Praise in loss.

Last updated on August 3rd, 2023 at 01:22 am

Read

1 Samuel 2:1-11

1 And 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.

² There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.

³ Talk 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.

⁴ The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.

⁵ They 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.

⁶ The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.

⁷ The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.

⁸ He 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.

⁹ He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.

¹⁰ The 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.

¹¹ And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest.

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Reflect

In order to fully appreciate this passage, you have to understand that Hannah has just given Samuel to the Lord. She has just dropped him off at his new home in the temple. No longer will she see him every day when she wakes up. No longer will she tuck him into bed at night. For all extents and purposes, she is giving up her child. We know from 1 Samuel 1:1 that Hannah lived in Ramathaimzophim, which was 15 miles from Shiloh, where Samuel was now residing as an understudy of Eli.

How hard must it have been on her as a mother! She prayed and weeped for a son, then God gave her Samuel. A short time later, she then gave him back to God for service in the temple. When you do God’s will He will give you peace that allows you to praise him, regardless of the earthly circumstance you’re in. A mother giving up her child isn’t the happiest occasion, but Hannah had peace in the Lord.

Verses 4, 5, and 6 show us that God knows how to flip a script. When God gets involved, sometimes the weapons of the strong are broken. Those seen as weak are clothed with strength. The person who never thought they’d go hungry is begging for bread. The barren wife is able to conceive and bear a son. The Lord can kill, and he can make alive again. He can pull a person into the grave, and he can raise them out. We often treat God as if he is one of us, living somewhere in the sky. This is not so. The rules that we abide by here on this earth hold no power over Him.

Verse 7 and 8 show us that God can pull you out of a hopeless predicament. He can put a song in your heart where there is mourning. He can take the richest man and place him in rags, and he can take the poorest and set him over a kingdom. How foolish of us to try to constrain God to the box in which we operate! God is bigger than that.

Verse 9 shows us that God will honor the obedience of his people. He will keep the feet of his saints. Another way of saying that is “He will protect and guide his saints as they walk along the path.”

Remember

As verse 3, 9 ,and 10 tell us, it is by God’s strength, not ours, that we can have praise in loss. I must realize that God sees the full picture. Am I obeying, content to walk in His footsteps? Am I leaning on my own knowledge, hoping that it will explain the path I need to take, or am I waiting on God for direction?

Hannah had no idea how God was going to use Samuel. She simply obeyed and did as He told her to do., In 1 Samuel 1, she asked of God with a humble heart. In 1 Samuel 2, she gave with a humble heart. Why? Because she gave God preeminence, not prominence, in her life, and she was confident in the fact that the Lord had the perfect plan for her and her son. Don’t simply give God prominence in your life. You can’t simply rank Him in your top 10 list of things you value. He must have preeminence. He must come before all else.