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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/marcus-cain/hannah-and-her-son/
So, we're reading in 1 Samuel chapter number 1, starting at verse number 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.
Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come, about after Hannah had conceived, that she bear a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord. And the man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer unto the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his vow.
But Hannah went not up, for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until a child be weaned. And then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide forever. 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. And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah flower, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh.
And the child was young. And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli. And she said, O my Lord, as thy soul liveth, my Lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my petition, which I asked of him.
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. Now some versions will say they worshipped the Lord there. Now we're going to read a few more verses in chapter two, but we're going to wait for a few moments to do that.
And one of the reasons is so that I will hear the rustling of the pages and know that you are not asleep after a little while. Now an interesting comparison could be made with Elizabeth in the New Testament, who also was barren and had a son.
The two of them had sons that pointed out the man that would be the king. John the Baptist had that responsibility. Now I know that perhaps you think, first of all, with John the Baptist of the words, behold the Lamb of God, but really he started preaching, repent because the kingdom of God is at hand.
He said, the king is coming. And Samuel would have the same responsibility to say, the king, here he is. Now I know Saul was the first one and then we have David, but we do have an interesting comparison between the two and there's no more time to think about that.
Perhaps, perhaps the most important and influential woman or person in the life of Samuel was his mother. And I think that if you go through the Bible, you will find that Hannah is not the only example of an influential and important woman in the life of her child or the life of her son.
You could think about a man named Timothy and it was his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois that had a tremendous influence on him. You could think about a man named Moses and the word of God speaks to us of his mother Jochebed and the influence that she had on him.
You could think of King Lemuel in Proverbs chapter 31 and the instruction and influence that she had on her son. Now I am not saying that the fathers should all go to sleep at this particular point. I'm not saying that fathers are not important.
I'm not saying that fathers aren't influential. I'm not saying that fathers do not instruct. They obviously do. They obviously should. But the Bible does show us many examples of women who had influence and importance and instructed their sons.
Oftentimes, oftentimes for a limited amount of time. You will think of the words of the psalmist, Psalm 127, Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward. So my message today is not just directed towards Hannah's.
If you are a mother of children, this message is perhaps for you. If you are the grandmother of children or grandchildren, this message perhaps is for you. Or perhaps you're a man and you could be like an Elkanah and provide the right environment so that your wife could be a Hannah.
Or perhaps there are other godly sisters here who can be an influence in the life of godly young women, Titus chapter number 2. Or perhaps you're just a, not just a, but perhaps you're just a young man and you don't even have a Hannah in your life yet.
Well, just be praying that God will give you a Hannah and that one day maybe God will give you a Samuel as well. First thing that I want to notice this afternoon is Hannah's care of her son. How she cared for him.
There's two things that I want to notice here in regards to her care, her rearing of the child. And secondly, the reminder, her rearing of the child. And obviously I don't want to speak so much this afternoon about how to bring up your children.
I am still in the process of doing that and don't feel like I am the most qualified man here amongst us all. However, what we do see with Hannah is that it says clearly that she gave him suck until she weaned him.
Chapter 1 and verse number 23. And in the meantime, it says that Hannah went not up. Now, I don't want to take away from what I said last night in any way, shape or form. But for Hannah, it was difficult to go up to Shiloh.
It was for Pinnaiten as well. They didn't have a car, they didn't have a truck, they didn't have a horse and they perhaps didn't have a donkey. And so to walk 15 miles to attend what we would call to attend meeting was not just quite as simple as it is for you and as it is for me.
They did not have an air conditioned hall where they were going to sit either. None of these wonderful things that we enjoy happen to be in the life of this lady, Hannah. Hannah understood this at some point.
I am going to have to turn my son back over to the Lord. And in the meantime, I will not go up because she wanted to take advantage of every single moment in every single year that she had him. Now, some will be asking themselves, how old was Samuel when she weaned him?
And you know what? I do not know. I cannot tell whether she was weaning him at the age of three or at the age of four or at the age of two or at the age of six. I do not know. What I do know is it doesn't really make a whole lot of difference because as we come to my next point in a moment or two, no matter what age he was, it was going to be difficult.
