The Great Reverser

It's the beginning of a new year, and I wonder how many of you made a New Year's resolution. And I wonder how many of you have kept up with that so far.

In my experience, more and more people are just giving up on the idea of resolutions because we know that the big, grand gestures of "I'm going to do this super hard thing for four hours every day this year" feel good to say on December 31 but feel really hard to do on January 31. Or even January 1.

It's really easy to say "I will do this," and it's a lot harder to put in the daily discipline to actually do it and carry it out over the days and months ahead.

And so we should be watching Hannah. Last week, we heard the vow she made to the Lord: "If you give me a son, I will give him back to you all the days of his life." That's an easy thing to say in the midst of an impassioned prayer. How many of us have told things like that to God? But is she actually going to follow through?

There's another layer here. Hannah has wanted a son for years. Don't you think it would be easy, now that she has one, to over-mother him?

To hold him so close and never let him go? Wouldn't it be easy for her to find her identity in this child and not be able to fathom giving him up?

A Vow Fulfilled (1:21-28)

We might have a sense that Hannah is stalling when we get to verse 21. We are now into the following year after Hannah prayed at the tabernacle for a son. Samuel is at most 3 months old. And we read how “The man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow” (1 Samuel 1:21).

But, verse 22, “But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, ‘As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord and dwell there forever’” (1 Samuel 1:22).

We learn something really important in this verse. We learn the nature of Hannah's intention. She promised to give her son to the Lord all the days of his life, and what that means isn't just that he would live a special lifestyle while he grows up with his family. No, she intends to bring him to the tabernacle where he'll serve as a Levite. And she intends to do this soon—as soon as he's finished nursing.

And so she wants to wait to go to the tabernacle until she can bring him for good. She doesn't want to take him there and back.

Fair enough. And what's also fair is that she is still nursing him, and making a long journey with a nursing baby on foot would be quite challenging. There are reasons why the law didn't require moms and children to make this regular pilgrimage to the tabernacle.

But it also could sound like Hannah is making an excuse to keep her baby a little longer. Parents, how many of you have at least been tempted to use our babies' feeding schedules to get out of stuff you didn't want to participate in? "Oh, we'd really love to stay, but the kid needs to feed." And maybe Hannah will come up with a new excuse each year. We'll have to wait and see.

Elkanah, her husband, responds in verse 23: “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; only, may the Lord establish his word” (1 Samuel 1:23).

Let's pay attention here. Elkanah knows by now that his wife made this vow to give their son to the Lord, and he knows what that means: giving him to serve at the temple. And he supports it. According to the law, in Numbers 30, Elkanah had the authority to override his wife's vow. He could have said "no way we're doing that," and Hannah would have been released from this commitment.

But he supports it. He endorses it. And here he supports her decision to wait at home with Samuel, indicating trust in her when he says "Do what seems best to you." But don't miss the reminder to not forget what God has done: "Only may the Lord establish his word."

It's interesting that he speaks about the Lord's word here, because we haven't heard any words from the Lord. Maybe he's referring to Eli's blessing, or maybe these words point to a sense of expectation that their child is no ordinary child, and God is going to do important things through him. Either way, Elkanah's words are a gentle reminder that yes, it's okay for you to stay home, but let's remember we're not off the hook to follow through on what you've promised.

"So," the rest of the verse continues, “the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him” (1 Samuel 1:23). I can imagine that was a precious season in Hannah's life. No camera to take pictures, no Instagram audience to keep up with, just her enjoying time with this baby she had waited so long to have.

And finally we come to it. Verse 24: "And when she had weaned him." In the ancient world this could have been a period of up to three years—so he's not just no longer nursing; he's out of diapers and able to walk. And get into lots of trouble.

But now she takes him up, along with a three-year-old bull—which may actually refer to three bulls—along with about 22 litres of flour and a whole skin of wine for a sacrifice. If this is indeed speaking about three bulls, this is one more indication of Elkanah's wealth.

At the tabernacle, they sacrifice the bull, and they bring the child to Eli. “26 And she said, ‘Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord.

27 For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him’” (1 Samuel 1:26–27).

Look at what God did. Look at how God granted not just my request, but yours. And now, she says in verse 28, I'm keeping my vow: “Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord."

