Welcome to the Susquehanna Valley Baptist Pulpit, preaching a life worth living, abundant life in Christ, and now the message. And then you come down to the end of chapter 2, really the middle end of chapter 2, and you'll find out something, I'll draw your attention, I guess it's verse 21, something fantastic here. It says in verse 21, and the Lord visited Hannah so that she conceived and bare three sons and two daughters, and the child Samuel grew. before the Lord. You know, Hannah's son was not her only son. There would be five siblings that would be present. He'd be the only one that would have been dedicated fully to the temple of God. Now, if you were to research the history behind all of this, you'd find out that Elkna was of the priestly line. He was a Levite. Now, in chapter one, in verse one or two, it says, in the scriptures that he is an Ephrionite or Ephritite. And of course, you would notice that as being a tribe of Israel, but I would remind you that as you're doing your study on the background, maybe of Samuel's life, you should know that Levites were unique. Originally, in God's plan that he commissioned to the children of Israel, every oldest son belonged to him. That's what he said. And what that means is if your family had two, one of your sons would abide forever in the temple of God. He'd be like a priest unto God. And so instead, if you will, and I'm making it sound like God changed his mind, I rather would prefer to put it in such a way to say that the instruction that God taught the children of Israel was the importance of who their children belong to. And so the Lord took of an entire tribe Levi. And when your child was born. You were to take if it was a man child and there was a specific offering that you were to bring unto God. And by the way, we can send you through Jewish tradition and custom even to the time of the Lord Jesus Christ. For when he was eight days old, he was bought before the temple and they brought there an offering unto God as commanded by scriptures. We do it a little bit differently today, don't we? Someone has a birth in their family and what do we do? We have a shower. We give them things. Well, in the Old Testament the inverse was true. You had a child. It was a time where you gave a special offering unto God. And then God used the entire tribe of Levites and called them to be His ministers to the Jewish people, to be His priest and His high priest, and later the dedicated ones in the temple of God. It's interesting as well that one of the things about these Levites is they were not allowed to own physical land. So the tribes of Israel all own specific lands, but the children of Israel had various cities within the tribes by which Jews would live. And some of them were in the region of Ephraim and some would be in other regions. And so when you come to chapter one and verse one, you've got Samuel and by geographic region, yes, he was an Ephraimite. That was the region of the tribe that he lived in. But by birth, he was a son, a descendant of Levi, and a rightful one in which to dwell in the temple of God. When Hannah commissioned that Samuel would abide, it was possible for that to happen. It was possible for her son to be a priest because daddy had priestly responsibilities. When Samuel, later on in 1 Samuel chapter 15, is gonna offer a sacrifice before God, you'll remember in chapter 15, Samuel is preceded at the offering site by Saul. And Saul, in impatience, and perhaps a little bit of rebellion and greed as well, offered an offering before God, and he wasn't of the tribe of Levi, and is chastised. And as a direct result of that, the kingdom is rent from him. And someone could ask the question, well, why could a Benjaminite not offer a sacrifice and an Ephraimite could? Because Samuel was not just an Ephraimite, he was a Levite. And it was in keeping of Old Testament commission. So he had the capability to do so. It was not any distinction against the law of God whatsoever. Now notice a few things here about Samuel that I think ought to catch your eye as you're looking into chapter two. And there's so much that I want to really speak of tonight, and I wanna look at this prayer just a moment. Let's just do that first, just a couple of notes about the prayer that I find just to be absolutely important. When you get to the last verse of chapter one, look at this just a moment, the last verse. It says, therefore, also I have lent him to the Lord, as long as he liveth, He shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshiped the Lord there. Who's the he? It's Samuel. I find quite the declination that Samuel had never been to Shiloh until this time. Mom didn't take him up with the rest of the family. And the reason doing so And she was about to give her son with no strings attached to the work and fulfillment of the ministry of God. And I think about this verse here and I think there are probably parents that say, ah see preacher, parents ought to stay real close with everything, don't let them invest in the ministry of God. Well that's fine as long as when they come of a certain age that you're going to let them be completely and