Intro:
1. One day Linus and Charlie Brown are walking. Linus says, “I don’t like to face problems head on. I think the best way to solve problems is to avoid them. In fact, this is a distinct philosophy of mine. No problem is so big or so complicated that it can’t be run away from!”
2. That will work if you’re a cartoon character but if you’re a real person you cannot avoid problems! But you can run to God when the pressure comes.
3. We can go from Pressure to Prayer to Praise – part 1
I Sam. 1:1-28
I. First, Hannah’s Pressure. 1:1-8
1 Samuel 1:1-8 (NKJV)
1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
2 And he had two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
3 This man went up from his city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. Also the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there.
4 And whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an offering, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters.
5 But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the LORD had closed her womb.
6 And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the LORD had closed her womb.
7 So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat.
8 Then Elkanah her husband said to her, "Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? And why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?"
A. Her Husband.
1. He was a Priest.
Ramathaim Zophim – else where called Ramah was about 15 miles north of Jerusalem.
an Ephraimite – relates to the territory in which they lived not their tribal origin. They were Levites thus did not have an appointed portion of land but lived among the other tribes. I Chron. 6:16,22, 33-35
Today all believers are priests ( I Pet. 2:5,9/ Rev. 1:6; 5:10), but in the O.T. only those from the tribe of Levi were.
2. He was a Polygamist. 1:2a
Polygamy is the practice of having more than one wife at a time. God’s Word teaches that marriage should consist of one man and one woman (Gen.2:18, 24/Mt.19:4-6).
The Bible records the evil effects of polygamy as in the life of Abraham (Gen.16:4-16); Jacob (Gen.35:22; 37:18-28); David (2 Sam.13:1-29; 15:1ff), and Solomon (I Ki.11:1-12).
What apparently happened was the same thing that happened to Abraham and Sarah. She could not have a child so he married Hagar with the purpose of giving Abraham a child. Hannah is the first wife; she could not have a child so he married Peninnah.
He should have sought God’s will not another wife (Gen. 25:21).
3. He was a man of Praise! 3
Is not that grace? Here is a man who had disobeyed God’s Word and yet worships the Lord through the sacrifice [Jesus].
Maybe you have a terrible sin in your past; you can confess it as sin and get preoccupied with praising God through Christ.
Thomas Merton, “If I make anything out of the fact that I am Thomas Merton, I am dead. And if you make anything out of the fact that you are in charge of the pig barn, you are dead. Quit keeping score altogether and surrender yourself with all your sinfulness to God who sees neither the score nor the scorekeeper but only his child redeemed by Christ.”
4. A Provider. 1:4-5, 8
He provided her with not only food but love and encouragement! But notice he could not take the place of God! No human being can do what God can do. Gen.30:1-2
It is not enough to see the problem we must also see the right solution.
During WWII the British navy was frustrated by the threat of German submarines. They couldn’t locate them, one officer offered this solution, “Once you bring the ocean to a boil, the submarines will be forced to the surface. Then you can knock them off!”
He was then asked, “But how does one boil the ocean?” He replied “I don’t know. I just give the ideas, I don’t implement them.”
Hannah was frustrated but Elkanah’s solution was worthless! Ultimately only God, not man, can solve our problems.
B. Her Headache. 1:2, 6-7
1. Peninnah’s provocation was Unbearable.
Provoked her severely – lit. “Provoked her to anger, indeed provocation.” It means to be irritated to the point of anger.
to make her miserable – lit. “to cause her to tremble.”
2. Peninnah’s provocation was Continual. 7
You got any headaches? Maybe an ex-husband or wife; a rebellious child; an unprofessional teacher at school; perhaps your boss is a jerk; or you have a neighbor who is up every night with loud parties;
C. Her Heartbreak. 2b, 6b
had no children – this was the worst thing that could be said of a woman in that day. It went against God’s mandate to be fruitful and multiply; it meant that the Messiah could not come through her; it meant a lack of needed manual laborers; it meant that people thought one was cursed by God, since children were considered a blessing from God; it was a violation of God’s commandment to be fruitful and multiply!
Hannah is having a bad life! Her husband can’t help, her life is one headache and heartbreak. She reminds me of Charlie Brown who is talking with Linus. Linus says, “Charlie, you look kind of depressed.” He says, “I worry about school a lot. I also worry about my worrying so much, that my anxieties have anxieties!”
But did you notice verse 5b? The Lord has closed her womb! It was God who gave her husband, it was God who allowed her to have that thorn Peninnah, and the heartbreak of barrenness was from the Lord’s hand also!
Margaret Clarkson, “The sovereignty of God is the one impregnable rock to which the suffering human heart must cling. The circumstances surrounding our lives are no accident; they may be the work of evil, but that evil is held firmly within the mighty hand of our sovereign God…All evil is subject to Him, and evil cannot touch His children unless He permits it. God is the Lord of human history and of the personal history of every member of His redeemed family.”
