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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/marcus-cain/hannah-and-her-supplication/
Turn with me, please, to 1 Samuel chapter 1, 1 Samuel chapter number 1, and we are going to read this morning from verse number 9. Last evening, for those who were not here, that includes the majority, I did speak on the life of Hannah and what I plan to take up this morning, this afternoon, and tomorrow, God willing, as a continuation of the life of Hannah.
Last night, we saw Hannah and her sorrow, and we noticed, and I really don't have time to review, but I am going to do it anyway, we noticed that there were at least five reasons that Hannah had sorrow in her heart, and the first reason that we noticed is that she was living in a nation that was impoverished, wasn't thinking so much about the lack of silver and gold, but more the spiritual condition of the nation.
And then we noticed in second place that her inability to bear children was obviously a source of sorrow to her. And then we noticed as well that there were insults from the other woman in the life of her husband.
Her name was Penina, and she was constantly provoking, and then we noticed as well that her husband had moments of insensitivity. He was a good man, he was a gracious man, he was a godly man, he was a generous man, but he did have moments where he perhaps said something that wasn't quite so helpful when he says, am I not better to you than ten sons?
And the answer really was, no, you're not. And finally, we noticed that her husband had a difficulty with inaction, and this really goes along with what my brother Bruce has already mentioned this morning.
I think that he wanted to avoid conflict, and so instead of going to Penina and discussing the problem with her, he just said to Hannah, Hannah, why are you so sad? Why does your face look like this? Let's just get over this and move forward.
But really that is not what she was going to do. And so all of that sorrow, that was last night's message, in two minutes, some of it had to endure 30 minutes, but that's two minutes, all of that sorrow led her to supplication.
And that is what we're going to see this morning. This afternoon we will look at her son, and tomorrow, God willing, we will look at her son. So we're reading at verse number nine. 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, and she was in bitterness of soul and prayed unto the Lord and wept sore. 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 will 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.
And it came to pass as she continued praying before the Lord that Eli marked her mouth. Now Hannah, she spake in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.
And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? Put away thine wine from thee. And Hannah answered and said, No, my Lord. Just notice that again, 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. Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.
Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. 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.
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. Hannah had attempted to console, sorry, Elkanah had attempted to console Hannah.
But obviously his attempts had not really worked. Now there's nothing wrong with looking for consolation from your husband or from some other spiritual person in your life, that is fine. But really what we see here is that Hannah's sorrow led her to the Lord.
And I don't know her physical posture or position as she comes this day and supplicates and prays and pours out her heart before the Lord. But obviously what we do notice in all of this section that we have just read is a very humble lady, a very humble, I was going to say Christian lady, but obviously that is before Christ came, but a very spiritual woman, a very humble woman.
She says on numerous occasions, thine handmaid. She was not proud at all, but she was a woman that understood her need. So the first thing that I want to notice today is this, the cry of her heart, the cry from her heart, if you wish.
There are times in our lives when things don't turn out the way we want, and instead of going to the Lord and pouring out our heart before the Lord, what happens to us is that we do become bitter. Now you will see that there is this little phrase that we have read, the bitterness, but I think that as we get to that verse just in a moment or two, that it wasn't that she was bitter against God, it was just that there was this deep sadness in her heart.
But this sadness, this bitterness, this agony of soul leads her to the Lord, and she cries to the Lord. This was a spiritual response to what was happening in her life. If you go back to what we looked at very briefly last night in the book of Genesis in chapter number 30, we find another woman who is unable to bear children.
Her name is Rachel. And instead of going to the Lord, the natural response was to blame it on Jacob. And she says to Jacob, give me children, else I die. And too often in our lives when things are not going right and not turning out right, the first response in our heart is not to cry to the Lord, but it is to blame another person or perhaps it is to blame ourself.
She had obviously examples from the word of God, the amount of the word of God that she had at least, of people that had cried to the Lord and the Lord had answered them. God did give Rachel children.