wholly dedicated unto it. This was not so much a selfish plea as it was a preparation. He was about to go into the most loony bin of all priestly realms and minister. His co-workers are going to be the two sons that are greedy, immoral, and wicked. And anciently, almost called him Levi, but ancient Eli. That's who his co-workers were going to be. Seems like somebody needs to teach him a little bit of absolute truth. I'd like to ask you a question. Where did he learn how to worship God? He had never, by this time, according to the passage I read a moment ago, she isn't taking him to Shiloh until she's going to take him and he ain't coming back. Where did he learn how to worship? Where did he learn his theology at? Homeschooling. Where did he learn what sacrifices please God? I mean, when he shows up on day one, He's, I mean, he's going to wit something that literally he's never seen before. First thing you find about Samuel, he's a man, he's a young man, but he's a worshiping man. Notice a couple of other things. I'm just going to point these out in keeping. You drop down into verse number 11. I'm in chapter 2 just for a moment. Verse number 11, Elknaw went to Rama to his house, and the child, that's Samuel, did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest. He worshipped, he ministered. You find again a reference to Samuel in verse 18, and Samuel ministered before the Lord being a child girded with a linen ephod. He ministered. Then you come down to verse 21, and the child Samuel grew before the Lord. And then in verse 26, and the child Samuel grew on, and was in favor both with the Lord and also with men." It's interesting that when you parallel the ongoing events of 1 Samuel, that statement in verse 26 is worth considering for a moment. He grew on and was in favor both with the Lord and also with men. That's interesting because Levi's sons, in verse 12 referred to as the sons of Belial, were not in favor with God nor man. In fact, look in verse 17, and speaking of Levi or rather Eli's sons, the sin of these young men, the sons of Belial, they're Levi, that's the high priest, these are the high priest in waiting. The sin of the young men was so very great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord. You know what it's presenting to you? The treachery and greed of Eli's son was so great an offense, not only to God, but to the Hebrews that were present in that day, that the people, the men, abhorred coming to the tabernacle to give a sacrifice. Yet Samuel grew in favor both with God and man. I'd like to take some time tonight to talk about the praise of Hannah. The question, what did he learn and where did he learn it? And I think that's why it's important to look in these verses here in chapter two just for a moment. This is a song. I realize we're speaking of Hannah prayed, but she starts with her hearts rejoicing. This is a testimony of her lips. And she expresses some wonderful biblical truth, read in that theology, that no doubt was rehearsed again and again and again into the ears of her children. I'd mention here that not only was it rehearsed in his ear, but it was behaved on and witnessed by his eyes. One of the greatest disservices that parents will ever do in attempting to raise their children right is to preach one thing and live another. You don't have to be perfect for your children but you do have to be trending in the right direction for your children. I think as you look in scriptures you're hard place to find any perfect parents at all. To the greatest parent and all the 66 books of the Bible, and I'm not talking about God the Father, but as you look at the parents, every one of them has challenges that they face in their life. There's not a perfect, if there was a perfect parent in the word of God, that's who we ought to preach on all the time. They're not. Elkna is not a perfect dad. Hannah is not a perfect mom. And certainly as you move down through the narrative in the first Samuel, one of the things that precipitated there being a king, one of the things that motivated there being a King Saul wasn't the fact that Samuel was part of a monastatic order that is unmarried. You know why? One of the reasons they wanted a king? If there was something you're going to lay a claim in Samuel's life, the sons, and I do not think it would be all of his sons, and I say that because of the book of Psalms, he had a son named Heman, and Heman was a psalmist. Several psalms in the scriptures were given unto this descendant, Heman. But it would seem that the sons that would have followed Samuel were just a slice better than Eli's sons. And I would submit to you that though your children have a responsibility to choose right, we as parents have responsibilities as well. And I do think it's at least twofold. One, to faithfully deliver truth. You'll be more effective as a disciple of Jesus Christ in your children's lives than any teacher ever will. You're there. When that child does wrong, what an opportunity to correct them with biblical truth. Pour it on them. Saturate them with biblical truth. Give them what God thinks about a matter. That's part of the