Learning to Listen to God
1 Samuel 1-3
Rev. Brian Bill
2/18/07
Worship Through Sermon (Part 1)
We’re going to break the sermon up into two parts today. After this first section several parents will be dedicating their children to the Lord. That reminds me of what happened when a family was driving away from a church after the dedication of their baby. The older brother cried all the way home in the back seat. His mother asked him what was wrong and he replied, “The pastor said he wanted us to be brought up in a Christian home…but I want to stay with you guys!”
As we saw last week, even when things are difficult, the Book of Ruth reminds us that God weaves His ways for His glory and for our good. He does this through our weeping, our working and our waiting. In the opening chapters of 1 Samuel, we’ll see that…
1. God’s people exhibit real problems (1:1-8). It’s common to think that the heroes in the Bible were perfect people. Actually, the Bible is filled with real people with real problems, who face them with real faith. Verse 2 tells us that Elkanah “…had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Penninah. Penninah had children, but Hannah had none.” A barren womb in those days was considered a curse and Hannah would have been looked down upon. She was spiritually disturbed, socially disgraced, and emotionally depressed.
Verse 3 tells us that Elkanah and his two wives made a yearly visit to Shiloh, about a twenty-mile journey, to worship the Lord. Shiloh was where the Ark of the Covenant was located at that time. When the whole culture was headed south spiritually, Elkanah swam against the tide of apathy, and took his family to worship. It’s just part of what he does. He doesn’t get up and wonder if they should go; that question has already been answered. What about you? Have you determined ahead of time that you and your family will be in church every Sunday?
Verses 4-5 show that he gave portions of the sacrificial meat to Penninah and her children, “But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her…” This sacrifice was a thank offering, which allowed the worshipers to eat the part that was not offered to God. This “double” portion literally means, “To show the face.” He showed his face to her, indicating that she was worthy and that he cared deeply for her.
He was devout in his walk with God and devoted to Hannah, but he had a divided family because he had two wives, which was not God’s original intent for marriage. Though the Bible records the polygamous relationships of some of the patriarchs, it never endorses it. God’s Word teaches the “one wife for life” rule.
Even though these two wives were at war, the most difficult thing that Hannah faced is the phrase that is repeated twice, once at the end of verse 5 and again at the beginning of verse 6: “And the Lord had closed her womb.” We’d rather blame it all on Satan, or on someone else but it is God who allows good things and bad things to come into our lives. Job put it in a question in Job 2:10: “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”
Verse 6 describes the questionable character and personality of prolific Penninah: “…her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her.” She couldn’t just be thankful that she had children but felt the need to needle and harass Hannah. The word “provoke” literally means, “To cause her thunder.” She’s trying to get Hannah to blow her top! The word “irritate” refers to being stirred up inwardly. Verse 7 reveals that Penninah did this every year when they went to Shiloh. It bothered Hannah so much that she would weep and not be able to eat. This word means that she mourned deeply with so much grief that she lost her appetite. Some of you are in the middle of that kind of anguish right now.
In verse 8, Elkanah tries his best to comfort his wife: “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?” While it’s significant that a husband would even notice a wife’s sadness and want to find out why she’s crying, I wonder if his attempt at empathy was appreciated. Maybe his Valentine’s Day card said something like this: “You’ve got me, babe…what else do you need?” I’m not sure he really understood how deeply she wanted to have a child. After all, it’s possible to love one’s husband and still want to have children. Some of you have been hit with some insensitive comments, either by a spouse, or someone else. Words alone can’t heal this wound but God understands your pain.
2. God’s people express vibrant prayers (1:9-18). Hannah had some problems but she didn’t shut down or lash out at those around her. She expressed her agony in prayer. God uses our problems to get our attention and to teach us according to Psalm 119:71: “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.” In other words, our problems should drive us to prayer. Look at verses 10-11: “In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD. And she made a vow, saying, ‘O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.’” The phrase “wept much” implies that she poured everything out. The Hebrew word is usually preceded by the raising of one’s voice as in a scream.
Her weeping led to worship as her tears mingled with her prayers. The kind of prayer that arises from the bitterness of soul is far different from the dry prayers that I often utter. When tears are in our eyes, our prayer comes from the heart. I’m reminded of what Hebrews 5:7 says about Jesus: “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears…” Pastor Dick did a great job writing our small group curriculum and this week those in a group will wrestle with some pretty honest and raw requests that are recorded in Scripture.
The description of God as “The Lord Almighty” means, “The Lord of Hosts.” She is appealing to the Captain of the Armies of heaven, because she knows there is nothing she can do on her own. As part of her prayer, she is making a vow that if she’s given a son, he will be dedicated to the Lord for his entire life. Having worked through years of barrenness, and the problems that this caused, Hannah now realizes a very important truth: children are not just for parents; they’re for the Lord and He has loaned them to us.
It’s significant that verse 12 says, “She kept on praying to the Lord.” This wasn’t just a quick popcorn prayer. This was a repeated request, bathed in tears. Notice also that she prayed this prayer in her heart, not audibly like most Hebrews prayed. Her quiet prayer had an unfortunate consequence when Eli, the priest, accused her of being drunk. Incidentally, be careful about judging too quickly. We don’t always have all the facts.
