make is that God is in control. He is sovereign and is the God of knowledge. He is in control of all these things. He is upholding and sustaining all things.

Psalm 73, written by Asaph, was complaining in the first 16 verses. He was saying that the wicked were prospering, but they did evil things—treating people badly, cheating and other bad things. But they got all the good things, experienced a good life and their families were doing well. So he was complaining about this.
If I could have talked to Asaph I would have told him that the psalm would end up in the Bible, “So maybe lay off the complaining a bit.” But what Asaph was doing was just sharing what was in his heart and mind. It sounds funny; doesn’t it? We never complain about those things.

But then in verse 17 it says, “…until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end.” God reminded him that He was going to set everything right. He’s the God of knowledge, He’s a judge and He’ll fix everything.

That’s encouraging for us, because we are certainly living in wicked times. We see it all over the place. And it is increasing. The bad news is that it is not going to get any better. The good news is that Jesus is going to set everything straight eventually. But He won’t always do it right on the spot, immediately, when I want Him to do it. He’s going to do it in His time.

It may be that you are suffering through some circumstance, you’re dealing with somebody and circumstances are harsh, so you’re trying to figure out where God is. Why is He not coming to the rescue? God is aware. The Bible says that when we pray, He inclines His ear to us (Psalm 116:2). We’re praying, “God, please, rescue me! Change the circumstances!” He will do that. We have that promise in His Word. But He will do it in His time—not my time, not your time. I’ve tried my best to counsel God; He doesn’t seem to listen to me. “God, now would be a great time to just cause some havoc in their life or just really get them back!” He doesn’t seem to listen to me.

Asaph was complaining, but then he went into God’s sanctuary and had his heart set right. He learned that God was going to change the circumstances, that He is just and will set everything right. Let God be God. You just be concerned with what God has you doing, and let Him do what He is doing.

Verses 9-10 is our second, main division, and I titled it prophecy. This is still part of the prayer. The first part of the prayer was praise; we saw for what and who God is. Now Hannah finishes her prayer with some prophecy. This is why I assume that she has been filled with the Holy Spirit. Or else how could she know these things?

There is a prophecy concerning saints: “He will guard the feet of His saints.” Psalm 121:3 says, “He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.” He won’t fall asleep on the job. God will protect you on this journey while He is leading you; whether “beside the still waters,” “through the valley of the shadow of death” or at “a table…in the presence of my enemies” (Psalm 23:2,4,5). Wherever it might be, God is going to get you there. He’s going to “guard the feet of His saints.”

Then Hannah says this, still on this theme of God being just and making everything right: “But the wicked shall be silent in darkness. For by strength no man shall prevail.” The strongest of us cannot compare to God. We cannot hang with God.

In Zechariah 4:6 it says, “So he answered and said to me: ‘This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.’” Strength can only last so long against God. But God’s resources are infinite. So we shouldn’t rely on our own strength, or on our own resources, but on the resources of God.

Hannah was pointing out that God would “guard the feet of His saints, but the wicked shall be silent in darkness.” Things were going to change.

The reason I titled verses 9-10 as prophecy is because you will note a change in the language, in the tenses. As Hannah was talking in verses 1-8, she was talking about who God is, what He has done and what He can do. Beginning in verse 9, the first two words are “He will.” Now she looks to the future and will tell us what God is going to do. That’s why I titled this prophecy.

She continues with prophecy in verse 10, where she prophesies about the Savior. “The adversaries of the Lord shall be…” future “…broken in pieces; from heaven He will thunder against them. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed.”

Some of the things that Hannah relays to us in verse 10 have already happened at the point she is verbalizing this. In the book of Joshua, you will see that God rained down fire and brimstone on the enemies of God. And He has already judged some people up to this point. But she is talking about something that is future: “Shall be broken…will thunder…will judge…will give strength.” So that’s why I believe she was filled with the Spirit at that moment. As she is praying, God is speaking to her and through her. So she is relaying what God is going to do.

I like her mindset; this is what God has done, and this is what God will do. He has been faithful, He is faithful and He will always be faithful. This is a wonderful thing to remember when I’m praying: God has always been faithful, and He will continue to be so.

And I like how Hannah’s prayer ends. She said, “He will give strength to His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed.” What’s the big deal? Hannah had given birth a few years ago to Samuel. Samuel is going to be the last of the judges as a prophet at a transitional time. What Samuel will do when he is much older is that he will anoint the first king of Israel, Saul. Saul won’t start out a rascal, but he turns into one.

So if there is no king, there hadn’t been a king and there won’t be a king for many more years, who would Hannah be talking about? She said, “He will give strength to His king.” She is familiar with kings, because the nations all around them had kings. But the people of God didn’t have a king. This is why I believe she was filled with the Spirit in prophesying about future events.

It is possible that God had given Hannah wisdom about the coming kings: Saul, David. In fact, if she was talking about Saul, 1 Samuel 10:9 says, “So it was, when he…” that is, Saul “…had turned his back to go from Samuel, that God gave him another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day.” And in 1 Samuel 11:6, we are told, “Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard this news, and his anger was greatly aroused.” So maybe Hannah was referencing the fact that God was going to strength those kings. That is at least a partial fulfillment of this prophecy.

But is it a full fulfillment? Hannah went on to say that He will “exalt…” or lift up “…the horn…” or strength “…of His anointed.” Who is “His anointed”? Kings and priests were anointed. Saul was going to be anointed by Samuel. David was going to be anointed by Samuel. So perhaps she was talking about Saul, David and the other kings that will follow them. Perhaps she was simply referring to the near future; that kings were coming, and God was going to anoint those kings.

However, the last two words of Hannah’s prayer, “His anointed,” is referring to the person who will be anointed with oil. But she said, “He will give strength to His king.” These individuals, whoever they may be, are going to belong to God—“His.”

When you look up the word “anointed,” it is spelled “masiah.” We would say “Messiah.” Again, this could be applied to kings and other people who have been anointed. But I believe that Hannah was referencing the time in the future when Jesus, God’s King and God’s Anointed One, will come and set things straight. He will begin by setting you and me straight, which He has already done—He has set us straight. Oh, that our prayer lives would be more like Hannah’s!

A former Baptist minister from east Texas, Bill Moyers, was a special assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson. He was asked to say grace before a meal in the family quarters of the White House. As Pastor Moyers began praying softly, the President interrupted him with “Speak up, Bill! Speak up!” to which Moyers responded by stopping mid-sentence, and without looking up replied steadily, “I wasn’t addressing you, Mr. President.”

Oh, that we would understand who we are praying to! It doesn’t matter who hears, who’s listening. But when I pray, that it might be directed toward God, and that I might understand, like Hannah did, who God is. I’m not praying to some individual, to some human, to some person with resources that are not enough. I’m praying to God, who has infinite resources for whatever He may be leading me through.