1 Samuel 2:1-101And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation. 2There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God. 3Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. 4The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. 5They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. 6The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. 7The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. 8He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon them. 9He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. 10The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed. (1 Samuel 2:1‑10)1SA 2:1-101And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation. 2There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God. 3Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. 4The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. 5They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. 6The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. 7The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. 8He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon them. 9He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. 10The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed. (1 Samuel 2:1‑10)
The Spirit of God says that this is Hannah's prayer, so it is something addressed to the Lord, but here it is recorded in God's blessed Word so it is spoken hack to us again. It is a most remarkable script tire!
The first thing we notice is, "Hannah prayed, and said. My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord; my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in Thy salvation.”
No one can rejoice in the Lord who is not able to rejoice in God's salvation. Men ordinarily rejoice in the work of their own hands. But one who can really rejoice in the Lord knows something about God's salvation. The only person in this world who has a moral right, a divine right and title to be glad is the one who knows Jesus as his Savior.
You see, if you are not saved, if you do not know Jesus as your Savior, there are countless sins behind your back. There is the wrath of God over your head and the blackness of darkness forever in store for you. Who would dare be glad with that accumulation'
“My heart rejoiceth in the Lord." It is a wonderful thing to be brought to that point of triumph. There was a time when Hanna wept. There was a time when her soul and heart were heavy, but the Lord came in and delivered her. In this beautiful prayer, instead of her being occupied just with her deliverance, she is occupied with her Deliverer.
A large percent of teaching today is calculated to engage us with ourselves, and the work of the Spirit in us rather than with Christ and His work for us. This is true even where it is very earnest and accompanied with a great deal of devotion.
What you find characterizing Hannah is, she is not looking within; she is not engaged with herself; she is occupied with the Lord. If we know the Lord Jesus as our Savior we should be, as to the state of our souls, where we can squeeze the very essence of praise out of the most difficult circumstances.
Even at this moment there was a great deal of trial for Hannah's heart. I have no doubt that there was quite a tug there, but she rejoiced in the Lord, gloried in the Lord, and was glad in the Lord. There is a lesson in that for us.
One reason we go through the world, even we who know the Lord's salvation, so languidly, so lazily, so haltingly, is because we are not glad in the Lord. I sometimes think that we are a very poor advertisement for what we profess. The happiest, the most joyous people in this world should be those who know Jesus as their Savior and have owned that blessed One as their Lord. I do not mean they will not have sorrows. They will, but just as the Apostle says that if we do have the trouble and sorrow, we should be, "Yet always rejoicing," with sorrows at the bottom, joys on top.
How blessedly this is illustrated in Paul and Silas at Philippi. Everything was discouraging, with their feet fast in the stocks and their backs bleeding. But they prayed and sang praises to God at midnight. They were not looking on the dark side of things.
They were where the light always shines and they rejoiced in the Lord just as Hannah did.
When the children of Israel were in battle array, their order was that the singers went before—not the bowmen—not the spearmen—but the singers, in recognition of this principle: "The joy of the Lord is your 'strength." It is a practical thing to rejoice in the Lord. It is the fruit of the Spirit. In Gal. 5:2222But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, (Galatians 5:22) "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy," etc. When it is a question of what the flesh produces, it is called "works.”
“Mine horn is exalted in the Lord." You see, the joy welled up from within, then spilled out and over, and that is always God's way. May the Lord give us to know what it is to boast somewhat after the fashion of Hannah in this prayer.
“My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies." Who are your enemies? Satan is one; is your mouth enlarged over him? It has a right to be. He is not a vanquished foe, but he is a defeated one. Then what about sin? That is another foe of yours which has been dealt with and all put away so that you have "no more conscience of sins." Blessed fact! Christ, who knew no sin, was made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. That is another foe disposed of and positive blessing brought.
What about death? He has annulled death and brought life and incorruptibility to light by the gospel. What about judgment? The Judge Himself says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation [judgment]; but is passed from death unto life." And as for wrath, we read in 1 Thess. 1:1010And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:10),
“Which delivered us from the wrath to come." Is that not wonderful? Our mouths may well be enlarged over our enemies.
