In this sermon, the preacher discusses the concept of God acting on a higher law and how it can be difficult to understand. He uses the story of Hannah from the Old Testament as an example. Hannah was unable to have children and was provoked by another woman, but she made a vow to God that if he gave her a child, she would dedicate them to his service. Eventually, God answered her prayer and she gave birth to Samuel, who became a prophet. The preacher also emphasizes the importance of grace and how it is given with a purpose, not just for our enjoyment.

This is Monday evening, April 12th, in Richmond, Virginia. The ministry is being given through Brother Stephen Kong. May we read from 1st Samuel, 1st Samuel chapter 1, verse 1. And there was a certain man of Remathin, Zophim, of Mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Torhu, the son of Zuth, and Ephrasite. 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 to Jehovah of Hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hobni and Phinehas, the priests of Jehovah, were there. And it came to pass on the day that Elkanah sacrificed, he gave to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters portions. But to Hannah he used to give a double portion, for he loved Hannah. But Jehovah had shut up her womb. And her adversary provoked her much also, to make her fret, because Jehovah had shut up her womb. And as he did so year by year, as often as he went up to the house of Jehovah, she provoked her thus, and she wept and did not eat. And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, Hannah, why weepest thou, and why eatest thou not, and why is thy heart greed? Am I not better to thee than ten sons? And Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by the doorpost of the temple of Jehovah. And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to Jehovah and wept much. And she vowed a vow and said, O Jehovah of Hosts, if thou will indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thy handmaid, but will give unto thy handmaid a man child, then I will give him to Jehovah 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 Jehovah, that Eli mark her mouth. Now Hannah spoke in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. And Eli thought she was drunken. And Eli said to 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 have poured out my soul before Jehovah. Take not thy handmaid for a daughter of Belial, for out of the abundance of my grief and provocation have I spoken hitherto. And Eli answered and said, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition which thou hast asked of him. And she said, Let thy born woman find grace in thy sight. And the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more as before. And they rose up early in the morning and worshipped before Jehovah, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and Jehovah remembered her. And it came to pass when the time was come about, after Hannah had conceived, that she bore a son and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of Jehovah. Then we will skip and come to verse 24. And she took him up with her when she had weaned him, with three bullocks and one ephod of flour, and a flask of wine, and brought him to the house of Jehovah to Shiloh. And the boy was young, and they slaughtered the bullock and brought the boy to Eli. And she said, O my Lord, as thy soul liveth, my Lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here to pray to Jehovah. For this boy I prayed, and Jehovah has granted me my petition which I asked of him. And also I have lent him to Jehovah all the days that he lives. He has lent to Jehovah, and he worshipped Jehovah 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 to thy spirit to illumine thy word, and make thy word living, real to us. We pray that we may not just touch the letter, but we may touch thy spirit. O touch us, O Lord. Stir our spirit that we may respond to whatever thou does desire to speak to us. We ask in the precious name of our Lord Jesus. Last night we began with Ruth. We mentioned how God began to react against the situation of his people, Israel. During the whole time of the judges, the children of Israel were often under oppression of their enemies. In spite of the fact that God did serve them, and sent judges to deliver them from time to time from their enemies. And yet, the children of Israel remained weak and feeble. So God in his mercy began to react against such situation. In other words, God took the initiative. He began to do the work of recovery. And by recovery we mean, he was going to bring his people to the place where he originally designed for them. That is to say, he was going to give them a king. And under his king, the children of Israel will be united into one. And be strong, subduing all their enemies, and fully possess their possession. In starting this work of recovery, God began with a woman. Whose name was Ruth. Because 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 adored by his woman. She was completely excluded from any relationship to God. Because to the tenth generation, a Moabite could not enter into the house of God. And yet you find how through her contact with Naomi, she was brought into