WORSHIPER OF THE WEEK: HANNAH

A few days ago I began reading the book of 1 Samuel for my time with the Lord in the mornings. Since, starting I have not been able to get out of my mind the amazing worshiper found in Hannah. As I believe God calls us to be worshipers of Him and that He is seeking such people(Jn. 4:23-24), It is always encouraging to me when I read about people who fit the description of a worshiper of God.

Hannah is a woman who went through a hard time. Hannah was unable to have children, but apart from that, her husband had another wife who had many children. Peninnah, the other wife, would constantly ridicule Hannah for not being able to have children, which left Hannah crying, not eating, and very sad. Her story is better told in 1 Samuel 1-2, and I would encourage you to read it on your own. With this post, I want to highlight what stands out to me concerning Hannah the worshiper.

If you'll notice the picture above, it portrays Hannah crying out to the Lord at the temple in her distress. This scene is seen in 1 Samuel 1:9-18. What first stands out to me about Hannah the worshiper is that her distress and sadness led her to call out to the Lord. She found her hope and her strength in God alone. Psalm 18:6 says, "In my distress I called out to the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears." The true worshiper understands that our "help comes from the LORD; maker of heaven and earth" (Ps. 121:2). And not only that, but God hears His children!

Hannah was a worshiper of spirit and truth. To worship in spirit is to let the Lord in the most inner part of who you are...YOUR SOUL. As Hannah met with the Lord that day, Eli saw her as she prayed and asked, "How long will you go on being drunk?(1 Sam. 1:14). Hannah replied, "No my Lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord,"(1 Sam. 1:15). Just as alcohol has the ability to take over ones actions, her actions were overtaken as she cried out to God! What a powerful picture of a worshiper in need of what only the LORD can give!

1 Samuel 1:19 states, "they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD." Before anything Hannah worshiped the Lord God who is worthy of praise. Yes, she had desires for her life on earth, but none of that came before worshiping her Jehovah God! I love the picture of worshiping the Lord early in the morning before anything. This is a discipline I am currently working greatly towards in my own life. Hannah's prayer in distress contained a vow to God, that if He would bless her with a son, Hannah would "give him to the LORD all the days of his life..."(1Sam. 1:11). Well, before long, God blessed Hannah with a son, whom they named Samuel, meaning "I have asked for Him from the Lord,"(1 Sam. 1:20).

Another aspect of Hannah being a worshiper is that her treasures were stored up in the LORD. Imagine having a son, after being unable to have children, and taking a few years to raise that son. I'd say we would all become pretty attached to him. Well, as Hannah vowed to the LORD, she raised Samuel until he was a young child and took him to the temple to leave Him there with Eli in dedication to the LORD (1 Sam. 1:27-28)! As much as she probably loved and adored Samuel, her love, adoration, and dedication to the God of the universe was far greater. A true worshiper realizes that the blessings here on earth are for God's glory alone, and pale in comparison to God's greatness. Naturally, Hannah had earthly desires, like having a child....who doesn't? But Hannah's true satisfaction was found in the LORD, and her ultimate goal was that he was worshiped.

And finally comes the cream of the crop concerning Hannah the worshiper. Even after dropping off her only son who was but a child, Hannah prays a beautiful prayer of adoration and worship to God! She begins in 1 Samuel chapter 2:

My heart exults in the LORD;

My strength is exalted in the LORD.

My mouth derides my enemies,

Because I rejoice in my salvation.

There is none holy like the LORD

There is none besides you;

There is no rock like our GOD...1Sam. 2:1-2

Hannah continues and I ask you to please read through this incredible prayer of worship in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. Then, read through a second time as a prayer from your own heart. Hannah worshiped in the greatness of our God! She got the vastness of who God was. She recognized that God worked toward every extreme, such as "The LORD kills and brings to life...the Lord brings low and he exalts,"(1Sam. 2:6-7). Hannah recognized that even in a time that was probably difficult for her, God was steadfast and unchanging and worthy of her worship! O how I long to harness this attitude of worship and perfect it in my own life.

Let us strive to respond to every blessing in our lives in worship to our God. When we are in need, may we cry out to God. Psalm 116:2 says, "He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call on Him all the days of my life." May every aspect of life, lead us to our Sovereign King and Loving Father, that we might cry out to Him in adoration, praise, and divine worship. I praise God for the example of Hannah the worshiper. I pray that myself and the Church would follow the example seen in Hannah's worship, that Christ might be lifted higher and God glorified more and more!

SOVEREIGN KING OR LOVING FATHER???

Psalm 115:3-Our God sits in the heavens, He does whatever He pleases.

Psalm 116:5-Our God is gracious and righteous; Our God is full of compassion.