responsibility. There's another part. There is incumbent upon the life of every parent the responsibility also to live godly. I suppose if we looked at Hannah, and I relate this to you from this morning's message, in Hannah's crisis, one thing about her is she was never combative. She wasn't confused. She didn't rediscover her faith. She did not reapportion her faith. She didn't dilute her faith. No, she was steadfast and unmovable. She's not vastly critical of Elkna's other wife outside of the facts that remain. She's not theologically confused. She's not lost her minds emotionally. What a testimony that is passed on to the life of Samuel. It'd be one thing if she had prayed such a prayer, if she had given such a praise psalm as we find here in chapter two, but she not only had it inwardly, but she exposed her faith and how she lived on a daily life as well. It's a wonderful praise that she gives. Look at this theology. She says, my horn is exalted, my mouth enlarged over mine enemies. And the blessings be to the eternal God in verse two, there is none holy as the Lord. There is none beside thee, neither is there any rock like our God. Talk no more exceedingly proud. Let not arrogance come out of your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge and by Him, what is Wade? She was keenly aware that God was watching her. One of the great motives in the Christian life is to realize that God is watching me. You want to talk about having integrity and character in your life? There's no other greater force that should produce a genuine desire in our life for character, like the fact that the eyes of the Lord are searching to and fro across the earth, beholding the good and the evil. He's watching you. In one sense, I'm thankful He's watching you. He's watching me when I'm unaware of my surroundings. He's watching me and that's a state of constant comfort in our life. that he knoweth our frame, but he's also watching me, because every day we make dozens, perhaps hundreds of decisions, and God pondereth the hearts of his saints. It goes on in verse number four, the bows of the mighty men are broken. That word mighty men, those are men of battle. These are men skilled with a bow. They knew how to use the bow, not just the arrows, as an offensive weapon, and they're broken before them. And they that stumbled casual on their feet, unprepared on their feet, are girded with strength. The role is somewhat inverse. Those that were prepared for battle, those that should have been absolutely at home and comfort in that time of great difficulty, their lives dispersed. And they that stumbled, no doubt because they had trusted in the Lord, they've girded themselves. with great strength. Verse 5 is interesting. They that were full have hired themselves for bread, and they that have hungry have ceased. The emphasis had to be hungry. Look at this phrase. It's really interesting. I don't have the answer that I'm about to ask for the question, but it's interesting. So that the barren hath born seven, and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. Do you think there's a slightly veiled comment present there? For there was a woman in Hannah's life that had born many children, that adversary, and she's now waxed feeble. She's grown on to be an old, tired lady. And the baron, I would assume that's Hannah, hath born seven. But I can't count seven that she's birthed. I count three and two and one. And the last time I checked, that was six. I suppose one could look at that and say, yes, it has something to do with psalmist and poetry and seven being completeness. And perhaps that's the answer. But nonetheless, the barren hath born many. And verse six, the Lord killeth and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave and he bringeth up. He maketh poor, he maketh rich, he bringeth low, he lifteth up. She understood the doctrine of what we would call today the sovereignty of the Almighty God. There are crisis believers go through. I don't have the answers for them. Why do some seemingly dedicated believers die early in life? And there are some heathen that have lived the hardest of all lives and they're still alive today. I can't remember the guy's name. It probably sullies the pulpit to mention it, but there's an old rock and roll guy. He's got long hair, you know, and been around. He's about 190 years old, but country-western kind of guy. I don't remember his name. Somebody just said something. But anyway, he's still old and still smoking his weed. You ponder about that. I know some very chaste, diligent people that seemingly put God first in their life and they died young. And then I've looked and there's some old, crass, God-denying individual that they seem to be living late into years. Why are things like that? Hannah could ask the same question. Here I'm trying to please God and I've got no children and Paniah, she's doing what she's doing and she's got a passal of them. You know, Hannah never questioned why things weren't fair. She just questioned why things were the way they were. And particularly as it pertained to her. You want to know why? God chooses some things. I don't necessarily