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Things don’t always go as you expect. Whether it’s national elections, or the mundane details of our lives, we’re constantly caught off guard and humbled by the events of life. 1 Samuel comes back to this idea a lot, as we see again and again that fortunes are reversed by the Lord’s plans. The powerful lose their power. The arrogant are exposed. The underdog becomes top dog. The weak overcome the strong. 1 Samuel is full of the rise of the humble and the fall of the proud, all guided by the sovereign hand of a God who does the unexpected.
Hannah’s prayer of praise in these verses is a reminder and insight into how fortunes are reversed. She knows that it is only through the Lord that her own barrenness had been overcome (v. 1). She had been harassed and bullied, but has now been raised up by the Lord through the birth of Samuel (v. 5). This is our wonderful God. As Hannah says in verse 2, ‘there is no-one besides you’. Here we have solid ground in the middle of shifting fortunes: ‘there is no Rock like our God’.
Even more striking, Hannah’s mini experience of salvation becomes, in the prayer, a picture of a much bigger salvation for God’s people. The birth of Samuel will indeed bring big changes. Whole armies will be overcome (v. 4) and hungry multitudes will be fed (v. 5). A new justice will come as rich oppressors lose their power and the oppressed are saved (vv. 6–8, 10). In other words, Hannah’s answered prayer isn’t just for her, but for the people. The prayer is even for us, because it looks forward to the birth of a greater baby who will reverse the fortunes of many (Luke 1:46–55). A strong and exalted king is coming (v. 10) to save the people.
REFLECTION
1. Why do you think the Lord has a habit of reversing the fortunes of the proud and the weak? What’s his purpose in that?
2. What in this prayer encourages you to trust the Lord more when you pray to him?
Scripture
About this Plan
1 Samuel charts the rise and fall of several of Israel’s leaders. You’ll meet the notoriously arrogant king Saul and see the ascent of the man after God’s own heart – David. You’ll read of dangerous battles, murder plots, giants and even more surprises in this book. You’ll see that despite turbulence in leadership, seemingly strong enemies and spiritual decay God is very much at work orchestrating the fall of the proud and the rise of the humble. What an encouragement for us today when we are faced with challenges not too dissimilar to these!
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