This is Monday evening, April 12, in Richmond, Virginia. Ministry is being given through Brother Stephen Kong.
We begin with 1 Samuel, chapter 1, verse 1.
Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of the hill-country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite:
and he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
And this man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests unto the Lord, were there.
And when the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions:
but unto Hannah he gave a double portion; for he loved Hannah, but the Lord had shut up her womb.
And her rival provoked her sore, to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb.
And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.
Then Elkanah her husband said unto her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons?
So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest was sitting upon his seat by the doorpost of the temple of the Lord.
And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore.
And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if Thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of Thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget Thy handmaid, but wilt give unto Thy handmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.
And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth.
Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.
And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.
And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I poured out my soul before the Lord.
Count not thy handmaid for a daughter of Belial; for out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation have I spoken hitherto.
Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thy petition that thou hast asked of Him.
And she said, Let thy handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat; and her countenance was no more sad.
And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the Lord, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the Lord remembered her.
And it came to pass, when the time was come about, that Hannah conceived, and bare a son; and she called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord.
We will skip now to verse 24.
And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of meal, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh: and the child was young.
And they slew the bullock, and brought the child to Eli.
And she said, Oh, my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord.
For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of Him:
therefore also I have granted him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he is granted to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there.
May we look to the Lord.
Our heavenly Father, we do thank Thee for Thy precious Word. We have read it, and now we just look for Thy Spirit to illumine Thy Word and make Thy Word living and real to us.
We pray that we may not just touch the letter, but that we may touch Thy Spirit. O touch us, O Lord. Stir our spirit, that we may respond to whatever Thou dost desire to speak to us. We ask in the precious name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Last night we began with Ruth. We mentioned how God began to react to the situation of His people Israel. During the whole time of the judges, the children of Israel were often under the oppression of their enemies.
In spite of the fact that God did hear them and sent judges, from time to time, to deliver them from their enemies, yet the children of Israel remained weak and divided. So God, in His mercy, began to react against such a situation.
You know, in other words, God took the initiative. He began to do the work of recovery. And by recovery, we mean that He was going to bring His people to the place which He originally designed for them.
That is to say, He was going to give them a king. Under His king, the children of Israel would be united into one, become strong, subdue all their enemies, and fully possess their possessions.
In starting this work of recovery, God began with a woman. In the life of Ruth, you see the principle of grace. God always begins with grace, because there can be no other beginning.
Ruth was a Moabitess. She was completely excluded from any relationship to God because, to the tenth generation, a Moabite could not enter into the congregation of God. Yet, through her contact with Naomi, she was brought into the land of Israel.
She gleaned in the fields of Boaz. She met Boaz at the threshing floor, and we know that a threshing floor always speaks of the cross. It is at the cross that we find a claim on our Kinsman-Redeemer.
Finally, you find how she was united with Boaz, and out of that union came forth David. So, dear brothers and sisters, we find that in God’s work of recovery, the first divine principle is the principle of grace.
Grace is at work, and grace prepares the way for God.
This evening, we would like to continue with the second step in God’s work of recovery. Again, you find another woman: Hannah. In the person of Hannah, God demonstrates to us the second divine principle of recovery, which is the principle of travail.
We will go into that later, but first of all, let us go back to the story.
There was a man by the name of Elkanah. Elkanah means “whom God has purchased.” This Elkanah was a Levite.
But the Levites were not given any special portion in the land. They were scattered among the other tribes of the children of Israel. God did not give them a portion as He gave to the other tribes, because God was their inheritance.
Of course, they had to live. They needed a place to live, food to eat, and fields to work. So, out of the portions that He gave to the children of Israel, God gave the Levites cities, suburbs, and fields.
Thus the Levites were scattered among the children of Israel. It was the custom in those days that wherever the Levites were found, they were called by the name of that place. So Elkanah was called an Ephraimite because he lived in Ramah of Ephraim. But actually, Elkanah was a Levite.
Elkanah had two wives. In Old Testament times, you find that God did not forbid the children of Israel to have more than one wife. But even though God did not forbid it, every time a family had two wives, you find problems and trouble in that family.