God did give Sarah a son. And so with confidence, she pours out her heart to the Lord. Now, although obviously the lack of a son was always present in her life, especially what we saw last night when Penina was constantly, especially in the moments when they were going up to the, to the tabernacle in Shiloh, Penina would say, here are all my children.
Where are your children? And despite the fact that, that Elkanah was doing all he could to console her and he would actually give her a double portion of the meat. Still she understands as she comes to Shiloh, there is something that is lacking in my life.
There is the lack of a son. But it goes far beyond that. Because last night we were seeing that she was a woman that was obviously aware of the condition of the nation. And we will get that tomorrow in chapter number two, when we see her song.
Very aware of the condition of the need in the nation. And so as she comes to Shiloh, what does she see? She sees a man that is sitting at the doorpost. He is not standing. You will know that when you come to the Old Testament, the, the men that were serving, the priests that were serving, they were, they were standing.
But there is Eli and he's sitting. And there are Eli's sons and they are at the door of the tabernacle as well. And they have two problems in their, maybe more, but they have two problems in their lives.
They have a problem of living a life of luxury. They always wanted the very best meat. They wanted the meat before it was even offered to God. And they were living a life of lust. They were laying with the women that came to the door of the tabernacle.
And so all of that obviously would, would grieve the heart of a godly woman. And she would cry unto the Lord. Rachel cried to Jacob, Hannah cried to the Lord. Now, just a challenge for us today. As we look around about us and see tremendous spiritual need, whether it's amongst believers or amongst the unsaved, do we pour out our heart before the Lord?
Are we grieved by the spiritual condition of the nation, whether that is your nation or my nation or the nation where I live? Does it grieve us? And do we pour out our heart before the Lord? What about the, the lack?
And I speak with, with great care, but what about the lack that there is in the United States? You know, I love to think of Mexico, but what about the lack that there is in the United States of America for men to take the word of God to others that are lost?
Does that burden your heart? Are you praying in your local assembly that God would raise somebody up? I trust you are. So what is the best response that we ought to find in ourselves when we think of the need around about us?
We ought to be like Hannah and cry unto the Lord. But not only do I find the cry of her heart, I notice as well the commitment of her son. Now you will say, well, what do you mean exactly by commitment?
Come with me to verse number 11. She vowed a vow and said, Oh Lord of hosts. Now it's interesting that she is directing her prayer to the Lord of hosts. We already saw that last night, the Lord of hosts, but here we have it.
And she understands there, there is a God in heaven and he is a sovereign God. He is a God that has tremendous power. He is the Lord of hosts and I can pray to him. She did. She understood this is a wonderful God, a great God, and I can come with a great need before this God because he can meet my need and not only my need, but the need of the nation.
So as we think of her wanting to commit this son back into the hands of the Lord, there are a few things that I noticed. The first thing that I noticed is that she wants a son, a man child. Now there's nothing wrong with daughters.
I have two. I love my two daughters, but Hannah said, I want a son. You will know. And we're not going to look at that today. You will know that God gave her daughters as well. Okay, that's great. But she at this point says, I need a son.
I want a son. Her prayer was really selfless. How are our prayers sometimes? Are they selfless prayers or are they selfish prayers? We will come to James chapter four and verse number three. And James will say these words, he asked and received not because he asked on this.
Why do we ask sometimes? He says that ye may consume it upon your lust, your desires. Prayer has to do with me and what I need and what I want, doesn't it? Well, no. Hannah says it really doesn't have to do with me.
I want a son, but this was a completely selfless prayer. I want to turn this son back to the Lord. That's what happened with Samson. Now I know Samson had great failures in his life. That's what happened with John the Baptist.
They were turned back to the Lord and many other examples as well. She wanted a blessing so that this blessing could be a blessing not just for her own heart, but for the whole nation. And so you and I perhaps when we were recently married and we were praying for a son, we thought of the joys that a son would bring to our own home as we held that child.