We must see God’s invisible hand behind every thing in your life. Her pressure what should we do with it?
II. Next, our pressure should take us to God in Prayer. 1:9-28
1 Samuel 1:8-28 (NKJV)
8 Then Elkanah her husband said to her, "Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? And why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?"
9 So Hannah arose after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of the LORD.
10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish.
11 Then she made a vow and said, "O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head."
12 And it happened, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli watched her mouth.
13 Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk.
14 So Eli said to her, "How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!"
15 And Hannah answered and said, "No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.
16 Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now."
17 Then Eli answered and said, "Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him."
18 And she said, "Let your maidservant find favor in your sight." So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
19 Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her.
20 So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, "Because I have asked for him from the LORD."
21 Now the man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice and his vow.
22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, "Not until the child is weaned; then I will take him, that he may appear before the LORD and remain there forever."
23 And Elkanah her husband said to her, "Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him. Only let the LORD establish His word." So the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him.
24 Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD in Shiloh. And the child was young.
25 Then they slaughtered a bull, and brought the child to Eli.
26 And she said, "O my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to the LORD.
27 For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition which I asked of Him.
28 Therefore I also have lent him to the LORD; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the LORD." So they worshiped the LORD there.
A. First, her Desperation. 1:9-10
God always meets us at the point of our desperation.
Hagar was treated harshly by Sarah causing her in desperation to flee into the wilderness where she meet God. Gen.16/21
Jacob was desperate when he was about to meet her brother Esau, but it was there that God blessed them. Gen.32
Joseph was crying out in desperation as he was lowered into that pit by his brothers but it was the pathway to the throne of Egypt.
Moses after killing a man spent 40 years of desperation but it guided him to God’s burning bush.
The Book of Judges is a cycle of how desperate people cry out to God and repeatedly received deliverers.
Bill Stafford, “Oh thank God for holy desperation. Did you know that God never met a man that He couldn’t get desperate? Go through the N.T., and see that every man and woman that Jesus healed or saved were desperate people. The only people that God couldn’t work on was people like the rich young ruler. Too proud, too self-sufficient, too able – rich, young, in need of nothing! And he went away lost. I wonder if we can get desperate enough to let God do something in our lives?”
B. Furthermore, her Devotion. 1:11
I will give Him to the Lord – this was not a self-centered act, but a mother who was willing to give her son.
Why do we want our prayers answered? For God’s glory our for our personal pleasure?
James 4:3 (NKJV)
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
Spurgeon, “Mothers wish to keep their children about them. It is natural that they should wish to see them often. But Hannah does not seek him for herself, but for her God. Her heart longs not to see her body at home but to see him serving in the house of the Lord.
Our hardest lesson is to learn to give up what we most prize. This is real self-denial.”
C. Next, her Distraction. 1:12-16
1. Eli’s Hostility. 12-13
Goulburn, “This was not the first time, nor will it be the last, that God’s true servants have been mocked and falsely accused for actions which have been really pious and devout. If you resolve to be a Christian, indeed you must be prepared to be misunderstood.”
2. Eli’s Hypocrisy. 14
Here is a man who is going to face a premature death because he did not restrain his wicked sons. 2:22-25, 29-30; 3:13
3. Hannah’s Humility. 15-16
There is no anger just a straightforward and gentle explanation of the truth.
D. The Divine Direction. 17-18
1. The Messenger – Eli was God’s spokesman in spite of his apparent failures. God has been known to speak through murderers like Moses; adulterers like David; Christ deniers like Peter; Liars like Abraham; etc.
2. The Message – may God grant your petition. She took this as a promise form God, and it was.
3. The Miracle of faith. 18
She immediately went from sad to glad! She is still barren; nothing has changed except God’s promise. That is how faith operates. Heb. 11:6
How can she change when she is still barren? Because faith’s object is not our self but God Himself. Rom. 4:20-21
Manly Beasley, “Faith is acting as though a thing is so, in order for it to be so, because God said it is so. Which comes first believing or receiving? Believing, anyone can believe after they have received!”
It’s not enough to have God’s promise we must act upon them.
E. Finally, the Dedication. 1:19-28
1. Source of the child. 19-20
2. Sequence. 21-23
3. Sacrifice of the child. 24-28
It’s not enough to make a commitment but we must also follow through with them!
2 Cor. 8:10-11/Heb.10:38
Con:
1. Do we have any pressure? Do we know why? It is designed to drive us to God in prayer.
2. Some automobiles are equipped with motors of 325 horsepower. I read the increase of power is produced when the cylinder head is ground, the result is an increase in the compression ratio, thus greater horsepower.
The principle is the greater the pressure, the greater the power – likewise God uses adversity in our lives, pressure to drive us to appropriate His power.
Johnny Palmer Jr.
www.strugglingthruscriptures.ning.com
www.blogtalkradio.com/strugglingthruscriptures