the land of Israel. And she gleamed in the field of Boaz. She met Boaz at the threshing floor. And we know threshing floor always speaks of the cross. It is at the cross that we find a claim on our Kingsman Redeemer. And finally you find how she was united with Boaz. And out of that union came forth King 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 starts that work. And grace prepares the way for God. And this evening we would like to continue on with the second step in God's work of recovery. And again you find another woman in the person of Hannah. And there in the person of Hannah, God demonstrates to us the second divine principle of recovery. Which is the principle of today. We will go into that later on. But first of all, let us go back to the story. Now there was a man by the name of Elkanah. Elkanah means whom God has purchased. And this Elkanah was a Levite. But you know the Levites were not given any special portion in the land. They scattered among the other tribes of the children of Israel. God did not give them a portion like giving the other tribes. Because God was their inheritance. But of course they had to live. A place to live. They had to eat. They had a field to work with. So God out of the portions that he gave to the children of Israel, God gave them cities and suburbs and fields. So the Levites scattered among the children of Israel. And it was the custom of those days. Wherever the Levites resided, they were called by the name of that place. So Elkanah was an Ephraohite. Why? Because he lived in Ramah of Ephraim. But actually Elkanah was a Levite. Was a Levite. And this Elkanah, he had two wives. Now in the Old Testament times, you find God did not forbid the children of Israel to have more than one wife. But even though God did not forbid it, and yet you find every time a family had two wives, you find problems, trouble in that family. So you find God was hinting to us that this was not his original purpose. Even though it was not forbidden. So here you find Elkanah, he had two wives. One was Hannah. And you know the very name Hannah means grace. Grace. And the other was Peninnah. Now probably the word Peninnah means glittery, shiny. In other words, she probably was a very beautiful woman, very outgoing, some kind of woman, you know, aggressive, you know, kind of woman. But anyway you find Elkanah had these two wives. But Peninnah had sons and daughters. Hannah had none. You know in the Old Testament, if a woman was blessed of the Lord, she will have many sons and daughters. But if a woman was cursed of the Lord, then she will have none. Because the children of Israel were God's earthly people. And God's blessing was earthly blessing. But here you'll find Peninnah had many sons and daughters. And yet Hannah had none. The trouble was, Hannah was loved by her husband. Her husband loved Hannah more than Peninnah. And yet his love did not help. Furthermore you'll find that Hannah was a godly woman. If you read her story you will find that she was a godly woman. She knew God. She respected God. She prayed to God often. She was a woman who was in close relationship with God. And yet, Peninnah, if you read her story, you will find she was not a godly woman at all. Why? Because she used opportunity. She seized upon every opportunity to try to revenge herself upon Hannah. Because she knew that her husband loved Hannah more than her. But fortunately she had sons and daughters. So she tried to use that and tried to provoke Hannah. And especially every time, every year, you know, they went to Shiloh to sacrifice and to worship the Lord. And it was a time of rejoicing. It was a time when a family would go to the presence of the Lord and they would rejoice, they would eat together and drink together. It was a time of rejoicing. But Peninnah used especially that occasion to provoke Hannah. Now look here. You think that 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'm blessed of the Lord. And Peninnah provoked Hannah every year at that particular occasion. To the extent that Hannah couldn't eat. You know, her husband always gave her double portion. It did not help. He couldn't eat, she couldn't eat. She wept. Throw the yeas, throw the pints. It was really embarrassing. If a woman was blessed of the Lord, she should have many sons and daughters. But she did love the Lord. And yet, no child. How could you explain that? Under the law, under the mosaic law, there was no way to explain it. There was no way to vindicate herself. So year after year, when she was provoked, she wept. Oh, how she must pray. Not only on that special occasion, but through the years. How she must have prayed and asked the Lord to remove her shame. To vindicate for her. To give her a child, at least one child. Just to vindicate her name. But God. And the worst thing was, the Bible said, Jehovah 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. And what can you do? So here you'll find Hannah was shut up. Completely shut up. Misunderstood. And couldn't explain. No matter how he sought the Lord, there was no answer. And she was under that kind of reproach. We do not know for how many years. How many tears must have been shed. How many prayers must have been offered. But there