In this sermon, the preacher discusses the story of Hannah and her dedication of her son Samuel to the Lord. He emphasizes the joy and praise that Hannah expresses in her prayer to God on the day of Samuel's dedication. The preacher contrasts this joyful scene with the corrupt behavior of the sons of the high priest, Eli. He highlights the importance of humility before the Lord and warns against pride, using Hannah's song as an example. The preacher also mentions the poetic structure of Hannah's song and how it emphasizes the reasons for humility before God.

Let's open our Bibles to the book of 1 Samuel. We're going to be starting in chapter 2 this morning, 1 Samuel chapter 2. If you didn't bring a Bible, raise up your hand. One of our ushers will bring a Bible to you, and you'll want to follow along with the text this morning, verse by verse. 1 Samuel, beginning at chapter 2. Let's just jump right into it, and we read here. Now, if you were just coming to 1 Samuel chapter 2, and maybe you do as is the custom of some people, which I really don't think is the best way to read the Bible, but maybe you're doing it this way. You just kind of open it up and close your eyes and put your finger down, and okay, and start reading right there. Let's say you started reading at 1 Samuel chapter 2, verse 1, and you'd kind of say, what's going on with this? Who's this Hannah lady, and why is she praying? Well, we saw last week in the previous chapter that Hannah was this woman who had just a marvelous encounter with God, a great experience with the Lord, because she was a woman who had a lot of problems. She had a lot of problems in her home. She had a lot of problems with a person she was having a great deal of difficulty with, and all of these problems kind of sprung forth from the fact that she was barren. She was childless, and this was of a great shame to her and great hurt in her heart, and so she cried out to God, and she said, Lord, if you'll give me a child, I'm going to dedicate that child to you in a special way, far beyond, if you want to say, the normal way that a child in Israel would be dedicated unto the Lord. I'm going to do it in a unique way, in a special way. I'll give this child to you, and that's exactly what Hannah did. She made that promise, and the Lord blessed her. The Lord gave her, miraculously, a child, and she gave that child to the Lord. She kept that child until he was weaned, and in that day they would not wean a child until they were two or three years old. So, this little three-year-old boy, she's bringing to the house of God, to the tabernacle in a city called Shiloh, and she comes and brings that child before the Lord and says, Here he is, Lord. He's given to your service, and she gives the little child, whom she named Samuel, unto the Lord. Friends, do you think that would be an easy thing or a hard thing? All your life you've been praying to become a mother. There's a hurt in your heart because you're barren, you're childless, and finally God blesses you with a child. You're so happy, and you get to have that child for three years, but there comes a day when you know you have to fulfill the promise you made to God, and you need to take that child by the hand and take him to the house of God and say, Here he is, Lord. He belongs to you. I'm giving this child to you. I'm adopting him out to you and to your service. To give away your child like that? Hard thing or easy thing? Again, I'm talking about a three-year-old. Some people, they think, you know, Lord, you can have my teenager right now. We're talking about a three-year-old child, adorable, wonderful, a great child dedicated unto the Lord. Do you think you could sing a song of praise to God on a day like that? Hannah did. On that very day, on the day she left her little boy behind and adopted him out to the Lord, on that very day, it says, verse one, and Hannah prayed and said, My heart rejoices in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. I smile at my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation. Do you see that? Now one thing you should know about this song or this portion that we read in the first eleven verses, and I kind of gave it away, most people call it Hannah's song, even though it says she prayed and said this, but you know, you can pray in a song, and the arrangement of this in the Hebrew language has a beat and a meter and a rhythm that leads most people to believe that Hannah sang these words, and I've got a speculation for you. I can't tell you for sure that it's the way it was. I'm just going to offer this before you. I think Hannah was composing this song in her heart when that child was still in her womb, and I think that for three years she worked on this song, and she knew that there would come a day when she'd leave that child at the temple, and on that day she said, I'm going to sing this song to the Lord. I think she had to have prepared it ahead of time, because I don't think she could have got through it any other way, and so there on this day of dedication where maybe they were having a little service, a little ceremony, and there she was just standing before the people of God and standing before the priests and Eli and the people that she's going to entrust her little three-year-old precious boy to, and she says, I'm going to sing a song, and notice the song that she sings. She says, My heart rejoices in the Lord. Now, friends, I don't know about you, but I don't think Hannah had anything she could