Humble and exalted in the Song of Hannah

Sermon for Midweek of Trinity 17

1 Samuel 2:1-10  +  Jude 20-25  +  Mark 2:18-28

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. That’s the straightforward teaching of Jesus which you heard Him illustrate on Sunday in the Parable of the Wedding Guests and His advice to not sit down in the highest place or you will be moved down and shamed, but instead to sit down in the lowest place so that the host may raise you up. That’s a theme that keeps recurring in Scripture. God takes the humble things of this world and raises them up, while He takes the high and lofty things and casts them down. We see it in the patriarchs, especially in Jacob and again in his son Joseph. We see it in King Saul, and then in King David and his sons. We see it in Jesus Himself. We hear it loud and clear in the Song of Mary, the Magnificat. And we hear it just as clearly in the Song of Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel, which we’re going to just walk through this evening.

Remember how the events played out in Hannah’s life. Her husband had two wives, and, as always, that caused problems. His other wife had children; she was “exalted” in that way. Hannah had no children; she was lowly. The other wife also exalted herself, though, looking down on Hannah and ridiculing her and making her life miserable, while Hannah humbled herself before the Lord. She turned humbly to the Lord in prayer, seeking His help and mercy. The Lord granted her request. He exalted her. She gave birth to Samuel and then gave him to the Lord’s service, and then spoke the words before us:

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.

You would think Hannah would rejoice in her son who had finally been born to her. You would think her heart would rejoice in her new status as a mother, something she had longed for for years. But, no. Her heart rejoices in the Lord. He is the reason for her rejoicing. His goodness and kindness are the things that make her heart glad. We would all do well to rejoice in the Lord and not in the things of this world, even the good things that the Lord gives. As the Psalmist says, Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You. When you can speak those words in truth, then nothing can take your joy away from you.

Hannah says that her “horn is exalted in the LORD.” That image of a person’s horn is common in the Old Testament. Think of the powerful horns of a bull or of an oryx, the symbol of the animal’s strength. When the animal’s horn is exalted, his head is held up high in victory. When the animal’s horn is bowed low, it’s in shame and defeat. Well, Hannah recognizes her strength and her victory are not from herself or in herself, but in the LORD. She “smiles” at her enemies, although the Hebrew word really just means, “my mouth is wide open against my enemies,” which is probably better translated, “my mouth boasts against my enemies,” not in herself, but in the victory the Lord gave her as He exalted her, “because I rejoice in Your salvation.” She wasn’t boasting in how wonderful she was that she finally gave birth to a son, but in how the Lord had graciously saved her from her barrenness and from her distress.

“No one is holy like the LORD, For there is none besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God.

Only the LORD is truly holy. Remember, “holy” means “set apart,” yes, set apart from sin and from imperfection, but also set apart from everyone else. In this case, set apart in goodness, in mercy, in deliverance. For there is none besides You, no one who is this loving, this merciful, this powerful. Nor is there any rock like our God. No one and nothing so strong, so dependable. When the world is crumbling around us, our God is the Rock on which we can stand, without any fear of crumbling.

“Talk no more so very proudly; We think first of Hannah’s “adversary,” her husband’s other wife who spoke proudly against Hannah. But her words apply to everyone.

Let no arrogance come from your mouth, For the LORD is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed. Don’t speak highly of yourself in the presence of others, or act like you think you’re better than others or more important than others. God knows the truth, who you really are. He knows all the bad, and He knows that, if there is any good in you, it’s from Him. So the one who judges your actions should not be you. It should be the Lord. Just as the one who chooses your place for you at the wedding feast of God’s kingdom, shouldn’t be you. It should be the Host of the feast.

“The bows of the mighty men are broken. There were no men with bows and arrows after Hannah. She isn’t talking about herself anymore. This is what happens to the powerful of the world, to the wise, to the mighty who exalt themselves and oppose the Lord and His people. Sooner or later, God will break their bows and rescue His children.

And those who stumbled are girded with strength. Those who stumbled—that’s the Christians who live in humility, who don’t run the race of this world powerfully and victoriously, who don’t appear powerful and glorious, but who stumble along, running into this problem and that one and often not knowing what to do. But in the end, the Lord will gird His people with strength, so that we stand, not by our own strength, but by His.

Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread. Those who are full of themselves, who have everything and boast about having everything, end up with nothing. And the hungry have ceased to hunger. As Jesus also said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

Even the barren woman has borne seven, And she who has many children has become feeble. God looked with mercy on humble Hannah in her barrenness and gave her children. Sometimes God doesn’t do that, even for humble Christian women. But Hannah is speaking figuratively. She didn’t bear seven children. But the Lord heard her prayer and delivered her in just the way He knew was best for her, and for His people Israel, and even for us. So it goes for the Church, too. God blesses and prospers His Church that appears barren and powerless and gives life and salvation and just the right amount of prosperity, while He brings down the Church that has “many children” but that refuses to tremble at His Word, to preserve the true teaching of the Gospel.

“The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up. Again, He humbles the proud, even to the point of death. He does that physically, but also spiritually as He crushes the haughty, secure sinner with the Law. But He exalts the lowly, even to the point of raising the dead to life. He has done that physically, in a few cases, and He will do it extensively at the last Day. But even now, in spiritual way, He raises up those who have been crushed with the accusations of the Law. He preaches His Gospel, His good news, to them and gives them eternal life.

The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up. He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory. That’s the ultimate rags to riches story, isn’t it? When God takes fishermen and tax collectors and makes them apostles, when He takes a murderous Jewish Pharisee and turns him into the apostle to the Gentiles, when He takes poor, miserable sinners and turns us into children of God and into a kingdom of priests who will sit one day with Christ on His glorious throne.

“For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, And He has set the world upon them. In other words, what God establishes, no one can move. And no one can establish himself without the Lord’s blessing. 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.” This is how the story will end: in glory for the saints of God, in destruction and misery for His enemies. There’s no doubt about it. The only thing we don’t know is God’s timing for it. But if we trust Him to save us, then we also have to trust Him to know when and how to do it. After all, He’s proven His perfect planning and perfect timing by giving strength to His king—to Jesus, after He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—and by exalting the horn of His anointed, by raising up the Christ from the dead and by placing all things under His feet and appointing Him to be head over everything for the Church.

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. It’s the way it has always been with God. Always take the warning to heart! But when you do, then also rejoice with Hannah, with Mary, and with Jesus Himself, and know that the Lord will not break His promise to lift up the humble in due time. Amen.