God was hinting to us that this was not His original purpose, even though it was not expressly forbidden. Here, then, you find that Elkanah had two wives.
One was Hannah, and the very name Hannah means grace. The name Peninnah probably means glittering or shiny. She was probably a very beautiful woman, very outgoing—an aggressive kind of woman, you know. But anyway, Elkanah had these two wives.
Peninnah had sons and daughters, but Hannah had none. In the Old Testament, if a woman was blessed of the Lord, she would have sons and daughters. But if a woman was cursed of the Lord, then she would have none.
The children of Israel were God’s earthly people, and God’s blessings to them were earthly blessings. Peninnah had many sons and daughters, yet Hannah had none.
The trouble was that Hannah was loved by her husband. Her husband loved Hannah more than Peninnah, and yet his love did not help.
Furthermore, Hannah was a godly woman. If you read her story, you will find that she was a godly one. She knew God, respected God, and prayed to God often. She was a woman in close relationship with God, and yet she had no child.
If you read Peninnah’s story, you find that she was not a godly woman at all. Why? Because she used every opportunity to provoke Hannah. She knew that her husband loved Hannah more than her.
But Peninnah had sons and daughters, and she tried to use that to provoke Hannah, especially every year when they went to Shiloh to sacrifice and worship the Lord. It was a time of rejoicing, a time when the family went into the presence of the Lord, ate together, drank together, and rejoiced.
But Peninnah especially used that occasion to provoke Hannah. “Now look here. You think you are a godly woman. You love God, and God loves you. But see—you have no child. It is evident that you are cursed of the Lord. Look at me. I have many sons and many daughters. I am blessed of the Lord.”
And she provoked Hannah every year, on that particular occasion, to the extent that Hannah could not eat. Her husband always gave her a double portion, but the double portion did not help. She could not eat. She wept through the feast. It was really embarrassing.
If a woman was blessed under the law, she had many sons and daughters. But Hannah did love the Lord, and yet she had no child. How could you explain that?
Under the Mosaic Law, there was no way to explain it. There was no way for Hannah to vindicate herself.
So year after year, when she was provoked, she wept. Oh, how she must have prayed—not only on that special occasion, but through the years. How she must have asked the Lord to remove her shame, to vindicate her, to give her at least one child just to vindicate her name.
But God did not answer. And the worst thing was that the Bible says, “The Lord had shut up her womb.” It was God who did it.
It was not that Hannah could not conceive, but God shut up her womb. God did not allow it to happen. What could she do?
Here you find Hannah completely shut up, misunderstood, unable to explain herself. No matter how she sought the Lord, there was no answer. She was under that kind of reproach.
We do not know for how many years, how many tears must have been shed, and how many prayers must have been offered. It was very embarrassing.
Dear brothers and sisters, in a sense, we are the purchased of the Lord. Elkanah means, “whom God has purchased.” We are the purchased of the Lord.
Among God’s people, there seem to be two different kinds of believers. We are all redeemed of the Lord—thank God for that. Yet, strange to say, even among the redeemed of the Lord, there seem to be two different kinds of believers.
One kind is like Peninnah. Though redeemed, they have no heart for the Lord. They may be quite glittering, and yet they seem to be blessed by God. They seem to live a very prosperous life. They seem to be able to get whatever they want. They have much to boast about.
But in actuality, they do not really have a heart for God. By all appearances they are blessed.
Then you find another class of believers. They want to follow the Lord. They want to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow the Lord as the Lord has commanded.
But the result is that the more they try to follow the Lord, the heavier the cross becomes. They do not seem to be blessed. Their ways seem always shut up—not prosperous. Outwardly speaking, there are no blessings and no fruitfulness. How can you explain that?
Even Paul found it difficult to explain. When he wrote to the Corinthians, he said, “Ye are already filled, ye are already become rich, ye have come to reign without us.” And then he said, in effect, “Look at me, poor Paul.” How can you explain that?
That is strange—very strange. Sometimes God does things purposely. It was not Hannah’s fault. It was God who did it. And when God does certain things, what can you do but stand ashamed and grieved?