Perhaps he was the age of six. Perhaps the idea of weaning isn't so much just the idea of breastfeeding and stopping, but up to those important years of pouring something into the heart of this young boy, pouring into his ears the word of God that she obviously knew and she appreciated and telling him very many things, all of her experiences.
So she was going to make the very best of the limited time she had. And you and I know if you have gray hair or if you have no hair like I do, you will know that time goes far quicker than you ever expected.
And my baby girl is about to turn 14 years old. And I say to myself, where have the years gone? So in the meantime, we rear our children and we pour into their hearts and into their minds. I hope you do.
You know, we used to hear and perhaps the phrase varies from place to place. We used to hear about the family altar or a time of devotions or whatever way you want to word it. But I don't know in this busy life in which we live now, how often is that actually happening in Christian homes?
Are Christian fathers and Christian mothers taking the time at the breakfast table or at the lunch table or at the dinner table, the supper table, or before the children go to bed to read something of the Word of God to them?
I think that Hannah obviously did not have a copy of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, etc. But she did pour the Word of God into his mind and into his heart. She did not read what the writer of the Proverbs wrote, train up a child in the way he should go.
When he was old, he will not depart from it. But that was the truth. And she says, I have him for a limited time and I will take advantage of every moment I have. But the next thing I notice, as far as her care is concerned, is the reminder.
She calls him, it says here, Samuel. She called his name Samuel, verse number 20. Saying is actually in italics, if you have a Bible that has italics. She called his name Samuel because I have asked him of the Lord.
So every time she said, Samuel, come, she was saying, heard of the Lord. And so Samuel was being constantly reminded that God had heard his mother's prayer. That he was the answer to his mother's prayer.
Now I know perhaps there were moments when she perhaps was a little bit exasperated. Perhaps he wasn't a perfect little child. Perhaps he threw a temper tantrum from time to time. But every time she said, Samuel, she would remind herself and she would remind her son, I asked the Lord for him and the Lord gave him to me.
And I think that would give her an appreciation for that little boy. Children are an heritage from the Lord. They are something that God has given unto us. We have heard today about ships, stewardship.
Children really are part of a stewardship that God has given to us. We need to rear them for the Lord. Bring them up in the fear and the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. Constantly reminding ourselves and reminding them.
We asked for you. We prayed for you. And that is what she will say further along. For this child I prayed and the Lord heard me. I prayed for him and the Lord heard me. Now, I don't just say that because we know that's his name.
Because that obviously affected his life. I don't think that Hannah stopped praying when she finally had the boy. No. She was obviously a woman of prayer. And so it is interesting as we go through the life of Samuel to see the importance of prayer in his own life.
Now open your Bible, if you don't mind, just for a moment. Flip with me to chapter number 7 and verse number 5. And it says, Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mitzpah and I will pray for you unto the Lord.
Flip over to chapter number 8 and verse number 6. The thing displeased Samuel. They have asked for a king. The thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord.
Come with me to chapter number 12 and verse number 19. And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants. They knew that he was a man of prayer. They knew that God heard his voice. And now they're saying, Pray for us.
Look at verse number 23. Moreover, as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you. Chapter number 15 and verse number 11. It says thus, It repented me that I have set up a king, that I have sought to be a king, for he has turned back from following me and hath not performed my commandments.
God is saying to Samuel, And it grieved Samuel. And he cried unto the Lord all night. Where did Samuel learn to be a man of prayer? Ah, from a praying mother. Have your children ever seen you kneeling at a bedside?
I'm not talking so much about sitting around the table and giving thanks for the food. Any Tom, Dick, or Harry can do that. And if you're Tom, Dick, or Harry, that's fine. Any Tom, Dick, or Harry can give thanks for the food.
But has your child seen in your life the importance of prayer? Have you ever mentioned to them the way God has answered prayer in your life? Or do they just think everything just happens to fall from heaven?
No. They need to know that you are a man or a woman of prayer. So we see the care that Hannah had. But the second thing that I would like to notice is her claims. You and I would think that really we have, as it were, a claim to our children.
They are our children. And they are. But again, they are a stewardship. They are from the Lord. And she had vowed a vow unto God that I will give him back to you. So what did she do with what we would consider to be the natural and normal claims of a mother?
She relinquished them. She said, I am not going to keep him. Can you imagine? Because I can't. And I'm not a mother. I'm a father. But I cannot really imagine taking my little boy at the age of three or four or five or six and taking him up to the tabernacle and saying, here he is.
And then turning around and going back home. Knowing that there's no iPhones and no Samsungs either. If you use a Samsung, that's fine. There's no communication for a whole year. Relinquishing her claims.
Now, I was reading in my daily reading just recently in the book of Numbers. And I realized this, that she could have changed her mind. Because it says in the book of Numbers, chapter number 30, If her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it, then he shall make her vow what she vowed and what she uttered with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul of none effect unto the Lord.
And the Lord shall forgive her. Elkanah could have said, you know what, Hannah, that was wonderful. You prayed that God would give you a son and everything. But to give him back to the Lord at such a young and tender age and forever?
Really, Hannah, I can just cancel that. But no. Elkanah, we saw last night, was a good man. He was a godly man. And he did not say, you know what, let's just forget about this. Look, how much do you love this boy?
And I love this boy too. And they relinquished their claims to him. It says in chapter 1, verse number 27, The Lord hath given me, therefore I have lent him to the Lord. He shall be lent to the Lord. No, it's not the idea of a temporary loan.
She was giving him entirely back to the Lord. So she relinquished her claims to him. She rendered back to the Lord what she had promised that she would do. She had promised, chapter 1, verse 11, I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life.
Was there any reticence on her part? Was there any hesitation? The Bible doesn't show it, does it? It just speaks to the fact that she was willing to fulfill her vow. Perhaps, perhaps it was a long 15 miles on this trip to Shiloh.
It had been a long, long trip on other occasions as well. But can you imagine walking 15 miles knowing this is the last time I'm going to see my son for 360 days or 359 days, whatever the case might be?
It might have been a long walk. There might have been some heaviness in her heart. But we don't see any reticence on her part, no hesitation. She is willing to do what she has vowed. When she was bringing this son up, I wonder, was there any ridicule?
Because remember this morning we were looking at the fact that no razor was going to come upon his head. And there he has his half-brothers. And they're all going to the barber shop from time to time and getting their fine hairdo.
And, Samuel, getting a bit long there, Samuel. Hannah, don't you think it's time to give him a little trim? Ridicule. Can you imagine having your child ridiculed? What is the natural defense? We don't find any defense on her part, do we?
It made me think of another young man, Ishmael. And he mocked Isaac. And Sarah said, send him away. He can't live here with us. But Hannah wasn't like that. I wonder to myself, what was she thinking about Abraham?
Because Abraham reminds us of a wonderful truth. That when we give to God, we don't lose anything. And Hannah obviously would have known the story of Abraham and Isaac. And the fact that Abraham was willing to place his son upon an altar, not just turning him over to the priest, not just taking him to the tabernacle, but actually putting him on an altar.
And she would have remembered this, this lesson from the life of Abraham. You cannot lose when you give back to God what He has given to you. And we could take that lesson and apply it to every aspect of our life.
We cannot lose when we give back to God what God has given to us. It is difficult perhaps at times. And perhaps for her, it was a trial of her faith. Perhaps it was difficult for her to do this. But she knew, I cannot lose when I give back to God.
We don't find any resentment in her heart. It's not just a resolution that she has made, but it is a response to a God that she loved, to a God that heard her prayer, to a God that had answered her prayer.
And so they had more reverence for God, the blesser, than the blessing. Too often we can be taken up with a blessing that we have and kind of put aside the one that has blessed us. But both Abraham and Hannah were considering the one that had been the source of the blessing.
The blessing was important. Isaac was important. Samuel was important. But she understood this, I am more taken up with the fact that God has blessed me than holding on to the blessing myself. Because we saw this morning, she wanted a blessing not just for herself, but so that this young man could be a blessing as well to others.
