I was invited to preach at my local church. It is the first time I ever have done this in my local church. This is a small church on a housing estate on the edge of Guildford. I have preached two other times in small churches. Once in a rural church in Ihomasa, Tanzania, where I shared about Creation Care – a journey through the Bible. (Search for Tanzania within the website if you’re interested in reading about some of my adventures there). Then a similar subject in a rural church – St Swithun’s, Headbourne Worthy, Hampshire near Winchester. The latter was a last minute step in for A Rocha Christian’s in Conservation.
The passage of scripture which this post explores is known as Hannah’s Song and is here: 1 Samuel 2.1-10
This is the script for that below:
Pray scripture
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in your presence,
O Yahweh, my rock and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14, LEB),
REMEMBER TO SMILE!
(A little bird has reminded me the need to smile, so feel free to throw something light at me or pull a face if I become too serious!!)
What an amazing passage this is. I want to introduce this message with a Bible Project quote and some thoughts about the overall passage.
Hannah’s poem is a prophetic foretelling of God’s future deliverance of humanity from sin and death. The poem is full of examples of how Yahweh maintains order in the cosmos by upsetting human ideas of order and reversing human power structures. BP
We know from the previous sermons on 1 Samuel, about Hannah, why she said this prayer.
The key character in the Samuel story is brought more to the foreground here in this song. That key character is The Lord.
Hannah is not afraid to call on the name – of Yahweh or Lord, as the NIV Bible version we read, says. This name Yahweh became something very sacred to God’s people, as we’ll see from the video to be played shortly.
In this passage her words show She is remembering, which is an important part of worship. Remembering to look back at what Yahweh has done and who he is.
Here I would like to play a little video which is about 4 minutes It speaks about the Hebrew behind the name Lord. Then I will explain where we are going to go after that.
Let that video sink in for a moment PAUSE
The subject for today is
The reason we exist, is to worship, to enjoy and adore God, it’s all about Him, not about us.
In other words, God’s love and who he is, is the engine that drives our expression of worship. Worship is about our whole life, every part of it given up as an offering to God.
We need to know who we worship.
Also why do we worship?
What is it about Yahweh that made Hannah exult and praise?
What is it that causes us to do the same?
I leave those questions hanging, for us to have in the background.
This talk will be in three parts:
- Who is Yahweh or the Lord?
- The two things I found most striking in this passage:
a) the reversals and b) the anointed.
- What this means for us and how we are to live. The why?
So firstly, who is Yahweh according to this passage and the video?
Let’s have some congregation participation here. Feel free to speak out who the passage says the Lord is and what he does, so everyone can hear.
Hopefully you have your Bibles open to the passage.
How is Yahweh or the Lord described in the verses we looked at? What is he like?
Congregation responses
So we’ve seen something of who Hannah was worshipping. There are hints in what she says that point back to other parts of scripture. For example, where she says, “there is no rock like our God”, it is likely she had the Song of Moses in mind in Deuteronomy 32.3,4, where it says: “ascribe greatness to our God the rock”.
There are some examples where she is pointing forward, which leads me into the next part.
The two things that struck me most in preparing for this message.
Part 2 a
Has anyone noticed, anything about this passage that is like the words of Jesus? Particularly where he gives the sermon on the mount? You may have also noticed that this passage is like another song in the New Testament. The song of Mary which is known as The Magnificat. I think those who compiled the Bible did this intentionally.
Hannah speaks in merisms, nothing to do with Frankincense, mermaids or lambs (bleat like a lamb!).
A Google search defines it here in relation to the passage.
Hannah uses merisms—pairs of opposite concepts—to declare God’s total authority over the entire human experience. By describing the Lord as the one who both leads to death and brings to life, makes poor and makes rich, and brings low and exalts, she creates a poetic “boundary” that encompasses everything in between. These polarities illustrate a grand “divine reversal,” proving that no state of being—whether social, physical, or spiritual—is outside of God’s sovereign control.
To my mind she is speaking of what life looks like through God’s eyes. The first shall be last and the last shall be first is the kingdom reality that Jesus speaks of. Or
The upside-down kingdom as spoken of in the kjv version of Acts (17.6)
Part 2b
What does Hannah say about the anointed one? It was the first time a Messiah is mentioned in the Bible. You may be puzzled by my use of the word Messiah. The word anointed here at the end of the passage is meshiach in Hebrew where we get our word Messiah from.
As we read on in the book of Samuel, David the young man who topples Goliath is anointed as King. Hannah did not know there would be a king unless through revelation or the editors put it here to guide the story. In our place in history, we can see that it refers to The Messiah, Jesus Christ. He is also King. As we will see from the video shortly, prophets, priest’s and kings were anointed for service.
We all need a king to rule in our own lives because we’ve messed up. By giving allegiance to Jesus, we are enabled to rule and reign in this life. Worship comes out of our hearts towards him. The kings from the East, in the nativity story came to worship The Servant King. We offer our bodies to him as a living sacrifice as Jesus offered his body for us as a living sacrifice!
I here end the second part, where I spoke of the two things that struck me about the passage, the reversals and The Messiah.
This leads nicely now into part three the biggest chunk of my message. What does this mean for us? How are we to live? And why we worship.