When she had the opportunity to explain herself, Eli answered in verse 17: “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of Him.” This benediction was a huge blessing to Hannah. He didn’t know what she was praying about, but as high priest, gave his “amen” to her request. Her whole countenance changed in verse 18: “…she went away and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.” After spending time in prayer, her face was no longer sad. She had left her concerns with the Lord and now she’s experiencing the “peace that passes all understanding.” Friend, when you’ve wrestled with God in prayer, and met with Him, that alone is enough! Her bitterness has been turned into blessing; she’s still childless but no longer choked with sorrow.
3. God’s people experience God’s provision (1:19-20). A short time later, Hannah conceives and gives birth to a son, and names him Samuel. Let me just point out that God often does not answer our prayers until we are willing to do what He wants us to do. Samuel’s name sounds like the Hebrew for “heard of God.” Every time she said his name she was reminded of his origin and destiny.
I want to be careful here. Just because Hannah’s prayers for a son were answered, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be given a child because you pray for one. But you will receive God’s provision, one way or another. God loves to give good gifts to His children according to Matthew 7:11: “…how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” God answered Hannah’s prayer but not just so she could have a baby. God needed a special prophet He could work through. He allowed a time of barrenness in Hannah’s life to bring a greater blessing than she could ever imagine.
4. God’s people excel at keeping their promises (1:21-28). After Samuel was born, Hannah dedicated herself to her child, nursing and nurturing him, knowing that when he is able to eat on his own, she “…will take him and present him before the Lord, and he will live there always.” Many people make promises to God, only to forget them once time passes. Not so with Hannah. She fully intended to keep her promise because she knew that Samuel did not really belong to her anyway.
Hannah not only dedicated herself to her child, she dedicated her child to the Lord in verse 28: “So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD…” She repeated this twice as if to cement her commitment, knowing that she will never revoke it. She understood that Samuel was a gift from the Lord; that’s why she could give him back. Even though she gave Samuel to her Savior, she never bailed on her responsibility. Look at 2:19: “Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.” Verse 28 ends with a glimpse into young Samuel’s heart: “And he worshiped the LORD there.” Even at a young age, he was able to worship. Never underestimate what a child can learn and how much they can love the Lord.
It’s one thing to say that our children are dedicated to the Lord; it’s another thing altogether to give them to the Lord. About five years ago, when Megan was two-years-old she fell off a bed and landed on her head while I was here at church getting ready for the second service. When I got the phone call, I flew home as fast as I could. I’ll never forget driving up old 66, with tears running down my face, as I prayed out loud, “Lord, Megan belongs to you. I will still love you even if you take her.” When Becca was born, she stopped breathing several times and was hooked up to a monitor for many months. We always had an unsettled sense that she might not make it through the night. When Lydia was only a day old, she started choking and had her grandfather not done mouth-to-mouth, she would have died. And this past August, when we took Emily to college, I wept during orientation when the speaker said, “You blink and they’re all grown up!” I cried most of the next day at work – Pastor Dick and Pastor Jeff tried to send me home because I was such a mess.
The only way to process all of this is to remember as a parent that our children are not really ours. They are on loan from the Lord for a short period of time. They are given…to be given back.
5. God’s people explode with praise (2:1-11). We don’t have time this morning to plumb the depths of Hannah’s beautiful psalm of praise in chapter two, but I do want to point out that there is no element of sadness here at all. She has just dropped off Samuel at the temple and now she breaks out into praise. She was thrilled to be able to parent a prophet! Listen to verses 1-2: “My heart rejoices in the LORD; in the LORD my horn is lifted high…There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.”
Notice that she doesn’t brag about how handsome Samuel is, or how smart he is, or how neat it is that he can say prayers at such a young age. She overlooks the gift and gives praise to the Giver. There is no one else who is holy like the Lord and no one else who will be her Rock through the storms of life. Hannah endures years of silent suffering because of her barrenness and the cruel harassment at the hand of her rival. She goes to the place of worship, knowing how painful it is. She faithfully worships, pouring out her tears and petitions. And when God answers her prayers, she not only keeps her promise, she explodes with praise.
Worship Through Surrender
It’s in that attitude of adoration, that I want to invite some parents to come up front so they can make a promise before God, and before us, to give back to the Lord what He has so graciously given to them. In Mark 10, we read these words of Jesus, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these…and he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.” At PBC we believe that baptism is reserved for those who have been regenerated by the new birth and as such, we do not baptize infants. We do however; recognize the importance of dedicating children to the Lord, following the example of Hannah and even the example of Joseph and Mary as they brought the infant Jesus to the Temple.
I want to ask these parents a few questions…
• Do you recognize that your child is a gift to you, on loan from the Lord, the Creator and Sustainer of life?
• Are you ready to give your child back to the Lord to be used for His glory?
• Do you covenant with God to teach your child about the Lord so that he or she will have an opportunity to become a born again believer?
• Will you do whatever it takes to raise your child in a Christian home that is conducive to Christian character development, including regular attendance at church and other ministry opportunities?
