1Sa 1:1 Now there was a certain man of
Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was
Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of
Zuph, an Ephrathite:
1Sa 1:2
And he had two wives; the name of the one was
Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but
Hannah had no children.
1Sa 1:3
And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice
unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas,
the priests of the LORD, were there.
We are happy for each family that is here this morning. It is wonderful when the family comes
together to worship God. The first part
of the offering that they gave was an offering for sin, the peace
offering. It brought peace for their
soul.
I never cease to enjoy the peace, the encouragement to all,
that Jesus made available to us when He gave Himself an offering for our
sin.
Part of the offering was given to the priest for support and
part went to the family. Elkanah gave
Hannah her portion, a worthy portion.
1Sa 1:4
And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his
wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions:
1Sa 1:5
But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the
LORD had shut up her womb.
Paninnah knew how to emphasize that Hannah didn’t have any
children and so was missing out. This
was a real trial to Hannah and it went on for years. Hannah grew sad and her countenance showed
her sadness.
Sometimes our words don’t say we are sad, but our
countenance shows it.
1Sa 1:6
And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because
the LORD had shut up her womb.
1Sa 1:7
And as he did so year by year,
when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she
wept, and did not eat.
1Sa 1:8
Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why
eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am
not I better to thee than ten sons?
Hannah didn’t know how to answer him. She went into the temple to pray and was in
bitterness of soul. I tried to study all
that bitterness of soul meant to Hannah.
She felt something really lacking in her life.
I know the bitterness of soul of being lost and without God
this morning. I know the bitterness of
losing a father that was killed. I
understand a little bit the loss of losing a child.
As a man I am not so sure that I can grasp how this precious
mother felt. God has created within
every man and every woman a deep identity to have a wife or husband to love,
and to have children to love.
Sometimes this is not a reality and God opens the door to
them to have children to love that are not their own. That is commendable. That is a sacrifice that comes up to God as a
very sweet smelling savor.
God has given every one of us the instinct to love
children. It is vital that we cultivate
that instinct. Because of the times and
personalities of individuals, it must be cultivated or we become lovers of
self. There is no picture that is uglier
than that.
Hannah sat there praying but she could not be heard, “God if
you will give me a son I vow I will give him back to thee.”
1Sa 1:9
So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had
drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD.
1Sa 1:10
And she was in bitterness of
soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore.
1Sa 1:11
And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look
on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine
handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him
unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his
head.
I remember a message that I preached years ago on vows. You are blessed as a person to be able to
make a vow. Animals cannot make
vows.
Some teach, “Don’t make vows you might break them.” I don’t teach that. You and I have made vows, if you have broken
any vow, I am glad that you are here this morning. Repent and make whatever restitution that you
need to make. Make it right and go back
to keeping that vow.
Hannah said, “God if you will give me a son I will raise him
to love and serve you.”
Hannah prayed silently.
Some of the most powerful prayers may have been made silently. You children may not feel comfortable praying
yet but if you will practice, it will not be long and you will feel very
comfortable.
Because conditions were so bad in that day, Eli wondered if
Hannah was like others that frequented the temple intoxicated. He asked her if she was drunk, “No, my lord,
I am pouring out my heart to the Lord.”
1Sa 1:12
And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli
marked her mouth.
1Sa 1:13
Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice
was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.
1Sa 1:14
And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine
from thee.
1Sa 1:15
And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am
a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but
have poured out my soul before the LORD.
I am glad that you mothers are here this morning. You might be praying for a son or a daughter
that is away from God. You went through
the first travail and now you are travailing again that they would come home to
God.
1Sa 1:16
Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the
abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.
1Sa 1:17
Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.
Mothers, pray until God witnesses to you that He has heard
your prayer. It is marvelous how God witnesses
to your heart, “I have heard your prayer.”
When God has heard, you can rest assured that He will work to answer.
1Sa 1:18
And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman
went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.
It seems that Hannah said to Eli, “Keep praying for
me.” There are times when we are in a
situation that God is helping with, we thank God for his help. We say, “Thank you for your prayers but keep
praying.”
Hannah went her way, ate, and her countenance was sad no
more.
1Sa 1:19
And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the LORD,
and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his
wife; and the LORD remembered her.
1Sa 1:20
Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had
conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD.
Every year, they went to make sacrifice except for Hannah
and Samuel. They made sacrifice. They brought an offering recognizing that
they needed a savior, a messiah. They
made their vow.
1Sa 1:21
And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the LORD
the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.
1Sa 1:22
But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before
the LORD, and there abide for ever.