Why did God do such a thing? Did not His Word say very plainly that if you fear Him, He will prosper you? Did He not promise to give you many sons and daughters? Where are His words? Where are His promises?
That is difficult.
Sometimes God seems to act against His Word—not because His words are untrue. His words are true. Not because His promises are untrue. His promises are true. Everything is true as it is.
Yet sometimes God acts strangely. He does not seem to act according to His Word. Why? Because He has a higher purpose for you. He is acting on a higher law.
There is a law: if you fear the Lord, you will be blessed. But with Hannah, God was acting on a higher law. Unless you know what that law is, it is very embarrassing. Even if you know, you cannot explain it to other people, because they will not understand.
So year after year this continued, until one year when the whole family again went to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice. Once again, the story was repeated.
Elkanah gave to Peninnah, to her sons, and to her daughters, each a portion; and to Hannah a double portion. But Peninnah provoked Hannah so that she could not eat. She wept, and it happened again.
So Hannah left the table. She went forward and began to pray. Of course, Hannah prayed every year—perhaps all the time. Yet that time, when she prayed, something happened. Her prayer was different.
She was asking the Lord, “Lord, have mercy.” And she vowed a vow. This was something she had not done before. She had been asking God for a man-child through the years, but she had never made such a vow.
At that time, she was so desperate—pressed into such a situation—that she made a vow. The vow was: “God, if You will give me a son, I will give him back to You.”
“I am not going to ask You to give me a son for myself anymore. I am asking You to give me a son, and You may have him. No razor will come upon his head.”
You know, dear brothers and sisters, when we pray, why do we pray in the first place? We pray because we have a need. When we have a need, we go to God and ask Him to answer us and supply that need.
There is nothing wrong with asking God to supply our need. He is our heavenly Father. Certainly, if we feel a need, where should we go but to our heavenly Father? There is nothing wrong in asking God to supply our need.
But sometimes we have a need, and when we go to God and ask Him to supply our need, we say, “Now, our heavenly Father certainly will give it to us. Even an earthly father knows how to give good things to his children. How much more our heavenly Father.” That is a promise. That is what He said.
Yet sometimes we have a need, and when we ask God to supply it, He does not seem to answer us. Is He swallowing His own word? Is He going back on His own promise?
Oh, dear brothers and sisters, when you are a new believer, what is your experience of prayer? The moment you ask, you receive. Your heavenly Father is so quick to answer you—just like when a baby starts to cry, the mother runs and puts a bottle in its mouth. So quick.
Oh, when you are a baby, God has to treat you in this way. But when we grow up in the Lord, the Lord sometimes has to withhold His ready answer, lest we become self-centered and selfish, lest we become involved only with our own needs and nothing more.
When we grow up, God wants us to realize that He has needs too, and His need is to be met in our need. In other words, it is not just a matter of our own needs. It is a matter of seeing God’s need in our need.
When we ask God to supply our need, it is not for us only; it is for Him. Now, that is growing up. That is growing up.
God could not do such a thing with Peninnah. But because Hannah knew Him, God was looking for a vessel whom He could use to bring in an epoch-making person.
God was going to terminate the dispensation of the judges and bring in the dispensation of the kings. In other words, God was going to change the times. God was going to conclude the judges and bring in His king.
But to do such a thing, God was looking for an epoch-making person. Who was going to bring in that epoch-making person? Where could He find a vessel to bring in that man who would bring in the king?
God could not do it with Peninnah. Even though God blessed Peninnah with many sons and daughters, none of them could be used by God. They were useless to God.
But here was Hannah—grace. God saw in her a vessel whom He could use to bring in that epoch-making man. But in order to bring that man in, this vessel had to go through travail.
Dear brothers and sisters, what is grace? We often think of grace only in terms of receiving something. “Oh, we receive something—that is grace.”
Yes, we do not deserve it. Sometimes we have not even asked for it, and yet God freely, generously, and on His own initiative gives something to us. We always think of grace as something we receive for our enjoyment.
But that is not the case. Grace is given that we may travail.
