HANNAH'S HYMN

HANNAH'S HYMN
Readings:1 Samuel 1:4-20, Mark 13:1-8, Acts 3:19-26, 1 Samuel 2:1-10
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, November 18th 2012

A printable PDF file can be found here

The Hymn of Hannah is one of the lesser known passages of the Old Testament. Who is Hannah?  Why is she writing a hymn?

Hannah lived at a time in history before Israel had a King and was ruled by Judges and Priests. The priest at the time was a man called Eli, who was having problems controlling his sons, who were not the godly sort and embraced the spirit of the age. In Scriptures words it was a time when 'everybody did what was right in their own eyes' without considering what God may require of them.

 Hannah and Peninnah are the two wives of a man called Elkanah. Peninnah has given Elkanah children, but Hannah has not. Penninah takes every opportunity she can to torment Hannah and remind her that it is she, and her children, who were the blessed ones of God. Hannah's heart is often broken.

Every year the family makes a pilgrimage to Eli's place of worship called Shiloh. It's always tough for Hannah as Peninnah continues to treat her unkindly and remind her of her barren state. One particular year is exceptionally hard and the priest Eli finds Hannah crying in the temple. She comes to God with a heart rending prayer. That if God will grant her a son, she will dedicate the life of that child to God. Eli assures her that God has heard her prayer and she will have a child.

Hannah does indeed have a child. She calls him Samuel. True to her word Hannah brings Samuel to Eli and Eli takes Samuel under his wing, bringing him up in the temple as a priest. Hannah's hymn, our scripture reading, was her thanksgiving to God for answering her prayer and giving her a son.

Although she doesn't know it when she sings her hymn, when he grows up, Samuel becomes one of Israel's most celebrated priests under whose ministry the time of Judges comes to an end and the time of Kings begins. There are two books in the Old Testament named 'Samuel' such is his influence.

As we enter a time of Thanksgiving it seems timely to take a look at one of Scriptures great thanksgiving prayers. As we continue to be a community that rebuilds from the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, it is good to remind ourselves that God is not against us, but In Christ, seeks to renew our lives.

Hannah's prayer offers thanksgiving for the past, the present and the future.

1. Thanksgiving for the things God has done.

The Message Bible begins the hymn with Hannnah praying; “I'm bursting with God-news! I'm walking on air. I'm laughing at my rivals. I'm dancing my salvation.” She is in a better place than she had been for a long long time. There had been times when she despaired of ever getting through. She had for years had to put up with the bullying and taunting of  Elkinah's other wife, Peninnah, but with the benefit of hindsight, could see that even those difficult days had not been without purpose.

If she had not struggled for so long then she may never have considered dedicating the life of her first born to the Lord. She had discovered, that despite the taunting of Penninah, their husband Elkinah had never disparaged her or rejected her, but even in her barrenness loved her and supported her. She had discovered a sense of 'karma' … 'what goes around, comes around'. Her opponents taunts turned out to be hollow and empty. Their foolishness was exposed. She had discovered that faith in God truly was a rock on which to build, and that those who mocked her faith would be found wanting. As verse 3 tells us;  "Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him deeds are weighed.”

When we travel through hard times, times of great loss and tragedy, we are forced to re-evaluate what really matters in life.  Some of those who have seen their homes destroyed have spoken of how it's not the 'stuff' that they are missing, it's the lost photographs and pictures, things often with little financial value, that they most regret losing. It's hard.

Many are not yet in a position to really evaluate the lessons these days are teaching us. It's still to close and the wounds are to deep. Yet even if our only prayer of thanksgiving today is 'Thank You Lord that I'm still here to tell my story” then we are allowing God to teach us and transform us.

There is a gritty reality to Hannah's hymn when in verses 6 and 7 she declares  "The LORD brings death and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and raises up. The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.” Hannah acknowledges that there are times when our worst nightmares become our reality. But she won't leave it there. She insists that even as we travel through those times, God is at work in ways that call us to faith. She never tries to justify or explain the dark times. She thanks God for getting through them. She offers thanksgiving for the things God has done.

