Worthy of Praise - 1 Samuel 1 - May 12, 2013
Series: Mother’s Day
Dear Mom,
Our scout master told us all to write to our parents in case you saw the flood on TV and worried. We are OK. Only 2 of our tents and 4 sleeping bags got washed away. Luckily, none of us got drowned because we were all up on the mountain looking for Jeff when it happened. Please call Jeff's mother and tell her he is OK but he can't write her himself because of the cast. I got to ride in one of the search & rescue jeeps. It was pretty cool.
We never would have found him in the dark if it hadn't been for the lightning. Scoutmaster Web got mad at Jeff for going on a hike alone without telling anyone. Jeff said he did tell him, but it was during the fire so he probably didn't hear him. Did you know that if you put gas on a fire, the gas can will blow up? The wet wood still didn't burn, but one of our tents did. Also some of our clothes. Larry is going to look weird until his hair grows back.
We will be home on Saturday if Scoutmaster Webb gets the car fixed. It wasn't his fault about the wreck. After all the brakes worked OK when we left. Scoutmaster Webb said that a car that old you have to expect something to break down; that's probably why he can't get insurance on it. We think it's a neat car though. He doesn't care if we get it dirty, and if it's hot, sometimes he lets us ride on the tailgate. It gets pretty hot with 10 people in a car mom so we ride on the tailgate a lot.
He let us take turns riding in the trailer until the highway patrolman stopped and talked to us. Scoutmaster Webb is a neat guy. Don't worry, he is a good driver. In fact, he is teaching brother Doug how to drive. But he only lets him drive on the mountain roads where there isn't any traffic. All we ever see up there are logging trucks.
This morning all of the guys were diving off the rocks and swimming out in the lake. Scoutmaster Webb wouldn't let me because I can't swim and Jeff was afraid he would sink because of his cast, so he let us take the canoe across the lake. It was great. You can still see some of the trees under the water from the flood. Scoutmaster Webb isn't crabby like some scoutmasters. He didn't even get mad about the life jackets. He has to spend a lot of time working on the car so we are trying not to cause him any trouble.
Guess what? We have all passed our first aid merit badges. When Rob dove in the lake and cut his arm, we got to see how a tourniquet works. Also Bruce and I threw up. Scoutmaster Webb said it probably was just food poisoning from the leftover chicken, he said they got sick that way with the food they ate in prison. I'm so glad he got out and become our scoutmaster. He said he sure figured out how to get things done better while he was doing his time.
I have to go now. We are going into town to mail our letters and buy bullets.
Don't worry about anything. We are fine.
Love, Dave
Well surely that’s a letter that would tear at the heart strings of any mother. Perhaps some of you have received letters like that from your own children. Something that makes you want to laugh and cry at the same time. That’s what I think parenthood feels like a lot – you’re never sure if you should be laughing or crying at any given time and sometimes you just do both at once.
I read about a woman who telephoned a friend and asked how she was feeling, "Terrible," came the reply over the line, "my head's splitting and my back and legs are killing me. The house is a mess, and the kids are simply driving me crazy." Very sympathetically the caller said, "Listen, go and lie down, I'll come over right away and cook lunch for you, clean up the house, and take care of the children while you get some rest. By the way, how is Sam?"
"Sam?" the complaining housewife gasped. "I don’t know anyone named Sam."
"My goodness," exclaimed the first woman, "I must have dialed the wrong number."
There was a long pause and then the harried mother hopefully asked in a still small voice, "You’re still coming over though, aren’t you?" Now for some of you those days are long past. You now have the grandkids to look forward to, to nurture to encourage and to return home at the end of the day. But even if your kids are grown you never stop being a mother. You never stop caring and you never stop loving. (Author Unknown)
And as amazing as it is to be a parent, if we’re honest with ourselves, they’re some days that we wouldn’t mind following the directions on the aspirin bottle: “Take two and keep away from children.” Usually not an option for us though and we know that that’s not an answer for the long haul at all. Better for us by far, to look into God’s and find hope and relief and wisdom in there. So that’s what I’m going to ask you to do with me right now – to open your Bibles and we’re going to read a passage of Scripture found in the book of 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel, chapter 1, beginning in verse 1.
