So 1 Samuel chapter 2, starting at verse 1. Then Hannah prayed and said, My heart rejoices in the Lord. In the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. There is no one holy like the Lord. There is no one beside you. There is no rock like our God. Do not keep talking so proudly, or let your mouth speak such arrogance. For the Lord is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed. The bowels of the warriors are broken.
But those who have stumbled are armed with strength. Those who were full hire themselves out for food. But those who are hungry are hungry no more. She who was barren has born seven children. but she who has had many sons pines away. The Lord brings death and makes alive. He brings down to the grave and raises up. The Lord sends poverty and wealth.
He humbles and he exalts. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honour. For the foundations of the earth are the Lord's. On them and he has set the world. He will guard the feet of his faithful servants, but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness.
It is not by strength that one prevails. Those who oppose the Lord will be broken. The Most High will thunder from heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth and he will give... he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed. Well, in Israel, before the time of the kings, Before the temple was built in Jerusalem, roughly 1,100 odd years before the birth of Christ, the tabernacle...
which is the big tents where God was worshipped and where the Ark of the Covenant was housed. The tabernacle wasn't set up in Jerusalem. It was set up in a town, in a city called Shiloh. Israel's leader in this era was a man named Eli. Eli was the priest at Shiloh. He undertook the ministry of the tabernacle and its altar, representing God's people to God. Eli was also the prophet of Israel. He spoke God's word to God's people.
And although there were no kings at this time, Eli was judge. He guided and judged, in particular, the leaders of the tribes of Israel. The book of 1 Samuel starts when one day Eli was sitting at the entrance of the tabernacle. And a woman came in. The woman clearly looked upset. She was weeping. She was kind of talking and muttering to herself. And to Eli, she looked drunk after it was festival time.
And so Eli sighed and he stood up and he went over to her and he said, how long will you go on being drunk? Show some respect. You know, put your wine away. But the woman, whose name was Hannah, Answered, no, my Lord, I'm a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I've been pouring out my soul to the Lord. Eli realised that she'd been praying and he softened a bit and he said, go in peace and the God of Israel grants your petition.
And then Eli sent the woman on her way. A few years later, Eli was again sitting in the front of the tabernacle one day, when a woman who looked familiar came in along with a young boy. The woman said, oh my Lord, it is me, Hannah. I'm the woman who was standing here in your presence praying to the Lord. I couldn't have children. But that day you blessed me, I asked God for this child. And the Lord granted your request. His name is Samuel.
And I want him to stay here with you and to help you serve our holy God. As long as he lives, Samuel is lent to the Lord. And then the young woman, Hannah. bursting with joy, she sung this song of praise to God before the altar. She sung, there is none holy like the Lord. For there is none besides you. There is no rock like our God. The Lord kills. The Lord brings life. He brings down to Sheol and he raises up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich.
He brings low and He exalts. He will guard the feet of His faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might. shall man prevail. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king and exalt him and exalt the horn of his anointed. And this song of Hannah became famous. And many years later, when the history of the kings of Israel was being recorded in the books that we now call in our Bible,
1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings, Hannah's song was placed right at the start because her song is a prophecy. It foreshadows... who God would choose to lead his people. And it foreshadows, ultimately, who would be God's anointed king of kings, the Christ.
And the song, it also expresses this fundamental truth of history and the main point of the book of 1 Samuel, which we're going to go through in the coming weeks. The song expresses that God... alone is holy and that he will raise up and fight for and use for his glory only those who are faithful to him and who honour him. and who display His holiness in their character. And the story of Eli the priest shows us this truth. And it's a tragedy.
And it's a reminder and a warning to us that we, God's people, the church, should only listen to and follow faithful leaders who honour God's. Eli had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. And assisted by the boy Samuel, who's maybe... four or five years old at this stage and wearing a little robe that his mama sewed for him and would bring to him every year. Eli's two sons, assisted by Samuel, served at the tabernacle. They ran the altar and the sacrifices.
And so people would bring a sacrifice to God, you know, like a goat, a bull, a sheep. And they did this both for the forgiveness of their sins and to honour God for his goodness and his glory. The priests would kill the animal and then burn the fat of the sacrifice on the altar in the tabernacle before God. Now, according to the law, the law of Moses,
Some of the animal's meat was given to the priests for them to use and to eat. And this was partly how God's people supported the ministry of the tabernacle and the priests. But Eli's two sons were wicked and greedy men. And even though they were priests, they didn't know God. And they didn't have any regard for him.
And so what they used to do is that they would take whatever parts of the sacrificial animals they lacked. And sometimes they'd even take the choice parts of the cut in the butchering before the sacrifice was offered to God. And if anyone objected, they just took what they wanted by force. And Hophni and Phinehas, Eli's sons, they would even sleep with the young women who served at the tabernacle on duty.
