Our study in the Westminster Confession of Faith this evening is Chapter 2, Article 2. As we see more descriptions of God and His character, we read this. God has all life, glory, goodness, blessedness in and of himself, and is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them. He is alone the foundation, or is the fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to him are all things, and has most sovereign dominion over them, to do by them, for them, or upon them whatsoever himself pleases. In his sight all things are open and manifest. His knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature, so as nothing is to him contingent or uncertain. He is most holy in all his counsels, in all his works, and in all his commands. To him is due from angels and men and every other creature whatsoever worship, service, or obedience he is pleased to require of them. So there is much that can be said of God being taught here in this article, but one of my favorite explanations of the character of God is that He is all-sufficient. That means that He needs and requires... He requires nothing of us for Him to be satisfied, although it speaks at the end, He does require things of us, but requires things of us for our service, but He does not need anything from us in order to be complete. He does not actually need us to worship Him or need us to bring service to Him for Him to be whole and for Him to be perfect. And yet, He still has created this world. And He has done so out of His pleasure. And it's for that reason, if we want to be those who participate in His greatness, if we want to participate in the all-sufficient joy of knowing Him and seeing Him and beholding Him, that is why there is requirement that is given to you and to I. But just consider that if God never created the world, He would still be perfectly content. He would still be perfect in all of His nature. And this helps us to understand God's sovereign dominion over all things. If He does not have to do anything, if He Himself is not required to do anything, then why does He do things? Out of pleasure. It is His joy. It is just Him naturally being God by which He works. It is natural and a joy for Him to love because He is love. It is good and natural for Him to bring justice because He is a God of perfect justice. And so this means that when He gives grace to you and I, He has no obligation to give us grace. It is His joy to give us grace. And if He wanted to, He could have created this world and He could allowed us to all die in our sin and all of us to go to hell. And if He did so, He would be no less good. In fact, He would be proving that He is good because He would be putting sin to death. And so we see that God doesn't have to save us in order to be good. And this is where, you know, sometimes people think that, you know, well why do we know that God is good? We know God is good because He saves us. Well, technically, you know, He is good because He's God. But fortunately for us, because he is good, he does save us. And because he is good, because he is kind, it is a pleasure to save some of us. But this also explains how we see in scripture that It is also the pleasure of God to allow some to die in their sins, which is a harder message to receive. And I know many brothers and sisters in the Lord that I love, and I know they love the Lord, will disagree on some of these matters. But part of what we see in this confession of the character of God as it reflects on Scripture It says that God does not take glory from us. He does not need us to glorify Him in order for Him to be glorious, and yet He manifests His own glory in, by, unto, and upon us as people. And so this is where we see in Romans 9 it talks about vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy. Some vessels of wrath prepared beforehand for destruction and others, vessels of mercy, prepared beforehand for glory. To be able to see and be filled with the riches of the glorious grace of God. But for those of us who believe in Jesus Christ, who receive his grace, we see how God manifests his love and his mercy in us. That's the joyful part of it. And yet we see that even when God creates those that He knows will come to utter ruin and destruction in the end, how could a good God do that? Because even in those who forever and through eternity will deride the Lord, will turn away from the Lord, God manifests His justice in them. He manifests His righteous anger upon them. And so even in the rebellion of some of His creation, He will make His glories known. And so when God allows some to die in their sins, it is not a begrudging choice that God must make because He has been left impotent out of His desire to respect our choices to sin against Him. It is instead as we see in Romans 9 verse 15 and 16, for he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy. Again, a lot that can be unpacked there, but I do enjoy these very carefully, well-thought-out descriptions of the nature of God, who He is, and how He works among us. Our study in Scripture this evening is in 1 Samuel 1, starting with verse 21. That's our second week in our study of these books of Samuel. what we see in this history. It gives us the history of Samuel, the last judge, but also the history of the first kings with Saul and with David and depending how far we get if we get to that point. But tonight we're going to see the dedication of Samuel to the temple. because Hannah had prayed dearly to the Lord and God had answered the prayer. She conceived, she has a born, a son, and now it's time for her to fulfill the promise of giving this child over to the work of the temple that he would serve the Lord every day of his life. And also, too, we look at the first part of chapter 2, a song of God's sovereignty over all people. But one of the things I want you to consider as we study this history here of what does the Bible mean when it says all firstborn sons belong to