And while you’re turning there, let me just say this: I realize that this is a hard day for some of you, and while we do want to acknowledge our mothers and acknowledge all the women who are worshipping with us today, I also want to reassure you that our focus this morning really is deeper than that. We want to go into God’s word, and as we do so, we’re going to discover truth, that’s truth, not just for mothers, but for each of us that seeks to walk with the Lord as well. So let’s begin reading in verse 1 …
“There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the LORD. Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the LORD had closed her womb. And because the LORD had closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. Elkanah her husband would say to her, “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?” Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the LORD’s temple. 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.”” (1 Samuel 1:1–11, NIV84)
Now Hannah’s heart is breaking. All she’s ever wanted is to have children of her own; to be a mom. To make it even more painful, her rival is pushing out children left and right, and mocking Hannah’s inability to conceive. Hannah’s heart is breaking. Scripture says that in “bitterness of soul” she “wept much and prayed to the Lord.”
Folks, there’s more to being a mom or a dad than simple biology. There’s a passion involved. And not everyone who gives birth shares in that passion for their children. And not everyone who does share in that passion for children can give birth. And some of you who haven’t been able to have children, I imagine you can relate to the cry of Hannah’s heart and the anguish of her soul. But you have taken that passion for children and you’re pouring it into all the little ones that you can. And you’re being a blessing as you build into these young lives. And they call you Auntie, or they call you Uncle, and no, it’s not the same – it’s not what you had hoped, but you’ve taken that anguish of soul, and you’ve allowed the passion for children to shine through, and a blessing has been poured out just the same.
Someone once asked the question, “How do you know if you’re a mom?” And beyond the obvious, here are some of the answers that were given:
1. You count the sprinkles on each kid's cupcake to make sure they're equal.
2. You want to take out a contract on the kid who broke your child's favorite toy and made them cry.
3. You have time to shave only one leg at a time.
4. You hide in the bathroom just to be alone for a while.
5. Your child throws up and you catch it.
6. You mastered the art of placing food on a plate without anything touching.
7. You hope ketchup is a vegetable because it's the only one your child eats.
8. You read that the average five-year-old asks 437 questions a day and feel proud that your kid is "above average." (Author Unknown)
I would add a ninth to that list: 9. Your heart is passionate for your children. And that’s where Hannah finds herself. Her heart is overwhelmed with passion for children that are yet to be, and she pours out her anguish, and her desire, to the Lord. And the Lord hears her prayers. Jump down to verse 19 with me …
“Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the LORD and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah lay with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the LORD for him.” When the man Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vow, Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the LORD, and he will live there always.” “Do what seems best to you,” Elkanah her husband told her. “Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the LORD make good his word.” So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him. After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli, and she said to him, “As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there.” (1 Samuel 1:19–28, NIV84)
It’s not hard to find books on parenting these days. Most of them don’t seem to be saying the same things though. But one thing they do seem to agree on is that to be a good parent you need to spend time with your children. I wouldn’t disagree with that one bit. But perhaps even more important than the amount of time, is the quality of the time, and the heart with which that time is offered, to your child.
Hannah did not have the luxury of time with Samuel and yet she left her son a legacy that would last a lifetime and impact millions. What was it that set her apart? What can we take from the story of her life and make a part of our own? Here’s a couple of ideas.
You see, Hannah was a woman who feared the Lord. In Proverbs 31 we read that "Many women do noble things ... but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. (29-30) And what these verses of Scripture tell us is that the wife, the mother, the woman, who is worthy of praise is the one who truly fears and reverences God. The world we live in tells us that a women’s worth is found in her outward appearance. We admire, and praise, and lust after, beauty. We’re told that this is what makes a woman valuable. And so there’s things like make-up, and fashion magazines, and cosmetic surgeries - everywhere you look we see images of what a woman is supposed to be looking like, and what you can do to look just like this woman on the billboard, or the magazine cover. For women the world over it is an impossible goal. Those models are airbrushed – they don’t even look, in real life, like they look like in the magazines.