rejoice in in the fact that she's leaving her son. She doesn't say, I rejoice that I'm leaving my son, but she rejoices in the Lord. You know, it doesn't matter how bad or how difficult or how painful your present circumstances are. Some of you may be going through incredible pain, incredible difficulty. You've just kind of put on the best smile you could this morning just to make it to church. But if your face could express how you really feel in your heart, you'd just be wracked with pain. And and there you are in the midst of it. And here you are this morning. And I'm just saying you can rejoice in the Lord even in the midst of that. I didn't say rejoice in your circumstances, but neither did Hannah. She said, My heart rejoices in the Lord. And that's how she could rejoice. And then she says, My horn is exalted in the Lord. You might. Well, what? She has some kind of birth defect. Is there a horn on her head or something? No, no, not at all. The Bible uses many word pictures and sort of symbols. And this was one that isn't unique to the Jewish people in that whole part of the world. In the ancient world, they would talk about a strength or might or power being expressed through a horn. You know, it's kind of the idea of a ox or a steer, you know, sort of thrusting forth and lifting up their horns. That's showing their power, their strength. And so she says, My might, my power is lifted up in the Lord. And if you see the next line, it's just that I smile at my enemies. The only things I kind of like about this song of Hannah's is that it's kind of bragging. You know, her heart is just filled with some bragging here. And she's saying, listen, I was brought low and I was being persecuted. And I had an enemy, this this rival woman to me named Penn and I. And she used to mock me because I was childless. And God has seen me and delivered me. And I'm not ashamed to brag about it a little bit. I'm smiling at my enemies. That's how Hannah felt. She goes on, she goes, I rejoice in your salvation. Look at verse two, she says, There's none holy like the Lord, but there's none besides you, nor is there any rock like our God. Now, I need to mention something about verse two that I just think is kind of interesting will help you understand the Bible a little bit better. You know, what I want to do here on Sunday morning is not just spend time with you in the text. I hope to give you an appetite for the Bible through the week. I hope that this isn't the only time when you have an opal Bible set before you, it should be through the week as well. And if I can do something to help you understand the Bible a little bit better, I want to do it. Well, I want you to know that the Bible uses a lot of poetry, doesn't it? This section that we're going through right here, it's a poetic section. It's a song. You know that the book of Psalms is all about poetry and songs. And I don't know, maybe you've read the book of Psalms sometimes. And as you're reading it, you say, you know what? This doesn't rhyme at all. These aren't songs. And, you know, when we talk about songs or poetry, typically it rhymes. I'm not talking about, you know, free verse and such. I'm talking about, you know, kind of standard poetry. We think, well, you know, hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock, you know, and it has a rhythm and a meter and a rhyme and all that. And you think, well, I don't know how this can be called poetry or songs. It doesn't rhyme at all. And then you think, well, I know what the problem is. These songs, these songs weren't originally written in English. They were written in Hebrew. For sure, in Hebrew, it must rhyme. For sure, in Hebrew, it must sound like a song. Can I just tell you, in the Hebrew, it doesn't rhyme either. That's because in the Jewish way of thinking and in the Hebrew forms of poetry, they don't rhyme the sounds of words. You know what they rhyme? They rhyme the meanings of the words. They rhyme with ideas instead of sounds. Let me show you what I mean in verse two. She says, for there is none holy like the Lord. Lord, you're a holy. You're separate. You're unique. That's what she says in the first line of verse two. Look at what she says in the second line. For there is none besides you. Can I ask, she's saying basically the same thing, right? She's just saying in a different way. And then look at the third line. Nor is there any rock like our God. She's expressing the same idea three different ways, repeating one after another. That's Hebrew poetry, repetition and rhyming ideas instead of rhyming the sounds of words. Now, what I think is great about this is it just shows how full Hannah's heart was. She couldn't say it just one way. Her heart was so full of praise and honor and glory to God. She couldn't just say it one way. She had to say it again and again and again. And this is a characteristic of Hebrew poetry. Now, look at verse three. Now, I like to picture things in my mind, how Hannah was doing this. And I see her standing at this dedication ceremony, singing this song. And the first two verses, I see her just closing her eyes and worship to the Lord. There's none like you, Lord. You alone are the rock. But then when she gets to verse three, I think she opens her eyes and she looks right at Penaniah, who's in the audience. And she says, talk no more so very proudly. Let no arrogance come from your mouth for the Lord is the God of knowledge. And by him, actions are weighed. Oh, you were my rival. You were bragging