was very embarrassing. You know dear brothers and sisters, in a sense. We are the purchased of the Lord. Elkanah. We are the purchased of the Lord. And you know, among God's people there seems to be two different kinds of. We are all redeemed of the Lord. Thank God for that. And yet strange to say you'll find even among the redeemed of the Lord. There seems to be two different kinds of redeemed people. One kind is like Penina. Even though redeemed and yet had no heart for the Lord. Quite glittering though. And yet seemingly 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 really do not have a heart for God. But by all appearance they are blessed. And then you'll 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 the more they try to follow the Lord the heavier the cross becomes. They do not seem to be blessed. Their ways seem to be always shut up. Not prosperous. Outwardly speaking no blessing. No blessing. Now how can you explain that? You know even Paul finds it very difficult to explain. Because when he wrote a letter to the Corinthians he said you are already crowned. You are already full. You have everything. You are already glorified. And look at me poor Paul. How can he explain that? Very good. You know sometimes God embarrasses us purposely. It is not because of Tanner's fault. It was God who did it. And when God did certain things what could you do? But to suffer shame and disgrace. Now why did he? Did not his words say very plainly that if you fear him he will prosper you? That he will give you many sons and daughters? Where are his words? Where are his promises? You know sometimes God seemingly acts against his words. Not because his words are not true. His words are still true. Not because his promises are not true. His promises are still true. Everything still stands as it is. And yet sometimes God acts strangely. He does not seem to do according to his words. Why? Because he has a higher purpose in him. He is acting on a higher law. Yes, there is a law there. If you fear the Lord you will be blessed. But now with Tanner God was acting on a higher law. And unless you know what that law is it is very embarrassing. And even if you know you cannot explain it to other people. They won't understand. So year after year this continued. Until one year. When the whole family again went to Shiloh to worship and to sacrifice. And once again the story repeated. Elkanah gave to Peninnah to his sons and daughters each a portion. And to Hannah a double portion. But then Peninnah provoked Hannah so she couldn't eat. She wept and she couldn't eat. It happened again. So Hannah left the table. And she went forward and she started to pray. Of course Hannah prayed every year. Maybe all the time. And 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. That was something she didn't do before. She had been asking God for a man child through the years. But never made such a vow. But at that time she was so desperate. Or she was pressured into such a situation. She made a vow. And her vow was God if you would give me a son. I will give it back to you. I'm not going to ask you to give me a son for myself anymore. I'm asking you to give me a son that you may have him. And no razor will come upon his head. You know dear brothers and sisters when we pray. Why do we pray in the first place? Well we pray because we have a need. When we have a need we ask God to answer us. To supply that need. There is nothing wrong for us to ask God to supply our need. He is our Heavenly Father. And certainly if we feel a need. Where should we go? But to our Heavenly Father. There is nothing wrong by asking God to supply our need. But sometimes we have a need. And yet when we go to God to ask God to supply our need. We will say now your Heavenly Father certainly will give it to you. Even earthly father knows how to give good things to their children. How much more your Heavenly Father. Now that is a promise. That is what he said. But sometimes we have a need. But when we ask God to supply our need. He doesn't see it. Is he swallowing his own word? Is he going back on his own promise? Dear brothers and sisters. When you are a new believer. Newly saved. What is your experience of prayer? The moment you ask. You receive it. Oh the Heavenly Father is so quick to answer you. Just like when a baby starts to cry. The mother runs and puts a bottle in him. So quick. Why? Because you are babe. God has to treat you as babe. 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 will be involved only with our own need. And nothing more. When we grow up. God wants us to realize that he has need 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. And if we ask God to supply our need. It is not for us only. It is for him. Now that's growing up. That's growing up. God couldn't do such a thing with Peninnah. But because Hannah knew him. God was looking for a vessel. Whom he could use to bring in. A man. An epic making man. You know God was going to terminate the dispensation of the judges. And to bring in the dispensation of the kings. In other words. God is going to change the time. God is going to conclude the judges. And to bring in his king. But to do such a thing. God is looking for such an epic making