Today, we will be concluding our devotional series on Hannah’s Song (1 Sam. 2:1-10). I hope that this has been very edifying and encouraging as we look at the sovereignty of God over all things—and not only at His sovereignty of itself, but the inherent goodness and mercy of that sovereignty. Join me as we look at some further application of Hannah’s Song.
The main focus in Hannah’s song is upon God. He was being praised for removing Hannah’s reproach and for being uniquely sovereign. She describes God to such an extent as to maintain His total sovereignty over every possible realm: divinity, holiness, justice, providence, knowledge, power, creation, life and death, life after death, honor, and shame. Even full sovereignty is given to God over the future, including perfect judgement of the whole earth, and the permanent instalment of His Messiah-King. Nothing is left out of God’s absolute sovereignty.
Firstly, it is significant that Hannah focused on God and not on what she received. In such as attitude, she showed submission to God and stands as a model for other believers to emulate. She is not praising God simply because He blessed her with a child, but because she has come to realize the great splendor of who God is. God did not have to bless her. Rather, He chose to bless her out of His own desire to bless. God can do all things that is in His nature to do; yet, He chose to bless her in a very particular and miraculous way. Hence, and this is a message for all believers, God blesses according to His own character and ways. One of those particular ways pertain to the blessing of His saints. God keeps (or guards) the feet of His saints in His own ways and at His own times. He straightens the path of His saints (all who are in Christ are His saints) so that they can never apostatize and so that they will grow in holiness. The way that this blessing is carried out is not always as we may desire of Him to do in the carnality and limitations of our thinking; yet, because of His sovereignty, He knows (and has) the best means for keeping His saints in the ways of His Son. His blessings come in forms suitable for each person, especially for those who grow in obedience to Him. Like Hannah, all should focus on God as their chief object of affection and not measure God’s blessings on the basis of their own earthly desires.
Secondly, only God is worthy of worship. He alone is the absolute Rock of salvation: the only God. To Him alone is control over life and death, honor and dishonor, riches and poverty. With His exhaustive knowledge and wisdom, He alone knows how to apply such things in the best possible way. This application includes His care for humanity, especially for those who serve Him. (Remember that God made a way through Christ’s work on the cross for us to become permanently a part of His people, and to increasingly obey Him through the permanent indwelling of His Spirit). In Him is the fulfillment of every need and good desire. Real fulfillment cannot be in anything but God. In this, God is truly God to humanity. He alone is worthy to be praised.
Significantly, readers can also see in Hannah’s prophecy some direct application of God’s sovereign work, which must, without any possible hindrance, come to pass. Just as God is perfectly sovereign over all things, so is He perfectly sovereign in bringing about the full empowerment and glory of His Messiah King. When Christ returns, believers are assured that He will have His horn (power) exalted over the whole earth in perfect justice and goodness. Evil will be utterly destroyed and the purposes of God (including the blessing of His saints) will be fully realized. Hence, in God, those who follow Him can place their complete trust and hope.
This same Christ is explicitly referred to in Daniel 7:13-14 as the “Son of Man [who will come] with the clouds of heaven . . . . [to be given] dominion, and glory, and a kingdom that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion [will be] an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”[1] He is as a rock, cut without hands (not having its origin in creation or from man’s power), who will fill the whole earth with His everlasting dominion (Dan. 2:44-45). John the Baptist even said that God has “given all things into His hand” (John 3:35), and Jesus, “all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”[2] Hence, Hannah’s prophecy has shown direct application all over the Bible.
From our study of 1 Samuel 2:1-10, it is possible to summarize the main idea of Hannah’s song. The main idea is that God is uniquely sovereign over all things, working out His good pleasure on the wicked as well as on His saints (keeping them), showing justice and goodness in all of His dealings, even to the return and empowerment of His Messiah King. The final consummation of Hannah’s prophecy is certain and sure. All justice will be carried out, all goodness will be done, and all that God sets out to do will be accomplished. Believers can put their full hope and trust in Him.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Before we conclude this series, I believe that it would be good to more closely examine the bigger picture being taught about God’s sovereignty in Hannah’s Song. Sometimes it can really help to put the pieces together.