• Do you promise to pray for your child on a regular basis?
Worship Through Song
Worship Through Sermon (Part 2)
Have you heard that commercial for one of the cell phone companies with this phrase, “Can you hear me now?” God wants us to hear what He has to say but we’ll do this only after we learn how to listen. In our closing minutes I want to draw some listening lessons from the life of Samuel, Hannah’s son, who has been living at the Temple for a few years. Samuel is a key individual in Old Testament history. He’s right up there with Moses and David and was instrumental in moving God’s people (even though it was against his wishes) from a theocracy to a monarchy. We’ll learn more about that next week. I see three listening lessons in 1 Samuel 3:
1. Proper Practice. Look at 1 Samuel 3:1: “The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.” Samuel’s job was to serve the Lord, doing menial jobs like keeping the lamps lit, and probably keeping the place clean. The key here is that Samuel ministered even when the spiritual climate in Israel was fairly frigid. Likewise we must keep on serving even when we’re in a “winter of the soul” stage. We could say it this way, Try even if you’re dry. God’s Word was scarce and we know from verse 7 that Samuel didn’t even know the Lord yet. He knew about God but didn’t know Him personally…yet. But he did the proper practice. Friend, keep doing what you know you need to be doing even if God feels distant, when His Word seems dry, and whether you feel down or not.
2. Proper Proximity. Samuel not only ministered, verse 3 tells us that he was “…lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.” Did you catch that? He was adjacent to the ark of God. “If you’re gonna hear, you got to be near.” James 4:8: “Come near to God and He will come near to you.” Are you in the same room as God is? Are you sincerely trying to get as near to Him as you can through regular worship, Bible study, and prayer? God communicates with those who are close to Him; His revelation comes to those who are in relationship with Him. You can’t put this into a fancy formula for it’s only out of a faith relationship that God speaks to us. Friend, if you are distant from God, you will drift. Or, as I’ve said before: If you unplug you will unravel. Related to this, make sure that you are cultivating enough quiet in your life as Psalm 46:10 reminds us: “Be still and know that I am God.” Charles Spurgeon refers to these times as “sacred sittings.”
3. Proper Priorities. Samuel not only had a proper practice and stayed in close proximity; he also had at least three priorities:
• He was a surrendered servant (10). The Lord called Samuel and he replied with this great statement of surrender: “Here I am.” Thinking that it must be Eli who was calling, he ran to him three different times. After the third time, Eli realizes that it must be the Lord calling Samuel and so he tells him to go and lie down. Here’s what we read in verse 10: “The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Then Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.’” Don’t you love that God knows our name? His call to us is personal. And God loves it when we say, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” It’s very similar to what Isaiah said in Isaiah 6:8: “Here am I. Send me.” When we invite the Lord to speak into our lives and we remind ourselves that we are His servants, He is greatly pleased. Tragically, Eli didn’t hear God’s voice any longer and didn’t even get out of bed to see how he would be led by the Lord.
Mike and Robin Wahls are ministering in Ghana and we have an opportunity as a church to decide whether we’re going to support them and two other couples at our rescheduled semi-annual business meeting on Tuesday, February 27th. I love how they begin their most recent prayer letter: “Three months ago tomorrow, we started out knowing but one thing: God had called us to go to Ghana to help plant a church…” Because they are surrendered servants they listened to the Lord and followed Him.
• He was a courageous communicator (18). The message Samuel received was not easy to deliver but he passed it along because he was obedient. Look at verse 18: “So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him.” Interestingly, the Hebrew for “listen” is the word “obey.” To say we will listen to the Lord means that we will do what He says, no matter how difficult it is.
• He had a wonder for God’s Word (19). I love verse 19: “The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground.” This was a metaphor that came from the idea of water being spilled on the ground. Don’t let God’s Word carelessly cascade to the ground. When he prompts you to do something, do it. Give, serve and go. Send a card, make a call or bake a casserole. Perhaps He’s calling you into ministry or missions. Whatever it is, don’t disregard His direction. If God says it, that settles it. If you ever hear yourself say, “I know what the Bible says, but…” you are in danger of letting His Word drop. God’s Word is wonderful; don’t waste it.
Sometimes I wonder what is really meant when someone says, “God spoke to me.” My guess is that most people are not referring to an audible voice. God speaks through His Word, through sermons, through His Spirit, through our conscience, through circumstances and through others. Here are some tests to use to see if God is reall speaking:
1. Is it God-centered or self-centered? 1 Samuel 2:30: “Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me I will despise.”
2. Is it in sync with Scripture? God will never contradict Himself.
3. Is it consistent with what godly counselors are saying? Samuel sought out Eli. Proverbs 15:22: “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”
4. Do you have personal peace about it?
Does God speak? Yes he does. He’s speaking all the time. The real question is this: Am I listening? If we hear Him than we better heed Him. If you struggle to hear Him maybe it’s because you don’t really know Him yet. John 8:47: “He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” God is calling. Will you answer? When He says, “Can you hear me now?” will you say, “Speak, for your servant is listening?”