particularly, I'm not always fond of his choices. But one thing certain in the Christian life, it isn't your way right away. God chooses. The psalmist would say in the 90th Psalm, he said, your life is like a story that is already told. Your years are allotted unto you. Now I'm for some of the strides, and we'll get in trouble here for a moment, that I feel like our society is trending towards, particularly in the areas of health. I think some of it's a positive thing. I was relating to my wife this past week that I live, I have lived in life in such a way just over 40 years that I can remember And many of you will remember this. And there'll be a great host of people here that have no idea. They'll hardly believe this. But I can remember vividly as 10, 11 year old boy walking into stores and people were smoking inside of stores. I can remember that. I can remember going into gas stations and the waft of smoke was thick. I can remember tar being present. I remember we bought a car once. So I gave it to my dad. Dad got all kinds of things given to him, but he got this car. And he called me out one Saturday and said, come on, help me clean the windows. And we were fighting with the inside of the window because it had layers of tar residue from smoking. I mean, you're just, you're fighting with it. If you've never had that experience, you've missed some things in life. But I can remember that. I can remember people getting upset when the federal government ultimately and local governments begin to declare smoke-free zones. I can remember making hospital visits where people were smoking in the general population area inside the hospital. I remember these things. And I can rest assured that in many ways the decision or regulation of the government was, it benefited a lot of people. And so there's some strides being made today among health. But I can tell you this. It's God that gives life. Surely the scripture saith it is appointed to the man once to die. And after this, the judgment. Now, granted, there are some things you can do to flat cut short your life. It's in the book. First Corinthians chapter number 11. For this cause, many do sleep and afflict among absolutely. Go ask Absalom if you can cut short your life. You can choose with your life to live such a godless, reprobate life. And as a result of it, your days on earth are going to be shorter. That's natural consequence. There's many a young man that had a desire and a need for speed and drugs and wound up perishing prematurely in life. That happens. There's many a young person engaged in rampant immorality instead of waiting biblically according to marriage. And as a result, they gain to themselves diseases and cut short their health. That happens. I suppose it to say that there's little that you can do to really add years to the allotment that you have. No wonder Hannah said, The Lord killeth, and the Lord maketh alive. Verse 8, she says, He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, lifteth the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, to make them inherit the throne of glory for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he has set the world upon it. Sounds a little bit in that verse like the earth is sitting on an axis. That was free. Well, you think about this. I think some of these verses, particularly when you get down to verse number 10, and she's getting a little eschatological in her preaching or singing, if you will. That's what she's doing. She's talking about, he shall judge the ends of the earth. He shall give strength unto his king. But wait a minute. Saul's not even born. Saul's daddy is not even born. There's no David. There's no king. How did she? Who's she talking about? She's talking about the King of Kings. I submit to you, you dissect this. It is chock full of proper theology of who God is, what his extent of his power is, that God has a plan, a pertinent plan for your life, that you are responsible and you one day will stand and give an account for your life. O Samuel, he'll judge the ends of the earth. That's what's in the scriptures. And the heart of the saint might say, well, what if I'm the only one doing right? What if it seems that no one else is? Verse number 11, he'll keep his saints, the feet of his saints. The wicked will be in silent darkness, for by the strength shall no man prevail. And then she concludes with the anointing, the exalted horn of his anointed. I think that refers to Jesus Christ. 