1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:28,420 We are going to be in 1 Samuel 2. I'm going to read through this text, and then we will pray. If you'd like to follow along, there are some Bibles. If you don't have one, there are some in the seats around you, in those little pockets, if you would like to follow along with our reading this morning. If you don't have a Bible, you're welcome to just grab one of those and take it with you if you would like. 2 00:00:28,420 --> 00:00:56,840 I'm going to begin by reading in 1 Samuel 2. It says this, "And Hannah prayed and said, 'My heart exalts in the Lord, and my horn is exalted in the Lord, and my mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation. There is none holy like the Lord. There is none beside you. There is no rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly. Let not arrogance 3 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:25,260 come from your mouth, for 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 were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has born seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. The Lord kills and brings to life. He brings down to Sheol, and he raises up. The Lord makes poor 4 00:01:25,260 --> 00:01:53,680 and makes rich. He brings low, and he exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust, and he lifts the needy from the ash heap, and he makes 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 sent the world. He will guard the feet of the faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness. For not by might shall man prevail. 5 00:01:53,680 --> 00:02:17,740 The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. Against them he will thunder in the heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth, and he will give strength to his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed. Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, and the boy was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest. This is the word of the Lord. 6 00:02:17,740 --> 00:02:44,100 Father in heaven, we know, as Hannah sings and prays, that it is not through our might that we prevail. That it is not through our strength, or our goodness, or our power. And so I ask this morning that as we come to your word, that you would bring us to faithfulness in you. 7 00:02:44,100 --> 00:03:00,300 That if we are Christians, you would deepen our faith. That you would strengthen our faith. That it would not simply be something that exists in our words and talk, but it would be something that is in the center of our being. That you would give us strength. 8 00:03:01,900 --> 00:03:18,100 Help us to see humility. And to see your justice. To be corrected by your word. And help us to see the hope that you have laid up for us in Jesus. 9 00:03:18,100 --> 00:03:30,100 I ask that you would bless our time together. That you would bless your word. That you would send it out. And it would be filled up. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 10 00:03:31,900 --> 00:03:49,100 So about 35 miles south of us. And maybe you have been there. I know probably a lot of you have been. There's an old fire tower just in the mountains, just to the west of Woodstock. 11 00:03:49,100 --> 00:03:57,700 And it's kind of neat because you can climb up this tower. It's not even really a hike. It's just a few short paces through the woods from the road to this tower. 12 00:03:57,700 --> 00:04:04,700 And you can stand, and you can look out over the Shenandoah Valley, and you can see the curves and the bends of the Shenandoah River. 13 00:04:04,700 --> 00:04:13,700 And the first time I went there was more years ago than I really like to admit. I wasn't married. Brent wasn't married. 14 00:04:13,700 --> 00:04:19,700 And I don't remember why he was in town, but we decided we'd never been there. We decided to go find this fire tower. 15 00:04:19,700 --> 00:04:27,700 And so we found it. We climbed it. We walked back to the car. And as we walked back to my car, and some of you may have owned a car, 16 00:04:27,700 --> 00:04:34,700 like this, where sometimes there's like a puddle underneath the car. And we walked back, and we're on this gravel road on the top of this mountain. 17 00:04:34,700 --> 00:04:42,700 And I look, and there's just like a puddle seeping out from under the car. And I go, "Man, that really, really looks like transmission fluid." 