over me, but I'm going to brag over you right now in the Lord. You should just have your mouth closed and talk no more so very proudly because God is a great God and the Lord knows our actions and he weighs them. Friends, that's a great reason for us to be humble before the Lord. God knows us inside and out. You know, God knows you. We can put on a front for other people, but God knows. So we should be humble before him. I think it's interesting, too, in verse three, how she says to the proud, talk no more. And she says, let no arrogance come from your mouth. You know, you can express pride in a lot of ways, can't you? You can express pride just by, you know, your facial expression. You can express pride just with your body language. But most of the time when we're expressing pride, we're doing it with our mouth. You know, many of us would seem much more humble if we just not talk so much. And Hannah is saying to the proud, listen, just stop talking so much. You need the trash talk, the arrogant talk, the self-exalting talk. Put it out of your mouth because God knows you very well. Now she goes on in verse four and she says, the bows of the mighty men are broken and those who stumbled are girded with strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread. And those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. Even the barren has born seven. And she was many children has become feeble. The Lord kills and makes alive. He brings down to the grave and brings up the Lord, makes poor and makes rich. He brings low and lifts up. He raises the poor from the dust. He lifts the beggar from the ash heap to set them among princes and make them inherit the throne of glory. Friends, in this portion of the song, Hannah has warned against pride and now she gives reasons why we should all be humble before the Lord. Again, I got to think she's directing a lot of this towards Penn and Naya, her rival here, and we should be humble before God. Well, why? Well, because God knows how to humble the strong. She says simply here, the bows of the mighty men are broken and those who are full are now begging. And now she who had many children, she's become feeble. Listen, if you're strong right now, maybe you're doing great. Maybe everything's just going so wonderfully in your life and everything's great. Feel kind of strong, feel kind of exalted. Friends, watch out. Humble yourself before God. Don't become proud. Because if you're flying high right now, God knows how to humble the proud. Can I just say you should humble yourself before the Lord instead of having him do it for you? He'll do a much more complete job of humbling you than you could do yourself. So humble yourself before the Lord. Don't make the Lord do it. Humble yourself before him. But there's another reason why we should humble ourself before the Lord, because not only does he know how to take the mighty and bring them low, but he knows how to take the low and bring them up higher. She said that in the song here. She says those who stumbled are girded with strength. Those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. If we're weak now, if we're in a low place, we should wait humbly before God and let him lift us up. My friends, isn't this glorious and Luke chapter 14, Jesus said that, you know, you're at some occasion and you have the opportunity to choose your seat and says, don't choose the exalted seat, because if you choose that exalted seat, somebody might come along and say, hey, you don't belong there. Come down and sit at a lower place. He said, no, instead, choose the low place and let somebody else come on and say, hey, don't sit in the low place. Come up higher. He and Jesus concluded that little section by saying, for whoever exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Friends, choose the lower place. Ask God to make you content with being humble. Now, many of us can be content with the humble place if we choose it. If we're in charge of our humbleness, we can be happy with it. You know, let me do that. I'll take the humble place. Because there's kind of a pride that can work even in our humility there. Right. I'll be the humble one. Let me show you how humble I am. Well, I bet I'm twice as humble as you are. And, you know, we can know the humble things to say. We can know that in a perverse way through our display of humility. We can show a lot of spiritual pride. But friends, if you really want to see how humble you are, show your heart or look at your heart, I should say, not when you get to choose being humble. Look at your heart when other people treat you as lowly, when other people treat you as just a servant, when other people treat you as if you're in a low place. That's a different can of fish, isn't that? That's like, well, who are you to treat me like that? I'll take the humble place if I want to pick it. But don't you treat me like that. Now, if you want to see what kind of servant you are, see how you feel when people treat you like a servant, if you can say, hey, whatever, I'm just serving the Lord. It doesn't really matter to me. And you can see that the Lord is working in your heart of humility. You see, Hannah knew all of this in her life. God had first set her low and then he brought her high. She could see the hand of the Lord in it all. Now she's going to conclude the song here. We're going to pick it up here at the middle of verse eight. Where she says the pillars of the earth are the Lord's and he has set the world upon them. He will guard the feet of his saints, but the wicked shall be silent in darkness for by strength no man shall prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces from heaven. He will thunder against them. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed. You know what she's saying? She's saying God's in control. He's in control of it all. You know, maybe the high wouldn't be brought low and maybe the low wouldn't be brought high if God wasn't in control, but he's in control and he knows how to arrange things. He knows how to set things and God knows how to bring them low and he's in control. Now, I love how she ends this song of hers. You know, her praise to God wasn't just for what he had done in the past, but for what he would do in the future. And as she sings and I just picture Hannah singing this song and, you know, I don't know if Hannah had a great voice. Maybe she had kind of a mediocre voice. But I bet this was the most beautiful song that they ever heard sung at the temple there in Shiloh. Tears streaming down the face of Hannah, her voice kind of, you know, wobbling because she's just so filled with emotion. But she fills the song and ends it with such a note of triumph. She says, he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed. But let me give you a little trivia question here. At this time, did Israel have a king? No, they had no political king over the nation that wasn't going to come for many decades later. Israel had no king at this time. So who is she talking about when she says he will give strength to his king? She's talking about the king of kings and the lord of lords. That's who she's talking about. And then she goes on to say and exalt the horn, the might, the power, the strength, exalt the horn of his anointed. You know what the word for anointed there is in the original language of the Hebrew, it's the Hebrew word Messiah. Which we get the word Messiah from anointed Messiah, you know what the word is in the Greek language and the language of the New Testament, it's the word Christ. Ladies, gentlemen, this is the first time in the Bible that Jesus is called the Christ. And Hannah did it. Way to go, Hannah. Way to see that before anybody else saw it. And later on, David and Isaiah and Ezekiel and and all these other great prophets of God, they picked up on it. They knew that Jesus would be the anointed one, the Messiah, the Christ. Hannah saw it first. And she said the king of kings, the lord of lords, he is the anointed one. So verse 11, then Elkanah went to his house at Ramah, but the child ministered to the lord before Eli, the priest, and then give you just goosebumps to think here's this little boy, three or four years old, so cute. And he's serving the Lord. How can he serve the Lord? You say, well, first of all, let's understand what this simple verse teaches us. It teaches us, number one, that you can serve the Lord in very humble, practical ways. You know, sometimes people think, well, you know, I want to serve the Lord. I guess that means I got to get behind the pulpit and preach a sermon. And sometimes this is some of the poorest service of the Lord that goes on in the church and some of the most glorious service of the Lord goes on when little kids are filling communion trays and when people are vacuuming around the church and when people are just serving God in the most practical ways they can. That's some of the most glorious service that goes on in the church. And in God's eyes, compared to that, what goes on in the pulpit is kind of a letdown. Some of the most glorious ministry that happens in the church happens in the humble ways that a three or four year old child could do it because it's done as ministry unto the Lord. It also teaches us that little children can serve God, right? Your child doesn't have to be old and grown before they can serve the Lord. Your little child can serve the Lord. And so there's little Samuel and Eli, the high priest, comes and he says, Samuel, go go pick up the trash around the tabernacle. And Samuel is three or four years old. He makes a game of it. Oh, yeah, I'll see how much I can get. And he runs around and Eli says he's ministering to the Lord. Samuel, go get more oil for the lambs. OK, I'll go get it. And Samuel loves to do these things. And he's ministering unto the Lord and serving him right there. Now, if I was making a movie of this, I know how I would direct this little scene. I'd have the camera with sort of a soft focus on this and there'd be light, airy music as Samuel would run around doing little things around the tabernacle, serving the Lord. And it'd just be a bright, cheerful scene. You look and say, oh, what a cute little boy serving God. It's just so great. You know, just warm, gushy feeling inside. And then when you came to verse 12, I would change the music and make it dark and ominous. And there'd be a whole different atmosphere with verse 12, because we're not talking about Samuel anymore. Now we're talking about the sons of the high priest in verse 12. Now, the sons of Eli were corrupt. They did not know the Lord. Friends, Samuel, this little boy was a glorious little boy, but the the sons of Eli were of evil character. And why were they of evil character? Because they did not know the Lord. Now, wait a minute, are you telling me that the sons of the high priest, that the sons of Eli himself, Eli was the high priest. They tell me that the sons of the high priest was the top dog in religious officials in all of