God? We're going to see a little less of the language explicitly here in this passage, but I'll unpack some other passages of Scripture that I think give light to what it is that Hannah and Ocana, their desire is with their precious child Samuel. But as we do seek to understand the Lord better and through His Word, let's offer this prayer. God, we look to you as we seek to understand the truth of your Bible. And we are grateful that the most important things, the things that we must know for our salvation, you have given us your grace, the ability to understand for the purpose of our salvation. And yet, we also recognize your Bible is so complex in a beautiful way. that there are depths of understanding that we could spend our whole life, this life on earth, trying to know better, and there will be more joys and gems for us to discover. Particularly as so much of the truth that you have revealed for us is a part of an ancient culture. A culture for us which is foreign. And so there are some concepts that are more difficult for us to grasp. And yet, as this history in some ways continues to be our history. Let us know these truths better so we can delight more fully in all that you have done and all that you reveal for us in your Word. Father, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So brothers and sisters, I now invite you to stand in body or in spirit as we look together at God's Word in Samuel chapter 1 starting with verse 21. Hear these words of the Lord. The man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord and dwell there forever. Elkanah and her husband said to her, Do what seems best to you and wait until you have weaned him. Only may the Lord establish his word.' So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. and the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. And she said, O my Lord, as you live, my Lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. 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. And Hannah prayed and said, My heart exalts in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth derides my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation. There is none holy like the Lord, for there is none besides you. There is no rock like our God. 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. The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength. Those who are full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who are hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has born seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. The Lord kills and brings to life. He brings down to she all and raises up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich. He brings low and he exalts. 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. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and on them he has set the world. He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. Against them he will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his kings and exalt the horn of his anointed. Then Elkanah went home to Ramah and the boy was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest. Brothers and sisters, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God will stand forever. And you can be seated. So last week we saw how Baron Hannah, who could have no children, prayed desperately to the Lord, and the Lord answered her prayer. But part of this prayer is that that child would then be given to God as part of a lifelong Nazarite vow, that he would not be able to have strong drink, or presumably he would not be able to cut his hair. And this is not a common thing in the Lord, but we see that what she is praying for is uncommon. but it is her sincere desire to give thanks and lifelong service to God. And as we see her coming to the end of the child being weaned, as it seems that she did not bring him at the standard time for dedication to the Lord because she wanted to, when she brought Samuel to be dedicated to the Lord, that it would be that lifelong dedication. And so she waits until the boy is weaned. And we see in verse 24, And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. And the child was young. So these were sacrifices that were a part of Samuel's dedication to the Lord. We see from all that they bring that Elkanah and his family seem to be a wealthier family, so they have much that they can offer to the Lord in the dedication of this child. But there's a lot to unpack in the traditions of the dedication of children, especially the firstborn son. And I think there is a concept that we see in the Old Testament, which is going to be a bit foreign to you and I, but I think is very relevant for what we see Alcannah and Hannah doing. So if we went to Exodus 13 verse 1 and 2, it says to us, the Lord said to Moses, consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine. So in our understanding of covenantal theology, and maybe you've heard me touch on this in some other aspects when we're talking about covenantal theology, there's an important notion of covenantal representation, which is often applied naturally to the firstborn male. And we see that in Exodus chapter 13, this is a result of the It is a result of the last of the plagues in Egypt, the death of the firstborn, and yet God, through the blood of another animal being given to the Lord, those firstborn sons, those of Israel, those who humbled themselves before God, those sons, their lives were spared, and yet there seems to be a continuing, ongoing sense in which the lives of those firstborn sons have an ongoing dedication to God. They hold a special responsibility that others did not have. And so this includes the firstborn of humans and also the firstborn of the animals. So the firstborn of those animals that which could be sacrificed, they were to then be sacrificed on the altar to God. They could not be used for economic gain. They could not be sheared or milked. They could