18 00:04:42,700 --> 00:04:50,700 Now, it turns out it was transmission fluid, but not from the transmission, because somebody had filled the power steering with transmission fluid. 19 00:04:50,700 --> 00:05:02,700 And at some point on our journey, likely when we parked rather firmly against the bank, something had broken in my rusty Vermont car, and all the power steering fluid came out. 20 00:05:02,700 --> 00:05:13,700 And as a result, we had no power steering. Now on cars that are designed to not have power steering, right, it just takes a little bit of oomph. 21 00:05:13,700 --> 00:05:23,700 But a car that is designed to have power steering, it just makes it so much more difficult. And at the top of this mountain where we were, there's two roads. 22 00:05:23,700 --> 00:05:30,700 And there was the road that we came up with, which if you've driven it, it's pretty wide. It's gravel for a lot of it, but it's wide. 23 00:05:30,700 --> 00:05:39,700 The bends are nice and wide. It's not a hard road to drive. But at the top where that tower is, there's another road that goes down toward Woodstock. 24 00:05:39,700 --> 00:05:47,700 And not having power steering, and never having driven over this mountain, we'll drive the quicker way so we can get home more quickly. 25 00:05:47,700 --> 00:05:54,700 And hopefully if we break down that way, we can break down closer to town. Now, so we came up the big, wide, beautiful road. 26 00:05:54,700 --> 00:06:05,700 And then we went down this road that is barely as wide as the car. It's gravel. And it has these almost 180-degree switchbacks. 27 00:06:05,700 --> 00:06:13,700 And it doesn't just switch back, but it's like you're banking in a fighter jet down this road, which normally would have been fine. 28 00:06:13,700 --> 00:06:21,700 Except, right, there's no power steering, so it's like trying to make these corners, praying that no car meets us coming up. 29 00:06:21,700 --> 00:06:26,700 It's like, "I don't know what we're going to do. I guess we just drive off the side of the mountain and hopefully they find us someday." 30 00:06:26,700 --> 00:06:33,700 It was a windy, adventurous road. And here's the reality about life. 31 00:06:33,700 --> 00:06:40,700 There are times when it feels like our road of life is kind of wide open, and it's easy going. 32 00:06:40,700 --> 00:06:57,700 But more often than not, we find ourselves in the dark of the woods, on this curvy, windy, narrow road, using all of our strength to try to stay on the road. 33 00:06:57,700 --> 00:07:05,700 Sometimes the road is wide and gentle and peaceful, and sometimes it's dark and difficult. 34 00:07:05,700 --> 00:07:20,700 And as we've walked into the book of 1 Samuel, and as we've walked with Hannah, we've found so far in this first chapter of the book of Samuel, her life has been a dark and windy road. 35 00:07:20,700 --> 00:07:27,700 But this morning, we come to this place that is almost surprising in its joy and in its light. 36 00:07:27,700 --> 00:07:41,700 This morning, Hannah is in Shiloh to worship God, and she's going to pray the prayer that we just read, which also is a song to be sung, but this song echoes throughout Scripture. 37 00:07:41,700 --> 00:07:58,700 This is not just sort of an isolated prayer at the beginning of a book that we tend to skip over sometimes. This is a prayer that actually is reflected in the end of 2 Samuel as David prays near the very end of its life. 38 00:07:58,700 --> 00:08:15,700 But probably the most familiar place that you will hear this prayer echoed is in the Gospel of Luke in chapter 1, as a young woman named Mary, upon hearing about the child, she was about to have praise. 39 00:08:15,700 --> 00:08:27,700 A prayer whose themes echo all the way back to Hannah here at Shiloh. It's not been an easy journey to get to this place, though, specifically for Hannah. 40 00:08:27,700 --> 00:08:39,700 1 Samuel begins with a dysfunctional family in a small town, and as the focus narrows in on this family, we see more detail, and we see Hannah specifically. 41 00:08:39,700 --> 00:08:56,700 She's walked through disappointment and discouragement. She's faced family conflict and spiritual struggles. She's poured out her heart so fervently before God that the priest, Eli, who sits at the door to the tabernacle, thinks she's drunk. 