Loop of Misery • 1 Samuel 1

37:30 Teaching begins

Notes

I’m going to teach from 1 Samuel something that God is showing me and is encouraging me with. I need encouragement because I find that life is hard to understand. Difficult things happen. I find that I live in loops of misery that repeat themselves over and over. It makes me weary. I think, I’d like to change this, but what’s the solution?

We get the impression that life is compartmentalised into spiritual things over here and secular, practical things here, and they never interact, God doesn’t work in the real world.

The Bible shows us that everything in life is spiritual. Therefore the only solution to life is spiritual. God changes things.

He works through weakness and inability to show that it’s Him at work. Anyone can experience God working a change in life because it doesn’t depend on the person, it depends on God, His will, and His power.

In this case God works through a helpless woman stuck in a loop of misery. He shows us how He prevails through her by humbling her greatly, and then giving the humble grace. Are you interested in this?

I’m reading in 1 Samuel 1.

1. Hannah is stuck in a loop of never-ending misery, vv. 1-8.

A. The account begins with Elkanah and he’s a pretty okay guy. But okay is not the same as really good guy.

1. He goes up yearly to worship and sacrifice to the Lord at the place where the Lord made His name dwell, and that was at Shiloh. I notice that Israel was to go up three times a year, and Elkanah goes up once. So that’s pretty okay.

2. He loves his wife Hannah, that’s okay. That particular sacrifice he makes each year is called the peace offering. You offer God the sacrifice, He invites you to His table and He shares it with you. You have fellowship with God. Now Elkanah gives everyone a portion and he gives Hannah a double portion. He loves her though the Lord had closed her womb. She can’t have children.

3. He loves Hannah, but he really wanted children, so Elkanah married another wife, Peninnah, which is only okay. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s wives all were barren, and they prayed, and God answered them with children. It doesn’t occur to Elkanah to pray. He solved his problem on his own. Yes, he got children, but he also created strife and he can’t do anything about it. When Peninnah provokes Hannah and makes her break down in tears Elkanah says, “Am I not better to you than ten sons?” Don’t I make up for all that? You got me, isn’t that enough? But that’s really not okay. It’s not enough, and he proves the point because he married another woman to get children. They were the most important thing.

B. The second part of this loop of misery is Peninnah. 

1. Peninnah is an arrogant woman who maybe resents being wife number two.

2. Her big thing is playing what is called a zero-sum game with Hannah. If you win, I lose, but if I win, you lose. We can’t both win, there has to be one winner. It’s a competition to see who is better, and look, I win! You lose!

3. Peninnah plays this zero-sum I win, you lose game especially when it hurts Hannah the most, which is when they are worshipping and fellowshipping with God at Shiloh. That high time of the year is the absolute low time of Hannah’s life, because Peninnah pushes this into her face—God commands us to be fruitful and multiply, but you can’t do it. God has cursed you. He doesn’t care about you. You are a loser, but look at me, I win. God is blessing me and He is cursing you. Elkanah proves I’m right. He says he loves you, but he married me to have children. Elkanah chooses children over love. I win, you lose.

C. So runs this loop of misery: Peninnah provokes Hannah, Elkanah can’t help, Hannah loses, she is provoked and tormented and grieving. Hannah doesn’t even want to play the game, she knows she’s lost before she starts, but there’s no out, no escape. And it goes on year after year and it loops and loops and loops.

2. If this went on forever it would be hell. But one particular year Hannah comes to the breaking point, vv. 9-18

A. The breaking point is where the situation becomes crucial. In a disease it’s the point where the patient either gets much worse or gets much better. It’s a point where definite change happens.

B. Hannah is bitter in soul, other translations have greatly distressed, she’s oppressed, sorrowful in spirit, with abundance of complaint and grief.

C. But Hannah does what she has never done before in all these years of suffering. She goes to the tabernacle of God and she pours out her soul to the Lord, v. 15.

1. There is an explanation of this later in 1 Samuel 7:6, when Israel is returning to the Lord. So they gathered together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out before the LORD. And they fasted that day, and said there, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah.

2. The context is repentance and humbling oneself before the Lord, pouring out all the grief and oppression and suffering to the Lord. That is like water that soaks into the ground and can’t be gathered up again. It’s beyond human repair. Only God can make things right. That’s us, we’re poured out like water. Only You can make us right. We humble ourselves before You. Hannah is humbling herself greatly before the Lord.

3. She prays if You will indeed remember me and stop forgetting me, and make me a mother, I will mother a son who will do all Your will. He will be dedicated to You as a Nazirite, holy from the womb. The hair on the head was considered to be a holy crown, that’s why a Nazirite was not to cut his hair. That’s motherhood for the will of God. I’m submitting to You and I will raise a son who will be submitted to do Your will all his life.

4. This is not trying to make a deal with God. This is complete submission to whatever God wants.

D. This is a definite change in Hannah.

1. You would not be surprised if she prayed, “Lord, kill Peninnah. If You do it, it’s just and right for You to do it, and then I’m free and it’s not my fault.” Or, “Kill me now, just let me die.”

