Selah: Worship in the Midst of Spiritual WarfareSample

Worship Invites You to Remember

As someone who once struggled with infertility, I studied 1 Samuel 1 for months. I just couldn’t move on. Although we usually discuss Hannah’s infertility, it was evident she was dealing with so much more.

The Law of First Mention is a technique that Bible students employ in hermeneutics because it shows us that a pattern is being established. Consequently, when Jehovah Tsebaoth is named for the first time, we pay attention.

Nicknames call us to attention and indicate our relationship with the speaker. Nicknames also reveal a need the speaker may have before a request is even made.

God’s names are the same. Hannah could have called on:

• Jehovah Jireh, The Lord My Provider, if she simply needed a prayer request answered.
• Jehovah Rapha, The Lord My Healer, if she simply needed healing in her body.
• Jehovah Shalom, The Lord of Peace, if she simply needed peace in her home.

But she called on Jehovah Tseboath, The Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Hannah remembered that God is a Warrior, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the Lord of Hosts. She became the first person documented in Scripture to call on Jehovah Tsebaoth personally in prayer.

This name indicates that the very act of choosing to worship Jehovah Tsebaoth is an act of warfare. However, it also shows us that Hannah was dealing with more than infertility or torment in her home.

1. Hannah endured spiritual warfare in the Israelite culture.

The book of Judges ends with a poignant statement in Judges 21:25: "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” That is where 1 Samuel picks up.

1 Samuel 1 intersects with the two preceding books of Judges and Ruth. You may know that the book of Ruth details how Boaz charged his servants to look after Ruth. Naomi urged Ruth to remain there since she’d been shown kindness, lest she be assaulted in another field. We may be tempted to think she would be treated unfairly simply because she was a foreigner.

However, the book of Judges also details the horrific crimes against women. It was a problem in the culture.

2. Hannah endured spiritual warfare in the Tabernacle of the Lord.

Hannah was entrenched in warfare in the religious culture of the day, too. Her choice to press into the Tabernacle was a big deal. People were beginning to stop sacrificing to the Lord due to the contempt and corruption the priests showed, but Hannah chose to go there for solace and prayer anyway.

First Samuel 2 goes on to share how the priests, Hophni and Phinehas, were sexually abusing women in the temple. It was bold for Hannah to believe that she could advocate for herself, a woman, in front of the Living God, in a space that had become the antithesis of what He stood for. It was even bolder to believe He would fight for her.

3. Hannah endured spiritual warfare in her home.

Hannah was dealing with warfare on every side, and the warfare was after her purpose.

Her sister wife, Penninah, provoked her every time they went to worship the Lord in Shiloh. She provoked her because Hannah could not have children, although she was favored by their husband Elkanah.

It is tragic to feel provoked in the very place you should feel peace, and Hannah cried out to God for a baby.

Hannah’s Prophecy

Hannah’s purpose as a mother and her purpose as a prophet were being challenged. Once she pressed into prayer, Eli’s prophecy told her she would have a child.

What we often miss, though, is that Hannah was a prophet herself.

Hannah revealed she knew a king was coming well before anyone else ever mentioned a king and decades before her boy would ever anoint one.

In 1 Samuel 2:10, we realize that Hannah had greater foresight than any of her contemporaries at the time. She thanked God for His Salvation in verse one and revealed that God would cause a King to be exalted in verse 10.

Who is that King? That King is Jesus. And it is clear from the beginning of 1 Samuel that a new day has dawned. From that point forward, God chose to redeem the purpose of women and how men viewed them throughout the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, and He started with Hannah.

Worship invites you to remember the God you serve in the face of spiritual warfare. When you worship the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, you are embarking on an act of war against every power and principality on Earth. There is power in His presence.

Reflection:

1. What do you feel the Lord is positioning you to do?
2. Why might the enemy want to prevent you from doing so?