42 00:08:56,700 --> 00:09:19,700 And maybe so quietly, we know she doesn't utter any words, but her mouth moves, that he thinks she is drunk. But she pours out her troubles to God, and she experiences the peace of God even when her prayer hasn't been answered yet. 43 00:09:19,700 --> 00:09:26,460 And the second half of Samuel chapter one is a response of worship and obedience. 44 00:09:26,700 --> 00:09:41,700 And sacrifice as she fulfills her vow in Shiloh. And in all of this, even though Hannah is the main character, the focus in every word is on the goodness and greatness of God. 45 00:09:41,700 --> 00:09:47,700 And so as we come to our text this morning, I want us first of all to see Hannah's faithfulness. 46 00:09:47,700 --> 00:09:56,700 Then I want to, as we unpack her prayer, to see a warning and a comfort about God's justice. 47 00:09:56,700 --> 00:10:04,700 And then as we read through her prayer, see this hope we have in God. And so we're just going to kind of walk with Hannah through her prayer this morning. 48 00:10:04,700 --> 00:10:11,700 That is also a song that also echoes, not just through the Old Testament, but into the New Testament directing us to Jesus. 49 00:10:11,700 --> 00:10:24,700 And we begin with a faithful life. And in Hannah, and I love this so much, we see a wonderful faith in her God. 50 00:10:24,700 --> 00:10:30,700 And it encompasses her entire being. Listen to the beginning words of her prayer. It says, "And Hannah prayed and said, 51 00:10:30,700 --> 00:10:40,700 My heart exalts in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation." 52 00:10:40,700 --> 00:10:50,700 Hannah here is praying to God with her entire being. She specifically says her heart, her horn, and her mouth. 53 00:10:50,700 --> 00:10:57,700 And I want to explain that just a little bit. Biblically, the center of your being is the heart. 54 00:10:57,700 --> 00:11:09,700 Hannah is praying with joy, and in doing so, it says she exalts in the Lord. What she is saying is that my entire being, the very core, the very center, the very 55 00:11:09,700 --> 00:11:21,700 depth of myself is exalting, or rejoicing, or worshiping in God. She's saying that I am lifted up, and I am 56 00:11:21,700 --> 00:11:27,700 overflowing with glory, and that joy. And then she says something that's a little strange to us. She says, "My horn is 57 00:11:27,700 --> 00:11:35,700 exalted in the Lord." Now, this does not mean that Hannah is a unicorn, right? In Scripture, what we see when we hear this 58 00:11:35,700 --> 00:11:45,700 word "horn," the picture there is of power and of strength. What she is saying is that God has strengthened her, and her 59 00:11:45,700 --> 00:11:53,700 strength has been lifted up where she has been weak and fearful and unable to accomplish. God has done it and 60 00:11:53,700 --> 00:12:01,700 has given her strength. And from the weakness and brokenness of her grief, as we saw in the last chapter, to 61 00:12:01,700 --> 00:12:08,700 the prayer that hurt so much she couldn't even say it out loud, we now see her praying loudly and publicly, strengthened 62 00:12:08,700 --> 00:12:18,700 by the power of God. And notice that her praise doesn't just impact how she thinks or how she feels, but it has 63 00:12:18,700 --> 00:12:26,700 strengthened her for action. Right? That this is not just something that she intellectually believes, it's not just 64 00:12:26,700 --> 00:12:35,700 something that she feels very deeply about, but this horn or this power, her strength, it means that she is 65 00:12:35,700 --> 00:12:45,700 lifted up with joy in how she lives in her actions. And then she says, "My mouth derides my enemies." That word 66 00:12:45,700 --> 00:12:52,700 just simply means to grow loud. And what she is saying here is that I am so filled with joy, so strengthened 67 00:12:52,700 --> 00:12:58,700 by the power of God, that I am willing to shout God's goodness at my enemies. Right? 