1 Samuel 1:1-18 The Work That Is Done For A King
The Word
Luke 22:42 (CSB) “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me — nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
The Study
1 Samuel 1:1–18 (CSB)
1 There was a man from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. His name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.2 He had two wives, the first named Hannah and the second Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless.
3 This man would go up from his town every year to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of Armies at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were the LORD’s priests.
4 Whenever Elkanah offered a sacrifice, he always gave portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to each of her sons and daughters.
5 But he gave a double portion to Hannah, for he loved her even though the LORD had kept her from conceiving.
6 Her rival would taunt her severely just to provoke her, because the LORD had kept Hannah from conceiving.
7 Year after year, when she went up to the LORD’s house, her rival taunted her in this way. Hannah would weep and would not eat.
8 “Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband, Elkanah, would ask. “Why won’t you eat? Why are you troubled? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
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.”
12 While she continued praying in the LORD’s presence, Eli watched her mouth.
13 Hannah was praying silently, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk
14 and said to 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.”
17 Eli responded, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the request you’ve made of him.”
18 “May your servant find favor with you,” she replied. Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer looked despondent.
1 There was a man from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. His name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
2 He had two wives, the first named Hannah and the second Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless.
3 This man would go up from his town every year to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of Armies at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were the LORD’s priests.
The Work of the Lord: People Still Did What Was Right in Their Own Eyes
Deuteronomy 12:8 (CSB) “You are not to do as we are doing here today; everyone is doing whatever seems right in his own sight.
Genesis 2:24 (CSB) This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh.
Exodus 20:14 (CSB) Do not commit adultery.
4 Whenever Elkanah offered a sacrifice, he always gave portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to each of her sons and daughters.
5 But he gave a double portion to Hannah, for he loved her even though the LORD had kept her from conceiving.
6 Her rival would taunt her severely just to provoke her, because the LORD had kept Hannah from conceiving.
7 Year after year, when she went up to the LORD’s house, her rival taunted her in this way. Hannah would weep and would not eat.
The Work of the Lord: People Wanted to Go Through the Motions with God
Doing the bare minimum.
What does God say?
Hosea 6:6 (CSB) For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
What does God want from us?
Our hearts.
In other words, he wants our hearts of stone so that he can give us his soft, tender heart of flesh:
Ezekiel 36:26 (CSB) I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
8 “Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband, Elkanah, would ask. “Why won’t you eat? Why are you troubled? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
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.
The Work of the Lord: Yet The Lord Hears Our Cries
Luke 18:7-8 (CSB) Will not God grant justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay helping them? I tell you that he will swiftly grant them justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? ”
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.”
12 While she continued praying in the LORD’s presence, Eli watched her mouth.
13 Hannah was praying silently, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk
14 and said to 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.”
The Work of the Lord: Not Our Will, But His
Prayer is not submitting wishes to God like he is some cosmic genie but rather, in prayer, we submit our will to the will of God.
People are dying to know the will of God. But why? If I know the hearts of the sons of Adam, I suggest to you we only want to know the will of God so that we can elect not do it and instead, go another way.
How do I know? I have read the Bible and way, way more often than not, when God reveals his will to man, man goes the opposite way. (See Jonah.) Sometimes I wonder, if the will of God is another answer on a multiple choice quiz for our lives. Like, what God wants is a choice I get to make.
Here's the kicker: any choice other than the will of God is sin.
There is one man, only one person who knew the will of God and bought into it and did his will from birth:
Luke 22:42 (CSB) “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me — nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
And he didn't do that half-heartedly, not going through the motions of going to cross and saving his people from their sins like it was routine. No! He did it with joy!
Hebrews 12:1-2 (CSB) Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Where does that leave us? You think I am going to tell you, "Give your whole heart to God!" We already know that. It is the first and greatest commandment.
How many times have we failed to do that? All the time.
So why I telling you to do something we fail at all the time? What? Try harder? Like that is going to get us to God any closer?
None of that. Christ is our righteousness, obedience and joy. He is the gap between us and the Father. He obeyed God with his whole heart so that for those who trust in the Son, we have believed and loved God with our whole heart.
This is why God sent his Son--exchange our hearts and exchange our actions for his heart and actions.
So, if we fail to love God with our whole heart, why pray? Certainly we cannot pray good enough. Our prayers will always be tainted with sin. But God knew that too. So, what bulletproof plan does God have for us in prayer?
How about the Holy Spirit and Christ?
Romans 8:26-27 (CSB) In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
And
Romans 8:31-34 (CSB) What, then, are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything? Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more, has been raised;
he also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.
As it has been said:
If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.
Robert Murray M'Cheyne.
We are to pray because Christ has done it all and God is our Father. We are little kids. Just like kids to their parents, they may not ask the right way but they ask. Christ instructed us to pray but we were never alone in our prayers. The Spirit and the Christ pray for us and with us perfectly and continuously.
17 Eli responded, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the request you’ve made of him.”
18 “May your servant find favor with you,” she replied. Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer looked despondent.
The Work of the Lord: The Lord Will Bless You and Keep You Because You Are in Christ
Numbers 6:24-26 (CSB) May the LORD bless you and protect you; may the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the LORD look with favor on you and give you peace.
The Psalm
Psalm 116 (CSB)
1 I love the LORD because he has heard my appeal for mercy.2 Because he has turned his ear to me, I will call out to him as long as I live.
3 The ropes of death were wrapped around me, and the torments of Sheol overcame me; I encountered trouble and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name of the LORD: “LORD, save me!”
5 The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is compassionate.
6 The LORD guards the inexperienced; I was helpless, and he saved me.
7 Return to your rest, my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.
8 For you, LORD, rescued me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
9 I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.
10 I believed, even when I said, “I am severely oppressed.”
11 In my alarm I said, “Everyone is a liar.”
12 How can I repay the LORD for all the good he has done for me?
13 I will take the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.
14 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.
15 The death of his faithful ones is valuable in the LORD’s sight.
16 LORD, I am indeed your servant; I am your servant, the son of your female servant. You have loosened my bonds.
17 I will offer you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the LORD.
18 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the LORD’s house— within you, Jerusalem. Hallelujah!