Faith in the Fray Grace in the Ashes 1 Samuel 1:-2:11 D.L. Deckard February 12, 2012 Speaking of faith in Luke 17:6, Jesus said, If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, Be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it would obey you (Luke 17:6). The point isn t that you have to have a big or strong faith to make a difference, but that you simply have to have real faith, even a small faith, and it will accomplish mighty things in the unfolding purposes of God. I believe the first story in the book of Samuel is an illustration of that very truth. We see simple but real faith arise in the most unexpected of places a barren woman named Hannah. Her story is found 1 Samuel 1:1-2:10. It s a self-contained story, and I m planning on dealing with stories of 1 st and 2 nd Samuel as wholes rather than breaking them down into parts. The power of the story is lost when it s not completed. The story also loses its strength if we don t take the time to pan back and get a sense of where it s located in Israel s history. The events of 1 Samuel 1 take place right at the end of the time of the Judges (recorded in the book of Judges). The time of the judges closes with one of the darkest periods in biblical history. In Judges chapter 19 we read a grizzly account of a group of Jewish men in the town of Gibeah, gang-raping another man s wife through the night, to the point that she dies. Sick, right? Angry, the husband of the raped wife, cuts her body into twelve pieces and sends them throughout the tribes of Israel. Israel rallies because of this gruesome event, which leads to a civil war between the tribe of Benjamin and the other eleven tribes (described in chapter 20). By the time the battles end (if I did my math correctly) over 65,000 men die in three days of fighting. Indeed, the loss of life is so bad that the tribe of Benjamin (one of the twelve tribes of Israel) is almost completely wiped out (chapter 21). A dark time, indeed! The book of Judges then closes with this dark statement, In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25). That s a roundabout way of saying that Israel was in moral chaos. We also learn in the opening chapters of Samuel that the religious institution that was established for the worship of Yahweh, had been corrupted by its priests (1 Sam 2:12-17, 22), indicating that the country was also in spiritual ruins. But God was still there at work. No matter how dark you may feel our times are, morally or spiritually speaking, I d venture to say this was far worse. And yet, God is still working. And in the opening chapter of Samuel we see that God begins to turn things around. But he does so, not through a strong hero like a Samson or Gideon, or Deborah (judges), but through the simple faith of a barren woman. 1 Samuel opens up: 1Samuel 1:1 (ESV) There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite. 2 He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 1
The first story of Samuel focuses our attention on this woman named Hannah, who is unable to have children. Her life is a picture of a woman in pain. First, she is disgraced by the fact that she can t have babies. But the text tells us that her pain is not an accident. We re told twice in verses 5-6 that it was, the Lord who closed her womb. In our day, we often have a shortsighted view of personal trials like this. We might blame infertility on something in the water, putting our cell phones in our pockets or hormonal imbalances, but never think beyond the physical causes to the hand of divine providence behind things. Hannah s womb was closed because God had a purpose for it to be so. Pain is never without purpose for God s people. But her pain was also amplified by wife number two, who was harsh, abusive and vindictive. Whenever the family would go up to the temple (tabernacle) to worship the Lord, the text tells us that her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb (1 Sam 1:6). And the chapter goes on to say that this was a constant and repeated scourge. So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her (1 Sam 1:7). Here physical handicap was amplified by personal shame, humiliation, oppression extended over a long period of time. At this point, let s put ourselves in her place. How do we typically respond to personal attack, humiliation and abuse? Each of us probably has one or two different patterned ways of dealing with things like this. Escape the pain through drugs, movies, pornography or some other pleasurable anesthesia? Or do you simply suppress it? Bury it? Ignore it? Deny it exists? Another patterned response is to react and retaliate. None of these responses are faith-responses. Hannah doesn t resort to any of these flesh-responses (at least not long-term). She shows faith in how she deals with injustice and pain. She takes it to the Lord. Faith s Plea 9 After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the LORD. 10 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. 11 And she vowed a vow and said, O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head (1 Sam 1:9-10). She takes her broken womb and her afflicted heart to the Lord and pours herself out in lament before him. She doesn t take matters into her own hands, but takes the matters to the hands of the only One who can take away her shame. She pleads with God for a son and vows in return to surrender him back to the Lord. Pain and injustice will either push a person away from the Lord or to the Lord. Hannah took the path of faith and poured out her bleeding soul to the God who raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap (Psalm 113:7), the God of grace. (As a side note, just because God providentially brings something difficult into your life like a barren womb doesn t mean you can t pray for it to be changed!) You ll notice that there s nothing particularly profound about her prayer. But her simple faith expressed in a heart-plea to the sovereign grace of the Lord is the start of something wonderful in a chaotic time. The Lord hears her and grants her request. The story goes on to record that she conceived and gave birth to a boy that they named Samuel (hence the name of the book). This is how faith expresses itself under pressure, it takes the brokenness of life to God. 2