And that is a wonderful thing. I'm not minimizing that. It's wonderful to see families here with a child. And they're babies, okay? But does it cross our mind that maybe, maybe our sons can be Samuels?
Is there a Samuel here at the Garneville Conference today? Or is there a young couple that is praying that their son will be a Samuel? Or that when they get married, they will have a Samuel? Are you an older person?
Are you praying that your grandchildren might be a Samuel? Are you elders in an assembly thinking, is there a Samuel amongst us? Do you look at the need around about you and say, Lord, we need a son that we may turn this son, whether it's the son of the assembly, a grandson, a son in your own family, that we may turn him back to you, that we may commit him into your hands, not to consume upon our own desires.
But think with me as she says this in verse number 11. She vows a vow. It wasn't just a light prayer. She vows a vow. O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me and not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid a manchild, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life.
All the days of his life. This was going to be something that would cost her. There was going to be separation. I will give him back to you. But not only that separation, come with me to the last phrase, there shall no razor come upon his head.
He was going to be a Nazirite. And I don't have time to go into the Nazirite vow this morning at all. But do you want to have a Nazirite as a son? So what is a Nazirite? A Nazirite had an appearance that was slightly different.
He had to let his hair grow in a place where they didn't let their hair grow as men. Now, I know times are changing, but he would have long hair and the other boys would have short hair. He would be an older man and he would have long hair and the other men would have short hair.
His appearance was different. Now, I'm not concerned so much about your appearance today. Really, I'm not. Okay? But there was a sense of separation. And not only that, what about his appetites? A Nazirite couldn't drink the same thing as other people were drinking.
What about our appetites? And then a Nazirite, they couldn't come near a dead body. Even the normal affections of a heart were sometimes affected. And she says, he is going to have a vow upon him. He will be separated from the womb, as it were.
He is going to be a Nazirite. No razor shall come upon his head. Committing her son back into the hands of the Lord, even before she has the son. This would be for her, shall we say, an act of sacrifice.
It would be difficult. It would be difficult to turn the son back into the hands of the Lord. She had... Now, I know the word is not here, and you will excuse me if I use this word. I think sometimes as believers, we fear this word of goals.
But the truth of the matter is that we do have goals for our children, don't we? We have educational goals for our children. That's why we get them up every morning, even when they don't want to. And we say, you're going to school.
And that's why we encourage them to study. Wonderful thing. Educational goals are fantastic. We have physical goals for them too. We want them to grow. That's why we set them down at the table and say, eat your oatmeal.
Or whatever happened to me. Not your Froot Loops. We want them to grow physically. We have goals for them in a physical sense as well. And as we think about their goals, we even perhaps have material goals for them.
We want them to have some income, some money, so that they can buy the latest whatever and the greatest whatever. Fine. We have vocational goals for them. Maybe they'll be a doctor, a dentist, a lawyer, a farmer, whatever.
It's fine. Nothing wrong with all these goals. But I ask myself, what about spiritual goals for our children? And do we invest as much time in spiritual goals for our children as we do in education, physical, material, and vocational?
And perhaps we need to examine that and wonder whether we do. Are we willing to make sacrifices for the spiritual growth of our children? Now, I'm assuming that our children are going to be saved. And, no, that's not always the case.
And we mentioned that last night. It brings great sorrow when it doesn't happen. And it brings great sorrow when they leave the things of God. I understand all of that. But are we doing all we can? Like the world sacrifices.
I was on a plane here somewhere or other sometime or other this year, I believe it was. And two ladies behind me were from Newfoundland. Newfoundland. Yeah, Newfoundland, up there in Canada. And they were sitting behind me.
They had never met each other before. And they were talking very loudly. I was trying to rest or perhaps meditate. But they were talking very loudly. And they were speaking about their children and their early teens.
And their whole life revolves around the water. Their kids are in the water every day. They're swimming. And all they do has to do with their kids swimming. And they talked about swimming for the two and a half hour flight.
