Scripture reading: Psalm 16.

Sermon text: 1 Samuel 2:1-10.

“Never have so many owed so much to so few.” Winston Churchill, prime minister of Britain during World War II, used that phrase to describe his appreciation for the Royal Air Force pilots that defended Britain during the Blitz. As British subjects hunkered in the subways of London and other cities, the outnumbered RAF pilots heroically battled the German Luftwaffe for control of the skies over Britain and the English Channel. The RAF’s victory insured Britain’s survival by eliminating any chance of a German invasion and occupation of Hitler’s greatest enemy to the west before American entry into the War.

The nation of Israel faced invasion and occupation itself during the time of Hannah’s prayer in today’s sermon passage. Joshua had led the Hebrews into Canaan in 1406 B.C. and proceeded to conquer much of the land promised to Abraham’s descendants. Unfortunately, the Hebrews failed to eliminate the Canaanite occupants of the land as God had commanded them, leading to serious problems with assimilation and idolatry. Then, roughly 200 years after Joshua, another group of migrants invaded the land: The Philistines.

The Philistines’ origin disappear in the mists of historical ambiguity. We know that around the year 1200 B.C., a massive migration began from Greece and Anatolia (modern Turkey), leading to misery and displacement around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Some people believe these groups may have left Anatolia following the fall of Troy in the Trojan War described in Homer’s Iliad, while others believe that famine may have instigated the migration.

Several groups of these migrants attacked Egypt, Canaan, and other kingdoms along the eastern Mediterranean shoreline. The Egyptians, under Pharaoh Rameses III, fought the invaders and expelled them from Egypt before they could establish a foothold in the area. (The Egyptians had not forgotten the last “visitors” to their land, the Hyksos, who ruled Egypt between the Middle and new Kingdom eras.) One group of these people, known as the Peleset, moved up the sea coast and occupied the Canaanite sea coast. We know them in the Bible as the Philistines.

The Philistines arrived in Canaan shortly after the beginning of the twelfth century B.C. Although the Egyptians had managed to expel them, the Philistines found easy pickings in Canaan, primarily because they possessed a technological advantage. The Philistines used iron weapons to invade a Bronze Age culture. In the metallurgical hierarchy, iron trumped bronze every time. No one in Canaan, least of all Israel, could match these newcomers technologically or militarily.

Israel’s political disunity did nothing to help the situation. Gideon had defeated the Midianites just prior to the Philistines’ arrival, but anyone who reads the book of Judges can understand how little this would mean to most of Israel. The people remained fragmented as the nation refused to recognize God as their Lord and the tribes fiercely defended their independence from any central authority. Of all Israel’s leaders during this time, only Samson managed to hold the Philistines at bay, and even his story demonstrates that the Philistines had settled permanently in the area, complete with massive cities and a highly organized political structure.

By the time of Samuel’s birth some time in the early 11th century B.C., the situation had only grown worse. Jephthah’s sacrifice of his daughter described in the book of Judges aptly demonstrates the depths to which Hebrew worship had fallen. The book of 1 Samuel will describe the wickedness of Israel’s priesthood shortly after today’s sermon passage. Even Eli, the high priest, did not recognize a woman in desperate prayer before the LORD; in chapter 1, Eli accused Hannah of drunkenness as she silently beseeched her God for a son.

This brings us to Hannah’s plight. The first chapter of 1 Samuel describes a common situation of Hannah’s time. Elkanah had married Hannah, his beloved, but he had also later married another wife because of Hannah’s barrenness. In ancient Israel, people viewed barrenness as a judgment from God. Elkanah’s second wife, Peninnah, constantly berated Hannah for her lack of children, while Peninnah herself apparently had no problem conceiving and bearing children. After several years of this, even Elkanah’s love for her failed to alleviate Hannah’s misery.

Here we find a comforting glimpse: Elkanah “used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts at Shiloh” (1 Samuel 1:3). Elkanah knew the depravity of Eli’s sons, yet he faithfully followed the Mosaic Law and attended the yearly festivals. Elkanah knew the LORD, and Elkanah faithfully believed God would protect and provide for His people. Like all Israel, Elkanah prayed for God’s deliverance from the Philistines and for spiritual renewal at Shiloh.

How would God answer the prayers of His people? How did Hannah, the beloved and yet oppressed wife of Elkanah, fit in with God’s plan for redemption?

Hannah agonized before God at the sanctuary and prayed for a son, pledging that when God answered her prayer, “I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head” (1:11). God answered her prayer: “Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, ‘I have asked for him from the LORD” (1:19-20). The name “Samuel” means “Heard of God.” Today’s sermon passage describes Hannah’s praise of God after she had taken Samuel to the sanctuary to serve the LORD, as she had promised in her prayer for his birth.

Hannah’s prayer joyfully describes the faith of God’s people in times of distress. When we read Hannah’s prayer, we see anew the depth of God’s love for His people and how He alone serves as our protector and refuge in dire times.

First, Hannah proclaims, “My heart exults in the LORD; my strength is exalted in the LORD.” “Exult” describes a joyful emotional response; Hannah’s joy overflowed her heart and spilled into her actions. Hannah knew that God “exalted” her strength by answering her prayer. Even in difficult times, we know that we possess a strength beyond our own, because God Himself strengthens His people. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that after he pleaded with God to remove his “thorn in the flesh,” the LORD replied, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). God’s strength empowers us to accomplish His plans when we lack the strength ourselves.