Faith s Surrender But that s not the end of the story for Hannah. Her simple act of faith would lead to an even greater challenge of faith. Such is the case with faith. A simple act of faith (like praying) will lead to another stretch of faith. Hannah vowed to the Lord to give her son up, to surrender him to God s work. Among all the created treasures that God has given his people, children would have to be at the top of the list, precious. She vowed to give him up. Would she? Would you? Would I? After she weans the child, which many scholars say would have been about the age of 3 or 4, Hannah and her husband take little Samuel to the temple. He s scarcely bigger than a toddler. The middle of verse 25 picks up the story. 25 they brought the child to Eli. 26 And she [Hannah] said, Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the LORD. 27 For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him. 28 Therefore I have lent him to the LORD. As long as he lives, he is lent to the LORD. And he worshiped the LORD there. (1 Sam 1:25-28) In effect, Hannah and her husband willingly give their young child to the Lord. She lets go of the thing she has waited so long to have. She offers God s great gift back to the Giver in an act of worship and trust. What a picture of how faith works. Real faith that gets grace, gives back in worship. Now I read this story long before I became a father and was somewhat inspired by her act of faith. But now that I m a father I find it utterly amazing. It s one thing to give up your child. It s another to give him (or her) up to a context in which there s overt corruption. Imagine the worst church with a reputation for sexual abuse and fiscal corruption and dropping your 3-year- Sammy off to live there. You might say to yourself, There s no way I could trust the Lord that much! But I think it s important to recognize how faith in the book of Samuel is portrayed. Throughout the books of Samuel we find faith growing through exercises of faith. David, for example, doesn t step on the battlefield against Goliath as his first act of faith. God showed himself faithful to help David long before that when he helped David defend his sheep from a lion and a bear (1 Sam 17:37). When we truly trust the Lord, it s like walking up stairs. One act of faith leads up to a higher act of faith, which then leads to a higher. Hannah s faith, in this story, began in prayer. And when God answered, her faith increased. If God were gracious and powerful enough to give her a child, then he certainly would be gracious and powerful enough to watch over, protect and shepherd that child. At each step in life, the Lord will take us to the next step and challenge us to trust including, Will you trust me with your children? When we actively trust God in dependence and surrender, it will never disappoint. In fact, it leads to greater discoveries of God s glory and grace. In the final act of Hannah s life we find her discovery in the form of a psalm of joy. Her story began in misery and ends in exultation. It began with weeping and ends with worship, My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in the Lord (1 Sam 2:1). Faith s Discovery 3
This beautiful psalm (later picked up and used in Psalm 113) expresses her discovery about the heart of God. The psalm exalts the sovereign grace that God shows to and through the broken, the weak and the despised. Look at the contrast woven into the fabric of the song. 3 Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. 4 The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength. 5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. 8 He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. Through her whole experience, she learns the glory of how God s kingdom works, and how things change. It s not the strong and mighty through whom God brings redemption, his loving reign or his kingdom, but through the feeble, the hungry, the barren, the poor, the needy, the broken who trust in Him. It reminds us of the words of Jesus, Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God (Matt 5:3). The world favors human power, might, and wealth to establish itself and accomplish its goals. The Lord favors the weak, the lowly, the humble and the spiritually poor to establish his kingdom. Hannah had discovered the glory of sovereign grace toward the humble. He listens to the barren woman s plea. Things have never changed. But we mustn t miss how the psalm ends, and how Hannah s faith played into God s great story. Her psalm of joy ends with these words, The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the power of his anointed (1 Sam 2:10). Her psalm ends with words of king and kingdom. She sees the Lord judging the ends of the earth through his king, exalted and powerful. That goes way beyond king Saul or David or any other historical kings in the Old Testament. Her final discovery and declaration leads us to one King, lowly, humble, meek (like Hannah), born in a manger, riding on a donkey, bearing a cross, despised and rejected of men. Yet, the Lord was pleased to take this king that the people rejected and make him the cornerstone of salvation and his eternal kingdom. That s how God s kingdom came. That s how his King came before whom every knee will bow. Jesus, the son of David will be the one who will judge the ends of the earth. Why was she filled with so much joy and thanksgiving as she left behind her little boy? What s the big deal? Through Hannah s faith in pleading and surrendering, her little boy would become the great prophet who would anoint David as king, the forefather of our Lord Jesus Christ. Her little Samuel would become God s king-maker. Who was to think that a barren women, despised, broken and weeping would be integral to God s unfolding plan of salvation. That s what small acts of faith can do. And it never 4
disappoints. Whenever we exercise real faith, no matter how big or small, it will never disappoint. Whenever we trust the Lord and act in that trust, whether that s pleading our case to him or surrendering our stuff, our losses, our children or our lives to him, we will not be disappointed. We have no idea how simple acts of trust will ripple through the eternal sea of God s redemption, as Hannah s did. Trust him church! Plead your case to him! Surrender to him! Trust him with your children. And you will discover new heights of the glory and grace of God. 5