person. But who is going to bring in that epic making person. Where could he find a vessel to bring in that man. That will bring in the king. He couldn't do it. God couldn't do it with Peninnah. Even though God blessed Peninnah with many sons and daughters. But none of his sons and daughters could be used by God. They were useless to God. But here was Hannah great. Great. And God saw in her a vessel whom he could use. To bring in that epic 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. Oh we receive something. That's grace. Yes we don't deserve it. And sometimes we haven't even asked for it. And yet God so freely. So generously. And taking the initiative of just dumping it to us. And give it to us. Now we always think of grace as something which we receive. For our enjoyment. But that is not the case. Grace is given. That we may prevail. We do not know how to prevail if we have not grace. But when grace is given. It is given with a purpose. And the purpose is. Because there is grace. There is a possibility. There is the ability to prevail in prayer. That's what grace is given. Grace is not given just that we may enjoy it. And that's it. Grace is given that we may unite with God. In seeking to supply God's needs. Now that is grace. Then we will not waste grace. You know we can waste grace. By indulging ourselves. But when we receive grace. And we can use grace to cooperate with God. In seeking to fulfill His needs. Now that is the right use of grace. God saw in Hannah a woman who was ready to go through travail. So God shut up her womb. Put her in an embarrassing situation. Made her desperate. That she prayed and prayed and prayed. Until it suddenly dawned upon her. She was asking all the time for her need. She had never thought that God had a need too. So the day came when she realized that my need was not just my need. God created my need in order to show me that He had a need. And that need must be filled. How? Through prayer. Through prayer. When she vowed that vow. If you will give me a man child. It is not for me to enjoy. I will give it back to you to serve you. As a Nazarite. And when she began to see this. And pray in this manner. The answer came. You know in the New Testament time. You have the same story. God was going to change the time. From the Old Testament to the New Testament. God was looking for an effort making person. Who will conclude the prophets. And to bring in the Messiah. But how was God going to get that effort making man. In the person of John the Baptist. The same thing happened. God shut up the womb of Elizabeth. You know Elizabeth and Zachariah. They were both godly men and women. They loved God. They were very pious. But they had no child. You see under the old covenant. Without a child was being cursed. And they couldn't explain it. And no doubt about that. They must have prayed and prayed and prayed. Until they were old. Humanly there was no hope. Probably they gave up hope. Probably they were still afraid. That a miracle might happen. And then you find what happened. One day Zachariah. Had the privilege of burning incense. At the golden altar in the temple. Now that was a rare privilege. To burn incense at the golden altar of incense. Was the highest privilege a priest could ever have. Because a priest couldn't go behind the veil. Only the high priest could. So the highest privilege of a priest. Was to burn incense at the golden altar. Just before the veil. Before the ark. And many priests served for life. Without having that privilege. And according to Jewish rule. Once you had that privilege. You couldn't repeat it. You see every morning the priest. Before the temple was opened. The priest would gather together. And they would cast lots. As to what work each will do. And if the lot came to you to burn incense. That was the highest privilege a priest could ever have. And Zachariah had never had that privilege. He was old. Almost going to retire. And yet at that particular moment. The lot came to him. He entered into the holy place to burn incense. And while he was doing that. He was the only man in the temple. In the holy temple. All the other people would be in the court. Praying. It was a time of prayer. And Zachariah represented the whole nation. To offer incense. To offer prayer to God. And 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 Zachariah. When he offered the incense. And the golden altar. He was praying his private prayer. Oh God give me a son. Because he was representing the whole nation. So what must he be praying. He was praying the prayer of the nation. And what was the prayer of the nation. Oh that God you were sending. The Messiah. That must be the prayer. And yet the angel said your answer. Your prayer was answered. Why because these two things join into one. In this son. That son will be given. In John. Christ Jesus will be introduced. Into the world. Oh how Zachariah and Elizabeth. Had gone through a travail all these years. Under shame all these years. How they prayed and prayed and prayed. And no answer. What bitterness of soul. What pouring out of their heart. What asking of God for vindication. No answer. And now out of that travail. Came forth John the Baptist. The forerunner of the Messiah. Now the same thing happened. In the time of Hannah. God was going to change the times. And he needed a vessel. But that vessel must come out of another vessel. Which represents travail. Travail. You know dear brothers and sisters. Travail. The law of travail. Is a fundamental law. In this universe. You can apply it physically. 