Mother's Day 2021: Hannah, a Model of Faith

 

May 9, 2021 (Gratitude to Pastor Brian Bill for the sermon seed)
Hannah:  A Model of Faith  (Notes Not Edited)
1Samuel 1:1-2:11

SIS—Hannah is just one of many women in the Bible who is a model of great faith for all people of faith—man or woman. 

Today, we want to honor “motherhood,” and by extension we want to celebrate the beauty, power, ingenuity, and creative problem solving of women in general.  Let me illustrate what I mean.

When a group of tourists visited a crocodile farm, the owner of the place launched a bold proposal - Whoever dares to jump, swim to the coast and survive, I'll give you $ 1 million. No one dared to move, suddenly, a man jumped into the water and desperately swam to the shore while being chased by all the crocodiles. With enormous luck he made it. He gained everyone's admiration. Then the owner announced; - We have a brave winner. After collecting his reward, the couple returned to the hotel, upon arrival, the manager told him; he was very brave to jump, then the man said; I didn't jump, someone pushed me! His wife smiled...

Moral: ′′ Behind every successful man, there's a woman who pushes him "...

1.  People of faith have real PROBLEMS (1:1-8)

Hannah is a Bible hero.  Like all Biblical heroes, she had problems.  The Bible never whitewashes the lives of its heroes.  Noah was a drunk, Moses had anger issues, Rahab was a prostitute, and Hannah was a “barren woman.”  The Bible is the real story of God dealing with real people facing real struggles.  Hannah is one such hero.

Hannah was one of Elkanah’s two wives.  The portrayal of Elkanah in the Bible is that of a “devoutly religious, God-fearing man.”  Many of the characters during the time of the judges, including kings and priests, were moral failures.  Verse 3 says this of Elkanah: 

³ This man would go up from his town every year to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts at Shiloh. 

Shiloh was the center for Israelite worship before Jerusalem was established as the Holy City years after this time.  Elkanah was a devout, God-fearing man but he was not perfect.  He had two wives.  Hannah is mentioned first so she was probably Elkanah’s first wife.  Polygamy was tolerated in the O.T., especially when a first wife was barren, or childless.  But, make no mistake about it—God’s design for marriage from the beginning was “one man, one woman for a lifetime.”  The N.T. unequivocally denounces polygamy (Mt. 19:4-5; 1Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:6 to name a few places).  Elkanah had faith but it was not perfect faith by any means.  He tried to “help God out” by taking a second, fertile wife.  This gave him a divided family.  It was a mistake.  Elkanah is yet another example of a Bible hero that was far from faultless. 

Hannah had a big problem.  She was a Jewish woman who could not bear children—or at least that was how it seemed.  This meant that she was considered, “damaged goods,” and was looked down upon by society.  This is demonstrated by the actions of her “rival wife,” Peninnah.  Verse 6 says, 

⁶ Her rival [Pininnah]would taunt her severely just to provoke her, because the Lord had kept Hannah from conceiving. 

Motherhood is a highly esteemed and greatly valued station in life, even in our day—though motherhood, gender, and marriage are under attack today.  The fact that we have a special holiday to honor motherhood speaks to the fact of the importance of this station in life. 

There are more than a few women that desperately want to bear children but cannot.  I’m sure such women—perhaps you are one such woman here this morning—feel that “Mother’s Day” is a cruel joke.  I’m sure Hannah would have felt that way.  So heavy was this burden upon Hannah that verse 10 says,

¹⁰ Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the Lord
and wept with many tears.

When we experience problems, such as Hannah’s bareness or any number of challenges in life, we tend to think that God has forgotten us.  Or worse, we feel that God is punishing, even ridiculing us.  Many atheists assert that with so much evil and suffering and problems in this world there could not possibly be a god—and especially not the All-loving, All-powerful God of the Bible. 

It goes beyond my purpose this morning to discuss the apparent incongruity between the existence of an All-loving, All-powerful God and the tremendous amount of evil we see in this world.  What I want to emphasize this morning is that Hannah was a real, Bible hero but she also faced very real problems.

So, if you are experiencing great troubles, trials, and problems in life, then you just might be a Bible hero like Hannah.  People of faith have real problems.