not, well, I guess milked, you can't really milk a boy. So I guess I kind of misspoke on that one. That's a little awkward there. See, you could not use them for plowing or making in the fields. You were to save this animal so that when it came to the time of maturity, such as the three-year-old bull, that bull would then be sacrificed to God. Now we see there is a similarity but thankfully a difference with the firstborn humans, the firstborn males. They were dedicated to the Lord and yet fortunately with our firstborn sons they did not have to be put to death. Witchco and I bet you are thankful for that one. I'm thankful for that one too. But God had a means that we have seen often through the Bible is that God is willing to accept the sacrifice of another's blood so that one can be redeemed. So this is where we have that substitutionary atonement that is able to take place where we see in the Bible that animals were able to be brought to the Lord, but we know that it was not actually the blood of the animals themselves that were able to bring a status of redemption in the eyes of God. But in the case of the salvation of our souls, we see that God, by means of grace, used the methods of the sacrifice of animals. He accepted that as being effective, as today we have when we think of baptism, or we think of the bread, and as we think of the cup that we use in our communion. by His grace makes those to have an effective means for us. But here we see that the blood of an animal could be spilled so that the blood of that firstborn son did not need to die. However, even with the blood of the animal being poured out for them, even though that firstborn son was able to live, they did not take all of the burden of service away. And so they would still have a covenantal responsibility. These firstborn sons would be the covenantal representatives for their families, and these would be large families. But it would be placed on them an extra responsibility to ensure that the family remained faithful to the Lord and to the commandments of the Lord. And it also seems when you look at another part of scripture from Numbers chapter 3 verse 11 and 13 that if it was not for a special plan of God that there would be a responsibility like what Samuel was going to be serving in the temple for all of the firstborn sons regardless of what tribe that they were from. It's in Numbers chapter 3 verse 11 through 13 it says, For all the firstborn are mine. And on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both man and of beasts. They shall be mine. I am the Lord. And so we see some more substitutionary work that the Lord is doing. He says, I have the right to claim every firstborn of your family to come and give me service in my place of worship, because otherwise, by the work and the miracle that I'd done before, they would all be dead. So, but I didn't, but I let them not die, I let them live, why? To serve me, and so, He could have demanded that all firstborn sons do the work of the Levites, but instead he said, we're going to do this. We're going to take this one family, this one tribe, the Levites, and I'm going to have them and their men bring service to me in the temple so that the firstborn sons of those in the other tribes would be able to continue on in their work normally. But it's just, looking here, and these are passages, personally I don't spend a lot of time in these verses here, but in our modern ears, it sounds strange and it sounds unjust. Why would God establish a system where some people are given an extra burden and an extra responsibility just because of their sex and their birth order? I think a big part of this is because of the way that it is a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, who he is for us, and the work that he accomplished for us. Because if we look at Jesus Christ, he is described for us in Colossians 1, verse 15. It says, he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. So when we think of Jesus, was Jesus ever born? Well, his humanity had a moment of birth, but was he the firstborn human on earth? No, so we're not talking about Jesus and his humanity here. We're talking about Jesus in his divinity. He is the firstborn of all creation. Well, when was Jesus born? When was Jesus and his divinity created? He was never born in his divinity. He was never created. He always has been God. He is the second person of the Trinity. One God in three persons. He always has been, always will be. So why is he being described here as the firstborn? Well, because he's taken on the role and the responsibility that we see in these passages that we've looked at. He is the firstborn in the sense that he is our covenantal representative. He is the one that takes on the burden and the greater portion of the covenantal weight onto his shoulders for us. So that as Jesus lived and as he took on his humanity, he lived a life in service to God for us. He accomplished a work of a life of devotion to the Lord that you and I are unable to do. Because he and because of the way that who he is and how he was born He was set apart in a way that is different than you and I, even that of the firstborn sons who are born of Adam, rather than being born of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ in his service, Hebrews describes well how he is our high priest who keeps us in a faithful status to God. And ultimately he fulfilled his role as a high priest by being our high sacrifice. He sacrificed Himself for us. And in this case, He did not look to a replacement for Himself. He did not look for the blood of animals or anyone else to be spilled for Him. He actually is the firstborn who let His blood be poured out. Though He Himself never sinned, though He Himself did not need to die, but He died on the cross. Why? to fulfill the responsibility given to the firstborn. To be able to stand on behalf of their family. And so we see that in this sense, Jesus Christ is the