10 verses and she's teaching a young man. I suppose if he could really grab the depth of these verses it would be better seminary training than what's available in the modern markets today. Far better theological training than Eli ever gave his sons or that his sons would ever take to their life. And because of this Hannah in her praise leaves an absolute legacy for Samuel. Let me give you just a few of these. In her praise to God, in chapter one, particularly in verse number 19, she worships God. It's right in the text. She worshiped before the Lord. What a powerful thing. You know, it's completely impossible to worship someone that you do not have a constant relationship with. We've moved in a society, and I do not think that this is just our society, for it's also true in scriptures, where people talk about worship services like they would talk about the time a football game begins. You're unqualified to worship a God that you do not know what he wants in worship. And I'll go a step further. If the worship that you're pretending to give unto God is something that you derive a tremendous amount of personal fleshly joy out of, there stands a strong probability that it's not worship that God's getting much of. Worship in the scriptures is always dedicated with a cost. David said, I will not give unto the Lord That which costeth me nothing. Oh, how pleased God must have been with Hannah's worship. For she had given everything to Him. She had found herself content to worship God and to be satisfied in His will, even if that will was diametrically opposed unto her own. She worshiped God. It's interesting, the second part of her praise in her life that you see in verse 20, and really even following. But she conceives and bears a son, Samuel, names him after the very reference of God, because I have asked of God and I would submit to you that she remembers God. Oh, the Christian that's given a fake vow. God, if you do this for me, I'll do this for you. And I don't think that that's exclusively everything that is present, but she remembered him. Oh, the temptation must have been great. Of course, I think she could look back in her scriptures just like we can. Seems like there was another couple that were barren from year to year to year to year to year that God promised a son. And when they were past the time in which children were born to couples, old dear mama laughed at thinking that she could have a child. And yet God, as only he can do, gave them a child and they named him Isaac, which being interpreted in the Hebrew tongue means laughter. And when Isaac grew towards the visible portion of a man, God told him to Abraham, I want you to take thy son, thine only son, and I want you to offer him unto me. I wonder if Abraham had the temptation not to do so. I look here in first Samuel chapter one. She remembers the Lord. She remembered his deeds. She remembered his goodness. And in verse 24 and 28. When she had winged him, she took him with her, three bullocks, an ephah, a flower, a bottle of wine, and brought him into the house of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young. She sacrifices to God. Oh, I suppose if you'd waited a great sense for dear beloved Samuel, wouldn't bother you that you took three bullocks You'd have given 10. Wouldn't have bothered you to get one ephah, you'd have given 40. But I'm prepared to remind you that she remembered God and she was ready to sacrifice all to Him. And then we come to the last verse here in this passage, the one we started with earlier. I'll highlight those again for you. In verse 28, he, that is Samuel, worshiped. Verse 11 of chapter 2, Samuel ministered. Same is found in verse 18. Verse 21, Samuel grew. And verse 26, he grew on. That's what he's going to do. I submit to you, how did he know this? Does this theologically sound? God fearing mama taught him some things. And because of such, Samuel would choose to have a faith like his mother. And so one of the things about the scriptures, I praise God that if you're here this evening and maybe you didn't have a mama that had good faith towards God, you can still have great faith towards God. Your faith and obedience towards God is not predicated in your parents. Your parents could have been heathen, and yet you can be a mighty person for the things of God. But, oh, if your parents were dedicated towards the things of God, what a great and glorious opportunity you have to make a choice to follow him that your parents followed. What a wonderful legacy to do so. But I submit to you, it's a legacy of free will choice. For the scripture is absolutely chock full of second and third generation turnoffs that had very little to do for the things of God. Despite the fact that they had been given everything, they had a clear godly example before them that taught and instructed and the child will look at that and say, no thanks, I'm good. That's not the choice Samuel makes. Samuel looked at that godly saint that God had placed in his life and he said, that's the faith I want. That's the praise I want. That's the pursuit I want. And his life, Samuel's, will become a beacon of service unto God. Verse 18, Samuel trained to do so. Samuel was a servant-oriented young person. Oh, that's something that's far missing in today's age. Samuel was not about everything that every other child wanted to be about. Samuel shows up and on day one with Eli, he's ready to minister before the Lord. His orientation, his preparation, his mother's commendation in his life was for him to be dedicated wholly unto God. to have parents and children that will make those choices in their life and say my sole existence on this earth is to please the God that has given my life to me. I have written in several Bibles on the whiteboard there in the study. Three phrases found and I believe it was William