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. Now even though you know. In Genesis chapter 3. You know after man had sinned. God told the woman. That God would increase her travail. And pregnancy. And there would be much pain. In giving birth. Because of sin. Travail is accompanied. With pain. Now I wonder. Before sin entered into the world. There must be travail too. While Adam was put to sleep. That was travail. But there was no pain. Because there was no sin. And out of that came evil. 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. Or you can do something. You can manufacture something. Or you can organize something. Without travail. Because there is no life there. But if it is something of life. There must be travail. And this is especially true in spiritual way. Out of the travail of Adam. Came evil. 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 church. In Galatia. Churches in Galatia. And also in Galatia. In other words you will find if there is anything of life. And anything that is of God. Must be of life. Anything that comes from God. Must come from birth. And you can have no birth. No life. Without travail. Without travail. It is through the travail of our Lord Jesus. That we are born. And also you find. As you look back. The reason why you are saved. Probably someone unknown to you. Has been travailing for you in prayer. Without travail there is no birth. There is no life. So here you will find a basic law in the universe. Now brothers and sisters. In God's work of recovery. It comes along this law of travail. In other words. God will first give grace. Because if God does not give grace. No one can travail. But after 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. Are not travailing. That is a basic principle. You know we do not. 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. Where are those who are willing to travail. That is the one thing most lacking. Among God's people. And that is the reason why you find little birth. Little life. No travail. And you know this travail. Is mostly expressed in prayer. Now I do not mean to say travel. Travail is only expressed in prayer. There are other ways to express the travail. But it is expressed mostly in prayer. Look at Paul. How he prayed agonized. For those whom he had never seen. That they might. In order to feel that which is behind of the affliction of Christ. Now how did he do that? Through prayer. Through prayer. Because prayer was not limited by time and faith. And here you will find Hannah. How she prayed. And if you study the prayer of Hannah. You will find first. She prayed because she had such a burden in her. She was in bitterness of soul. And prayed to Jehovah and wept. In other words. Travailing prayer is a prayer with burden. As a matter of fact. No real prayer is praying without burden. You know sometimes we can pray a very general prayer. You know. Or say a prayer. 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 know. You have a burden with it. And because Hannah was in such bitterness of soul. She poured it out in prayer. With much tears. That's real. And you know again. Secondly. You will find travailing prayer is a prayer with vow. Now I do not mean to say we need to make vow today. But the principle is there. And the principle is if you prevail 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 gave yourself in your prayer. And number three. You will find she prayed continually. Persevered in prayer. A prayer. A prayer. That expresses prevail. Is not a prayer that you just pray once and forget. You continue on. Until you get the answer. And you find she said she poured out her soul. It came out from 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. Now that's travailing prayer. Oh that God's people know more of this travail. Out of such travail you will see God's work. And that is life. That is birth. God is going to bring something that is really His. Through the travailing prayer of Hannah. So Hannah in the scripture represents the second step in God's work of recovery. First grace. Then prevail. And thank God. Travelling prayer is prayer with faith. When Eli said go in peace. May God grant you what you asked for. And you'll find she went away. Her countenance was no more sad. She could eat. That's faith. That's faith. She believed. She believed that what she asked for God had answered. And sure enough. She got Samuel. And of course she performed her vow. Not because she got Samuel and then she just hold him tight as a knife. After she went. She brought the little girl Samuel to Shiloh. And lent it to God. You know in the second chapter. There is the prayer of Hannah. Now the prayer of Hannah is so beautiful. You know in the scripture you have say the song of Deborah. That's a beautiful song. The song of victory. In the book of Judges. And here you'll find the prayer of Hannah. And of course in the New Testament you'll find the praise of Mary. The mother of Jesus. Now these women. In their prayer or their song or their praise. The Holy Spirit recorded them. Why? 