The word "lent" here doesn't imply that she's going to ask for him back, since she says, "as long as he lives." The word "lent" is used because in Hebrew it comes from the same verb as "petition" in verse 27. It's kind of like saying in English, "This son was requested from the Lord, and now he's bequested to the Lord." It's an elegant wordplay that beautifully captures the symmetry of Hannah's giving back to God what He gave to her.

And she really follows through. Down in 2:11 we read about them going home, and the boy remaining to serve with Eli the priest, and if there's any doubt we find out in verse 19 that from this point on she only saw him once a year when she went up with her husband and brought Samuel a new change of clothes.

Response

And at this point I just want us to stop and marvel at Hannah actually keeping her vow. Hannah's actions here really challenge our desire to hang on to things that we think belong to us. Our money, our kids, our time, our talents—they are all things we've received from the Lord, whether we've formally asked for them or not.

"What do you have that you did not receive?" asks Paul in 1 Corinthians 4:7. Everything we have comes from the Lord. And the same Lord who gives has the authority to take away. When we try to hang on to what we have, could that be a sign that we've forgotten this?

Let's talk about this specifically with children. Of anything that is a challenge to give up, would it not be our children? And not all of that is bad. If you have children, they are your responsibility to care for and protect. Some parents need to be encouraged to keep a lot closer of a watch on their children. To be paying attention to where they are and what they are taking in and who they are spending time with.

Sometimes people my age romanticize the 80s and 90s when kids could roam free with no cell phones and just check in before dark. But the truth is I got into a lot of trouble as a kid and narrowly dodged some really bad things happening to me. It would have been a lot better if I had to check in at home a lot more often.

But there's an opposite extreme, too, isn't there? Over-parenting. Helicopter parenting. Anxious parenting. Mama bears and papa bears who can never let the cubs out of their sight.

In other words, parents who forget that there is a God in heaven, and it's not them. Parents who forget that their children are the Lord's, not theirs. Parents who, unlike Hannah, forget that the same God who gave them their children is capable of taking care of them.

Hannah left her toddler at the tabernacle, permanently, in the care of a man whose only interaction with her had been accusing her of being drunk. Do you think you can trust God enough to, for example, leave your child in the care of another for a few hours?

I know what this feels like. I am a parent who religiously checked on my babies to make sure that they were still breathing. I've left my kids at camp under the supervision of teenagers, praying that the Lord takes care of them both until I pick them up in the next few days.

Perhaps the greatest test of how much we actually trust the Lord is how open we are to letting our children go when the time is right. “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth” (Psalm 127:4). And what are arrows in a warrior's hand for? For shooting out into the midst of the enemy. The goal of our parenting is to train our kids to be dangerous, in the right way, and then unleash that danger on the kingdom of darkness.

Over the years, I've talked to several people who have had such massive pressure put on them to stay close to home as they grew up. This is a big deal with missions. I've heard of so many people who wanted to go serve the Lord somewhere else, but Mom or Dad or Grandma or Grandpa did all they could to keep them close.

And those parents or grandparents will have so much to answer for when they stand before Jesus someday. What will He say to them? "I told my people to go into all the world to make disciples, and you asked your kids to disobey and listen to you instead? Billions were dying without me, plunging into a bleak eternity, and you tried to stop your kids from going and making a difference so that you could have cozier Christmases and birthdays?"

A week ago, I saw my little sister off to the other side of the world to go bring hope to disabled orphans. And as we drove away from the airport, I said to my kids, "In just a few years, that could be you. And though that would be so hard, it will be worth it."

Moms and dads, because of the hope of heaven, we've got all of eternity to enjoy each other. Now is our time to go and make disciples, and God help us if we try and get between our children and the call of Jesus on their lives.

And by the way, there's nothing wrong with being close to our adult children, if that is how things turn out as we seek to follow the Lord with our lives. That can be a great blessing. But we dare not make it a demand that keeps us or them from following the Lord.

A Prayer of Praise

Look back to Hannah. She's leaving her toddler at the tabernacle, and what does verse 28 say is happening there? Worship. "And he worshipped the Lord there." That "he" could be Eli, or Elkanah, or a plural word that includes the whole family. Regardless, let's look now at chapter 2 where Hannah explodes in praise.

I don't doubt that Hannah sobbed as she parted with her little boy. But what the text highlights is that she worshipped.