Swimming, swimming, swimming. Okay, I despise swimming. I sink well. I swim poorly. Okay? So I'm not against swimming. But they spoke about where they go and how they go and how much it costs and on and on and on.
Sacrifices so their kids can swim. So I asked myself, what about sacrifices in our lives so that our children can have some spiritual sense of what the needs are around about us. But I have to move on.
Come with me to verses 12 to 14. And we find here Eli's confusion. The cry of her heart. And we have the commitment of her son back to the Lord. But here we have Eli's confusion. Now it's very possible in your life and in mine that somebody will judge us wrongly.
Especially when that someone maybe is not quite as spiritual as you. And they will look at you and they will judge you for decisions that you are making. Perhaps in regards to your children. Perhaps in regards to your own life.
And they judge you for what you are doing. And here we have a man that was not extremely spiritual, shall we say. And he is very quick to judge this spiritual, godly woman, Hannah. Eli has two sons, Hophni and Phinehas.
And what we see in their lives is a lack of direction. They really were not being directed properly by their father. We look at Eli himself and he did not practice discipline in his own life. That is why he is seated here.
He is not standing. He is seated. Now I'm standing, you're seated, that's fine. But I fear that his physical posture was his spiritual posture as well. Because he was not taking a stand for the things of God.
An older man, and I speak with due care, but an older man that was not taking a stand for the things of God. He made some attempts with his children, with his sons, I understand that. But really there is far more than he could have done.
And he didn't do it. There was weak leadership there in Israel in those days. What about his lack of discernment? Lack of direction in his children's lives, lack of discipline in his own life. And then a lack of discernment as he observed others.
He didn't understand that here is a woman that is pouring out her heart to God. He says, you are a drunken woman. A drunken woman. Now, could I just use this expression to explain what was happening in his life?
He was completely out of touch with the people of God. Completely out of touch. Now, his age obviously is not an excuse for that at all. It's more his spiritual condition than his age. Although he was an old man.
So I'm not speaking so much about age. But what the people of God need, what assemblies of God need, are men that are leaders that are in touch with the believers. My brother Brody has already mentioned that.
Shepherds shepherd. That's what they do. And it is impossible to shepherd if you're not involved in the people's lives. Impossible. You need to have, as it were, your finger or your thumb, whatever it happens to be, on the pulse of the believers.
Now, I'm not sure exactly how many years difference there was between Eli and Hannah. Hannah was of childbearing age still, obviously. And Eli was an old man. That's what it will say a little bit further on.
He was an old man. Exactly how old you have to be to be called old, I have no idea. Because it certainly has changed in my perspective over the last number of years. But he was an old man. Out of touch.
Not taking the pulse of the people. Misjudging the people of God. And so, as somebody who takes responsibility in the assembly where I reside, I speak to myself first of all. But do I have any idea what the cares and concerns of the people of God are?
Do I know what's happening in their lives? It is so much easier even in our day to be that way than it was maybe 20 years ago. Or 30 years ago. Maybe they had party lines back in Garneville a few years ago.
And you couldn't pick up the phone and talk to a believer because maybe somebody else was listening in. It's not that way anymore. It's very easy to be in touch. To take the pulse of the people. To know what's going on.
What are their cares and their concerns? Do we know what the trials and temptations are that believers are facing? Maybe trials in the lives of those that are a bit older. Temptations in those that are younger.
Do we have any idea what they're facing at school? At university? Eli was completely out of touch. A complete lack of discernment. No idea that here before him was a very godly, concerned, spiritual woman who was going through a very deep trial.
And he thought, you're just drunk. Can you imagine? What lack of discernment? I move on. Verses 15 and 16, she wants to clear things up. A clarification, if you wish. Now, we have heard from my brother Bruce this morning that perhaps men aren't so good at wanting to clear things up.
They just prefer to find the nearest carpet and sweep it all under there. And everything looks great and let's just carry on. But Hannah wasn't that way. But what I do want to notice is this. And I tried to emphasize it in the reading.
