1st Samuel 2:1-11 A SONG CAN BE A PRAYER One of the best ways believers in Christ can express their joy is by singing. Sarah, Miriam, Mary and Elizabeth as well as Hannah were women who expressed their thoughts and joy in the Lord by singing praise unto Him. "Whoso offereth praise, glorifies God." A song can be a prayer when there is are responses to blessings received rather than requests to be made. A song can be a prayer because it is addressed to God rather than to men. Much modern Christian music in many church gatherings are to attract people so they will attend the meetings of a church. Often music is the main attraction and a message from the Bible is a secondary part of a church gathering. We testify to people in many of our songs as we sing of grace, faith, salvation and events that make us think about Bible truths. That is why we have Gospel singing in Gospel meetings. Christians sing of our faith and blessings as well as give thanks in hymns of praise in other meetings of the saints. We sing of the power of prayer, of the joys of fellowship with others, of our appreciation of the cross work of Christ in many places and that is all quite acceptable.
By "singing and making melody in our hearts unto the Lord" we are able to minister to each other as believers as well as minister to ourselves. By singing, words that would be discordant if we said them in a normal tone of voice, are made very intelligible and beautiful. The rising and falling of cadence in singing unifies not only the voices of those participating, but the words themselves are easily heard and understood. When instruments are added to the music we make with our voices, the words usually are more easily lost in the sounds and the point of a song is lost in the entertainment of the harmony of the music and the power of the words is diminished.
There are a number of spiritual songs as well as psalms that are recorded in the word of God to give us understanding of the value of praise both to God and to us. Hannah's song at the beginning of first Samuel and David's song at the end of second Samuel are very much alike. These songs are directed to the Lord in praise, thanksgiving and worship. Hannah’s second prayer is given as a song to be sung in praise to the Lord. It expresses her confidence in God’s sovereignty and thankfulness for all He had done. Her prayer is similar to Mary’s prayer. She recognizes God is in full control of all events and this brings praise from a full and happy heart for the perfections of the Lord Himself of which she is very conscious.
The Lord is the Source of her joy and that could not be taken away from her. He is the Strength of her soul. A "horn" in the scriptures refers to strength given and an anointing for a specific purpose in which a horn contained oil to bless. It was also used in a call to serve in some capacity and a call to worship. Horns were on the altar to maintain an order in the offerings to God. The Lord is "the Horn" that keeps things in order and well controlled. The Lord was the Sound of her voice. All she had to say was about Him through whom she has triumphed, been delivered and been raised up from humiliation. The Lord was the Salvation of her life. Now she rejoices with great delight instead of being deeply troubled about that which was lacking and because of her enemies.
Now she praises the Lord as the Holy One of whom there is no one to which He can be compared. He is the only One who is all-sufficient. God, a Rock of safety, is firm, strong, unchanging, and a solid foundation. God is as solid as a Rock that cannot deteriorate nor be changed by all attacks made against Him. In Him we trust without any reservation as to whether He will fail or not. Hannah had come to know Him as the God of knowledge (all-knowing). He is the One who knows our hearts and motives and we can face all foes because He is our God. By Him is pride denounced and the arrogant brought low because He is the God of judgment. God is One who knows what we do.
When worshippers come to the Lord, they all come in at the same level no matter what their station in life may be. High and low are all alike before Him when they come to worship in spirit and in truth. Hannah sang of God's character and of His work. She sang about the future that is in His hand. Her heart was filled with good words she must have learned from the scriptures she had learned from before. Her words are not mere formality as she gives God glory for His goodness and blessings. He is in control and has all authority in heaven and on earth. All powers are subject to His sovereign will. He gives needed strength and satisfies the hungry soul with good things. He who has the keys of life and death, gives life.
Hannah mentions six characteristics of God in her song. He saves us from reproach and shame. He is the Savior. He is holy in His Person and commands His own to "be ye holy for I am holy." He is true in every action as well as in His being, and can be depended on to do what is right in every situation regardless of what we might want. He is the "Way, the Truth, and the Life." God can be trusted to keep every promise He has made, to fulfill every prophecy He has give, to meet every need as He sees fit. He is also the Judge of all and His judgments are always true and reliable. We may not understand every reason for His decisions because we only have finite minds, but this we know - God is the Sovereign over all affairs of people.
Not only did Hannah sing of God's Sovereignty, but she also sang of God's Grace and Glory. When we consider God's grace, we think of Him reaching down to the lowest place where we were and bringing us to the highest possible place we could be where we are "seated with Him in heavenly places." God holds the keys of death and life and gives eternal life. "I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish" [v.6]. He is the One who will resurrect the dead. He is the God of rich and poor alike and "there is no respect of persons with God" [v.7]. As the God of creation, He is great in glory for "the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork" [v.8]. We have experienced Him as the God of His people [v.9] who gives faith to live beyond the circumstances of life in which we are found. He will guard and guide our footsteps and lead us "in the way in which we should go."
As the Sovereign God we know Him as the One who rules over our personal life. "Our times are in Thy hands." We know our social life is of great interest to Him, therefore we "love not the world, neither the things that are in the world." Our family life is one of the places where He manifests Himself to us by showing concern for our preservation and well-being. Even in business life we are to do what we do as "unto the Lord," and in national life we are to be "subject to the powers that be." We can be assured as we learn from this song-prayer of Hannah's that our God is as solid as a Rock. He knows all that we do. He is sovereign over all the affairs of men. God is the Supreme Judge who administers perfect justice. In His righteous judgment all opposition will be silenced. In the "thunder of His power," Christ, the Anointed One, will come to earth. The wicked will be silenced; adversaries will be destroyed; the living and dead will be judged and Christ in all His exalted strength will rule as King righteously and be exalted in all the nations.
In the surroundings of evil even being done in the house of the Lord, Samuel ministered before the Lord by serving Eli the priest. Eli half-heartedly tried to correct his sons, Hophni and Phinehas but they continued their wicked ways. It was a spiritual desert at the house of the Lord, and yet Samuel flourished as a young boy and grew like a strong plant in the right ways of the Lord. The background of sacrilege and greed in the priestly family was exposed by the brightness of a little boy growing in the Lord, shining brightly in that place.
The weakness of a polluted sanctuary doesn't stop the work of God in the souls of individuals who have a desire for God and His ways. The darkness of the days in which we live cannot put out the light of holiness practiced by the few that shows the right ways of scriptural gathering and practice. God enables us to keep the right perspectives of life lived for Him in their proper place in spite of the circumstances of the place in which we live. When we serve other people even carrying out ordinary tasks, we are serving the Lord. When we serve the Lord, every job we do has dignity and deserves our best efforts.