So you see Satan, sin, death, judgment and wrath have all been disposed of. Do you know what Jesus said on the resurrection morning when He entered behind those doors that were closed for fear of the Jews? He said, "Peace be unto you." It was divinely imparted and they had a divine right to it. The One that made peace pronounced it. He made it by the blood of the cross and conveyed it by His own words. Have you a right to be glad? You have—a real right.
“Because I rejoice in Thy salvation."There is something striking in that expression. You hear lots of people rejoicing in my salvation, but here it is Thy salvation. It is viewing salvation from His side instead of ours. If you think of salvation as your salvation (to be sure you are the subject of it) you measure it by your need. But when it is Thy salvation, you measure it by His fullness, so it is just as big as God Himself. He is revealed in that character as Savior.
In Hebrews we have salvation spoken of as "great salvation." It is not great because of what it saves us from or what it saves us to, but great because of the One who has wrought it, who has effected it and accomplished it. It cannot be an ordinary salvation, because it has not been provided by an ordinary one, but by the One who made the world.
When you go out at night and see the stars and moon, just remember that the One who put them there and the One who maintains them there, became your Savior.
“There is none holy as the Lord." That is a very salutary truth. You hear people constantly speaking about the love, pity, and compassion of God, and it is blessed to make lost and guilty ones feel that God is such. But do not be led to believe that God is love in such a way as not to be righteous. People are saying that everyone will be saved and none will be lost. But it is just like this: if sin is a thing of such enormity that it required the death of the Son of God, can it be any wonder that a sinner will be judged if he rejects that Son?
You remember the devil's early lie to Eve in the Garden of Eden: "Ye shall not surely die," as much as to say. God is too good to carry into execution His threat. The devil is saying now, death is all, the end; God is too good to punish man. He does not want you to believe that story in the 16th of Luke: "In hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments." Nor does he want you to believe "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." But His holiness required the sacrifice of His Son and it will require the punishment of the sinner who rejects that Son.
“For there is none beside Thee." Has Christ so filled up the range of your soul's vision that all other persons and things are lost to you? See Col. 3:1111Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. (Colossians 3:11) in connection with this: "Christ is all, and in all.”
“Neither is there any rock like our God." It is very beautiful to see how the Spirit of God brings God in as the Rock. You get the expression in Genesis and very frequently in Deuteronomy. God recognized very early in man's history that man needed something solid to rest upon. Everything is going to give way some day, and you want to be standing on the Rock at that time. Are you on the Rock? Are you there? Can you say, because you know it, "There is no rock like our Rock, neither any rock like our God?”
In Luke 6:46-4846And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 47Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like: 48He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. (Luke 6:46‑48): "And why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to Me, and heareth My sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like: he is like a man which built a house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it; for it was founded upon a rock." Have you ever answered in the obedience of faith what He tells you to do? The first thing He tells you to do is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That is where you are to begin as a sinner.
In Isaiah this Rock is called the rock of ages, or the rock of eternity (Isa. 26:44Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength: (Isaiah 26:4) JND). That is where you want to build and be, for everything is going to pieces and you want to be on that which abides. "Neither is there any rock like our God." Is it not wonderful that Hannah learned this? She was near the Lord and got into some of the secrets.
“Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth." It is surprising how loquacious we are outside of God's presence, but when in the presence of God a hush takes place. You very often find men talking about what they have done, what they purpose doing, and so on. Sometimes they speak of what others do not do, and so on. We will not think much about ourselves when we get into God's presence. I used to see a Christian doing this, that, and the other thing, and I would say, "I am just as consistent as he. If he goes to heaven, I will." I found I had to have it out with God myself.
“For the Lord is a God of knowledge."He knows what motive prompts what you say; He knows all about it. It is a very solemn thing to know He knows me altogether. "O Lord, Thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising; Thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether." Psa. 139:1-41<<To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.>> O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 4For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. (Psalm 139:1‑4). He is a God of knowledge.
“By Him actions are weighed."God does two things with man; He weighs him and measures him. When He measures man what does He say? "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." How about being weighed? Let us notice Psa. 62:99Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity. (Psalm 62:9): "Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity." This is a very precious word to those who know grace, and very searching to those who do not. Let us remember, if nothing else, that "the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed.”
Hannah knew this God of knowledge, and thus she could exalt Him, by the Spirit of God, in His many glorious attributes.
F.C. Blount