Israel. He was the one who went into the holy of holies on the Day of Atonement. He was the one who led the whole worship of the nation. He was at the top dog, the big kahuna. He was the big man. You're telling me that his kids didn't know the Lord. Yes. You know, my friends, it's not passed on genetically. You can't be a Christian just because your mom and dad were Christians or just because your grandparents were Christians and you should praise God for whatever spiritual heritage you have. But friends, following after Jesus Christ is an individual choice that each individual makes. You know, many people think of religion, well, you know, I'm, you know, they're they're of a different race. And so they're they're of that race. They're that religion. And, you know, they're of this race and they're that religion. And I'm an American, so I guess I'm a Christian. No, Christianity is not something you inherit. It's something you choose. And these boys, though they had a godly father, they did not know the Lord. I think about this because it can be a difficult thing for a child to come to a true, genuine knowledge of the Lord, even when they grow up in a Christian home. Sometimes they just kind of assume that they know the Lord because mom and dad do. You know, this wasn't an issue for me because I grew up in a wonderful home and my parents are loving parents and they love me so much and they're great parents even now and they raised me good, but they didn't raise me in the Lord. And when I was 13 years old, I I came to a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ got a hold of my life. But I knew that that was something I had to choose. And I just feel and and have a heart for our young people that they would know it themselves. You know, their parents or maybe their youth pastor, or maybe they hear it from me saying, you've got to know the Lord for yourself. It's not enough to know about the Lord. You need to have a personal relationship with the Lord. And sometimes I fear that that just kind of sounds like blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah to them. They've heard it so many times. You say you've got to know the Lord for yourself. And they say, well, I know all the books of the Bible. You've got to know the Lord for yourself. Well, you know, I know this. I know that I can quote to you this verse, but that's not the same as knowing the Lord yourself. It's not the same knowing about the Lord and knowing the Lord, that's two different things, isn't it? I think sometimes we're there with our kids and we're talking about the things of God and how you got to know the Lord and how you got to love Jesus for yourself and have a personal relationship. It kind of sounds to them like, well, you got to clean up your room and take out the trash. And, you know, what's that? Oh, but friends, it's it's important for our young people to have a passionate commitment to knowing the Lord for themselves. And when you see that spark in them and it's fanning the flame, oh, it's glorious. Now, what was so bad about the sons of Eli? Well, notice here, verse 13, and the priest custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest servant would come with a three pronged flesh hook in his hand while the meat was boiling. Then he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot, and the priest would take for himself all that the flesh had brought up. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. Well, can I just tell you that in many of the offerings or sacrifices that an Israelite would bring, there was a portion that was supposed to go to the priest. Oh, some of it was to be given entirely to the Lord. If it was a sin offering, then it was all burnt before the Lord. But a peace offering or a thank offering or a fellowship offering, what you do is you would sacrifice the animal and they would pour out the blood before the altar and then they would take a portion of the animal and give it to the Lord. Usually give to God the fattiest portions of the animal. Why was it that Israelites were into a low fat diet? Well, no, not at all. It's because the fattiest portions were thought to be the best, the choice, the delicacies. And if you're going to give something to God, you give them the best. Right. And that's what they were doing. So you'd give a portion to the Lord and then you give a portion to the priest. Now, in the law of Moses, it said that the priest would get the shoulder portion and some of the breast portion of the animal and he would receive that. It would be like his pay, his compensation for helping with the sacrifice. And so the priest got that. But that wasn't good enough because there was the portion given to God, there was the priest portion, the rest of it went to the offerer and he would have a barbecue and a feast with his whole family. You know what the priests were doing in the days of Eli, you know what the sons of Eli were doing? They would go and they would rip off the people and take some of their portion. It wasn't enough just with the part that Moses said they should have. They would take some of the people's portion as well. My friends, they were ripping off the people of God and notice that wasn't bad enough. Look at verse 15, it says also before they burned the fat, the pre servants would come and say to the man who sacrificed give meat for roasting to the priest where he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw. And if the man said to him, they should really burn the