And ladies, I’m not telling you to let yourself go. There’s nothing wrong with looking your best. But don’t knock yourself out trying to live up to some impossible standard. There’s something far more important, far more worthwhile, that you could be pouring yourself into. Scripture says that a wife, a mother, a woman, who fears and reverences God, is worthy of great praise.
Praise from who? I think it’s two-fold. First, praise from the God whom she honours. God Himself says, “Those who honor Me I will honor, but those who despise Me will be disdained.” (1 Samuel 2:30) The one who honors God is pleasing in His sight. And then secondly, praise from those who see genuine faith being lived out in your life. Get the heart right with God – getting that right is more important than anything else you and I could ever do. That’s why we’re told in Scripture to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33, NIV84) Too often we try to do it backwards. We run after all these other things – job, career, family, wealth, pleasure – whatever it is – and then we give God whatever’s left – if anything is left over at all. If we desire to honor God we need to go about it the other way, to put God first, and then allow all these other things to flow from our relationship with Him.
And for those of you – whether men or women – who have children, your greatest contribution to society, is not the work you do outside of the home – it’s the work you do inside of the home raising up your children in accordance with God’s word and teaching them the fear of the Lord, and you can’t do that unless you’re in that place yourself. You can’t lead someone to a place that you’ve never been.
Hannah was a woman who feared the Lord. That fear of the Lord characterizes everything we know about her. And I want to ask you this morning, "Do you fear the Lord?" And I ask you that question because that fear of the Lord is the key to what makes a person like Hannah, not just a good mother, but a great mother. The impact of a life lived in the fear of the Lord is eternal.
But we need to ask ourselves what it means “to fear the Lord.” When we are talking about fearing the Lord we are not talking of living in terror of him. You cannot truly love someone or something that controls you through fear. That’s not how God works. To fear the Lord is to acknowledge the truth that God is God. That He has first claim on our lives. That He is all powerful, all knowing, all seeing. That He stands outside of the constraints of time as we know it. That He commands both our love and obedience in each day. To fear the Lord is to believe what He says about Himself in His word and to live our lives in light of that truth. If you know God’s word says one thing, but you set your heart to doing another, you do not fear the Lord. You have given yourself the authority that rightly belongs to God. If, on the other hand, you surrender your desire, your will, your hopes and fears and dreams, to the Lord our God, to walk in humble obedience before Him, then chances are that you’re living in fear of the Lord. Scripture says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So let me ask you again, do you fear the Lord?
See, those who fear the Lord, take it to the Lord. Hannah feared the Lord. That is why when in the "bitterness of her soul" she wept, and prayed, to the Lord. Those who fear the Lord know that they can reveal the deepest movings of their hearts to the God who has created them. Those who fear the Lord know that He cares, and not only that He cares but that He hears their prayers and can answer them. Hannah unburdened her heart before the Lord and even before He had answered her prayer she was content - God had ministered to her as she prayed, for we are told that after she prayed, she was able to finally eat and that her face was no longer downcast. Something happened as she prayed. There is relief, and release, for those who turn to their burdens over to the Lord. And I don’t know what you’re facing today. I don’t know what your burden is, or what anguish of the soul that you are in, but I would encourage you, to take it to the Lord in prayer.