68 00:12:58,700 --> 00:13:04,700 So normally, when the enemies of Israel come throughout the book of Judges, which is where this takes place 69 00:13:04,700 --> 00:13:11,700 at the very end, when God's enemies came, what happened? God's people hid. Remember Gideon famously 70 00:13:11,700 --> 00:13:19,700 trying to thresh wheat in a winepress. And so as God's enemies encircle his people, which is about to happen 71 00:13:19,700 --> 00:13:26,700 here in Samuel with the Philistines. God's people tended to hide and to run and to be oppressed 72 00:13:26,700 --> 00:13:32,700 and live in fear. Notice the difference that is in Hannah's life, right? She says, "Because God has 73 00:13:32,700 --> 00:13:37,700 strengthened me and exalted me in the core of my being, because he has given me the 74 00:13:37,700 --> 00:13:43,700 strength not just to believe this, but to act on it." She's like, "I'm not afraid to shout God's 75 00:13:43,700 --> 00:13:52,700 blessings at my enemies because God has saved me." Notice that her faithfulness is 76 00:13:52,700 --> 00:13:58,700 not just in her emotions or thinking, but it's in her strength and in her words. She's 77 00:13:58,700 --> 00:14:06,700 consistent in how she thinks, feels, and acts. Hannah's faith demonstrates her 78 00:14:06,700 --> 00:14:14,700 trust in God. Look at what it says. "There's none holy like the Lord, for there is none 79 00:14:14,700 --> 00:14:20,700 beside you. There is no rock like our God." Hannah's prayer is speaking to what God is 80 00:14:20,700 --> 00:14:25,700 doing in her life, and because she sees God's goodness, she lifts up her heart, 81 00:14:25,700 --> 00:14:30,700 her strength, and her voice, and she's speaking about herself, but her focus is 82 00:14:30,700 --> 00:14:38,700 on God. There is nothing that you can hope in that will transform your heart 83 00:14:38,700 --> 00:14:43,700 like God will. Some things may temporarily excite us. Some things may temporarily 84 00:14:43,700 --> 00:14:48,700 energize us. Some things may temporarily make us very bold, but all of that 85 00:14:48,700 --> 00:14:55,700 disappears and passes. But when your hope and your faith and your trust is in God, 86 00:14:55,700 --> 00:15:02,700 of whom Hannah says, "There is none holy or good or righteous or set apart." 87 00:15:02,700 --> 00:15:07,700 There's nobody that God can be compared to. He is the rock that does not move, that does 88 00:15:07,700 --> 00:15:12,700 not shift, that does not erode. He is the rock of safety, the place where we can build 89 00:15:12,700 --> 00:15:20,700 and anchor her life. When she says that, this prayer is not about Hannah and what 90 00:15:20,700 --> 00:15:25,700 she has or what she has done, but it is about God and what He has done for her. 91 00:15:25,700 --> 00:15:33,700 And because she sees that, it explodes out in her heart and in her words and in her actions. 92 00:15:33,700 --> 00:15:43,700 Hannah has this picture of what happens when this is our reality. When we see that there is no one holy 93 00:15:43,700 --> 00:15:49,700 like the Lord. When there is no one who compares to Him. When there is no rock like our God. 94 00:15:49,700 --> 00:15:59,700 Her next words after she declares how God has transformed her. She begins next with a warning 95 00:15:59,700 --> 00:16:05,700 and a wonder at God's justice. Listen to what she says. 96 00:16:05,700 --> 00:16:11,700 "Talk no more, very proudly. Let not arrogance come from your mouth. For the Lord is a God of knowledge 97 00:16:11,700 --> 00:16:18,700 and by Him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength. 98 00:16:18,700 --> 00:16:24,700 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. 99 00:16:24,700 --> 00:16:31,700 The barren has born seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. The Lord kills and brings to life. 100 00:16:31,700 --> 00:16:41,700 He brings down to Sheol and He raises up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich. He brings low and exalts." 101 00:16:42,700 --> 00:16:56,700 What you find in these words is justice. And what justice simply means is what's right, or that things are as they should be. 102 00:16:56,700 --> 00:17:06,700 When we talk about justice, what we want to see is that things are as they should be. They're not broken, they're not upside down, but they're back where they belong. 103 00:17:06,700 --> 00:17:22,700 Justice is one of God's attributes, and it flows out of His holiness. Holiness and justice are sometimes used interchangeably because holiness and righteousness and doing good is the same as being just, right? 104 00:17:22,700 --> 00:17:35,700 Putting things where they belong. And here's the thing about us as people. When we are wronged, when something happens to us that is wrong, we desire justice. 