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 or a praise. Now in this ten verses of the song of the prayer of Hannah. You can see at least three things. From verse one through verse five. Out of her own experience she blessed the Lord for his salvation. She came to know the salvation of the Lord in a personal way. So she said my heart exalted in Jehovah. My horn is lifted up in Jehovah. My mouth is opened wide over my enemies. For I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as Jehovah for there is none beside thee. Neither is there any rock like our God. Do not multiply your words of pride. Let not vain glory come out of your mouth. For Jehovah is a God of knowledge. And by him actions are weighed. The bow of the mighty is broken. And they that stumble are girded with strength. They that will fall have hired themselves out for bread. And the hungry are sold no more. Even the barren bear seven. And she that hath many children is wept before. In other words here you'll find she experienced the salvation of the Lord. Therefore she praised the Lord for his salvation. God is the God of knowledge. He knows everything. And he weighs every action. Sometimes you know we wonder if God really knows. Especially when you are under such embarrassing situation. And you pray and pray and pray. And there is no answer. You wonder if God really knows. But then after you have experienced salvation. You can say God is a God of knowledge. And he weighs. Oh here you'll find he exhorts the name of the Lord. That is the first part. The second part is verse six through verse eight. Jehovah killeth and maketh alive. He bringeth down in Sheol and bringeth up. Jehovah maketh poor and maketh rich. He bringeth low also he lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust. From the dunk hill he lifteth up the needy. To set him among nobles and he make them inherit a throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are Jehovah's. And he hath set the world. Now Hannah not only had a personal knowledge of the salvation of the Lord. Hannah also had the insight into the way of the Lord. She not only experienced God's salvation. But she knows God's way of salvation. Israel knew the acts of God. But Moses know the ways of God. And here Hannah she knew the way of God. Now what is the way of God? The way of God is the way. Life out of death. So here you'll find she said Jehovah killeth and maketh alive. When God is going to do something he first kills. And then he makes it alive. He first makes it poor. And then makes rich. He first bringeth it low. And then he lifteth it up. Now that's the way of the Lord. Now sometimes you see you are asking something from God. Say suppose you need a son. And you ask God to give you a son. To give you an addition. Or suppose you are asking God to give you patience. And you'll find instead of giving you patience. He give you a very difficult person. To test 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 do that. He cannot build up, patch up or build up the old creation. He couldn't do that. If you expect God to do something. He has to break it first. He has to bring the old creation to naught first. He has to bring everything to zero first. But from there on 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 conquer. Because it has swallowed up death. And that is God's way. The way of the cross. Now you need spiritual insight into it. And Hannah going through the crucible of suffering. She learns the way of the Lord. She understands now. Why did the Lord shut off her womb? And put her in such embarrassment? God was killing her. In order to make her alive. God brought her to such low state. In order to raise the way of the Lord. Then number three. Hannah not only knew the way of the Lord. But Hannah was given a vision. 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. Because in the ninth and the tenth verses. You will find. He keeps the feet of his faith. But the wicked are silent in darkness. For by strength shall no man prevail. They shall strive when Jehovah shall be broken in pieces. In the heavens will he thunder upon them. Jehovah will judge the ends of the earth. And he will give strength unto his king. And exhort the horn of his anointing. Hannah was given such revelation. She could see the king. And the anointed. Not only in David. A prophetess. She was given such revelation. So dear brothers and sisters. You find that. If the Lord leads us through. It is not in vain. There is something glorious. Opening up. Opening up. You come to an understanding. Of God and his way. You come to an understanding of God's plan. You come to an understanding of God and his Christ. That you will never be able to have. If you have never been through. And that's the way God works. Shall we pray. Our heavenly father. We have to say. If it's not. By thy grace. Who can prevail for thee. Oh we just ask thee. That by the strengthening of thy spirit. In our inner man. That we may rise up as thy people. To receive thy burden. And to prevail. For the bringing in. Of thy king. We ask in thy precious name. Amen.