a. Hannah prayed and said: 1 Samuel 1:28 ended, So they worshipped the LORD there. This song records the worship Hannah offered on the very day she left her little boy – her only child – at the tabernacle, never for him to live in her home again.
b. My heart rejoices in the LORD: Hannah showed a depth of commitment and love for God that may humble us. On the day she made the biggest sacrifice of her life she rejoices in the LORD.
i. Notice though, that she rejoices in the LORD. She could not rejoice in leaving her son, but she could rejoice in the LORD. In the most desperate situations, when we have nothing else to rejoice in, we can rejoice in the LORD.
c. My horn is exalted in the LORD: The horn is used often as a picture of strength in the Bible (Psalms 75:4-5 and 92:10). This is because the strength of an ox or a steer could be expressed in its horn. Hannah spoke of strength and power being exalted in the LORD.
i. “We have often seen that horn signifies power, might, and dominion. It is thus constantly used in the Bible, and was so used among the heathens.” (Clarke)
d. I smile at my enemies: Hannah had a strong sense of vindication over her rival, Elkanah’s other wife named Peninnah. Peninnah cruelly brought Hannah low (1 Samuel 1:6-7), but now Hannah rejoiced because the LORD lifted her up.
e. No one is holy like the LORD: This shows a classic form of Hebrew poetry – repetitive parallelism. To say the LORD is holy is to say He is completely set apart; that He is unique, and not like any other. When she continued in the same verse and said, “For there is none besides You,” she said the same thing as “No one is holy like the LORD,” only saying it in different words. When she said, “Nor is there any rock like our God,” she again says the same thing in different words.
i. In this, Hebrew poetry does not rhyme words by sound as much as it rhymes ideas. The ideas of the three lines of 1 Samuel 2:2 all rhyme together, having different words yet “sounding” the same. (Guzik)
ROCK!
“God is the Rock of my salvation,” but what does it mean in the Old Testament?
“In the OT, salvation refers both to everyday, regular types of deliverance—as from enemies, disease, and danger . . . and to those major deliverances that are specifically interpreted as being a definite part of God’s unique and special involvement in human history as well as special revelations of his character and will” (The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary, entry for “Salvation,” definition 1, p. 1272).
”The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.“
Psalms 18:2 NKJV
In the New Testament as Jesus begins His ministry, His disciples did not understand that He was The Living Sacrifice. But after Jesus’ life, death on the cross, and resurrection, all doubt was removed, they understood His mission.
The spiritual Rock they had always worshiped had now become the physical Rock.
On the day of Pentecost, the disciples’ bold preaching demonstrates their certainty that Jesus truly was this same Rock.
“Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone’” Acts 4:11
”Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.“
I Peter 2:4-8 NKJV
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.
He is precious!
IS Jesus your Rock of Salvation?
Blessings
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