105 00:17:35,700 --> 00:17:42,700 Back not very long before Rachel and I were married, and she was working over at the other side of town, and I would go and have lunch with her. 106 00:17:42,700 --> 00:17:51,700 And this particular day, I put the dog in the back of the car, and I packed the lunch, and I left here, and as I was driving over, there was kind of a traffic backup at the light, 107 00:17:51,700 --> 00:18:02,700 which wasn't a big deal because there was a turn lane, and I was turning left anyway. And so I jump into that turn lane, and I'm heading to the light so I can turn left and go meet Rachel and eat lunch, 108 00:18:02,700 --> 00:18:09,700 and we can take the dog for a walk, and as we're doing so, there's a break in the cars to my right, and some guy pulls out of a parking lot, 109 00:18:09,700 --> 00:18:19,700 ignoring the fact that there's a turn lane, and hits right into the front of my car. Now, it wasn't a lot of damage. So we pull into that parking lot that he just pulled out of, 110 00:18:19,700 --> 00:18:27,700 and he's incredibly apologetic. He's like, "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. We'll take care of the damage. Here's my insurance information. 111 00:18:27,700 --> 00:18:32,700 You don't need to call the police." It should have been a red flag, but I was much younger then. 112 00:18:32,700 --> 00:18:37,700 He's like, "You don't need to worry about it." I said, "Okay, right. We'll figure it out. We got all your information." 113 00:18:37,700 --> 00:18:43,700 So I submitted my claim to his insurance, made my statement as to what happened. 114 00:18:43,700 --> 00:18:48,700 They called me back a few days later and said, "Well, we've heard what he said, and he said you were at fault, 115 00:18:48,700 --> 00:18:53,700 and you were driving the wrong way, you know, outside on the outside line in the road, and all this, 116 00:18:53,700 --> 00:18:59,700 and because there's no way we confirm it, we're just going to go with him." And I'm like, I'm still mad about this. 117 00:18:59,700 --> 00:19:05,700 Like, the guy just straight up promised that he would take care of it. It would be good. 118 00:19:05,700 --> 00:19:12,700 And then what happens when the time comes to actually do it? He lies and he blames me. 119 00:19:12,700 --> 00:19:20,700 And I'm like, it's been like 12 or 13 years, and I'm still hoping that someday I can run into him and then lie about it, right? 120 00:19:20,700 --> 00:19:25,700 We're going to have justice. We're going to even out the scales, right? 121 00:19:25,700 --> 00:19:37,700 When we are wronged, we desire justice. We want things to be made right. 122 00:19:37,700 --> 00:19:47,700 And what we find in this is there is a desire in our heart to make things right. 123 00:19:47,700 --> 00:19:52,700 When we are wronged, we desire it. However, there's another side of the story, right? 124 00:19:52,700 --> 00:19:58,700 What happens when we are the ones who are wrong? When we have done the thing that shouldn't have been done? 125 00:19:58,700 --> 00:20:04,700 We don't desire justice in that moment, right? We want justice for the other person. 126 00:20:04,700 --> 00:20:15,700 We want mercy for ourselves. These verses, they show us one of the things we already know. 127 00:20:15,700 --> 00:20:22,700 That things are not as they should be. And what Hannah is doing as she worships, 128 00:20:22,700 --> 00:20:29,700 is she's saying God is bringing justice to those who have been wronged, right? 129 00:20:29,700 --> 00:20:33,700 Those who have been hurt, those who have been oppressed, God is lifting them up. 130 00:20:33,700 --> 00:20:37,700 And those who have been the oppressors and those who hurt, He is bringing them down. 131 00:20:37,700 --> 00:20:43,700 He is putting things back right. And as we read or hear these words about bows being broken 132 00:20:43,700 --> 00:20:50,700 and the feeble receiving strength. The full going back to work and the hungry being fed. 133 00:20:50,700 --> 00:20:56,700 Understand that God here is not just sort of deciding in a random way who gets what, right? 134 00:20:56,700 --> 00:21:07,700 You get hungry, you get food. God is not redistributing in the sense that one person earns and the other does nothing. 135 00:21:07,700 --> 00:21:12,700 This is a picture of God's justice. But it's not just about justice, right? 136 00:21:12,700 --> 00:21:21,700 It's about pride. At the heart of this injustice are those who are justifying their wrongdoing with pride, right? 137 00:21:21,700 --> 00:21:28,700 I'm better, so I deserve to get ahead. I'm better than they are. 138 00:21:28,700 --> 00:21:33,700 Look, in fact, how it begins like this. Talk no more very proudly. 