We do not know how to travail if we have nothing. But when grace is given, it is given with a purpose. The purpose is that, because there is grace, there is the possibility and ability to travail in prayer.
That is what grace is. Grace is not given simply that we may enjoy it and that is all. Grace is given that we may unite with God in seeking to supply God’s need.
Then we will not waste grace. We can waste grace by indulging ourselves. But when we receive grace and use it to cooperate with God in seeking to fulfill His need, that is the right use of grace.
God saw in Hannah a woman who was ready to go through travail. God shut up her womb, put her in a very difficult situation, and made her desperate.
She prayed and prayed and prayed until suddenly it dawned upon her: she had been asking all the time for her own need. She had never thought that God had a need too.
The day came when she realized, “My need is not just my need. God created my need in order to show me that He has a need, and that need must be met.” How? Through her.
When she vowed that vow, she said, “If Thou wilt give unto Thy handmaid a man-child, it is not for me to enjoy. I will give him back to Thee to serve as a Nazarite.”
When you begin to see this and pray in this manner, the answer comes.
In New Testament times, you have the same story. God was going to change the times from the Old Testament to the New Testament. God was looking for an epoch-making person who would conclude the prophets and bring in the Messiah.
How was God going to get that epoch-making man? See the person of John the Baptist. The same thing happened. God shut up the womb of Elizabeth.
Elizabeth and Zechariah were both godly people. They loved God. They were very pious, but they had no child. Under the old covenant, to have no child was considered a curse, and they could not explain it.
No doubt they must have prayed and prayed and prayed until they were old. Humanly speaking, there was no hope. Probably they had given up hope, though perhaps they still prayed that a miracle might happen.
Then you find what happened. One day, Zechariah had the privilege of burning incense at the golden altar in the temple. That was a rare privilege.
To burn incense at the golden altar of incense was the highest privilege a priest could have, because a priest could not go behind the veil. Only the high priest could do that. Therefore, the highest privilege for a priest was to burn incense at the golden altar, just before the veil and before the ark.
Many priests served all their lives without having that privilege. According to Jewish custom, once you had that privilege, you could not repeat it.
Every morning, before the temple was opened, the priests gathered together and cast lots to determine what work each priest would do. If the lot fell to you to burn incense, that was the highest privilege a priest could ever have.
Zechariah had never had that privilege. He was old and almost ready to retire. Yet at that particular moment, the lot fell to him.
He entered into the holy place to burn incense. While he was doing that, he was the only man in the holy place. All the other people were in the court praying. It was a time of prayer.
Zechariah represented the whole nation in offering incense and prayer to God. While he was doing that, an angel appeared and said, “God has answered your prayer.”
Now, brothers and sisters, think for a moment. Do you think Zechariah, when he offered incense at the golden altar, was praying his private prayer: “O God, give me a son”? He could not do that, because he was representing the whole nation.
What must he have been praying? He was praying the prayer of the nation. And what was the prayer of the nation? “O God, send the Messiah.” That must have been the prayer.
Yet the angel said, “Thy prayer is heard.” Why? Because the two things joined together. A son would be given, and in that son, John, Christ Jesus would be introduced into the world.
Oh, how Zechariah and Elizabeth had gone through travail all those years. All those years, how they prayed and prayed and prayed, and there was no answer. What bitterness of soul! What pouring out of heart! What asking God for vindication!
Now, out of that came forth John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah. The same thing happened in the time of Hannah. God was going to change the times, and He needed a vessel.
But that vessel, the king, came out of another vessel, which represents travail.
You know, dear brothers and sisters, travail is a fundamental law in this universe. You can apply it physically, and you can apply it spiritually.
In the physical world, if there is no travail, there is no birth. To bring a life into the world, there must be travail.
Even though, in Genesis 3, after man had sinned, God told the woman that He would greatly increase her travail and pregnancy, and that there would be much pain in giving birth, travail itself is a fundamental principle.
Because of sin, travail is accompanied by pain. But I wonder whether, before sin entered into the world, there was still travail. Adam was put to sleep. That was travail, but there was no pain because there was no sin.
Travail is a basic principle in the universe. If there is life, if there is birth, there must be travail.
