Hannah's Prayer
by Dr. Ken Matto
(1 Sam 2:9-10 KJV) 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.
Let us focus on Hannah’s prayer of gratefulness to the Lord. When we read the first ten verses of 1 Samuel 2, we not only see the great message of salvation shine through but also when we read about the trials of the Old Testament Saints, and read of their deliverance out of troubles, we can also read in those passages the deliverance of all the Lord’s Saints.
We read in verse 9 that the Lord will keep the feet of His saints. This is a great New Testament principle as we read in the following verse. (1 Pet 1:5 KJV) Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Hannah was no doubt a Christian and here, through the Holy Spirit, she is revealing the fact that God guides and keeps His children safe until they are called home. (Psa 48:14 KJV) For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.
In the second part of verse 9, it speaks of the fact that mo matter how the wicked seem to be in charge today and how much they are persecuting the Christians, the Saints will prevail in the final battle because the war has already been won. The wicked will not be able to speak because they will have nothing to say since they are all guilty before God.
(Rom 3:19 KJV) Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Keep in mind that every unbeliever dies an unbeliever but every unbeliever will be raised a believer. There will be no unbelievers in Hell and no persecutors of the Brethren in Heaven. There is the great separation. (Mat 13:30 KJV) Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.Then in verse 10 we read about the destruction of the unbelievers. This portion of text is strongly pointing toward the awesomeness of Judgment Day. Notice that God calls them “the adversaries of the LORD.” The word “adversary” carries with it the meaning of “rising up against.“ We basically encounter two types of unbelievers, the first are the ones who just ignore us and leave us alone, but the second type are the ones who try to attack and destroy Christianity, thus rising up against the Lord. We find the same event that Hannah prayed in vivid description in 2 Thessalonians 2.
(2 Th 1:4-10 KJV) So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: {5} Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: {6} Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; {7} And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, {8} In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: {9} Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; {10} When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
Hannah is not only singing a song of joy, she is thundering out the message of damnation to the unbeliever. She speaks of the Lord judging all the ends of the Earth and we find this in Matthew 25 when all the nations of the world will stand before the Lord and give an account of their lives. Not only does Hannah speak of Judgment Day, she now speaks forth the first direct reference to the Lord Jesus Christ and His eternal Kingdom. The word “anointed” in Verse 10 is the Hebrew word for “Messiah.” When we read about a “horn” in Scripture, it deals with the strength of a person. We are told that the strength of the Lord Jesus will be made high above all. The word “exalt” means to “raise up or to make high.” Not only will the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ be exalted in the final day, His Saints shall also be exalted with Him, though not to the same level. It is interesting to note that the first direct reference to the Lord Jesus Christ contains both Judgment and Salvation.
So Hannah prayed not only about the problems that she faced, but within her prayer was the revealing of God’s mighty salvation plan which will be worked in favor of the saints but to the detriment of those who are unsaved. (Rev 22:14-15 KJV) Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. {15} For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. How could anyone believe that the Old Testament does not contain the whole plan of salvation by grace? (6/27/03)