We find that little phrase, handmade. But when we come down as far as verse number 16, And she says in verse number 15,. And so she is showing due respect to this man despite his spiritual condition. God had put him in a place of responsibility.
And she doesn't say, well, you know what? No. She is going to clarify everything. Her reaction was gracious. Now, I do remember. I do remember when I was a bit younger. And sometimes somebody would come along to me and try to correct me, perhaps.
To guide me, to help me. And I have to ask myself, was my reaction always the same as Hannah's reaction? Did I say to the overseers that wanted to speak to me, my Lord? Well, perhaps we wouldn't say, my Lord, today in 2016.
Or 2001. Or whatever it was when I was younger. Maybe we would say, sir. Or maybe we would say, mister. But is there some respect? We would find that when we come to the New Testament. And I don't have time for that.
But there ought to be a respect for those that have gone before. Hebrews chapter 13 will make that very clear. 1 Peter chapter 5 will make that very clear as well. And so her reaction and her response, despite being misjudged.
Despite being criticized for something that was not true in her life. She doesn't defend herself in a carnal way. But her response is very spiritual. Is very gracious. Because her name means gracious.
And that is the way she acted. Perhaps some would have railed against him. And said, listen, Eli. She says here, count me not for a daughter of Belial. That is the same term that is used to describe his sons in chapter number 2.
But it wasn't Hannah who brings that message to Eli, was it? It wasn't her place. She was not going to rail against him for everything that was wrong in his life. And in his son's life. No, she left that all with God.
But she was going to say, really, I have a sorrowful heart. I have bitterness in my soul. I have a deep concern. And she was willing to leave that with her God. She says, I'm not under the control of wine or strong drink.
That which would control her emotions and her actions wasn't happening in her life. And she says, I poured out my soul. Now, you will notice that it says here, her lips moved. There was no words that were being heard by Eli.
Now, obviously, she had some words in her own heart. But it says in verse number 12, it came to pass that she continued praying. She multiplied her prayers. And perhaps there were times, I don't know.
But perhaps there were times when what happened in her heart and her soul and her spirit is the same thing that we find in Romans chapter number 8. There are times in your life, perhaps, and maybe you who have lived longer than I.
And maybe not. And you don't even have words to express the difficulties, the sorrow of spirit. And we come to Romans chapter number 8. And it says, the spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered.
I don't think those are our groanings. He takes the thoughts of our heart and he presents them as groanings before God. But God knows our heart. Here is Hannah crying out to God, misjudged. Misjudged.
And she is going to tell this man Eli, really, I want to clear things up. I want to make it understandable to you that I'm not what you think. I'm actually concerned about a lot of things. So a response with due respect.
But come with me to verse number 17, where we find Eli's comfort. Eli says to her, go in peace. The God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. He obviously quickly became convinced of her sincerity.
Can I just go back to what I was mentioning already? You men that are overseers, I don't know anything about the Midwest, really. I haven't even been here for years. So I'm not throwing stones at anybody but myself.
There are times, perhaps, when we do. We do jump to conclusions. And we think that we understand what's going on in a younger believer's life. Or perhaps a believer that's not quite so young. We think we know what's going on.
But if we take the time to actually sit down with them. And we take them to the local Starbucks. Maybe that's a long drive in Garneville. You take them to the local Thomas. Okay? And you have a milkshake.
Okay? And you sit down with them and you talk to them. You most likely will be surprised with the sincerity with which they wish to serve God. You will hear things that perhaps will surprise you if you take the time to talk to them.
And Eli, obviously, when he begins to listen to Hannah, he is convinced. This is a sincere woman. And so he has no hesitation whatsoever in giving her words of great comfort. When he says, The Lord, God of Israel, grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.
Now, you and I don't have the ability to grant the petition or even say these things that Eli said. But nonetheless, we can encourage other younger believers. And so Eli is going to comfort her. His place, although he was not a spiritual leader as such, obviously there was something of the life of God within him still.