139 00:21:33,700 --> 00:21:40,700 Let not arrogance come from your mouth, for the Lord God is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. 140 00:21:40,700 --> 00:21:50,700 And what Hannah is saying is that God sees the heart. And on one hand, for us, this is a warning to watch, to care for our hearts. 141 00:21:50,700 --> 00:21:57,700 That we would not boast in what we have done, but rather we would proclaim what God has done. 142 00:21:57,700 --> 00:22:03,700 That we would not seek to lift ourselves up, but that we would trust the God who lifts us up. 143 00:22:03,700 --> 00:22:07,700 And the problem here is not really about strength or wealth. 144 00:22:07,700 --> 00:22:11,700 It's how you go about acquiring and how you go about using. 145 00:22:11,700 --> 00:22:16,700 In fact, when God's people come into the Promised Land, there's a warning that God gives them. 146 00:22:16,700 --> 00:22:18,700 He says, "Be careful when you come to this land." 147 00:22:18,700 --> 00:22:23,700 And God gives you houses and fields and crops and harvests. 148 00:22:23,700 --> 00:22:30,700 Don't say in your heart, "It is by my might that I have gotten this from ourselves." 149 00:22:30,700 --> 00:22:35,700 You see, pride leads to us seeking ourselves above all else. 150 00:22:35,700 --> 00:22:40,700 It involves trusting ourselves above all else. 151 00:22:40,700 --> 00:22:45,700 And in verses 6 and 7, we see that God is in control of all things. 152 00:22:45,700 --> 00:22:49,700 It's a point of these verses. This is not a threat. The Lord kills and brings life. 153 00:22:49,700 --> 00:22:55,700 This is a reality that God is in control of life and death. 154 00:22:55,700 --> 00:23:00,700 He's in control of lifting up and breaking down. 155 00:23:00,700 --> 00:23:04,700 He brings low and He exalts. 156 00:23:04,700 --> 00:23:13,700 This, in one hand, is a warning against pride as we see the justice of God, but it's also a promise that God makes things right. 157 00:23:13,700 --> 00:23:21,700 That when we are broken down and when we are hurt, it is God who makes things right. 158 00:23:21,700 --> 00:23:24,700 Hear the promised hope of Hannah. 159 00:23:24,700 --> 00:23:33,700 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 of the Lord. 160 00:23:33,700 --> 00:23:44,700 And on them he has set the world. He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall man prevail. 161 00:23:44,700 --> 00:23:52,700 The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. Against them he will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. 162 00:23:52,700 --> 00:23:59,700 He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of the strength of his anointed. 163 00:23:59,700 --> 00:24:23,700 Notice that there is a removal here. A transformation from struggle and heartbreak. He says, "From the dust of brokenness, from the ash heap, a place traditionally associated with mourning, from brokenness and sorrow, God will lift up." 164 00:24:23,700 --> 00:24:49,700 And in verses 8 and 9, we see that God is our strength. That God guards us as we walk our steps. That God protects His people. And we might hear this as Hannah sings this song. We say, "Yes, I can see her as a good example. Yes, I can understand that our world needs justice." 165 00:24:49,700 --> 00:24:58,700 We might say, "I understand why she's hopeful. God guards her steps. God watches over her. God lifted her from her sorrow." 166 00:24:58,700 --> 00:25:18,700 But what about us? Hannah's last words, these very last words, are a promise for all of us. It says this, "He will give strength to His King, and He will exalt the horn of His anointed." 167 00:25:18,700 --> 00:25:28,700 Hannah's prayer ends with these words, "That God will strengthen His King, and exalt the horn of His anointed." 168 00:25:28,700 --> 00:25:37,700 What king? At the end of the book of Judges, it says this, "In those days there was no king in Israel." This is the days of Hannah. 