2.  People of faith express fervent PRAYERS (1:9-18) 

⁹ On one occasion, Hannah got up after they ate and drank at Shiloh. The priest Eli was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s temple. ¹⁰ Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the Lord and wept with many tears. ¹¹ Making a vow, she pleaded, “Lord of Armies, if you will take notice of your servant’s affliction, remember and not forget me, and give your servant a son, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.” ^CSB 

Hannah did what all people of faith MUST DO when faced with soul-crushing problems—we must pray.  But, not the trivial prayers we so often pray, but we need to express “fervent prayers.”  Fervent prayers are prayers so deep they exceed the capacity of our human language.  Her prayers were more like crying out in anguish, or as the literal of verse 11 says, “Vowing a vow,” which the CSB translates as “pleading.”  This is the kind of prayer borne of deep anguish. 

Notice in verse 12 the description of Hannah’s praying, ¹² While she continued praying in the Lord’s presence, Eli watched her lips. ¹³ Hannah was praying silently, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk ¹⁴ and scolded her, “How long are you going to be drunk?  Get rid of your wine!” ¹⁵ “No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman with a broken heart. I haven’t had any wine or beer; I’ve been pouring out my heart before the Lord.  ¹⁶ Don’t think of me as a wicked woman;  I’ve been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment.” 

People who pray fervently, as Hannah did, go to a place with God that transcends human language and exceeds human understanding.  Many who pray fervently have been accused of “being drunk,” that is, under the influence of alcohol.  When the disciples prayed themselves into the Presence of God at Pentecost, they too were accused of being “drunk.”  (Acts 2:12-13) 

Fervent praying is Holy Spirit assisted praying.  In fact, being deep into God through the Holy Spirit is compared to being “drunk” in the N.T. 

^{Ephesians 5    18} And don’t get drunk with wine,  which leads to reckless actions, but be filled by the Spirit. 

We all know what it means to be “DUI,” but what we need in the church from people of faith today are those who are “PUI”—PRAYING UNDER THE INFLUENCE.

What does it take to “express fervent prayers to God.”  Well, as I said, for one it takes “praying under the guidance and control of the Holy Spirit.”  But it take something else to express fervent prayers.  Vs 15:

¹⁵ “No, my lord,” Hannah replied.
“I am a woman with a broken heart. 

Here’s something I learned too late in life:  you will never have a real breakTHROUGH, until you have a total breakDOWN!

God cannot fill us with His Self until we are empty of OUR self.

It is a simple principle of fervent, effectual praying that we must first come to the end of ourselves in order to experience the beginning of the fullness of God, Himself. 

Hannah faced an insurmountable problem.  Instead of letting her circumstances go to her “feet” and send her running away in despair, she let her circumstances drive her to her knees in fervent prayer. Believers must learn to “fight on our knees, not our feet.”

Hannah is a model for all people of faith because she “prayed fervently.”

3.  People of faith experience God’s PROVISIONS (1:19-20)

¹⁹ The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to bow in worship before the Lord. Afterward, they returned home to Ramah.  Then Elkanah was intimate with his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.  ²⁰ After some time,  Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel,  because she said, “I requested him from the Lord.” 

God will meet your needs.  Provisions are what God gives us in response to our faithfulness. God will ALWAYS meet your needs with His provisions.  God’s provisions are always good.

God is not good, some of the time.  God is good all of the time! Until you understand this principle in Scripture you will never have the sense of the overwhelming satisfaction of God’s innumerable provisions.  The N.T. expresses the “promise of God’s provisions”:

^{Matthew 7    8} For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds,  and to the one who knocks, the door  will be opened. ⁹ What man among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you then, who are evil,  know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 

And, in the Book of James we see the promise of God’s provisions:

^1:17 Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning. 

From beginning to end throughout the Bible we see God revealing Himself to us as the “One Who Provides.”  In Hebrew He is called, “Yaweh jireh,” God Who Provides.

