Title: Hannah's Praise/1 Samuel 2:1-11
Contents <1 Samuel 2:1-11> "Hannah's praise"
In today's text, Hannah gave birth to a son, and when the son was wet, he offered it to God as promised. After that, Hannah's prayer is contained. Although it is expressed as a prayer here, it is actually a praise for what God has done. Hannah is doing something that is impossible for a human being. To be able to offer up to God immediately after getting the son you had been waiting for so much was like giving up on yourself. It was only because of the value of the Word that he was able to do that. Even if it meant giving up on one's own children, he could give up anything in order to accomplish God's will or the kingdom of God.
In this way, humans cannot pray to deny themselves. So what is even more surprising is that God does not answer the prayers of sinners like us. It is only by receiving the prayer of the Holy Spirit. And only the prayers of Jesus are answered. Because we humans do not always know what God's will is, nor do we know what to pray for. That is why the Holy Spirit is praying for us with groaning (Romans 8:26). “In the same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”
Why then do humans fail to seek God's will and always insist on prayers that are hostile to God for their own desires? This is because humans are enslaved by something. “And that he might release all those who were in bondage all their lives out of fear of death” (Hebrews 2:15), so the Holy Spirit groans and prays. The Holy Spirit prays and guides us humans so that we can come closer to the cross. Nevertheless, human beings are using evil to go to hell rather than constantly going to the cross.
If you always preach from a negative perspective on prayer like this, some people will come after you. They also said that it is understandable to point out and criticize wrong prayers, but do you view all prayers in a negative way? At the same time, the Bible says, “Pray without ceasing!” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and “Ask, and it will be given to you” (Matthew 7:7). Yes, that's right. However, the word to pray without ceasing is a level that denounces the sinful nature of human beings. We need to understand how foolish and full of sinful human prayers are, so much so that we have to pray without ceasing. The reason we humans need to pray without ceasing is to pray without ceasing in order to stop the endless flow of human desires.
If we say that we are now in the position of those who know and believe in this Lord, please remember that it is because of the prayer of the Holy Spirit and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who groaned and prayed for us to love the cross and go that way. Nevertheless, if you hear this sermon and still say, 'I have nothing to pray for' or 'I can't pray,' please remember that the person does not believe in the Lord and is still holding onto himself.
In the text, Hannah rejoices in the Lord. It is because of the fulfillment of God's word to the end. It is said that my horn is exalted by the LORD, and my mouth is opened to my enemies. These words show that we, as believers, must always be aware of the fact that we are always in a relationship with our enemies. And to say that we rejoice over the Lord's salvation is to confess that all these things were done by God, and we are looking forward to the work of God Himself. On the other hand, it is revealing the work and power that God alone has accomplished by saying, “The barren one has given birth to seven, and the one who has given birth to many children is weak.” Even more clearly, when he says, “The Lord kills and makes life, he brings down into the grave, and he raises up”, thus showing that God is creating a new real Israel.
Therefore, those who oppose Jehovah God are torn to pieces and the fact that he is the judge and gives strength to his king and exalts the horns of his anointed. After all, these words are singing that Samuel's birth was given as a role to show the true king of Israel.