Verses 1-10 are often called the "song" of Hannah. We don't actually know that Hannah sang this. There's no doubt that it's poetry and has a lot in common with the Psalms, but what's certain is that this is her prayer of praise. "And Hannah prayed and said…"

Again, just think. Hannah is about to do one of the hardest things any mother could be asked to do, and rather than mourning and weeping, she is overflowing with praise at what God has done by giving her this son in the first place.

This is evidence of a statement I made last week: Hannah was not eager for a son just so she could have a son for herself. Hannah was eager to be a part of the big story God was telling. And more evidence of that is found in her prayer here, which shows that Hannah understood her story was a part of something bigger.

This experience she had—of being given a son after years of taunting by her rival—was but one example of a greater pattern that forms the background for so much of what God does in this world.

1. Holiness and Humility (vv. 1-3)

So let's follow along as she praises the Lord. Her prayer here can be generally divided into three sections. The first section begins with a description of her praise:

“And Hannah prayed and said, ‘My heart exults in the Lord; my horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation’” (1 Samuel 2:1).

"Horn" is a reference to the horn of an animal, like an ox, and is a picture of strength and power. Hannah is full of strength that the Lord has given her as she rejoices in his salvation.

She goes on to tell of how incomparable God is. “‘There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God’” (1 Samuel 2:2). In many ways, this is the core idea for her whole prayer of praise. The God who did this for her is incomparable. Nobody is like Him. There is no other solid place to rest than Him.

And before she gets to all of the evidence for this, she shares the application that we should draw from this truth. If nobody is like the Lord, then we should no longer talk proudly, as verse 3 says, not let arrogance come from our mouths. Because God knows everything, and "by him actions are weighed." In other words, He's the judge who knows all. And because He is great beyond all comparison, humility is our only proper response.

2. The Great Reverser (vv. 4-8)

We could call that the first verse of Hannah's poem of prayer. In verses 4-8 she goes on to describe all of the evidence for why there is no one but the Lord. Here is the proof that He is beyond compare. And we could sum up this whole section by saying that God is the great reverser. He overturns our human expectations over and over again.

What that means is that, as humans, we have our little systems figured out. We know who is strong and who is weak. Who is on top and who is on the bottom. Who is rich and who is poor. And God comes and He single-handedly turns all of that on His head. He is the great reverser.

And in this section we're given a whole bunch of case studies of where and how God does this.

• God reverses strength and power in verse 4: “The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength” (1 Samuel 2:4). God breaks the strength of the powerful warriors, but makes his feeble servants strong.
• God reverses distribution of resources in verse 5: “Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger." God humbles the rich and provides for the poor.
• God reverses fertility, also in verse 5: "The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn” (1 Samuel 2:5). "Seven" may be a literal number here, or may be a symbol for completeness and fullness.
  God loves to give children to women who couldn't otherwise have children, as we reviewed in the past weeks, while those who have many children are often robbed of those children through war or death or other judgements. No doubt Hannah sees herself in this situation here. God, the great reverser, has reversed her situation.
• God reverses life itself in verse 6: “The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up” (1 Samuel 2:6). Time and time again, God shows that He is sovereign over death and life. God brings the judgement of death on the wicked who live, but gives the blessing of life to His humble servants whom He raises from the dead. How could this not be a foreshadowing of the resurrection of Jesus?
• God reverses financial situations in verse 7: “The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts” (1 Samuel 2:7). Finances are in His hands, as are the life situations that are connected to our finances.
• Verse 8 continues to tell how God reverses people's situations: “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 honour."

Something we need to understand is that in the ancient world, much more than today, upward mobility wasn't really a thing. The rich were born into their riches, and they enjoyed them. The poor were born into their poverty, and there was little they could do about it. Wealth was so often generational, passed on from fathers to sons. They didn't really have many opportunities for the rags-to-riches stories that we find in the modern world.

But that doesn't stop God from making it happen. He can and does do this. And He can do this because this whole world is His, as verse 8 concludes: "For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world” (1 Samuel 2:8).

Grades 1-3 in Faith Night, you've been learning about God's sovereignty, and that God has the right, the power, and the wisdom to do whatever He pleases. And that's really what is being said here. This whole world is God's. He made it. And so He can do what He wants. And so often, what He wants to do is turn human expectations on their heads. Humbling the powerful and lifting up the humble.