fat first, then you may take as much as your heart desires. He would then answer him. No, but you must give it to me now. And if not, I will take it by force. Therefore, the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord for men of horde, the offering of the Lord. Do you see what's going on here? Friends, not only would they rip off the people, but then when it came to God's offering, you know, when you're given the Lord, his portion, he gets it first. God gets the best and God gets it first. But no, the wicked sons of Eli would say, listen, the Lord's portion, who cares? Give us ours first. And they were so obnoxious that when the people said, hey, you know, don't you think we should give God his portion first? They would say, no, give it to me now. And if you don't do it now, I'm going to take it from you by force. Let me point out something else kind of interesting here. I think it's interesting that Eli's sons did not do this directly. Who did they have do it? The priest servants. Isn't that the way with many corrupt men? They don't do the dirty work themselves. They have their subordinates go out and do it and then they can stand back and say, oh, well, you know, I didn't do anything. It was my subordinates. Oh, no, but God held Eli's wicked sons responsible for this, and they were not going to hide from their responsibility in this matter. And friends, you see what the result was at the end of verse 17. It says, for men of the Lord, the offering of the Lord, you know what that means? It means they hated to come bring sacrifices to God. The thing they should have loved to do, the thing they should have rejoiced to come and bring a sacrifice to God, they hated it because they knew they were going to get ripped off by the priest and that the priest was going to disgrace their offering by taking their portion before what was to be given to the Lord. Friends, it's the same way in the church today, isn't it, that people come to hate the ministry of God, they come to hate the church of God because of greedy and wicked servants of the Lord. How many people have been turned away from God's work and from God's servant because they've had a terrible encounter with a greedy or a wicked servant of God? Friends, the sons of Eli are not gone from God's people. It's a terrible scourge upon the church. Look, it's bad enough if you're going to do wrong on your own and do damage to your own soul. But if you're going to lead another person in their heart away from God, which is what Eli's wicked sons were doing, how much worse it is. So, friends, here was the whole situation here, and it's a dark day in the world of Israel and people are hating the offering of the Lord. So now the camera shifts again and the light gets brighter and the pleasant music comes on and now we see little Samuel just, well, he's serving the Lord again. Look at verse 18, but Samuel ministered before the Lord even as a child wearing a linen ephod. Isn't that glorious? Yes, my friends, the sons of Eli are not gone from the church today, but neither are the Samuels. God still has the Samuels and friends as bad as Eli's sons were, Samuel was different. And is this not why God raised up Samuel? Is this not why God allowed Hannah to come to the place where she was totally pressed to extremity, where she was totally wiped out and where she had to come to God so much as Lord, you can have my child in this special way. And God said, that's great because that's exactly what I wanted, because look at Eli's sons. They're no good. They can't inherit the priesthood. I need to raise up another man to spiritually lead the nation. If Eli's sons would not be worthy successors, then God would raise up someone else. Friends, ultimately, corrupt ministers do not stop or they do not even hinder the work of God. Oh, it might look like it. It might look like it from the outside. Look, look at the destruction that's being done to God's work because of this corrupt minister. But friends know God always has a Samuels, even though there's the sons of Eli out there. God always has his Samuels that he'll raise up so that his work does not stop when God's ministers become corrupt. Let me just touch on another point here. We might scratch our heads and ask, why was Samuel so godly and why were Eli's sons so wicked? Was Eli such a bad parent? Eli was a bad parent in some ways, though he doesn't seem to be particularly ungodly, but he was a bad parent in some ways. And we'll see more about that next week. Why? Why did they turn out so bad? But Samuel was so good and I'm sure it had something to do with how they were raised in their homes. But friends, you know, sometimes parents can do a pretty good job and the children, at least for a while, go off and rebel. And sometimes parents who don't do a very good job, their children find the Lord and the Lord does a great work in their life. And sometimes I can just think of some child, you know, is great and the parents goes, well, yeah, you know, that was my work. Thank you very much. And God in heaven says, you know, look, you didn't have much to do with that at all. That was just me. Don't pat yourself on the back. And other parents who are just crying out in despair because their children are are rebellious in their wayward and they're thinking, oh, it's all my fault. It's all my fault. And the Lord would say, listen, you did a good job. It's just this child has a rebellious heart and I'm going to have to deal with them. You know, friends, we have