Episode Details

Transcript generated by AI. Please comment if you notice any errors.

1 Samuel Recap: Where is Your Confidence?

Introduction: A Question of Confidence

Lord willing, my plan is to start into 2 Samuel next week, and so before we did that, I wanted to kind of recap, since it's been several months since we were in 1 Samuel. I want to recap the book, but rather than going blow by blow and just give you an outline of the book and fill that in, I actually want to look at 1 Samuel chapter 2.

As we turn here, I want to ask you a question. Where is your confidence? Where is your confidence? What gives you hope in life? Where do you trust? Whom do you trust?

Hannah's Desperation and God's Answer

1 Samuel opens in a strange place. 1 Samuel opens with a story of a woman named Hannah, who seems pretty insignificant. She's a barren woman. She's one of two wives of this man named Elkanah. And she, unlike the other wife, can have no children. And the text tells us that Elkanah loved Hannah more than he loved his other wife. But because the other wife had children, she had greater status in that society. All of a woman's worth, essentially, would have been wrapped up in her ability to produce and then raise children. And here Hannah was barren.

And what we find in chapter 1 of 1 Samuel, is a woman who is desperate before the Lord. And she comes, and she comes up to the place where the tabernacle was, Shiloh, and she is pouring out her heart to the Lord. She is weeping and praying silently.

But she's also in a society where God is not held in the esteem that he should be. There is a priest there at Shiloh, and his name is Eli. But Eli is something of a joke. And he sees someone there pouring her heart out to the Lord, crying. And the only category that he has for a woman acting like that is, she must be drunk. And so he comes and he rebukes her for her drunkenness. And she says, no, I'm not drunk. I'm pouring out my heart to the Lord. And he tells her, well, it seems almost like he's just trying to get rid of her. Like, okay, God will grant you your request. Like, get out of my presence, you hysterical woman.

And she goes home. But God does grant her request. She's given a son, Samuel, and then she brings him back to the Lord. Once he's weaned, she brings him to the temple and dedicates him to the Lord.

So she goes from chapter 1, pouring out her heart. In desperation, she has nowhere else to turn but the Lord.

Hannah's Song: The Foundation of 1 and 2 Samuel

But then in chapter 2 we come, and here in chapter 2 we have one of the two songs or poems that really brackets the text of 1 and 2 Samuel. 1 and 2 Samuel were originally one book, and this song in 1 Samuel chapter 2, the song with Hannah... It really lays out the groundwork for everything that follows and will be bracketed at the end of 2 Samuel by the Song of David.

I want to read 1 Samuel 2, beginning in verse 1. And Hannah prayed and said, My heart exalts in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth derives my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation, Lord. 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. 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 borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. The Lord kills and brings to life. He brings down to Sheol 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 o