He is the great reverser.

3. The Future (vv. 9-10)

In verses 9-10, Hannah's prayer turns to the future as she sees how God's great reversing sovereignty will be put to work for the good of His people. “‘He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail’” (1 Samuel 2:9). See, if all of this is true, then human strength is not the end of the story. Human strength won't prevail against God's plans. He's going to protect His righteous people and destroy the wicked, no matter how strong they look.

“The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven" begins verse 10 "The Lord will judge the ends of the earth." But that's not all.

As verse 10 goes on, Hannah speaks forth a powerful truth: "he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed’” (1 Samuel 2:10).

Wait a second. Israel didn't have a king. Hannah's son Samuel was going to be the kingmaker, but how could she have known this?

It's at a point like this that some students of the Bible will say, "There's no way Hannah could have known this. And so this must have been written some years later and inserted into this part of 1 Samuel by some later editor, blah, blah, blah."

Which totally misses the point that if God is God, if God is the way that Hannah has been describing Him, then would it really be a big deal for Him to reveal to Hannah something of the great plans that He was up to?

Because it's not just about this one last line. Hannah's whole poem of praise is in many ways a preview of all that's to come in the books of 1 and 2 Samuel. Saul, a humble man, will be lifted up and made to sit with princes when he is made king. But when his heart becomes proud and he begins to see himself as one of the high and mighty, God will bring him down and humble him.

And while that happens, another humble one will be lifted up—a youngest son from Bethlehem, forgotten with the sheep, raised up to be the king of Israel. Though David would falter, he would repent, and his heart remained humble before the Lord to the end of his days.

And after him, many years after him, would come an offspring from Nazareth, born to a virgin (whose prayer of celebration will borrow heavily from Hannah's words here). Born with the common people, laid in a manger, a refugee and a homeless man who would be given up by the crowds to be slaughtered with some common criminals.

But God, the Great Reverser, would raise Him up from the grave and bestow on Him the name that is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus, son of David, every knee will bow and tongue confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

See, not just this last line about the king, but Hannah's whole prayer is a spirit-inspired celebration of all that God not only has done but is yet going to do as He redeems His people against all human expectations, all the way to kingdom come, in order to bring all the glory and attention to Himself and thus increase our everlasting joy in Him.

And this celebration of the work of God, which included giving Hannah her own son, was what occupied Hannah's mind much more than her loss at only getting to see her son once a year.

It seems fair to say that Hannah was more in awe of the fact that she had a son in the first place, and more in awe of how her little story connected up to the big story, than she was sad at saying goodbye. In fact, we have to just assume that she would have been sad. All that the text tells us is that she worshipped.

Response

Could it be that our experiences with loss and with grief and with sadness could be transformed by worship?

“20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord’” (Job 1:20–21).

What about you this morning? Are you stinging from a loss? Just struggling with January? Some people get really blue after the Christmas season ends. Could it be helpful to worship God for letting you enjoy the good things you've enjoyed in the first place, and to remember the big story, looking forward to the day when there will be no more tears or goodbyes?

Maybe you're struggling to let go of a child or another person in your life.

Maybe you're not in a spot of loss but you're just aware of your weakness this morning. You know very well how powerless and small you are. Isn't Hannah's prayer good news for you? You don't have to be big and strong. In fact, being small and weak puts you in the perfect spot to experience God's power and mercy in your life.

“3 ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 ‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth’” (Matthew 5:3–5).

He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, weak and small as they are. Enjoy the safety that this truth brings.

Now maybe you don't think you're any of these things. Maybe you feel strong and confident today. Be warned: the God who made you loves to humble people who don't think they need him. He breaks the bows of the mighty, and sends the full to go work for bread.

Know your weakness today, and find safety in the strength of the Lord. A God whose greatest act of salvation happened as His son was crucified, bloody and alone. And whose power continues to be made perfect in our weakness.

Maybe there's a very specific challenge ahead of you today, or this week. A situation to face. A person to love. A hard job to do. A sinful habit to battle. Look away from yourself or other sources of hope. Look to the Great Reverser, who causes the feeble to bind on strength.

He really is enough for all that we need this week. The proof is in the cross. "He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).

And that's where we look together now as our hope for all that's ahead.