Hannah continued by proclaiming, “My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.” Hannah’s prayer would cause her enemies to realize God’s blessing in her life. Hannah’s prayer revealed her testimony to everyone in the sanctuary, including anyone who had ever belittled her (especially Penninah). Hannah needed “salvation,” and God had delivered. Hannah’s faith in the God of the covenant led her to believe He would fulfill His promise to uphold those who obeyed His word. Scripture clearly teaches that Old Testament believers who fulfilled their covenant obligations by faith found peace with God and received His salvation.

Hannah realized that God stood above all the so-called gods of the Canaanites and Philistines: “There is none holy like the LORD; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.” God is “holy,” meaning He is separate from the sinful world in which we live. God created the world; He is not a part of it. His holiness enables God to work beyond the normal flow of our world and guide events to the good of His people.

Anyone who saw God’s answer to Hannah’s prayer would find themselves silenced in their derision of His people: “Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.” God knows all; His omniscience enables Him to direct His people and to guide them in His plan to redeem His creation.

The military might of a nation would not stop God from protecting His saints: “The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength.” The enemies of her nation relied on their fighting skills and superior weaponry, but Hannah knew that nothing the Philistines could wield would prevent God from preserving His people and granting them victory when they faithfully followed His commandments.

Hannah turned specifically to her own situation: “The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn.” Hannah could rejoice at God’s answer to her prayer for Samuel, a prayer repeated and answered numerous times in Israel’s history and beyond. After she took Samuel to the sanctuary, God blessed her and Elkanah with 3 sons and 2 daughters. Roughly 1,100 years later, Elizabeth and Zechariah would pray for a child and receive their answer in John the Baptist, their son and the forerunner of Jesus Christ.

Hannah also included the oppressors of the poor in her condemnation. “Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger…. The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts. 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 are the LORD’s, and on them he has set the world.” God has always cared for the poor; He specifically commanded for their care in the Mosaic Law. However, the wealthy often ignored these provisions. (See the book of Ruth for an example of a godly man, Boaz, who used his wealth to provide for the poor and the widows.) Hannah warned the oppressors that God would one day switch their roles; He would provide for the hungry while the former wealthy found themselves scrambling for provisions themselves.

Elkanah and his family had remained faithful to God in the midst of national apostasy. Hannah declared to the worshipers in the sanctuary, “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. The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven.” We can wonder whether the sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, heard Hannah’s statement. Their wickedness in the sanctuary profaned the sacrifices and led to their deaths in battle with the Philistines.

Finally, Hannah closed her prayer with an intriguing statement: “The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the power of his anointed.” Amazingly, Hannah declared God would strengthen “His king.” However, Israel had no king in her lifetime. Samuel, her son, would not anoint Israel’s first king until decades later. Hannah’s prayer of praise turned prophetic as she looked ahead to see God’s anointed “exalted” above his enemies. King David — also anointed by Samuel — would defeat the Philistines and end their domination of Israel, God’s chosen people.

We can hear Hannah’s prayer speaking to our situations today.

Like Hannah’s time, God’s people face troublesome times. The oppression of the poor, caused by the greed of our economic system, has finally caught up with us, causing both the guilty and the innocent to suffer. We see signs of apostasy in the Church as people focus more on the world’s methods of measuring our success and spend less attention seeking spiritual renewal. While our nation doesn’t yet face a threat to our existence such as that the Philistines posed to Israel, we were brutally reminded this week that many on our prayer list serve our nation in dangerous places to eliminate the enemies who attacked us in 2001. Like Israel in Hannah’s time, we need a refuge; we need protection, spiritually, morally, and physically.

Still, we worship a God who protects His people and who provides for His people. We worship a God who has brought salvation to a fallen creation through the crucifixion and resurrection of His only-begotten Son, Jesus the Christ, the Anointed One. At the resurrection of Jesus, our worst enemies of sin and death experienced their ultimate defeat. When we confess Jesus as Lord, believing in His resurrection, we receive the salvation promised to all who have believed in God throughout the centuries.

God’s protection extends far beyond eternal salvation, a point most people rarely mentioned before the crises of the previous year. Many believers who thought salvation involved only spiritual matters have learned otherwise as their financial security collapsed with the fallout of the international financial crisis. Believers have learned God provides for His people in far more tangible ways than the merely spiritual. We’ve all heard testimonies of believers for whom God has provided to help them meet bills, restore relationships, and drawing nearer to Him in the process. We cannot forget — and, occasionally, we need a good crisis to remind us — that salvation involves this life as much as the life to come.

Jesus established a body of covenant believers after His resurrection. The Church now serves as the “kingdom of priests” (1 Peter 2:9) God had called Israel to become (Exodus 19). When we confess Jesus as Lord of our lives, we find refuge within the Church. The Church protects us spiritually as we study God’s word together, as we share our sufferings and joys, and as we gather regularly to worship the God who serves as our Protector and Refuge.

Even in the time of Eli, God’s people still confidently looked for Him to provide for His people and protect them in times of trial. The Philistines threatened to enslave the nation, but faithful Hebrews knew God would preserve His chosen people. Today, on the other side of Jesus’ resurrection, we still come to the Church of our living God for protection and refuge, rejoicing like Hannah as we see Him provide for His people.