2. She is praying not my will but Yours be done. This is a definite change in Hannah.

3. Then she gets confirmation that God has heard her prayer and will answer her.

A. The crazy thing is that it happens in spite of Eli the priest.

1. He totally misjudges her. He sees her crying and upset, her lips moving but no sound coming out. She looks a mess, figures she’s drunk. The very idea! Drunk right in the house of God. Shame on you!

2. She says soberly, no, I’m not drunk, I’m afflicted and suffering and I’m pouring out my soul to the Lord.

B. Oh, well, go in peace and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him. Never mind.

C. Something clicks in Hannah. She believes that God has heard her prayer. It’s an inward witness of the Holy Spirit. He’s heard. It’s going to be all right now.

D. She makes a word play. Let your maidservant find favor in your sight is like thanks. The word for favor is chen. Her name comes from that, Hannah, it means favor, or we would say, grace. Her name in Hebrew means Grace. And now she believes that she is finding grace in the eyes of the Lord.

E. Outwardly Hannah’s situation has not changed. But inwardly Hannah now expects good from God—that is hope. So she does another new thing—she goes back and eats that double portion Elkanah has set apart for her. I want that after all. I’m sure Peninnah is looking at her: what’s gotten into her? what is she happy for? Something is going really wrong here.

F. Hannah has committed her affliction and her suffering and anger and hopelessness and helplessness to the Lord. She poured out her heart to Him and now she is having happy peaceful fellowship with Him. Wow.

4. God answers Hannah’s prayer and she fulfils her vow, vv. 19-28.

A. She and Elkanah come together and she conceives.

B. She knows she has a son coming. When he comes she names him Samuel, which means Name of God. The name of God is found in Exodus 34:6-9 And the LORD passed before Moses and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”

C. Hannah takes time to fulfil her vow. She takes three years with Samuel and teaches him where he came from and why he exists. I prayed to God for you. He answered me. You’re a miracle of God. He is the best, His name is wonderful, you are going to serve Him and know all His goodness.

D. And then she brings up Samuel and dedicates him to the Lord. And he really will follow the Lord all the rest of his life.

E. But it doesn’t end there. This one boy who is completely submitted to doing God’s will goes on to reveal God again in Shiloh. He purifies the worship of God to where the whole nation returns to the Lord. That exalts the nation and subdues the Philistines who ruled over Israel at that time. One man changes the course of nations.

F. In order to get that man, God first had to get his mother to be completely submitted to His will. Then she would know how to raise that son to also be submitted to God.

5. So what? This is about prevailing through God.

A. Prevail is used in chapter two, verse 9. We’ll look at chapter two next week. This week we see practically how that happened.

B. Prevail means to triumph, to be strong, to gain ascendency, power and influence through strength or superiority.

1. But Hannah wasn’t strong, she didn’t have the power to conceive children. She didn’t know how to answer Peninnah when she provoked her. She had no strength and she had no answers.

2. Hannah prevailed not in her own strength but in the strength and superiority of the Lord.

C. We want to learn how to prevail like that.

1. The reason is in chapter two verse nine: For by strength no man shall prevail. That’s all we have, our strength, our intellect, our goodness, our ability, whatever we have, it’s not enough.

2. What made the difference with Hannah, what made the definite change, was God. He gave Hannah power to conceive, and He shut Peninnah’s mouth. Not by Hannah breaking Peninnah’s jaw with a right hook. Take that! No, by ending that zero-sum game, I win, you lose. There is no more game to play because God ended that game with His presence and His grace in Hannah’s life.

D. The devil plays a zero-sum game with us: I win, you lose. Like Hannah, we lose before we even begin to play. We start as losers. Our strength is not enough to prevail.

E. Jesus the Son of God became like Hannah: a human being. He lived in the same loop of misery as Hannah. The devil played the zero-sum game with Him and had Jesus nailed to a cross. He saved others, He cannot save Himself. I win, You lose.

F. Isaiah 53:12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Jesus poured out His soul unto death and saved us. And the Father raised Him from the dead. Jesus saved others and He saved Himself.

G. The devil still wants you to play the zero-sum game, I win, you lose. You still live in a loop of misery. you are tempted to think I can’t break out. That I will never have enough money, or opportunity, or success. It can’t happen. The devil wants you to believe that God will not help you. You come to that breaking point. Which way will you go? Get bitter and hate everyone and everything, or pour out your soul to God?

H. You prevail over the devil in Christ, the same way Hannah prevailed. You pray just as Jesus prayed: not My will but Yours be done. This is not about how to have children, or how to get your way. It’s about God Himself helping you. He does His good, acceptable, and perfect will in your life.

I. Life is spiritual. You handle the devil and the difficulties in life by pouring out your heart to the Lord. Pray with the Spirit, pray with the mind, as Paul says. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord. He will lift you up.

J. God gives grace to the humble, to the helpless, to the weak, to the afflicted. You prevail not through strength but through the grace of God.

Let’s pray.