This message is weighty to me this morning. This mother was seeking God, teaching and
training, loving and praying; preparing with all the tools that she had. Hannah used mother’s tools.
Your children may be grown, but you have the wonderful
opportunity of being extremely influential.
For all that have children in the home, remember this Mother’s Day to
take advantage of the moment. There will
be times that you could make a little more money, choose to be a mom and choose
to be a dad.
We are in a special season of our life, we have these
children to love. Every little child
should be loved. Every child that is not
loved should be given up to adoption. It
is wrong. Love those children.
More than anything else, may there be a picture in your sons
and daughter’s mind of you worshipping first at home and then of you preparing
to worship.
If we as a church don’t hold our ground then the world will
figure out a way to take your sons and daughters out of church. The devil is behind it. The world will cause people to position
themselves so that the influence they have over you causes you to think, “I
have a responsibility to God, but…” The
responsibility to God must come first.
God prepared Hannah to give Samuel back.
My mother told in her walk with God after she got saved: she
had two children and wanted another. She
had my brother Gyme and then Joanne was born and then I was born. I remember her telling of consecrating us
children to God. There is only Bill and
I left but we both have a grave responsibility to God.
You that have living children this morning, have you given
those children back to God? I thought of
Hannah having a child at such a crucial time in history.
When you read of Eli, pray that I never become an Eli. When you read about his sons…, yet God gave
Elkanah and Hannah a little child. She
vowed, “I will give that child back to God.
I believe that Hannah and Elkanah knew that things were
slipping spiritually.
In America, things are not slipping, they have slipped. Let us never allow the thought to be ours
that it could never happen to us. All it
takes is a little folding of our hands, a little sleep a little slumber, a
little letting down on worship and on the standard.
Let us raise the bar in our personal life. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit of God to guide
you on how to raise the bar in your personal life.
“That I may bring him to the Lord that he may abide forever.” Is there anything more precious than the
thought of our children abiding before the Lord and serving Him forever? Pray as Hannah did, pray with fervency and
with conviction.
Pray as Sister Peter’s prayed. Remember when her son was shot in Vietnam,
she came home to a telegram that said, “Your son is heading for San Diego. You don’t need to go, his head is shot
off. He cannot live, if he did he would
be a vegetable.”
She made an arrangement and flew to San Diego. The surgeon looked at her, “He probably will
not live and if he does he will be a vegetable.” She told him, “Doctor, he has to live. He is not saved.”
She said, “I am going to bring him before the lord that he
might appear there and abide forever.”
The days went by so fast. I can
really identify with that. You can too
if you even have a child in first grade.
1Sa 1:23
And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry
until thou have weaned him; only the LORD establish his word. So the woman
abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him.
1Sa 1:24
And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three
bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto
the house of the LORD in Shiloh: and the child was
young.
1Sa 1:25
And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli.
Samuel, the gift from God:
I tried to grasp how a mother in the Old Testament would prepare to take
her son. Probably with clothes, good
manners, and with understanding of what she knew of the Word of God.
They took the consecration offering. They went and they worshipped. After worshipping they brought Samuel to Eli.
1Sa 1:26
And she said, Oh my lord, as thy
soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman
that stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD.
1Sa 1:27
For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I
asked of him:
Isn’t that beautiful?
This is a promise to you mothers.
1Sa 1:28
Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he
shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.
Husbands, I am glad that you are here. I love every one of you. Let us be challenged to be good husbands, to
be godly heads of our home. Let us vow
and let us keep our vow to God, to our wife, to our children and grandchildren.
Mothers we are glad that you are here. Mothers are beautiful. Pray until you know that God is hearing your
request. Vow to God and keep your vow.
My mother in her aged years called me one day and said, “I
need to have a talk with you.” I was a
young preacher that should have been her student instead of her asking me. She told me that she had made vows and had
kept them. She was wondering if she
should change some of her vows. I told
her to keep them. Whatever you have
vowed to God don’t let anyone meddle with them.
Deep in our hearts the greatest desire is for our children
to be the Lord’s. The highest spiritual
goals originate from a pure heart. The
bitterness of Hannah’s soul positioned her to be abundantly blessed because she
turned to God.
I am not going to tell anyone here that life will be
easy. Wherever you are, God has
positioned you there to seek God and to be abundantly blessed of God.
Concerning the life of Samuel, the setting is near to the
setting of the world today. The lamp of
God was about to go out. May we be
before God seeking Him for ourselves, our sons, our daughters, and our grandchildren
to be fully lent to the Lord all the days of our lives and all the days of
their lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment