Sermon Tone Analysis

Song of a Humble Heart - 1 Samuel 2:1-10

PRAY

REVIEW:

The Story - Hannah and Peninnah - Elkanah - Hannah’s vow in prayer - Eli’s reaction and blessing - God gives Hannah a son, whom they name Samuel - After he is weaned, Hannah gives her toddler back to the Lord… presenting him as a living sacrifice to God, to serve Him all the days of his life.

What we learn:

God’s way: God works through the weak, not the strong.

Our part: What God desires from us is that we be wholly dependent on and fully surrendered to Him.

Hannah’s Plight (1:1-8)

Hannah recognized her helpless plight and knew that God was the answer.

She evidently also recognized the condition of God’s people and knew that God’s purpose was the answer.

Hannah’s Plea (vv.

9-16)

So Hannah pleaded with God in a way that promoted the glory and purposes of God.

God’s Answer (vv.

17-20) & Hannah’s Son (vv.

21-28)

When God delivered by giving her a son, she surrendered that son back to the Lord, and declared God’s greatness.

God wants you to view him as he is, seeing yourself as completely dependent on his mercy so that you will turn to him with complete surrender and receive his grace.

And God expects you to maintain that posture as his beloved child.

When we do that and come to know God more fully, the result is joy in God that overflows in praise to Him.

Hannah’s Praise (2:1-10)

We’ll emphasize at least three elements of the song Hannah prays… in order to apply these truths to our own perspective and practice.

Hannah’s praise overflows with rejoicing in God’s deliverance (v. 1)

Praise: Joy in God Overflowing

The object of Hannah’s delight isn’t in herself or even in overcoming barrenness, but in the Lord himself.

“My heart rejoices in the Lord; my horn is exalted in the Lord.”

“My mouth derides my enemies…

What Hannah isn’t doing is gloating.

vs.

But she does genuinely have a desire arising in her to defend God’s honor against those who despise and dishonor him:

… because I rejoice in your salvation.”

Our praise of God is attached to our experience of His goodness.

BUT praise isn’t contingent upon a human experience that is free of sorrow and suffering.

- Remember that even now Hannah was giving away her toddler to serve the Lord in the tabernacle with Eli all his days!

Rather...

Praise overflows from trusting God.

Even when feeling like all is not well: “How long, O Lord?”

And so...

[especially v. 21]

Knowing God… Confident in Him

Hannah’s praise overflows with boasting in God’s character (vv.

2-8)

3 parts:

God’s uniqueness (v. 2)

Holy - there is no comparison to idols and gods of our own making

Of course, there is only one God.

There can only be one:

(similarly) “There is no Rock like our God” - emphasizing God’s strength and stability, his greatness and perfection, his justice and faithfulness—making him a secure refuge for those who trust in Him.

A Song of Moses near the end of his life...

The words of David, at nearly the other bookend of 1&2 Samuel

Warning to the proud (v. 3)

God’s complete knowledge means that he weighs even motives…

The next section, vv.

4-8, continues to elevate God and while expanding the warning at the same time:

God’s grace to the humble: 6 contrasts (vv.

4-8)

Hannah exalts the Lord for the way he magnifies His sovereign goodness by opposing the proud but giving grace to the humble (in Jam 4:6 and 1 Pet 5:5 quoting Prov 3:34).

the strong and the weak - (v. 4) mighty warriors (bows) broken; feeble/stumbling... bind on strength (are equipped/girded with strength)

(v.

5a) the full and the hungry

(5b) barren vs fertile - 7 children here represents a complete number; is forlorn (pines away, wastes away)

(6) The power of death and life is in God’s hands, bringing some down to the realm of the dead and raising others up - everything in between is in God’s hands

(vv.

7&8 double up and repeat the next two): makes poor, makes rich (God has power over provision) - He raises up the poor from the dust, from ashes he lifts the needy

So our outlooks should be...

(also vv.

7-8) God brings down the haughty but elevates the meek.

- to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor, bc God has authority over the very foundations of the earth

What the kids studied this past week in kids ministries:

In God’s kingdom the exalted are not those who seek their own glory, but those who rightly see themselves as weak, hungry, barren, dead, poor, and lowly.

It is they who put their trust wholly in God.

God is a God who delivers the helpless and humble in heart — at the peak of our weakness, God comes through.

Praise finds its expression from what we know of God.

Hannah’s praise overflows with anticipation of God’s promises (vv.

9-10)

What we know of God applies to our unknown future as well!

God is a God who takes care of his own.

And those who are his show themselves through faithful devotion.

He guards the feet of his faithful ones.

Not assured in our steps bc of ourselves, but bc our confidence is in God.

We walk by faith (2 Cor.

5:7).

The righteous will live by faith (Rom 1:17).

The humble heart that trusts in the Lord walks on solid ground with sure footing, not matter the circumstances:

BUT the wicked and haughty have every reason to fear.

Without humbling themselves before God to receive his grace by faith, they will be cast into outer darkness.

(Mt 25:30) - even those who think they are something by being Abraham’s physical descendants (Mt.

8:12), even those who try to sneak in under the guise of pretending to trust in God while they really want to keep on their unclean garments rather than putting on Christ… they too will be cast out (Mt 22:13).

So also v. 10…

God will break to pieces those who oppose him, but rewards those who seek him.

(Heb.

11:6)

The Lord will judge the ends of the earth, and he does so in perfect justice: Psalm 96:10c and 13c “he will judge the peoples with equity” … “He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.”

By CONTRAST, and now Hannah’s Psalm is prophetic: (v.

10b)

In our praises we await with great expectation the fulfillment of God’s purposes.

CONCLUSION: Humble your heart before God, and sing his praises!

[Song of a Humble Heart]

God does all of these things for the feeble, the barren, the needy… who see themselves as such and come to him.

He will raise up, bring to life, exalt… the one who is humble of heart and seeks him to supply the answer to our need.

Just as the Lord prophesied to the Jews about coming out of exile and captivity, so God remains for those who seek him by faith in His Son Jesus Christ:

And...

From there we come full circle, the humble heart who sings the praises of the one who delivers us: