So for our introduction, I don't have a whole
lot to say. We just went through judges. And
hopefully we haven't forgotten everything we
learned about judges. And one of the main things
we learned was just the general state of chaos
in Israel that was a summation, really, of the
whole book in those last three chapters. That
continues on. That same type of condition is
the condition in which We're introduced to Samuel
in the first part of First Samuel and then to
Saul and then to David and Saul and then in Second
Samuel, David. And then at the end of Second
Samuel we have a similar type of summation to
the entire book. Originally it was just one book.
We're studying the first half of that book, First
Samuel, without any guarantees of studying the
second one. We'll see what the Lord has. But
in judges, we had what? We had judges. God mediated
his rule of his people through judges. And in
the first part of 1 Samuel, we have two judges.
Does anybody know who those two judges are? Eli
and Samuel. So we have this. transitional period
then, even at the beginning of 1 Samuel, where
we go from judges to kings. God is going to establish
a monarchy in Israel. And the question at the
beginning of the book, really in probably until
what the 12th chapter or something, is that Israel
wants a king like all the other nations. And
we don't necessarily need to take extra biblical
information on what those kings look like. But
Saul fits the bill. And he doesn't obey the Lord.
He doesn't follow the Lord. And he does other
things like talking to Samuel when he's dead.
and offering sacrifice. Those were all common
practices in Canaan. He does not only that, but
he does all the things that Samuel told him he
was going to do. So my position is that it wasn't
wrong. God had always planned on having a king
in Israel. We know that from Deuteronomy. That's
my position. The question is what type of king
and how is that king going to execute his God
-given responsibilities in Israel? and Samuel
lays out for us in chapter 12 how that works
that monarchy is not necessarily a bad thing
as long as what two things are going on when
what are those two things the king is following
God and then the people are following God and
under that scenario monarchy works pretty well
we might say if we wanted to look at our own
day and age that If your leader is following
the Lord and all the people are following the
Lord, there's probably not a whole lot of political
systems that wouldn't function perfectly well.
The problem is always sin. The problem is always
that some political systems do better than others
at mitigating the effect of sin in society. And
so, in Israel, A king following God along with
the people following God works very well. We
don't see it much, but when it happens, it does
work. And that's the way that God's design is.
Alright, as far as themes in the book, there's
three main themes. And two of these themes run
through the entire Bible, so they're not unique.
to First Samuel, but we will see them. And that
is God's perfect, righteous, holy, sovereign
reign through providence and wonder. In other
words, sometimes God directly overrules the so
-called laws of nature. In the time of judges,
remember, he caused great confusion in the armies
and Israel was victorious over them in spite
of their outnumbered, you know, ten or a hundred
to one, whatever it was. And through providence,
sometimes, God works. And we'll see that here
at the very beginning. So what are we saying
in that then? If God works through wonders and
providence to accomplish His purpose in the world,
then who is He or what is He? And the answer
is that He's King. And that is a theme that runs
throughout the Bible, but we ought to pay particular
attention to it here in Samuel because what?
David was a king after God's own heart. Saul
was not a king after God's own heart. So, what's
the lesson there? The lesson is that God will
execute His kingship through a human king, but
only on God's terms. So, that is why it is particularly
important that we see that in Samuel, because
this is the establishing of the monarchy. So,
what was Israel supposed to look for? How were
they supposed to know if they should follow the
king? How did they know if the king was exceeding
his authority? This is probably a theme that
is throughout the entire Bible. In fact, it is.
And that is God's unexpected use of unlikely
people. I mean, how many times in Judges do we
say that this person is totally unlikely to grow
up to be a judge in Israel? This person in their
background is unlikely to be used of God. This
person, because of their weakness, is unlikely
to be used of God. And yet God brings salvation
to His people and preserves His people. through
these very unlikely people. These people, what
else is it about the people that God uses? You
think about Saul. He stood a head taller than
everybody else. He was just what everybody wanted.
This great, handsome, strong king. David is just
this scrawny guy that tends sheep out in the
pasture. Nobody wants that guy for a king. And
yet, God does. So, where did Samuel come from?
What was Hannah's position here? She's just a
barren woman in misery and yet God through her
brings to Israel the great kingmaker. Obama thinks
he thought he was the president maker, but Samuel
is the kingmaker. He's the one who anoints both
Saul and announces Saul's end. Saul was king
for two years. Samuel announces the end of his
monarchy and that David is God's anointed. and
David some years later finally takes the throne.
But it's Samuel that's involved in both of those
men to anoint them as God's chosen person. So
God sees what men don't see. How does the world
see? Only with their eyes. And so they're limited
then in what they can see. What can I see with
my eyes? I can see the surface, the surface level.
That's all I can see. And sometimes I can't even
trust my eyes. Because the further away I look
or the older I get, the less clearly I see. But
even if I am young and have perfect 20 -20 vision,
there are certain things that look like they're
straight lines, but they aren't. Or they look
like they're straight, but they aren't. So my
eyes... only function in the physical world to
see the surface sometimes clearly and sometimes
not. But how does God see? And what does God
see? God sees all that. He knows all that. But
what does God also see? God sees within the heart.
In other words, God sees at the center of a person.
He knows what our thoughts are. He knows what
we're going to do before we do it. And He knows
what the intention and the motives are in our
heart. Why is it that I'm doing what I'm doing?
God knows. No matter what Joel Osteen may say,
man's responsibility and obligation is to serve
his Creator according to God's terms. Serve me
this way. Do this. For my glory and for my good.
Not because you want to and not because it makes
you feel happy. The Christian's life is a life
of self -sacrifice. And that's what's expected
of God's leaders. Of His King in Israel. Was
expected to do the same types of things that
God did for His people. Rescue them. Serve them.
Declare to them God's Word. And then what else
do we see throughout Samuel? 1 and 2 Samuel.
We see a certain relationship between what? The
King and the priest. between the king and the
prophet. Now what's the prophet's job? To declare
his inclinations. Is that what God's prophets
do? What do God's prophets declare? The Word
of God. And every time they declare the Word
of God, what? It's perfect and it's right. And
in the case of Saul, he didn't hear the word
of God from Samuel. He ignored it. He didn't
trust it. It didn't find fertile ground in his
heart. He rebelled against it. He went his own
way and did his own thing. The exact opposite
is what we see with David. David did terrible
things. But when Nathan comes to him and corrects
him and reproves him in harsh words, what happens?
What does David do? Get out of here. I don't
want anything. Don't you know I'm king? David,
because his heart was with the Lord, was crushed
because he knew that God knew his sin. And David
falls down before his Lord in repentance. Now
that's the relationship between the Word of God
and the King. And it's unique, I think, to Samuel,
although I won't say that, I think. So don't,
if you can find an exception, please do. But
Samuel is both prophet and what? Priest. And
so we see prophet, priest, and king in Samuel
and David working according to God's design.
Where else do we see prophet, priest, and king
working out perfectly according to God the Father's
design? In the Old Testament? Or just in general?
Just in general. Well, if you can find one in
the Old Testament, that would be good. But in
the New Testament is what I have in mind. Because
all of the Bible points towards this prophet,
priest, and king who is... The Christ the anointed
one the one who was born Jesus of Nazareth by
Mary So then in that way at least we can find
this general Pointing and fulfillment in Christ
and we ought to see that Remember that our Bibles
are all about showing us Jesus. So we're never
studying the Bible strictly to understand what
was going on in this certain geographic area
at this certain point in time or who are these
characters. We don't study the Bible the way
that we might study American history. It might
be interesting for us to know something about
George Washington. That's as far as we can go
with that. But when we open our Bibles and we
learn about Samuel, we learn about David, we
learn about Saul, then what we're really learning
about or should be learning about is God and
Jesus. Because all the Bible points towards the
time when God's Messiah will come into the world
and of course that is Jesus. So I have a question.
Please. So how can Samuel be a priest? Because
I thought they were all supposed to be from the
line of Aaron. Good question. I think you've
just answered your question. What do you mean?
Well he was a Levite. He's from the tribe of
Levi. Who was? Samuel? Yeah. Well, we'll get
into the text here in a minute. What? But thank
you for the question. Okay, then the third theme
is that, and we've already hit on this, but if
you're taking notes you can write it down, how
should an Israelite king execute his kingship?
We see that from Samuel in chapter 12 when he
reestablishes the monarchy and he tells people
exactly how it should look. Now, we see all these
themes somewhere and this is... Interesting to
me. Hopefully it is to you. And we see it in
the song. Where do we find that song? No. Chapter
two. When Hannah delivers her praise to the Lord
for what he's done. So when we get there, maybe
next week. we will see these themes laid out.
Now that's convenient for us, and it is a miracle
of God that He's able to put together the Bible
in such a way that it is eminently readable,
that it is eminently understandable, and that
it is eminently easy to find the point of His
message to us. He has condescended to us in that
way. to make His will and to make His Word accessible
to all of us. All that is required of us, though,
is what? Reading and faith. It's not by osmosis.
Having your Bible on your desk, having it on
the front seat of your car, is not going to accomplish
any good unless you open it up, read it, and
study it. But if you will do that, you will find
within it just the glorious beauty of a God who
has made himself known. So I'm encouraging us
all that we ought to be those types of people.
Alright, there are three stories in Samuel. What
are they? The first one is the story of who?
Samuel? That is correct. What's the second story?
Saul. And what's the third story? David. And?
Saul. Okay, and then in second Samuel we have
the story of David. So we have the beginning
of the book is the story of Samuel. Where did
he come from? Who was his mom? And what were
the circumstances under which he was born or
into which he was born? Then we have the story
of Saul and then we have this The longest segment
which is the interaction between Saul and David
at the end at the end of the book so I'm saying
that it goes from Chapter 1 to chapter 8 is the
story of Samuel 9 to 15 is the story of Saul
and 16 to 31 Through the end of the book is the
story of Saul and David If you want to get more
technical of that, you can find links between
the stories in certain places. There's also a
story of what? It's a fairly big story. David
and Jonathan? No. The story of the Ark. Right?
That's a that's another interesting story to
say the least and that's within the story of
Samuel All right, so let's read These first 18
verses of 1st Samuel now there was a certain
man of Ramathiam Zophim of Mount Ephraim and
his name was Elkanah the son of Geroham the son
of Elihu the son of Tohu the son of Zuf and Ephrathite
and he had two wives the name of the one was
Hannah and the name of the other Panina and Panina
had children but Hannah had no children and this
man went up out of his city yearly to worship
and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh
and the two and the two sons of Eli Haphne and
Phineas, the priests of the Lord, were there.
We'll just stop there and talk about those three
introductory verses first. So I guess you're
thinking that because he's an Ephrathite, that
that must mean that he is not a Levite. Is that
right, Rebecca? Is that why you're... Yes. Okay.
So you've misunderstood. And that's not, there
is no tribe called Ephrathite. He was in Mount
Ephraim. That doesn't say that he was from there,
it just says that that's where he was living.
He's of Mount Ephraim. What translation do you
have? He's not from the tribe of Ephraim. No,
he's not. Yes. My King James and all my commentaries.
Yes, it does say that. Aphrodite. At the end
of verse one is what you're asking me. You're
saying it would just say Ephraim, because he's
from Mount Ephraim. It can designate one of two
things, but it doesn't have to designate that
he's of the tribe of Ephraim. Remember, we already
saw Levi that was what? He went down. There was
a person from the tribe of Ephraim, and he was
living down in Benjamin, remember, at the end
of Judges. And he was there working. So just
because a person lives somewhere doesn't mean
that he's necessarily from that tribe. We tend
to think of Israel as this well -organized machine
that, according to God's word, they grabbed their
inheritance. But what did we see in judges? They
never did. They never did settle the land and
settle in their God -given territories. It just
didn't happen. It was chaos. So we saw the chaos
on the religious side. We saw the chaos on the
moral side. It shouldn't be surprising to us
that we see that same type of chaos with people
all over the place. Alright, he had two wives,
Hannah and Penina. And Hannah had no children.
Every year he went up to Shiloh. to worship where?
At the temple. Not a temple like Solomon's temple,
but in some kind of way. Remember, we saw Shiloh
repeatedly throughout judges. There was some
kind of tabernacle there, some kind of tent,
some kind of permanent type structure there in
Shiloh. And they had feasts there, and that's
where several of the judges were. And that's
where Eli is. There's some good things to be
said about Elkanah. He was apparently interested
in the Lord. He was interested in worshipping
the Lord. He made it a point once a year to take
his entire family up there to Shiloh to worship
the Lord. Later on we see where he takes Hannah's
vow as his own. That was up to the husband. If
the wife made a vow it was the husband that decided
whether or not he would take that. into the family
and he did. So apparently he had money, he had
enough money for two wives. Now we see the sacrifice
that Hannah brought up was three young bullocks.
That's no small gift and sacrifice to bring to
the Lord. So presumably Elkanah was successful
in his employment. whatever that was that's all
that we know about anybody oh and and then we
have this term here in verse three they were
sacrificing to who the lord of hosts does everybody
have that in their bible okay you don't have
that in your new american standard verse three
yeah it just says Thank goodness for that. So
this is the first time in the Bible where that
name is given to God, the Lord of hosts. And
it's interesting because it does seem to change
or to become more focused in one area, that is
God as champion, God as conqueror in judgment.
He's the God who controls the army and who defeats
the enemy army by his strong arm. Back here though,
I don't think we have that type of focus on that
word. So what's the focus here on the Lord of
Hosts? or Jehovah of hosts, Yahweh of hosts.
It's God's personal name of hosts. Remember the
theme. What's the theme of 1 Samuel? Who's king?
God. And so, what does every king control? Huh?
Every king controls a kingdom, right? And within
this certain geographic area then, and speaking
of earthly kings, he controls all the people
that are within there and everything that is
within that geographic area belongs to the king.
There is no personal property in a monarchy.
Everything belongs to the king. The king gives
to whom he wills. and allows certain people to
be stewards over what is his. And how does an
earthly king come to be? How did the kings of
Canaan come to be? By might, by their arm, by
some kind of military victory. They took a territory,
declared themselves king, and executed their
kingship according to the power of their army.
Remember in Proverbs where The king set in his
army. That's the man of God. Who can stop? Who
can resist that? A man in the middle of his host.
That's who you are. That's who I am when we're
in Christ. But the earthly king comes by his
kingship in a totally different way than the
way that God does. How does God come to be the
Lord of hosts? By virtue of what? creation by
his word all things that exist came into existence
and by his word everything that is continues
to exist upheld by the word of his power so God
is king and so everybody in the world whether
you're a Christian whether you're a Muslim whether
you're a Buddhist or whatever else you may be
you owe and are obligated to your Creator certain
things Whether you acknowledge the existence
of the God of the Bible or not, you owe to Him
your very existence and your very continuance.
And you owe Him not a portion of what He's given
to you, but you owe Him everything that you are
and everything that you have. You owe Him every
good thought. You owe Him every thought. You
owe Him every deed. That's why God is the Lord
of hosts because whether it's things in heaven
or things on earth all things have come into
being because of his word and so he is the Lord
or the King over all of those things. I read
somewhere that in the Old Testament this term
Lord of hosts is used most of the time when God
is getting ready to do something spectacular
and so It's not surprising then here in Samuel
that God was about to do an amazing thing. He
was about to do an amazing thing for Hannah.
He was about to do an amazing thing for Samuel.
He was going to do an amazing thing even for
Saul, but especially then to establish his monarchy
in Israel through David. So if that's interesting
to you, you can see. Remember in Zephaniah, He's
called the Lord of Hosts, and that's right before
we talk about the promised new covenant, the
promised kingdom that's going to be established
by God through Messiah. Now that's, of course,
an amazing and a powerful thing. So at least
in these two instances, that theory works out.
If someone's interested in that, they can report
back to us and see whether or not it's true each
time. But it's a big name. later on it does take
its focus and the context is what will determine
how you understand it. And here it's undoubtedly
and without a question God, King over everything
and everyone. So that's how the book opens with
that kind of declaration. Now if you don't acknowledge
that then you don't acknowledge anything else
that's going to be in the book because everything
else that's in this book of judges has that as
its context. That is the thing that sets our
focus. This is God at work in His creation and
in His people. And it's God at work for a very
specific purpose. We can never forget that. In
Ephesians, Paul calls it God's ultimate purpose.
Now what is God's ultimate purpose? Is it to
establish? certain geographical area in the Middle
East where people that are called today Jews
live? Is that God's ultimate purpose? Is He going
to bring all of history back to the place where
there's this Jewish kingdom over there? And the
answer is obviously no. What is God's ultimate
purpose? To bring a people to Himself that will
be like Him, that will acknowledge Him as their
King and as their God. and will order their lives
according to His will and He will do that in
this world and He will secure it and finalize
it in the world to come where there is no more
problem of sin, there is no more sorrow, there's
no more distraction. It's just God and His people
living together in perfect harmony and perfect
unity because of the work of His Son on behalf
of His people. That's God's ultimate purpose.
And so God is working towards that end way back
here in 1 Samuel. And we see the end of that
working when Jesus Christ bursts onto the scene
there in the stable in Bethlehem. The King of
kings and the Lord of hosts is at work. And we
ought to pay good attention to it. And when the
time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Penina
his wife and to all her sons and daughters portions.
But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion for
he loved Hannah But the Lord had shut up her
wound Now It wasn't that she had a defect in
her body It wasn't that Her husband had a defect
in her body and therefore they she was unable
able to conceive God purposed that she would
not bring forth a baby until his time. So he
shut off her womb for this time. And it was the
cause of great stress in Hannah's life. Undoubtedly,
that's one of the reasons that Elkanah took himself
a second wife. He wanted to have some kids. And
he wasn't getting any kids from Hannah, so he
took a second wife in Panina, who gave him all
kinds of kids. But it was the Lord that was at
work. It's easy for us to say, and it's obvious
for us to acknowledge it, because that's what
the Bible tells us. The Lord had shut up her
womb. But when it comes to our lives, this is
difficult. This is the difficult part of our
lives. We have difficulties in our lives. And
who are we going to blame for that? Remember
the man that was born blind? And the Pharisees
and the Jews all thought that he was born blind.
Why? Well, it must have been something that his
mom and dad did. Or it must have been something
that he did. This was judgment in his life. But
what did Jesus say? He's not blind because of
his mom and dad did something or because he did
something. He's blind because God wanted to manifest
himself in me when I heal him. That man had to
walk around blind his whole life until Jesus
came on the scene and gave him his sight so that
Jesus could come onto the scene and give him
his sight. Hannah had to suffer at the hands
of Panina. Later we're going to hear her. Her
spirit was troubled. It was unbearable. She was
miserable is the words that the Bible uses about
her. This misery in her life was God working.
Why do bad things happen to good people? Because
God's at work. That's the answer. You live in
a world full of sin. You live in a world that
is damaged and scarred by sin everywhere that
you turn. And when you look inward, Your own
self is scarred by sin. You suffer the effects
of it. You suffer the effects of it from other
people, from yourself, and from everywhere that
you turn. Sometimes it's real personal. Sometimes
it's real bad. Sometimes it results in death.
Sometimes it's a lifetime of suffering. I don't
know what Paul was suffering when he talked about
his thorn in the flesh. But that was miserable
to him. But God was at work in him. And it was
there because God was going to accomplish His
purpose and that was one of the means that He
was using in the Apostle Paul. This was God's
means to accomplish His purpose in Hannah. He
shut up her womb and she had to suffer under
the ridicule and the cruelty of her, I don't
know what you call her sister wife, her co -wife.
Panina, but it was according to God's purpose.
Alright, anybody got any questions there? Verse
6, and her adversary. That'd be something, wouldn't
it? Your adversary, you live with your adversary.
You share a husband with your adversary. Also,
revoked her sore. for to make her fret because
the Lord had shut up her womb. In other words,
it was the Lord's working that was the cause
of all the grief that Panina brought into Hannah's
life. And as he did so year by year, that is
Elkanah who goes up to the house. And when she
went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked
her. Therefore she wept and did not eat. So it
seems that when Elkanah was given her her special
portion that was particularly troublesome to
Panina. It seems that the emphasis of Alcana's
love is placed on Hannah. He loved Hannah. Doesn't
tell us that about Panina. So apparently there
was this rivalry that even though Panina was
the one that brought the children to Alcana and
to the family, it was Hannah that still held
the special place in Alcana's heart. And that
drove Panina to cause Hannah to live in misery,
and in particular when they went up to the house
of the Lord. Then Elkanah her husband, then said
Elkanah her husband to her in verse 8, Hannah,
why weepest thou? And why eatest thou not? And
why is thy heart grieved? Am I not better to
thee than ten sons? Now there is some good help,
isn't it? We all read that and we're like, wow,
man, Elkanah is on the case. He understands what's
going on, and he just delivers just the perfect,
kind, encouraging word to Hannah. Is that what
we think? I mean, the best thing we can say is
he's trying, right? Maybe we could say that God
is somehow implied in there. because it was God
that put her and Elkanah together. But that's
what's missing in all this hell. There is only
one place from which encouragement comes. And
what is that place or who is that place? It's
from the Lord of hosts, the King of kings, the
God over all. You want to know why the world
is in despair? It's because this is the type
of things that they say. surface level and meaningless.
How is that supposed to encourage Hannah? God's
nowhere in there. So if you're going to try to
bring encouragement into someone's life, if you're
going to try to answer someone's why questions,
you better have a firm grasp, a firm grip, and
a firm understanding on who God is. Because apart
from that, you're not going to bring any wisdom.
You're not going to bring any comfort. And you're
not going to bring any encouragement to that
person. And that's really what the person needs.
That's what the whole world needs is God. And
that's why the whole world is in despair. Because
they don't have a purpose. Because they don't
have a God. There is nothing in their life that
brings them fulfillment. So let's not be like
Elkanah here. Let's be like the Elkanah that
takes his family yearly to go and worship the
Lord. He takes good care of his children. And
good care of his wives. I'm not throwing a can
under the bus, but I am pointing out to us that
good counsel comes from God's Word. Anybody want
to say anything there? When you went up to sacrifice,
you took your animals with you. When you sacrifice,
then a certain portion of that went to the priests.
Another portion of that went to the person that
brought it. And they feasted then in the tabernacle
of the Lord. So apparently, or obviously, each
person in the family got a portion exactly what
Hannah's portion was, whether it was especially
worthy because it was more... or it was the choices
parts, whatever it was, it was obvious to everybody
there that she got a special portion. Okay? So
Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh
and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest
sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the
Lord. So again, that's a... Most people in the
Middle East, where do they sit? Where do they
sit? Well, have you ever eaten at a restaurant
that's modeled after a Middle Eastern restaurant?
Okay. Well, you sit on the ground. But you can't
be old when you go to eat at a Middle Eastern
restaurant unless you got somebody to help you
get up, because you're sitting about this far
off the ground on some kind of weird couch where
you lounge. And I'll never go back. But Eli is
sitting up. So probably is intended to show us,
number one, that he's a judge, that he has some
kind of authority. And it probably alludes to
the fact that the king is coming. There is going
to be a king that sits on a throne. It's not
Eli. But there he is, sitting up on his seat.
There at the temple of the Lord and she that
is Hannah in verse 10 was in bitterness of soul
and Prayed unto the Lord and wept sore Now if
you can read that and not be moved then there's
a problem Here's this woman who is beside herself
in misery that has lived her entire marriage
and her entire adult life under the constant
criticism and haranguing and trouble -making
adversary of Panina. Add that to the fact that
undoubtedly she's frustrated. She's frustrated
that she can't have kids. I'm sure growing up...
her expectation was God's gonna have a husband
for me and then I'm gonna have some kids and
I'm gonna live in a family and None of those
expectations had been met in her life and Somebody
was there to keep pointing that out to her She's
miserable And so what does she do go find a go
find a tavern on the on the corner? She run to
the nearest No comedy club to ease her pain.
She's trying to find some kind of drug that will
cloud her mind so she can forget about it all.
Maybe she takes some sleeping pills so she can
just sleep through her misery. Spend less time
awake, less time miserable. She goes straight
to the Lord. Now that's a word to you and to
me. that our God, your Father, expects, encourages,
and wants you to come to Him as you are. That
He doesn't intend for you to have to bear all
of your burdens by yourself. That He doesn't
expect you to live in misery without the benefit
of His encouragement. Not only did her misery
not keep her from God. Now listen, when you're
in that type of trial, you're in the fire, what
is the devil going to be whispering in your ear?
God doesn't love you. You think a loving God
would let you burn like this? He whispers those
things in your ear for what purpose? To drive
a wedge between you and your father. The one
place that you can go to find acceptance, to
find love, to find encouragement. He wants to
drive you away from that. Hannah... was not affected
by that type of thinking. Undoubtedly, the devil
was whispering in her ear. You think the devil
has changed? He's done nothing but try to cause
chaos and problems in the lives of God's people
and in God's creation at large. But Hannah didn't
give in to resentment. She didn't give in to
living her life asking, why? Why me? Why me?
Why can't I have kids? She went straight to the
Lord. And she poured out her heart to the Lord.
And he hurt her. Now we can't go any further,
but so we'll stop there. We'll be here till night,
which is OK. But let's make that a practice in
our lives. You're going through a rough time.
Where do you go? You go to the Lord. It's okay
to be having a rough time. The Christian is not
the one that tries to deny his present reality.
We acknowledge it. It's a bad day for me. It's
a disappointing day for me. It's this for me.
But where do you go with that? You go to the
one person who can help and that's the Lord and
He hears you.