169 00:25:37,700 --> 00:25:47,700 Everyone did what was right in their own eyes. What king? Is Hannah saying that God will lift up and exalt? Now, God is about to raise up 170 00:25:47,700 --> 00:25:55,700 a king for His people. In their pride and in their bad motives, He's going to establish a king. But it's more than that. 171 00:25:55,700 --> 00:26:16,700 This is not just a picture of David coming. And we say, "How can I relate to Hannah?" The woman from the broken, hurting background. The woman who had struggled for so long to see 172 00:26:16,700 --> 00:26:28,700 child and who prayed and who hoped. And now she exalts and she rejoices. And we say, "What about us?" Listen to these words from Isaiah chapter 173 00:26:28,700 --> 00:26:45,700 9. "For to us a child is born. To us a son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, of the 174 00:26:45,700 --> 00:26:57,700 increase of His government, and of His peace there will be no end. And on the throne of David, and over His kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice, and with righteousness, and from this time 175 00:26:57,700 --> 00:27:11,700 forth and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this." That as Hannah prays, and as she rejoices, there is an aspect of this prayer that says, "Yes, there is a King coming who God will 176 00:27:11,700 --> 00:27:37,700 lift up and strengthen," and it does point to David, but it points to someone more. And in fact, the early church in those first couple of centuries took Hannah's prayer and this prayer for a king as not just directed at David, but as a promise that God would raise up a king, King Jesus, who would come to the hurting and to the broken. 177 00:27:37,700 --> 00:27:53,700 In fact, it's in Jesus' first sermon that the good news has been declared to those who are in darkness, and those under heavy burden, and those who are blind can see, and those who are imprisoned have been freed. 178 00:27:53,700 --> 00:28:05,700 That King Jesus comes to a hurting and broken people. And he doesn't just come and do good things, he transforms us. 179 00:28:05,700 --> 00:28:18,700 Like Hannah, when we truly see Jesus, our heart is filled, our actions are strengthened, our words are transformed, and we see God's justice. 180 00:28:18,700 --> 00:28:23,700 And here's the reality: every single one of us deserves God's justice. 181 00:28:23,700 --> 00:28:31,700 Because all of us, in our own pride, have turned to follow ourselves. 182 00:28:31,700 --> 00:28:48,700 And at the cross, King Jesus takes the weight of God's justice, the justice that we deserve so that we can know only grace and hope and peace. 183 00:28:48,700 --> 00:28:55,700 Isaiah will say several chapters later that it is through his wounds that we are healed. 184 00:28:55,700 --> 00:29:03,700 That the weight of God's justice falls upon Jesus so we can only know those gifts of grace. 185 00:29:03,700 --> 00:29:07,700 And Hannah's prayer promises a hope for her. 186 00:29:07,700 --> 00:29:12,700 That one day God would send a king that would do that, but for us this is a reality. 187 00:29:12,700 --> 00:29:16,700 And so the question for us is where are we looking? 188 00:29:16,700 --> 00:29:20,700 It's so easy, at least for me, sometimes. 189 00:29:20,700 --> 00:29:25,700 Especially when you're having a bad day just to look at all the brokenness and all the problems. 190 00:29:25,700 --> 00:29:32,700 And we're out of coffee, and we're busy, and my favorite shirt's not clean, and it's 9,000 degrees outside. 191 00:29:32,700 --> 00:29:37,700 And those are just small things, but don't we just add up our struggles and hurts? 192 00:29:37,700 --> 00:29:42,700 And we tend to look at them. Or maybe we look at our inabilities. 193 00:29:42,700 --> 00:29:47,700 I'm not strong enough. I'm not good enough. 194 00:29:47,700 --> 00:29:53,700 What I would call you to do this morning, if you're a Christian or if you're not, 195 00:29:53,700 --> 00:30:02,700 is to lift your eyes to Jesus and see the King who comes to fill you with hope and with joy, 196 00:30:02,700 --> 00:30:08,700 to transform your heart and your strength and your words, to take the weight of God's justice 197 00:30:08,700 --> 00:30:16,700 and to bring to you God's promises and hope, and to know that that King is Jesus, 198 00:30:16,700 --> 00:30:21,700 the child that is born to save us from our sins. Let's pray. 199 00:30:21,700 --> 00:30:25,700 Father, I thank you for Jesus and for grace. 200 00:30:25,700 --> 00:30:31,700 It's easy for us to become distracted and to become busy, to become self-sufficient, 201 00:30:31,700 --> 00:30:36,700 so I ask this morning that you would restore our joy and restore our hope. 202 00:30:36,700 --> 00:30:39,700 It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.