to be careful about assigning blame in these kind of situations. And it's true that God wants us to work hard and be the best parents that we can and to expect in faith that God will bless our children and will grow them up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. But friends, can I just tell you that Adam has given your child a fallen nature, all their own, and they're going to have to deal with that before the Lord. But here's little Samuel ministering before the Lord, even as a child wearing a linen ephod, he's got his little priest uniform on. Can you see him there? His little priest uniform. And he served the Lord. And it's so cute. It's just great. You look at all. It's so wonderful. Verse 19, moreover, his mother used to make him a little robe and bring it up to him year by year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. Oh, can you see Hannah working on that robe every year? You know, she said, I can't. I'm going to see my little boy. I need to be working on the robe. And I wonder how big he is now. I better make it big. Boy, I bet, you know, when Sam would get that coat, I bet the sleeves went down about six inches past his arms, you know, always growing up so big. I just know he's so big. And, you know, she makes it big for him every year and every year. Mom, OK. And he puts it on and he just looks so cute. And the mother just crying tears over this robe that she would make for him every year. And he just cherished. He'd probably sleep with it next to him because it's such a testimony to his mother's love. It goes on here, verse 20, and Eli would bless Elkan and his wife and say, the Lord give you descendants from this woman for the loan that was lent to the Lord. Then they would go to their own home and the Lord visited Hannah so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the child Samuel grew before the Lord. But did you see that? Did you see that God gave Hannah three more sons and two more daughters? Isn't that beautiful? Hannah wasn't going to be hanging around saying, well, I gave the Lord that my child, what he give me no way. Friends, you know what? You cannot out give God. You can't go ahead and try. You know, you give God your time. God will bless you for it. You give God your talents. God will bless you for it. You give God your resources. God will bless you for it. You cannot out give God. God's not going to be in debt to anybody. Nobody's going to go before God and say you owe me. It just won't happen. It can't happen. It's impossible. And Hannah gave this precious child unto the Lord and God, God gave her back so much more in abundance. Isn't that beautiful? Samuel growing up before the Lord, what's going to happen? Look, Eli's sons are wicked. It just can't keep going on that way. What's going to happen to Samuel? I mean, how is he going to assume the leadership that the Lord wants him to? How is he going to grow before the Lord about Eli, this high priest who's getting on in years? Got to come back next week, we'll get to it then and see what goes on in the rest of this chapter in chapter three. Look, you can read ahead. That's OK. The Lord's not going to be mad at you if you read ahead. Just come back and we'll see what happens with this family. But friends, you you got to be impressed by the way that little Samuel was given to the Lord and God blessed Hannah so much in return. Now, maybe the Lord is dealing with your heart about something you need to give unto him. Maybe there's some aspect of your time or your talents or your attention or some secret place in your heart that God is calling for you to give to him. And maybe you're worried about doing that. You know, I remember there was a time in my life when I was just a teenager and God was really dealing with my life about something that he wanted me to give him. And I thought that I would be poorer, I thought that I would lose out if I gave that unto the Lord. Well, I wish I could stand before you and say that I, in a marvelous display of spirituality, gave it unto the Lord and he blessed so much. But you know what happened? God took it from me instead of me giving it to him. And he still blessed it. He still showed how great he was. Friends, God will always reward us when we lay down before him what he's calling us to give him. So you don't need to be afraid to give to the Lord what he's speaking to your heart about. Just go ahead and give it. And just like with Hannah, you give him one son, he'll give you back five. And whatever proportion, whatever way, whatever way God rewards us, that's all up to him. But I will tell you this, you can never outgive God. He'll bless you for whatever he calls you to give to him. Let's pray and ask God to do this big work in our hearts. Fathers, we come before you. We want hearts like Hannah's heart, Lord, who could praise you even on a day when she gave up her little boy to adopt him into the house of the Lord. But Father, for you to do that work in our hearts, it just almost seems too big, God. But we know you can do it. And Lord, whatever it is that you would call us to give to you, we ask that you help us to do it with boldness and and Lord, with joy, just like Hannah did. We want to be able to say my heart rejoices in the Lord, even when we're giving you something difficult. Lord, I think that's a work too big for us to work up in ourselves, but it's something that you can work in us by your Holy Spirit. So we invite you to do it, Lord. Please do it. We pray it in Jesus name.