firstborn of all creation. We look up to him. And he is the one who takes the weight that we are unable to take. And so when we come back to this history here of Samuel and his dedication, being dedicated in the temple and being dedicated to the temple, Hannah may have already had some of these scripture passages in mind. Just the the special calling and the extra burden that is being given to the firstborn son and yet taking this notion on and taking it to its fullest and greatest extent. Because when we look in other parts of Scripture, when we look at the genealogy of Samuel, he was born of the Levitical tribe and so he would have had, if the lots fell, an opportunity for him to be able to serve occasionally in the temple But this is a desire to fulfill, you know, as much as she can, you know, just these promises of the firstborn, especially that of the Levites. You know, a child given his whole life to the service of God. And so she knew that Samuel was a gift from God, and she wanted to honor God with the birth of this child. So what we see in verse 28 says, 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. And then what comes in chapter 2, It's a song, it's also a prayer to the Lord. And one commentator, as I was studying this passage, pointed out well that this song is a good foreshadow of many of the other events that we see here in the books of Samuel. We see that in verse two, there is none holy like the Lord, for there is none beside you. There is no rock like our God. As we see God in these books, he proves himself to be powerful and faithful to all who trust in him. And there's lots of battle, there are lots of wars that are going on, and yet God is faithful. And I especially see this in David, David who often was on the run, as he was often cornered and looking to the Lord for protection. God blessed him. He kept him and he kept Israel safe. We also see God being incomparable to any other God. In a few weeks we get to that first battle with the Philistines in which they think that they can use the Ark of the Covenant as some sort of secret weapon to win any battle. God humbles the Israelites by letting them be defeated. And as the Philistines think that they have defeated God himself by putting the Ark of the Covenant before the idol of their god, Dagon, they're going, look, this tribute, we are bringing this god of Israel into submission to you. And what happens? We see that the idol of Dagon is destroyed and they are soon sending the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel being like, We can't handle this God. You do something with Him. We're through with Him. And so God doesn't need Israel to protect Himself. It's truly Israel that needs the Lord to be able to protect Him. But I just loved it. There is none beside You. There is none holy like the Lord. He is going to be proving that in the rest of these books here. But then in verse 6 and 7 it says, And we're going to see how in the books of Samuel our expectations are often turned upside down. Those who seem mighty, those who seem great, are going to fall and those who seem to not be much will be lifted up. This is especially made clear with King Saul who had every reason for outward success. He was a head taller than anyone else. He was described as being handsome. He came from a rich, well-known, well-influential family, and yet Saul's reign would end in ruin. For King David, when he was anointed to be king, he was regarded as a runt. At times we see that he too was wickedly sinful. And yet God takes him from his misery, from his mire, and God restores him and uses David to bless the people in a way that they had not seen in the history of that family for generations. In verse 8, he raises the poor up from the dust. He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's and on them he has set the world. I love just this language of God's love for those who are poor, those who are needy. Especially that idea of inheriting a seat of honor. This testimony is, I think, most beautifully seen through Jesus Christ and what He has done for us. That when we humble ourselves before the Lord, and as He completes the task of being the firstborn for us, redeeming us through His blood, we are lifted from the poverty of our sins. We are lifted from the ruin that we have made for ourselves. And what are we given instead? An inheritance. We are called to share in His inheritance. The inheritance of being princes and princesses of the kingdom of God. The inheritance of a seat of honor. And so, yes, I love just these descriptions of the Lord and how often we see the arrogant are brought down and the humble are exalted. This is only possible because we have a God who humbled himself by leaving his seat of honor for a time. to join us in our misery, that as He died, and as He took on the burden of our sin, and as He resurrected, as He ascended, and as He is exalted, He's made it possible for us to have the seats along with Him, in His presence, and with His Father, our Father, forever. As we give thanks to God for the blessings through Jesus Christ, let's pray. Lord, we do thank you that you have made your Son, Jesus Christ, to be a means of salvation that we could never do for ourselves. As we seek to understand more fully all the truths, the history, the culture that you have laid out for us in the Old Testament. It is not a thing that is separate from the joy and the glory of the gospel given to us in the New Testament. It is a preparation for all that Christ has been for us. It is a foreshadowing of all that Christ has been for us. Thank you that we can live in these generations that know Jesus for all that he is, how he is the fulfillment of all in the Old Testament, how he is the power that gave grace and ability to the means of grace that you gave to your people in the Old Testament. You've given us a beautiful book. Let us not take it for granted. Lord, we pray this all now in Jesus' name, amen.