Not only that, he gives her words of peace. And he says, Your petition has been heard by God. Eli was not the giver. Every good gift and every perfect gift cometh down from above, from the Father of lights.
He understood that. And he gave her words of comfort. But the last thing I want to notice today is the changes that took place in Hannah. Last night we noticed a number of words, a number of phrases that have to do with the way that she felt.
The weeping and the bitterness of soul. And there's a whole list of things if you read through the first verses here of 1 Samuel chapter number 1. But now, we find that she has changed. Sometimes we get the idea that prayer is to change God's mind.
No. Prayer is not to change God's mind. Prayer will bring me into alignment, if you wish, with God's will. But it isn't so much that we're coming to a God that doesn't want to bless us. And we have to convince Him of what is the right thing to do.
No. She knew that the right thing was to have a child. Now, I know again that not every couple will have a child. Not every couple can have a child. We noticed last night that the normal sphere of a woman is to bring up her children.
That doesn't always happen. I understand that. And that causes deep sadness oftentimes in the hearts of believers. I understand all of that. But obviously, the normal sphere of service for a woman is in the home raising her children.
And she knew that. And so she is praying really in agreement with the will of God. She's not outside the will of God. And besides seeing all the tremendous need that is around about her, and she is praying something that is obviously the will of God.
So prayer is not to convince God what His will ought to be to change His mind. It's to bring me into alignment with what God wants for me. His answers are always right. And had God not granted the petition of her soul, His answers still would have been right.
Obviously, He did. We'll see that this afternoon. Now, the changes. What are the changes? Number one, verse number 18. It says, Her countenance was no more sad. Her countenance before that was sad. She was weeping.
She was sorrowing. She was in bitterness of soul. And now, almost instantaneously, her countenance was changed. That's what happens when we spend time in the presence of God, isn't it? That's what happened to Moses when he spent time in the presence of God.
His countenance was shining so much he had to put a veil over his face. So if we spend time in the presence of God, maybe all of our circumstances, they may not change. But our countenance will be changed if we spend time in the presence of God.
Can I just go back for a second? How long was her prayer? It wasn't very long. Need I say more? I need not. So, her countenance was changed. The other thing that we notice is there was contentment in her heart.
Not just her face, but her heart. Because it says she went her way and did eat. Before that, it says she didn't eat. That's what her husband said, Why eat a sown nut? Because you, perhaps, perhaps not, you perhaps know that when you're going through a very difficult time in life, food doesn't even interest you.
And food for her, she said, Why am I bothering eating? She was, I'm not saying she was depressed, but she was definitely going through a deep time of sorrow. And she said, I'm not even interested in food.
And she rises up from praying. As soon as she hears the words of comfort from Eli, she rises up and she begins to eat. Contentment in her heart. Countenance is changed. Why? Because she placed confidence, trust, in what the Word of God was.
The Word of God came through Eli. Eli said, God is going to grant you the petition of your heart. And she didn't say, well, you know what? It's going to be very difficult. Or, you know what? I'm not really sure whether that's right or not.
No. She prayed and she believed what God said. That's very simple. I know that's very simple. But it obviously was a change that took place in her heart. What had she done? She had cast all her care upon him, for he cared for her.
Peter wrote those words many years later. He changed it a little bit maybe. He wrote, casting all your care upon him, for he cared for you. And the same God to whom Hannah prayed, that cared for Hannah, that had his ear open towards Hannah, is the very same God that we have in 2016.
It's the Word of God that we had more Hannahs amongst us, praying women, praying men as well, praying women, seeing the great need around about us, and placing it all in the heart of God. Willing, again, if God grants us sons, grandsons, nephews, nieces, whatever the case might be, young men in the assembly, to say, Lord, grant us, give us young men that you can use, that will be separated unto you.
So Samuel became a great man. We'll see that this afternoon. He became a great man. He was a prophet. He was a judge. And he was a priest. And so I close with this. Prayer may not always have the favorable response that we desire, but again, it does bring us into line with the will of God.
Shall we pray?