Psalm 10:16-The Lord is King forever and ever.

Psalm 36:5&7-Your steadfast love O Lord extends to the heavens; Your faithfulness to the skies...How precious is your steadfast love O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

Psalm 97:2-5-Clouds and thick darkness are all around Him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. Fire goes before him and burns up His adversaries all around. His lightings light up the world, the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.

Psalm 117:2-For great is His love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

If your like me, you look at the statements from the book of Psalm above and notice the vast difference between them. Some speak of a one who sits on His throne, enthroned in justice and righteousness, doing whatever He pleases as He rules as King forever and ever. The other verses speak of one who's love toward us endures, who is full of grace and compassion, and who children find safety in. These certainly seem to be polar opposite descriptions. One easily portrays a powerful and Sovereign King, while the other seems to portray a protecting, Loving Father.

Well, we know God's Word is inerrant and the truths portrayed in the above verses speak of the one and only true God....So accordingly, our God is the Sovereign ruling and reigning King of the universe, as well as the loving Father who shields and protects us! This is unfathomable to me as I learn more about the character of God. Just as I begin to lean one way in my thinking, God hits me with another attribute that contradicts the first, but makes Him all the more Reverent and Worthy! The more God opens my mind to who He is, the more I see the vastness of His character. As God is perfectly sovereign, He is perfectly loving.

Also, the more I see the vastness of His character, the more I can't help but respond in worship! I have talked about "Worshiping Through God's Character" in a post some time ago. You can read it here, if you'd like. But what brought this post about is something I've seen in myself as God has been revealing to me more of His sovereignty. As I have been growing in my understanding of His sovereignty, I began to neglect that just as He is perfectly sovereign and just, He is perfectly loving. He is perfectly fulfilling of EVERY good characteristic. So, over the past few days, as I have been able to focus on the love of God in His Word, my understanding of His greatness has grown even more, inclining me to worship even more!

What an incredible picture is painted when you think of a ruling King holding the stars in place, ruling in righteousness and justice all while loving me unconditionally, directing my paths, and graciously granting me new mercies every morning. This is a picture that easily moves me to my knees in worship. What a God we serve! "Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable in all the earth!"(Ps. 145:3). As I spoke to my friend Ryan this week, He said something rooted in J.I. Packer's "Knowing God," to the effect of, we not only serve a God who justifies us by declaring us righteous, but we serve a God who adopts us as His sons and daughters!

Ephesians 1:5- In Love, He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:4-5- But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ...

God's sovereignty and love flow hand in hand. Understanding His sovereign ruling and reigning, is understanding the love that He has for His children, whom no one can pluck from the hand of God (Jn. 10:28). Only a sovereign God could make alive that which was dead, and He does so in love for eternity! He is the Sovereign Father capable only of a perfect love. To worship God, we have to know who He is. We find out who He is through His Holy Word. May our worship of God grow more and more, as we learn more and see more of His vast character!

WHO WILL RISE UP?

In response to Galatians 6:10, which states, "So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially those who are the household of faith," Pastor James MacDonald and Pastor Mark Driscoll are partnering together to help the Church in Haiti. Thousands will give time and money to rebuild roads, re-erect buildings, and many more needed things, but none of that will go to the church? Who will rise up? Who will help the church?

Listen to the challenge set forth by Pastor James MacDonald to the Harvest churches all around the world.

Harvest Bible Chapels Helping Haiti from HBF Church Plants on Vimeo.

This call is in no way exclusive to Harvest churches. We are the people "called out of darkness into His Marvelous light,"(1 Pet. 2:9). Please pray for the church in Haiti, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and go to http://www.churcheshelpingchurches.com/ to donate towards this cause. In a world of lost people, the Church is the instrument for spreading the light in this dark time!

STRIVING FOR MORE OF CHRIST...

May I never be comfortable with my walk in Christ until I reach His glorious feet, where I will wholly and truly worship Him in the splendor of His greatness!

The words above, are words that I wrote down this morning as I was seeking the Lord and contemplating the convictions He is laying on me regarding living a life that is above reproach; a life that is "holy as He is Holy,"(1 Pet. 1:16). There is nothing better to me than the times in life where scripture jumps off the page at me, and when there is a freshness in my walk daily, and when there is craving desire for more of Christ. I am in that state right now and I love being challenged by God's Word and by the wisdom of others, seemingly, so easily.

However, I do have times where it seems so hard to hear what the Lord has for me at a certain point. Times where I get in the Word, but I have a hard time grasping the truths God wants me to hear at that given time. Even in these times, I have a joy in my salvation, because I know that Christ has saved me, but the application for living more like Christ is harder to find. Naturally, this is a frustration in those times, but the statement written above, I believe is the key for any believer yearning after Christ. It is the times I get comfortable in my walk with Christ, that I find myself lacking the next step and the next challenge for a life of holiness.