Do you recall the story of Abraham’s test to take his only son, Isaac, and sacrifice him on Mount Moriah?  Abraham was faithful to God’s command.  But, remember, that an angel from heaven prevented Abraham from carrying out the sacrifice.  Instead, there was heard the bleating of a lamb in the thicket.  Here’s how that story ends:

^{Gen. 22:  14} And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, [Yahweh yireh] so today it is said: “It will be provided  on the Lord’s mountain.” 

God will ALWAYS provide what you need when you need it in response to your faith and fervent prayer.  Now, that is an absolutely incredible promise and truth of His Word, but one that not many people really understand—or even believe.

I am NOT saying God will always give you what you want, because what you want may not be good for you.  God is good.  God is perfect.  He always provides what we need and what is best for us which is also what will best fulfill His will.

Hannah is a model for what it means to be a person of faith.  People of faith have problems.  People of faith pray fervent prayers.  People of faith experience God’s provisions.

4.  People of faith excel in keeping PROMISES (1:21-28)

Hannah cared for Samuel until he was old enough to be independent of her, and then she took him to the Lord’s tabernacle in Shiloh, to fulfill her vow to dedicate Samuel to the Lord.  Samuel would remain at the Tabernacle permanently.  She then testified of God’s goodness to the High Priest, Eli.

²⁶ “Please, my lord,” she said, “as sure as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. ²⁷ I prayed for this boy, and since the Lord gave me what I asked Him for, ²⁸ I now give the boy to the Lord. For as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.” 

Hannah made a promise, and she kept it as difficult as it must have been to leave her three-year old son in the Temple.  It was common in that day not to wean a child until about the age of three.  This is still not uncommon in lands where food is scarce and the water lacks purity, or was difficult to obtain.

The Bible talks a good deal about “making vows” or promises.  In Psalm 15 the Holy Poet describes a person who can dwell in God’s Presence as one: ⁴ who keeps his word whatever the cost. 

The Bible warns about “making promises you don’t intend to keep”:

^{Eccl. 5:5} Better that you do not vow than that you vow and not fulfill it. 

Our word is a sacred trust.  Words are powerful which is why “promises are so powerful.”  We live in a nation where a “man’s word means very little.”  We see corporate CEO’s cheating people out of billions, large corporations reneging on debt and seeking government bailouts; we see marriage vows broken at a rate greater than they are made; and of course, every two and four years we are subjected to the “empty promises” of politicians.

We live in a nation where a person’s word means very little.  Now, here’s where it may get a bit personal:  we have people in church that do not keep their promises.  Every person that gets saved has promised to make Jesus Christ the Absolute Lord of Life, yet in a very short time after the blush of the moment fades and the hair dries from the baptism, people go back to living their own way.

So many people who have promised to make Jesus Lord barely even think about Him throughout their day—or their lives.  They completely skip out on their promise and vows.

Hannah was a model of Christian faith because she kept her promise.

People of faith have problems.  People of faith express fervent prayers.  People of faith experience God’s provisions.  People of faith excel in keeping promises.  But, most importantly:

5.  People of faith EXPLODE in PRAISE (2:1-11)

When you live as a person of faith, praise will be the natural expression of your life.  Chapter Two is called, “Hannah’s Song.” When God’s love sparks the fuse of your life you will explode in praise. You won’t be able to hold in your praise any more than a stick of dynamite can keep from exploding once its fuse is lit.  Hannah praised God saying,

2:1  My heart rejoices in the Lord; my horn is lifted up by the Lord. My mouth boasts over my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation.² There is no one holy like the Lord. There is no one besides You!

In the next nine verses Hannah explodes with praise to God for not only meeting the needs of the faithful, but for exceeding those needs. I can’t help but think today that if more of us would follow Hannah’s example of faith as a godly mother, then our lives would regularly and enthusiastically explode in praise.

The climax of God's happiness is the delight He takes in the echoes of His excellence in the praises of His people (John Piper).

God delights in praise so He delights in giving us that which cause us to explode in praise to Him.  God’s love and provisions light the fuse of our lives that results in an explosion of praise.

There is so much more we could glean from this passage, but time will not permit.  Let is suffice to say that Hannah is not only a great model of motherhood, but she is also a great model for people of faith—but men and women.

Let’s seek to follow Hannah’s example.