Here I want to play a three-minute video which explains about the anointing.
PAUSE let that sink in
The anointing enables us to follow Jesus and do as he did. It says in John 13: A new commandment I have given you today love one another as I have loved you. Or as one person I heard say recently, that word commandment can also mean commission. This is how the world will know that you are my disciples.
St Clare’s is a small part of the bigger whole church. We carry the anointing as believers or followers of Jesus, both as his body corporately and as individual believers.
Jesus spoke to the woman at the well (Gospel of John ch 4) about worship and how the The Father longs for worshippers and not just any old worshippers but ones who will worship in spirit and in truth.
Jesus said himself, in the great commandment love the Lord your God with the totality of your being. To do this one needs to be renewed from within living by the Spirit.
Love is the fire; worship is the light and heat. Worship is the response to love.
Wherever God is, is holy. Hannah went to the tabernacle to worship. That was a holy place. God came to us in Jesus and makes us his holy place. Today The Lord lives with us and in us by his Holy Spirit. He makes us holy and continues to do so as we partner or fellowship with him.
It has always been his aim to make his home with us. It’s his eternal purpose. He has already begun to do this in the lives of his people corporately and individually. Multiply that out until the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. This is what it means where heaven and earth come together. What it’s like there in heaven will one day be fully here too. This is why Jesus encourages his disciples to pray, and by extension us too. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
The reason I say this here is because this is what Hannah is alluding to with these merisms she uses, these phrases which are reversals. Heaven’s kingdom is coming to earth and has already come.
The end of the passage goes on to say of the Messiah’s coming. She did not know of David the King let alone Jesus the King. From our position in history, we see that Jesus came and the Lord thundered. There was an earthquake the veil was torn in two. Access and relationship with God the Father was made possible by Jesus’ death burial and resurrection. And the ascension shows us his power and authority in ruling and reigning.
We can live a life now that expresses God’s love to the world through our worship. This love can be seen in the lives of Jesus’ disciples the other side of the world. Those followers whose lives are being laid down for him through persecution. And his love can be seen through us here who may serve or worship God on a rota to help at St Clare’s. Or walk the Streets of Park Barn in prayer or sit in a cafe with a friend chatting sharing faith.
For me to work and worship are interchangeable. My work as a gardener is an opportunity to connect with God. What better place for me to be on my knees, which is often where I am, in the soil where we came from, enjoying God like James often says. Kneeling in awe and wonder before my creator in service to the land and the people who are my clients.
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might as to the Lord.
All these things we can give to The Lord as an offering, as our reasonable, rational, spiritual, true worship.
A whole life is to be an act of worship. We are to offer up the whole thing.
Worship is not only a one-off act seen in the examples I’ve shared; it is also a lifestyle.
Like Rachael said last week, it’s also about obedience and about allegiance to the one we can trust and rely on.
Hannah worshipped the Lord through this prayer song. She doesn’t really speak much of herself only hinting at what she went through. The rest of the song is about Yahweh and his ways. It starts with her and finishes with The King the Anointed one.
If you find it difficult to worship and you may at times, that is human and is to do with the ongoing battle we are in with the enemies of God – remember the sermons on Ephesians 6 about the armour of God. We can take comfort in Yahweh knowing him and call on him to help us and he will and does; remembering we have Jesus living by his Spirit in us to enable us to desire to worship.
As Jesus followers we worship the Lord. Yahweh. This Yahweh has been made known to us through Jesus. In the book of Revelation Jesus is described as He is, He was and is to come. He both reflects the nature of Yahweh and embodies Yahweh. One God in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Hannah starts her song with a horn and finishes it with a horn. The animal horn was a symbol of power, strength and authority. It is still used and viewed in that way, in parts of the world.
She starts with her horn, her strength being lifted up, and by the end of the song it is all about the Lord and his, horn, The Anointed, the Messiah in Hebrew, Christ in Greek, He is the one being exalted and made strong.
Look at Jesus, The Christ and imitate him; as we adore him and gaze on him, worship him, it effects the world. It is reflecting his glory into the world, and we are transformed at the same time. He is our horn. He has been exalted. He has been raised up.
In conclusion
So, worship is about offering everything of ourselves, day after day. It is being like Jesus who sought the Fathers will. Asking the Holy Spirit to show us what He wants for us in the moment. Sometimes it flows naturally in a song or some kind of service. At other times it’s a discipline. And at other times we may not be aware we are offering it because it has become a habit. If Jesus is on the throne of our lives, we will desire to worship him because we are aligned to his kingdom and his righteousness.
Our Response to this message could be
Is there a part of your life where you think you may not be worshipping/serving God? Why not turn that around. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where that may be and begin to turn that place into worship
If you have not given your allegiance to King Jesus, would you consider doing that? Speak to James or myself.
Why not take this song and look at it again in the week and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you through it. Write questions down or comments. Talk to another disciple about it.
If you want prayer for anything, feel free to ask James or anyone on team.
Thank you for listening Or reading if this is your first time : )
I didn’t get to suggest this song but it has been in my thoughts throughout my preparation. May our worship (Living Sacrifice) Chris Bowater with lyrics.
One last thing if you’re interested in my research for the sermon here is a link.