Psalm 42:1 says "As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God."

The Psalmist in this statement shows no sign of getting comfortable. One's thirst is always there. Once quenched, soon after it needs quenched again. We need to constantly be seeking after God, as a deer pants for water. The Bible is the sure and perfect Word from God that can always sustain, if we long after it. Once challenged with one portion, its time to find the next challenge towards glorifying God. The Psalmist of Psalm 119, shows signs of struggle in verse 153 when he writes, "Look on my affliction and deliver me," but says after, "for I do not forget your law." When God's Word is written on our hearts, and is our meditation daily, we will seek after Him a midst our trials.

I praise God for where He has me now and I am striving to weed out any distraction in my life that could cause harder grasping of His call. I praise him for the inspiration that comes from His word and from His daily mercies. Psalm 40:3 says, "He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear and put their trust in Him." I pray that each day I could find a new song to sing out of praise to our God...He is certainly worthy enough and without a doubt deserving enough. And finally, I pray that until I reach His feet, I would never become too comfortable in seeking after Him; I pray that I would never be to comfortable to take the next step towards "being holy as He is Holy." For me to live is Christ, to die is gain(Phil. 1:21).

No greater joy do I have than to serve Jesus Christ, who has "delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,"(Col. 1:13). I pray that you share this joy in Christ Jesus, and that you lean into the challenges of the faith, until we reach Him in all His glory!

A Call to Obedience

We recently finished a series at Harvest Granger entitled, "God Wrote A Book;" title taken from the Book by James MacDonald of Harvest Bible Chapel in Chicago. Throughout the series Harvest Granger was challenged with the importance of God's Word and it's divine inspiration, inerrancy, and principles for a life with Christ.

In one of the final weeks of the series, Pastor Trent discussed the importance of God's Word being ever present in our daily lives. Psalm 119:105 states, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." The word of God directs where we go in any given day; or in any decision we are ever faced with. Psalm 119:11 says, "Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You." God's word, if the principles are lived out, keeps us from sinning! Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible and if you have never read the whole way through it, please take the time to do so. The writer is clearly in love with the Bible. He meditates on it all day long, and its words are constantly on his lips! I know I would love to be able to say that about my devotion to God's Word!

In the final sermon of the series Trent asked, "what if your Bible could tell a story, or keep a diary?" He followed by reading this, "The Diary of a Bible:"

*January 15. Been resting for a week. A few nights after the first of the year, my owner opened me, but no more. Another New Year's resolution gone wrong.

*February 3. Owner picked me up and rushed off to Sunday school.

*February 23. Cleaning day. Dusted and put back in my place.

*April 2. Busy day. Owner had to present the lesson at a church society meeting. Quickly looked up a lot of references.

*May 5. Grandma's in town. Back in her lap. A very comfortable place.

*May 9. She let a tear fall on John 14.

*May 10. Grandma's gone. Back in my old place again.

*May 20. Baby born. THey wrote his name on one of my pages.

*July1. Packed in a suitcase. Off for vacation.

*July 20. Still in the suitcase. Almost everything else taken out.

*July 25. Home again. Quite a journey, though I don't see why I went.

*August 16. Dusted again and put in a prominent place. The minister is to be here for dinner.

*August 20. Owner wrote Grandma's death in the Family Record. He left his extra pair of glasses between my pages.

*December 31. Owner just found his glasses. Wonder if he will make any resolutions about me for the year?

Man...That is a depressing Bible! I hope this little example makes you think though....It does me! I would dare to say than many of our Bible's could tell a similar story...sadly. The word of God is easy to neglect, and to take for granted. I know I've had years where I've hardly touched a Bible for my personal self. I strive to be devoted now, but would be lying if I said I never had times where I've neglected my Bible.

This really is an appropriate subject with it being the New Year. It's funny to me that resolutions used to be the big thing at New Years, and now everyone says, resolutions are a joke because no one ever keeps them. It's true resolutions are a joke for the most part, but that is not their fault, it's our sinful nature's fault. We lose interest, or motivation, or desire for good things too fast and too easily. How about this year instead of making a resolution to read God's Word, we get obedient and read it because He calls us to read it! How about we get obedient and read because we have a desire to not sin, and to know God more!

God's Word is "....sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-Breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work," 2 Tim. 3:15-17. Colossians 3:16 says, "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God." There's our command for the year. May God's Word be so present in our lives that we can't help but proclaim the wisdom found, and respond in thankful worship, all for His Glory!

Happy New Year and You are Loved!