It says that when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, verse number 24, with three bullocks. Some translations will say it was a bullock of three years. And they will say, well, if it's a bullock of three years, that means he was three years old.
If that's the way you want to look at it, that's absolutely fine. Nonetheless, we find here there is a sacrifice. She brings up bullocks and an ephah flower and a bottle of wine. So we have perhaps a burnt offering.
We have a meal offering. We have a drink offering. And it is a time of joy. But it was a time of sacrifice. Bullocks, I don't know what a bullock costs. But it wasn't inexpensive. It was a sacrifice. But that sacrifice of a bullock and a meal offering and a drink offering really was nothing in comparison with giving up her son.
It made me think of another one who gave up his son. The Lord Jesus was given up as well, wasn't he? I have to leave that and move on. I think that we find here some restraint on her part as well. Because if you will allow me there in verse number 28 at the very end, he worshipped the Lord there is most likely they worshipped the Lord there.
Hannah worshipped. She had worshipped when she heard the answer from the mouth of Eli that God was going to grant them a son back there in verse number 19. And now she has had a few years with this young boy and she has turned him back over to Eli and it says they worshipped the Lord there.
We do not read of her weeping. Oh, maybe she wept. But we don't read of her weeping. Can you imagine how difficult it would have been to turn around and walk back down those same 15 miles without your son at the age of 3, 4, 5 or 6, whatever the case might be?
It's difficult enough as our children grow older and they leave the home. But a little child, to leave them behind, but we don't find her showing any emotion that would affect the child. Perhaps she was thinking more of the child and how it would affect her.
Can you imagine a woman losing complete control? I don't know what I'm going to do without you. And on and on. And then he's left behind. She shows restraint. And finally she just releases him and goes back home.
Children, it says in Psalm 127, we've already quoted part of Psalm 127. Children, it says are as arrows in the hand of a mighty man. In this case of a mighty woman too, but in a mighty man. Arrows in the hand of a mighty man.
Now, I don't know if I've ever shot an arrow. If I have, I don't remember. My aim is very, very poor. Don't try to teach me to hunt deer or whatever the case might be out here in the Midwest. But arrows are supposed to be released.
If you just hold an arrow in your hand or it's in your quiver, the arrow is basically useless. And so she understands this. I need to release him. I need to let him go. She had done all she could to direct him properly.
She had brought him up. She had reared him. And now she says, I am going to release him. He is going to be handed over to Eli. It was an act of faith, an act of confidence. Now, I ask myself, what would have concerned her as she did this?
Well, there was great corruption in Shiloh. It was not a wonderful place. And obviously in the interval between the time that she had prayed for her son and she had received her son, conditions had not improved.
The sons of Eli were still corrupt. And so now she is turning this boy over to a man who is not the most godly man around, who has sons who have not been properly directed in their lives. He did not restrain them.
It says in chapter number 3 and verse number 13. He did not restrain them. He did not remove them from the priesthood. He did reprimand them one time. We get that in chapter number 2 and verses number 22 through 25, which we don't have time to read.
But when he hears what the sons are doing, he does take them aside and says, this isn't very good, but he doesn't actually act. And so now to think that you are going to give your little boy, your innocent little boy over to a man that couldn't bring up his own children properly and a man who has not shown discipline in his own life and he is, excuse me, but I will say it because it's what the Bible says.
He was so large he couldn't even stand up. He had to sit. Lack of discipline in his life, lack of direction in his son's life, and you are going to give your boy to him? It would concern me. But again, what was it that gave her some level of confidence?
She would remember what it says farther back in the Old Testament. There was that little boy named Moses. And Moses was turned over to the daughter of Pharaoh. And Pharaoh was not a godly man. It was actually worse than Eli.
It was a pagan country. And there is Jacobette and she is turning over her son to a pagan king and his daughter. Now I know the story is a little bit different, but we come a little bit farther back in our Bible to the book of Genesis and we find there is a young man.