Because those who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord to provide. Hannah had not been told that God was going to answer her prayer. Yet the next morning we find her worshipping the Lord and trusting in him. And she must have had to trust him for some form of an answer to her prayer for a while for verse 20 says "in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son." We are not always good at waiting for the Lord to answer prayer are we? If we don’t see an answer instantaneously we grow discouraged and downhearted. We fear the Lord has turned his back on us. And worst of all when we don’t see answers according to our time table we are tempted to take matters into our own hands. Think for a moment of the story of another family in Scripture. Think back to the time of Abraham to whom God promised he would become the father of many. Abraham whose wife Sarah was childless. Abraham who believed God’s promise to him but neither he nor Sarah trusted in the Lord to provide. Instead Sarah took her maidservant Hagar and got Abraham to sleep with her and she conceived and had a child. But that child was not the child God had promised in his time and the fact that Abraham and Sarah took matters into their own hands led to great heartbreak for themselves and future generations.
We must trust in God’s timetable. Hannah recognizes God’s sovereignty in these things. Turn a page or two with me to 1 Samuel 2:6-9. This is one of Hannah’s prayers. And she says, "The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s; upon them he has set the world. He will guard the feet of his saints, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness." God is at work behind the scenes. God is in control even when we feel life is spinning out of control; God is still there. And so those who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord.
And because they trust Him, those who fear the Lord build their life on the Rock. In chapter 2:2, which is still part of Hannah’s prayer, she says, "There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God." In her distress she turned only to the Lord. She did not turn away from Him or chase after false gods. She knew there was no other name under the heavens, or upon the earth, to whom she could turn. So she built her life upon the rock. We need to be conscientious in doing that as well. To build our lives on other things besides God is a huge temptation. We have so much, we need so little, - at least materially. Our tendency is to build on ourselves as the foundation. But that is a foundation easily shattered. Like Hannah, we need to build our lives on the rock. And that means, in this day and age, as it has in all the ages that have gone before, that we must remain true to God’s word; that we stand unshaken on the Rock, so that we can say, as Joshua said, "As for me and my household we shall serve the Lord." Can you say that of your household today?
As a parent I struggle to even imagine how difficult it must have been for Hannah to take her long awaited child and give him back to the Lord. Yet she had made a vow to the Lord and she trusted Him to provide for the boy’s future. And that is our final point this morning. Those who fear the Lord, are faithful to the Lord. And they are faithful to the Lord regardless of the cost. Hannah feared the Lord which is why she gave up what she had wanted most in order to fulfill her vow to the Lord. She knew the Lord is not to be trifled with. Many today would do well to remember the vows they have made to the Lord or made in the presence of the Lord. When you were married you made a vow not just to your spouse but to the Lord. How are you fulfilling those vows today? The temptation is all too real to take the blessings and provision we have received from the Lord and to covet them, to hoard them, to fail to remember they are from God. But those who fear the Lord are faithful in their obligations to the Lord.
Our time this morning is nearly gone but let me conclude by saying that I hold Hannah up to you this morning not only as an example of a "good mother" but as an example each of us would do well to examine as we seek to fear the Lord in our own lives. Look again to verse 28. Hannah says that Samuel’s whole life will be given over to the Lord. And it was. Scripture tells us that he worshipped the Lord and in 1 Samuel 3:19, 20 we are told that, "The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord."
The fear of the Lord which characterized Hannah’s life lived beyond her time in the life of her son. It lives on today in the word of God and it all started with a heartbroken women who came before the Lord in faithful prayer, who chose to fear Him and honor Him while some of those closest to her, mocked her. As we seek to impact our children, our relatives, our friends, for the Lord it is the fear of the Lord which we model daily which will stand the test of time as well. The fear of the Lord is perhaps the most valuable gift one person can model to another. How is the fear of God portrayed to those in your life? What do those closest to you see?
In the book of 2 Timothy we find an affirmation of the treasure this legacy is. Paul, writing to Timothy (2 Tim 1:5), says, "I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also." Friends I challenge you, to consider the legacy you are building into, the legacy that you will leave behind for the next generation. Is it a legacy of this world, that is here today and gone tomorrow? Or is it a legacy that will continue to honour God down through the generations?
Let us pray …
To help build into that legacy you are leaving behind, we’ve got a special gift for all the women here today, we’re going to have people passing them out after the service so make sure you get one before you go – and we should have enough for the girls aged 10 and up to get on as well.