You can do other things. You can bring something into being. You can make a chair, manufacture something, or organize something without travail, because there is no life there.
But if it is something of life, there must be travail. This is especially true in the spiritual realm.
Out of the travail of Adam came Eve. Out of the travail of Abraham and Moses came the nation of Israel.
Out of the travail of Daniel came the remnant returning from captivity. Out of the travail of our Lord came the church.
Out of the travail of Paul came the churches in Galatia and elsewhere. In other words, if there is anything of life—and anything that is of God must be of life—then it must come from birth.
You can have no birth and no life without travail. It is through the travail of our Lord Jesus that we are born again.
As you look back, the reason why you are saved is probably that someone, unknown to you, has been travailing for you in prayer. Without travail, there is no birth. There is no life.
Here, then, you find a basic law in the universe. Brothers and sisters, in God’s work of recovery, it comes along this law of travail.
God first gives grace, because if God does not give grace, no one can travail. But as grace is given, He expects those who have received grace to travail for Him.
The reason why God cannot do His work of recovery is because His people are not travailing. Oh, not today.
There is no lack of people who are active for God. There is no lack of people who will run for God. There is no lack of people who will do many things for God.
But where are those who are willing to travail in prayer for God? That is the one thing most lacking among God’s people. That is the reason why you find little birth and little life: no travail.
Travail is mostly expressed in prayer. I do not mean to say that travail is expressed only in prayer; there are other ways to express travail. But it is expressed mostly in prayer.
Look at Paul—how he prayed and agonized for those whom he had never seen, in order to fill up that which was behind of the afflictions of Christ. How did he do that? Through prayer—through prayer—because prayer is not limited by time and space.
Here you find Hannah and how she prayed. If you study the prayer of Hannah, you will find several characteristics of travailing prayer.
First, she prayed because she had such a burden within her. She was in bitterness of soul, prayed to the Lord, and wept much. In other words, Hannah’s prayer was a prayer with burden.
As a matter of fact, no real prayer is prayer without burden. Sometimes we can pray a very general prayer, or say a prayer by routine, but that is not real prayer.
Real prayer comes out of burden. Because there is a tremendous burden building within you, you have to pour it out; otherwise, you will burst. You have a burden within.
Because Hannah was in such bitterness of soul, she poured it out in prayer with many tears. That is real prayer.
Secondly, you find that travailing prayer is prayer with a vow. Now, I do not mean to say that we need to make vows today, but the principle is there.
The principle is that if you travail in prayer, you really give yourself to the Lord. You do not ask it for yourself. You seem to ask for yourself, and yet you are asking for God. You give yourself in your prayer.
Thirdly, you find that she prayed continually. She persevered in prayer. A prayer that expresses travail is not a prayer that we just pray once and forget.
You continue until you get the answer.
She said that she poured out her soul. It came out of her heart. It did not come out from her mind; it came out from her heart. She was pouring out her soul before the Lord. That is travailing prayer.
Oh, that God’s people might know more of this today when we pray.
Out of such travail, you will see God’s work. That is birth. God is going to bring forth something that is really His through travailing prayer.
Hannah, in the Scriptures, represents the second step in God’s work of recovery: first grace, then travail in prayer.
When Eli said, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant thee thy petition,” you find that she went away. Her countenance was no more sad, and she could eat. That is faith.
It was as though she believed that what she had asked for, God had answered. And surely enough, she received Samuel.
Of course, she fulfilled her vow. It was not that, after she received Samuel, she held him tightly and said, “Now he is mine.” No. After she weaned him, she brought the little boy Samuel to Shiloh and lent him to God for life.
In 1 Samuel 2, there is the prayer of Hannah. The prayer of Hannah is so beautiful.
In the Scriptures, you have the song of Deborah—a beautiful song of victory in the book of Judges. Here you find the prayer of Hannah. In the New Testament, you find the praise of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
These women had their prayer, song, or praise recorded because these came from their personal experience. They experienced the Lord in such a way that out of their experience came forth a song, a prayer, and praise.
In the ten verses of Hannah’s prayer, you can see at least three things.