Borden's Bible. He speaks of no retreat, He speaks of no resistance. He speaks of no regrets. His pursuit in life to please God. Oh, that we would choose, like Samuel, to be servant-oriented. I'll give you a second thing about Samuel and his life that you'll see, and I certainly think he learned it from Mama. Samuel was stable in his life. When you find in verse 11, And verse 18 in chapter 2, Samuel ministered, Samuel ministered. Samuel's ministering. The marvelous thing is it seems as only Samuel's ministering. Probably 22 years ago I sat in a Bible conference and I remember it as vividly as I see you this evening and I heard a preacher preach a message called ministering in the middle of a mess. This is exactly what was occurring to Samuel's life. Everything around him is crazy. But Samuel's ministering. One thing about Samuel you'll see in his life, he's a man of grand stability. There's hardly a high priest. There's hardly a judge. There's hardly a leader in all the history of Israel that would face more crises than Samuel. And he's never shaken. He's never stirred. He's never dismayed. He's steadfast. Friend, you're not born with those genetics. That's something that's learned in life. And he learned as a young age to see a mom who was in a mess. Her family was a mess. Her leadership was a mess. Her government was a mess. Her home was a mess. Everything's a mess. And she had stability in faith with God. You look at Samuel's life. He learned from Mama how to be steadfast. He served God. He is the last judge and really performs also the role of the priest of Israel, the last judge of Israel, even though he also performed the duties of the priest. Now, it's interesting. I'm uncertain. I'm uncertain of how old Samuel was when he goes and starts ministering with Eli. I don't know. 5, 10, 12, I don't know. I likely think that 5 is closer than 12. And I really don't know how old Samuel was when he died. But you know what I can tell you? That when they go to call Saul to be king, one of the impetuses was that Samuel was already older than dirt. And you want to know something? Saul would rule for 40 years. And for at least perhaps halfway through that ministry, Samuel's still kicking around and he'll anoint David. And from the anointing of David to the time David succeeds Saul as king would be better than 10 years. When you start tabulating things, it's very likely that Samuel did not die until he was close to 90 years old. Now, let's do a little math. If you started ministering before God when you were 10, and you died ministering before God when you were 90, how long did you minister before God? That's 80 years. I don't think it'd be that long. All right, let's go 70 years. How many people you know that are faithful to a task in any field that long? He was steadfast. In the old age, I will not sin against God. Brings me to a fourth thing about Saul. He had learned in life how to be selfless. As they seek to appoint Saul, despite Paul's, or rather Samuel's preaching and the word of God, Saul makes a proclamation to him. In 1 Samuel 12, verse 23, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you. From one beginning to another, Samuel exists as a legacy of really the praise and faith of Hannah. Hannah provided an example of godliness unto the Lord. She provided an element of goodness in the life of Samuel. Time won't allow me to revisit this, but if you go to chapter 2 and verse 21, this is like, I love this passage, but you find out the kid's growing and you know what happens to a growing boy? Their clothes have to be replaced. And every year when she would go down to Shiloh and she'd see a little boy, he's a little taller and a little broader. And you know what she brought every year? A coat. She aided him in helping to do the work of the ministry. What an element of goodness. And she's an enduring legacy of greatness. A legacy for us, if you will, Proverbs 31, favor is deceitful, beauty is vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. It's one thing to praise God with our lips. It's quite another to praise Him with the daily choices that we make in life. I think that really is a legacy for both of these. Neither Hannah nor her son have a life of ease. But when you look at the whole of their life, it's a life that was set on pleasing God. It's a life that was set on the preeminence of God. It's a life that was set on righteousness. It's a life that was set on goodness. And my friend, it was a life that other believers in the vicinity of these two individuals could set their clock by. You knew the choices that Samuel was going to make. You knew that when the crisis come, you knew that Samuel would do right. much like dear mother would as well. May God help us to leave a legacy to our children, to our family, to our community, a legacy of goodness, a legacy directed to put Christ first, to let him be preeminent and to be about the work of God despite the many troubles of this life. Let's stand at your feet. Thank you for listening. If you would like to contact us, please write us at P.O. Box 126-541-Harrisburg, PA 17112 and visit our website at www.svbcpa.org. Until next time!