He is a bit older. He is 17. But he is sold and sent into Egypt. And so she has this confidence in God. Yes, I am going to turn my young boy over to Eli, but God is able. God preserved Joseph. Look what happened to Joseph.
Look how God used Joseph. Come to Exodus. Look how God used Moses. And so she is saying to herself, I can leave him precisely where I promised to leave him. Perhaps there is great concern in my heart, but I have great confidence in my God that God will preserve this little boy and that God will use him.
The circumstances were difficult in the life of Joseph, difficult in the life of Moses, and difficult in the life of Samuel. But God preserved them and used them. Could you come with me very quickly to chapter 2 in verse number 18?
Verse number 19. Samuel ministered before the Lord being a child, girded with a linen ephod. Moreover, his mother made him a little coat, an upper coat, and brought it to him from year to year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
I don't have time to speak about his clothing. I've never sewed an article of clothing, but can you imagine how difficult it would be to guess how large your boy will be in a year? Now, I know there comes a certain point when they stop growing, but for a number of years it would have been difficult just to, oh, I wonder, you know, is it this long or that long?
No photos to send back and forth or anything like that. No way to say, well, I've gained 10 pounds and I'm 6 inches taller. None of that. And year by year she takes the time to make an upper coat, a mantle, and she takes it to him.
That's part of his clothing. And perhaps not only do we see a demonstration of her love and care towards him, perhaps there's something about glory in that piece of clothing. But then we have the linen ephod, the clothing of a priestly, because he was from the priestly, the Levite line.
But I have to leave that very quickly. Think with me for a moment or two about his consecration. Now, here we are in chapter number 2. And if you have your Bible open, I just want to notice a few phrases.
Chapter 2, verse 11. The last half of the verse says this, The child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest. He did minister unto the Lord. Come with me to verse number 18. Samuel ministered before the Lord.
Verse number 21, the last part. The child, Samuel, grew before the Lord. Verse number 26. And the child, Samuel, grew on and was in favor both with the Lord and also with men. Chapter 3, verse number 1.
The child, Samuel, ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And finally, chapter 3 and verse number 19. Samuel grew and the Lord was with him. Now, I am not going to take the time to speak at this particular juncture about his conversion in chapter number 3.
But what we do find is this. He ministers to the Lord. He ministers to the Lord before Eli. Now, it's interesting the way that the writer, obviously guided by the Spirit of God, gives us chapter number 2.
Because in between these phrases that we have read, we read a description of other young men. The other young men are the sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas. And the writer will describe their life, the way they were living.
And it is not a very pleasant read. And we've mentioned this already, but in chapter 2, verses 12 through 17, he will speak about the custom that they had to grab the meat out of the pot, committing, if you wish, sacrilege.
And then in the next section, when we come to verse number 22, it speaks about how they were lying with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. Not only sacrilege, but sensual sins were being committed at the very door of the presence of God.
And then when we come a little bit farther along, in verse number 27, God sends a man of God unto Eli. And there's going to be a sentence against his sons. And in the midst of all this darkness, in the midst of all this corruption, in the midst of all this evil, we find these encouraging little phrases.
Samuel ministered unto the Lord. Samuel ministered before the Lord. Samuel grew before the Lord. He was in favor both with the Lord and with man. Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. The Lord was with him.
Wouldn't that be a wonderful way to live? Sometimes in our service, I fear that we get a bit in the doldrums because we forget that we're actually serving the Lord. And we start to serve the Lord's people, which is what we have to do, but we forget that really we're serving the Lord first by serving his people.
And sometimes we say, well, they're not even thankful. You know, I went to visit them. They didn't say thanks. And I did this. And they didn't say thanks. And I do that. And they don't say thanks. And nobody appreciates me around here.
Well, minister unto the Lord. Consecration is the idea of having empty hands that the Lord can fill. And Samuel was just willing to do whatever came to hand, whatever God gave him to do, whatever Eli asked him to do, he was willing to do.
In chapter number 3, it speaks about the fact that Eli was laid down in his place and his eyes were beginning to wax dim that he could not see. Ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.