From verses 1 through 5, out of her own experience, Hannah blessed the Lord for His salvation. She came to know the salvation of the Lord in a personal way.
My heart exulteth in the Lord,
My horn is exalted in the Lord;
My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies;
Because I rejoice in Thy salvation.
There is none holy as the Lord;
For there is none besides Thee,
Neither is there any rock like our God.
Talk no more so exceeding proudly;
Let not arrogancy come out of your mouth;
For the Lord is a God of knowledge,
And by Him actions are weighed.
The bows of the mighty men are broken;
And they that stumbled are girded with strength.
They that were full have hired out themselves for bread;
And they that were hungry have ceased to hunger:
Yea, the barren hath borne seven;
And she that hath many children languisheth.
Here you find that Hannah experienced the salvation of the Lord. Therefore, she praised the Lord for His salvation.
God is a God of knowledge. He knows everything, and He weighs every action. Sometimes we wonder whether God really knows—especially when we are under an embarrassing situation, and we pray and pray and pray, yet there is no answer.
But after you have experienced His salvation, you can say, “God is a God of knowledge, and He weighs every action.” Here you find Hannah exalting the name of the Lord. That is the first part.
The second part is verses 6 through 8.
The Lord killeth, and maketh alive:
He bringeth down to Sheol, and bringeth up.
The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich:
He bringeth low, He also lifteth up.
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust,
He lifteth up the needy from the dunghill,
To make them sit with princes,
And inherit the throne of glory:
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
And He hath set the world upon them.
Hannah not only had a personal knowledge of the salvation of the Lord; Hannah also had insight into the way of the Lord.
She not only experienced God’s salvation, but she knew God’s way of salvation. Israel knew the acts of God, but Moses knew the ways of God. Hannah knew the way of God.
What is the way of God? The way of God is the way of the cross—life out of death.
Here you find Hannah saying, “The Lord killeth, and maketh alive.” When God is going to do something, He first kills, and then He makes alive.
He first makes poor, and then He makes rich. He first brings low, and then He lifts up. That is the way of the Lord.
Sometimes you are asking something from God. Suppose you need a son and ask God to give you a son, to give you an addition. Or suppose you are asking God to give you patience. Instead of giving you patience, He gives you a very difficult person to perfect your patience.
Why? Because He has to reduce you first. He has to bring you down first. He has to kill you first.
God cannot build up the flesh. He cannot patch up or build up the old creation. He cannot do that. If you expect God to do something, He has to break it first.
He has to bring the old creation to nothing first. He has to bring everything to zero first. But from there, He will build life out of death.
Only the life that comes out of death is real life. It is resurrection life. It is a life that even death cannot overcome, because it has already swallowed up death. That is the way of the cross.
You need spiritual insight into this. Hannah, going through the crucible of suffering, learned the way of the Lord.
She understood why the Lord shut up her womb and put her in such embarrassment. God was killing her in order to make her alive. God brought her to such a low place in order to raise her up. This is the way of the Lord.
Thirdly, Hannah not only knew the way of the Lord, but she was given a vision of the future. She could see through history to David, and through David to the Son of David, who is greater than David—even the Lord of David.
In verse 10, you find:
He will keep the feet of His holy ones;
But the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness;
For by strength shall no man prevail.
They that strive with the Lord shall be broken to pieces;
Against them will He thunder in heaven:
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
And He will give strength unto His king,
And exalt the horn of His anointed.
Hannah was given such revelation. She could see the King and the Anointed—not only in David, but in Christ. She was a prophetess. She was given such revelation.
So, dear brothers and sisters, if the Lord leaves us low, it is not in vain. There is something glorious opening up.
You will come to an understanding of God and His ways. You will come to an understanding of God’s plan. You will come to an understanding of God in Christ that you would never be able to have if you had never been brought through travail.
That is just the way God works. So pray.
O heavenly Father, we have to say that it is only by Thy grace that we can care. O, we just ask Thee that, by the strengthening of Thy Spirit in our inner man, we may rise up as Thy people to receive Thy burden and to travail for the bringing in of Thy King. We ask in the precious name of our Lord Jesus.