2. Thanksgiving for the things God was doing.

She sees around her things happening that cause her to be thankful. She rejoices in the blessings of the present. She senses a change, not only in her personal fortunes, but in the community around her.  Verses 4-5. "The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength. Those who were full hire themselves out for food, but those who were hungry are hungry no more. She who was barren has borne seven children, but she who has had many sons pines away.”

Bear in mind that she is singing this hymn after she has just left her promised son in the hands of the priest Eli. There is no definite hope for the future. She is trusting in the promises of God. Eli, has thanked her for the 'loan' of the child and prays God will bless her. Turns out that's what happens. She conceives three further sons and two daughters. Samuel grows up to be a prophet and anoints Saul as first King of Israel. But she doesn't know that right then. She's simply trusting that God is up to something and senses it is something worth celebrating.

It is hard to read the signs of the times. There's been an election. We have weathered a storm. I personally don't sense a huge movement of change in the nation or even in the church. What I do sense is that we here, are more aware of our own fragility and vulnerability than we have ever been. That is not a bad thing.

If it causes us to examine what we are building our lives upon and to appreciate in a deeper way our need to be a community that cares then that's a positive. If the lines and waits for Gas have revealed that we are far to dependent on fossil fuels, then maybe change will come and we will take with greater seriousness the quest for alternative energy.  If the predictions of 100 year storms being every two or three year storms in the future, then I hope we are exploring ways of how we modify our infrastructure so as to live within that new reality.

I sense people are asking questions. Maybe that's what was happening with Hannah. She knew things couldn't carry on as they were but had the faith that God would guide them to better days. This wasn't an easy day for her. She was kissing her son farewell for the foreseeable future. Yet in that moment she felt the embrace of God. In verse 9 she sings  “He will guard the feet of his faithful servants, but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness.” Which leads us to a third thing.

3. Thanksgiving for the things God will do.

Hannah's prayer has been compared to that of the prayer of Mary, the mother of Jesus, that we know as the Magnificat. Like Mary, Hannah heralds a new age and the coming of a new Kingdom. Like Mary she pictures the nature of this kingdom as one of divine reversals. Verse 8 “He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; He seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. "For the foundations of the earth are the LORD's; on them he has set the world.”. Like Mary,  Hannah's son is destined to be a prophet, set aside by God for a great work.

Over and above everything else, Hannah's hymn is hymn of hope. She speaks of her 'horn being lifted high' (verse 1) and how God will 'exalt the Horn of his anointed” (verse 10). The 'horn' was a representation of salvation. In early Israel if a person felt wrongly accused for a crime they could go to the tabernacle where the altar was kept and take hold of one of the four horns that were at the corners and it would be a place of refuge where they could find a fair trial. The horn was seen as a sign of blessing and strength.

In Luke's gospel, the father of John the Baptist, Zacharias, speaks of how God “Has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David”, seen by most commentators as a reference to the coming of Jesus into our world. It was Samuel, Hannah's firstborn son, who anointed King David, the great ancestor of the first born of Mary, Jesus, the one we call our Lord and Savior. There are some fascinating connections between this ancient song of Hannah and the gospel accounts of the New Testament.

As we approach a time of National Thanksgiving, after passing through a time of local emergency and distress, we would do well to take a lead from Hannah and thank God for what is yet to be. None of us knows what the future may hold, but that does not prevent us from committing our way to the God who holds the future in His hands.

Verse 9 in the Message Bible pictures Hannah declaring 'God protectively cares for God's faithful friends, step by step, but leaves the wicked to stumble in the dark. No one makes it in this life by sheer muscle!' As we discovered when the power went out, none of us enjoys stumbling around in the dark.  We have all been humbled by the power of the storm. All our muscle, all our defenses and all our well-wishes could not turn back a Hurricane.

Like Hannah though, we can face the future knowing that God is faithful and simply take things step by step. It's an uncertain world. Through faith in Jesus Christ, and empowered by the love of the Holy Spirit, we can live faithfully as those who know God as a friend, experience God's Holy Spirit as a helper in time of trouble, and know Jesus Christ as a Guide and a Savior.

Hannah’s Hymn. Thanksgiving for the things God has done. Thanksgiving for the things God is doing.  Thanksgiving for the things God will do. May we find room in our hearts for giving thanks to our God who is the same yesterday, today and forever. Amen.

Rev. Adrian J. Pratt B.D.