Now, interesting, we don't have mention of the ark of God for a long, long time before that. But now here's Samuel on the scene, and all of a sudden we have a mention of the ark of God. Follow along with me in chapter number 3, and I am in verse number 3.
And it says where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down. And the Lord called Samuel. Now, again, I love my italics. Samuel was laid down, but he wasn't going to sleep. Those little words to sleep are in italics.
He might have been tired, but he understood this. I can't let the lamp of the Lord go out. Now, it says Samuel didn't know the Lord, and you can put this all in its order and understand what I'm trying to say.
But Samuel understood this. I need to serve the Lord. I am going to be faithful to the Lord. The relationship with his God was of utmost importance, not just in the beginning of his life, but all through his life.
Where did he learn this? I think he learned it from his mother. She prayed, remember this morning we're looking at. She prayed to the Lord of hosts. She taught Samuel all these things about the great God that he could serve.
So, it is little wonder when we come to chapter number 3 and verse number 19 that it says, the Lord let none of his words fall to the ground. The Lord was with him. Whatever Samuel said, it came directly from God, and God fulfilled his words.
He was showing, God was showing, Samuel really is a prophet that I have called. And that's what it says in chapter 3 and verse 20. All Israel knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.
So, when I think about his consecration, he was surrounded by sin. Surrounded by sin. And yet, he remained separated. And you and I live in a sinful society. And despite that, God is expecting us to live separated lives.
Now, I am not saying that we need to be odd or oddballs. And we try our very best not to fit in. And that I don't think this is happening here. That I certainly haven't seen it yet. That we're going to wear ties that they wore back in the 1970s.
Because we want to be odd. We want to be different. No, that's not the idea. But separated in a holy life. When it says in the book of Acts that they took note that these men had been with Jesus, it wasn't because they wore ties from the 70s.
Okay? It was their character. It was the way they conducted themselves. It was the way they spoke. And it was obvious that they had been with the Lord. They were separated unto God. So, in Proverbs chapter 16, when it speaks about the fact that he was growing in favor with man and with the Lord, or with the Lord and with man, Proverbs chapter 16 says this, When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Read through 1 Samuel. Who was against Samuel? Now, I know, obviously, there were enemies from outside. But really, the people respected Samuel. When a man's ways please the Lord. Put the Lord first is what the writer of the Proverbs is telling us.
And Samuel lived that way. The Lord first. Consecrated to the Lord. The priority of pleasing the Lord. Listening to his word and following through. Think for a moment with me about his conduct. Now, through Hannah's prayer, God had raised up a Samuel.
The first in a line of prophets of succession, shall we say. Obviously, there were men that spoke the word of God before this. But Samuel is the beginning of a long line of prophets. But not only was he a prophet, we mentioned this morning that he was a priest.
And that is what we have read in chapter number 7. We read just a very short portion of that in chapter number 7. In verse number 9, Samuel took a sucking lamb and offered it for a burnt offering, wholly unto the Lord.
So Samuel not only acted as a prophet, he acted as a priest. And then farther along in chapter number 7, it says that he judged Israel all the days of his life. Samuel was a busy man. He was a prophet.
He was a priest. And he was a judge. Very busy man. Now, Samuel was not afraid, when we go back to the idea that he was a prophet, Samuel was not afraid to say exactly what needed to be said. We do live in days of political correctness.
I sure hope it doesn't afflict and affect assembly testimony. That we only want to say what will not offend anybody. I'm not here to offend. I'm not planning to say anything that will be an offense to you either.
But Samuel was not concerned about, oh, will the people take this all right or not? Like if I say it this way, will they think, oh, no, no, Samuel, we don't want to hear you anymore. Because sometimes that is our reaction.
I don't really like this, so we're just going to tune it out. Samuel was not politically correct. And I'm not going to take time to go through some examples, but you can think of some. But notice this.
Samuel was tender. Because when God rejected Saul, it says he cried unto the Lord. He was sad. And so he wasn't just a, I'm not saying he was a hard man, he was not a hard man. He was a faithful man, but he was a tender man.