Hannah’s Song is filled with stark contrasts that communicate the final dealings with both God’s people (believers in Christ) and the wicked. Some of these may partially manifest themselves in life on earth now, but all will be perfectly consummated when Christ returns. I include some of these contrasts below, which help to paint a vivid picture of what heaven and hell will be like:
Verse 1: Believer’s hearts (their whole person) will be exalted in Yahweh (verse 7 also teaches this), paralleling the exaltation of the Messiah in verse 10. By contrast, the wicked will be in a permanent state of humiliation (verse 7).
Verse 1: Believers—longing for the final salvation of the Lord—will be given the final word or boast over their enemies, boasting only in God’s power and goodness. By contrast, the wicked will be left with no boast or way to defend themselves, since they rejected God. Verse 9 says that the wicked will forever be silenced in eternal darkness.
Verse 2: Believers will have a perfect relationship and safety with the only God, Who is perfectly good and the only source of true safety. By contrast, the wicked will be without the Rock of Salvation, meaning that they will have no protection or safety against the holiness and goodness of God.
Verse 4: Our weakness will be strengthened. Our strength will be permanent and never waver. By contrast, the wicked will have all of their power removed (they will become entirely impotent and helpless), with God’s wrath against them forever according to His good and holy judgement (verses 4 and 10).
Verse 5: Believers will never hunger again, and the barren will not lack children in the Lord (hunger and barrenness will be done away with). By contrast, the wicked will hunger forever, and women with many children will become weak (as though barren).
Verse 6: While we will all die some day, believers will be raised back to life by the God sovereign over all life and death. By contrast, the wicked will die, only to enter eternal torment in the second death (being given new bodies fit for hell, as the New Testament teaches).
Verse 7: Believers will be made rich in heavenly riches that neither moth nor rust can destroy or thief steal. By contrast, the wicked will lose all their riches forever.
Verse 8: Believers will inherit thrones of honour by the God who sustains all creation. By contrast, the wicked will be brought low (verse 7), losing every honour and position for the lowest possible permanent state of humiliation.
Verse 9: God will ensure that all true believers are made holy by guarding their ways and keeping them from apostasy. The result will be perfect holiness. By contrast, in verse 3, every word and action of the wicked will be judged and punished by God according to the fulness that they deserve (which we know is an eternity in the second death). Nothing can be hidden from Him.
Verse 10: God will give believers a perfect ruler with perfect power, Who will rule over us forever in truth and love: God Himself through Christ Jesus. By contrast, God will “smash [the wicked] to pieces” as He “thunders” against them in righteous wrath, not coming to them as their Saviour and loving ruler, but as a judge and their unassailable enemy bent on their just destruction and eternal torment.
In the end, every wrong will be righted, and every good will be rewarded. God will, in His perfect sovereign power and goodness, bring all of creation back to perfect conformity to Himself, and forever banish all wickedness and evil. Everything shall come to pass according to God’s own perfect plan and desires, culminating in us becoming His perfect subjects under the rulership of Christ. All blessing and honour will be ours in Christ, and all of this blessing and honour will be a perfect human reflection of God’s own glory and honour. We will receive all blessing, honour, and glory because of God’s blessing, honour, and glory. Nothing will be of ourselves, but all will be because of God. Therefore, fellow saints, may we look forward to the consummation of all things: both to the destruction of all evil (including all those who persist in rejecting Christ), and to the conformity of all other things to the goodness of God. We have everything to look forward to, and nothing to not. Only, let us live our lives seeking first the Sovereign God above all, and that His will will be made perfectly manifest in every area and facet of our lives. God has given us all that we need towards that end, and He even carefully crafts our lives for us to grow in Him. May we walk in light of His perfect sovereignty, in light of His sufficient resources for our growth in godliness, and therefore pursue His ways in every time and circumstance that He has graciously provided for us. May we also help and encourage one another in this, that we may faithfully run the race of life in Christ. Amen.
[1] King James Version.
[2] King James Version.