Part of his conduct. As a priest, we come to Psalm 99 and verse 6. Moses and Aaron among his priests and Samuel among them that called upon his name. They called upon the Lord and he answered them. And we find that Samuel calls, God answers.
Did Samuel, I wonder, did Samuel far exceed Hannah's expectations? I think maybe, I think maybe he did. She was saying, give me a son. I need a son. This nation needs me to have a son that can be a help to the nation.
This nation is falling into sin. This nation is going far away from God. But I wonder, and I don't know when Hannah died. But I wonder whether Hannah got to see him being a faithful prophet. And being a faithful judge.
And being a faithful priest. And said, I prayed. And God has far, far exceeded my highest expectations. And God often does that, doesn't he? And so again, I go back to what I said this morning. Are we praying that God will raise up Samuel?
He doesn't have to have that name. I like the name Samuel. I have a son named Samuel. But will God raise up Samuels amongst us to be faithful prophets? Now, I'm not using prophet in the sense of false prophets.
And I know we don't have prophets anymore. But those that will faithfully proclaim the message of the word of God. Those that can be judges. What are judges? Well, those that perhaps will rule amongst God's people.
Those that will take the lead in local assemblies. We need Samuels for that. What about priests? Those that intercede. Now, I'm not talking about full-time workers. I'm not talking about overseers. But those that will intercede.
He says, God forbid that I should cease to pray for you. He had seen the evidence of it in his mother's life. And it continued throughout his life. But you know, there was a challenge that Samuel had in his life as well.
And I almost didn't want to mention this. But unfortunately, there's some time to mention it. But come with me to chapter number 8. In verse number 1, it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel.
Now, the name of his firstborn was Joel, a good name. Jehovah is God. And the name of his second, Abiah, whose father is Jehovah. They were judges in Beersheba. And his sons walked not in his ways. But turned aside after Lucre and took bribes and perverted judgment.
Samuel was a godly man. You know, you could maybe expect it from an Eli that his sons wouldn't turn out so well. But Samuel? Samuel was a great example of a godly man. And yet, his sons turned aside. So I say that was a challenge that he faced in his life.
But I say it as well as a word of comfort. Because I would be pretty certain that amongst the multitude of God's people this large, there are men and women in their 40s and 50s and 60s and maybe beyond that.
And your sons have turned aside from the ways that you have followed all your life. Samuel knew what that was like. And God understands that. And Samuel wasn't to blame. We don't even find that the people blamed Samuel.
They were not criticizing Samuel. This can happen to anyone. Finally, the conclusion of his life. Chapter number 25. Samuel dies. And it says, All Israel gathered together. All Israel lamented the loss of a godly leader.
This happens amongst us from time to time, doesn't it? Older men get older. And God calls them home. Samuel had concluded his pathway. And God says, It's time to come home. And you and I can... John has mentioned a couple times about the 81st conference.
He obviously wasn't around for the first one or the second one either. But God has called godly men home. And we lament when that happens. We respected them. That's Hebrews chapter 13 and verse number 7.
Remember them that had the rule. Remember those that preached the gospel. And God has called them home. But, you know, things had to carry on. There were difficulties during Samuel's life. There were difficulties after Samuel's life.
But he had the respect of all of God's people. All Israel gathered together. All Israel lamented. This is Hannah's son. She prayed. God answered. I think God exceeded her expectations greatly. Precious, says the psalmist, Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
It would be a marvelous thing to see our sons and our daughters carry on faithfully, like Samuel did, until the very end of their life. I was reading this morning a poem. I am not a poem. I'm not poetic.
I'm hardly romantic. But I read a poem this morning. I'll just quote the first and the last verses of it, written by a lady named Mary Thompson back in 1868. She says this,. The last verse says this, and it goes very much with Hannah.
And I hope it goes with somebody here in the Midwest as well. A gospel zeal here in this part of the country. A tremendous need across the country and in many other lands. She wrote these words,. Give of thy sons to bear the message glorious.
Give of thy wealth to speed them on their way. Pour out thy soul for them in prayer victorious. And all thou spendest, Jesus will repay. Shall we pray?