You know, on duty in church. And their sin was very great. Not just because of what they did in and of itself, but even though they were leaders of God's people. They treated God and they treated the sacrificial system that God set up to deal with the people's sin with utter contempt. And throughout all Israel, you know, People talked, they complained. Eli heard what they were up to. And from time to time, he'd pull them aside and he'd say things like, my sons, why do you do such things?
You know, I hear of all your evil dealings from all the people from all over the nation. And if you're going to sin against God, who's going to intercede with God for you? But... Eli did nothing to restrain Hophni and Phinehas. Again and again, he tolerated their dishonouring of God. Imagine having leaders like that in the church. You know, ones who don't know God and who ignore His Word in the Bible. You know, who are immoral. Whose actions...
despise the very one they're supposed to be leading people into worship of. What kind of example does this set? What does it do to the spiritual temperature of a congregation? And what will happen to people who listen to their teaching and follow their example? Well, years passed and the boy Samuel continued to minister at the tabernacle. And every year he grew in stature and he grew in favour both with God and with the people. People noticed him, you know, this little kid.
working in the tabernacle. But in contrast, Eli's sons continued in their contempt of God and his sacrifices. a prophet arrived at Shiloh. And he immediately went up to Eli and confronted him. And Eli said, yeah, who are you? And the prophet simply answered, the Lord. The God of Israel declares, those who honour me, I will honour, and those who despise me, I will lightly esteem.
Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house. The faith of your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, they will be a sign unto you. Both of them will die on the same day. And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, one who will do according to what is in my heart. And then the prophet turned on his heels and left.
Eli was shocked. But even after this warning that God sent him, he still did nothing to restrain his sons. And he thought to himself, well, often he and Phinehas. They've sinned against the Lord and he is God. Let God do what he will do. God alone is holy. His worth is supreme. There is nothing of more value or nothing more true, more good, more beautiful than him. So to dishonor him,
And to treat him less than his worth is so utterly wrong. You know, it's absurd on a cosmic level. And all leadership, all authority, you know, in the government, in the church, elsewhere, has been instituted by God. And so any leadership or authority that has contempt for God, particularly those leading the church, They will be brought down. It can't be any other way. Our culture is full of voices and leaders.
that dishonor God. I'm sure you could think of examples in the news media, in our entertainment, in our politics, in our education. People who seek to influence us or have them follow them or to think like they think or to do what they do, but who dishonor God. Don't listen to them. Don't follow them. And sadly, even within the church, you know, there are priests or pastors or ministers, leaders who ignore some or all.
of God's Word. And there are bishops and senior leaders in the church who see wickedness or disorder or false teaching and they do nothing to restrain it. Don't listen to them. Don't follow them. Because God will judge them and bring them down. Wealth. More years passed. And the young man Samuel continued to grow in stature as he served in the presence of the Lord. And Eli's sons continued to dishonour God at the same time.
Eli was now an old man. He was 98 years old. He was almost blind and he spent his days simply doing what he loved to do, sitting at the entrance of the tabernacle and greeting worshippers. And in those years, war broke out between Israel and the Philistines. And the elders of Israel came to Shiloh to see Samuel because the war was going badly. The Philistines were winning every battle. Already 4,000 Israelites had been killed. Eli, we need the power of God to come and save us from our enemies.
Will you send us the Ark of the Covenant into the battle? For surely God would not let us lose if the Ark was there. He would fight for us and fight for His honour and His glory. In recent days, Eli had been remembering Samuel's mother and that wonderful song that she sung all those years ago. He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off.
The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. And Eli thought, yes, God will guard us and fight for us against those pagan Philistines if we send the ark. And he answered, yes, my brothers, take the ark. I'll even send my sons, Hophni and Phinehas, to march out before it. May the Lord grant us victory. And Eli thought to himself, well.
If nothing else, this might be a chance for those two scandrels, Hoftani and Phinehas, to finally do something to show the glory of God. And so the ark, led by Hoftani and Phinehas, left Shiloh. and went to the battle with the sound of trumpets blowing and the sound of soldiers cheering. Days passed. And Ele became ever more anxious. He would strain to hear the shouts of victory echoing in the hills as the army returned home with the ark. But nothing.
More days passed. Eventually, one afternoon, down in the city below, Eli heard a commotion. People were shouting. Finally, that must be them. But there were no trumpets blowing and no soldiers cheering. And Eli thought to himself, if he strained, he could just hear, echoing in the hills, the sound of people weeping. What is all this uproar? Young Samuel escorted a man into the tent, squinting. Eli could just make out.
that the man was exhausted. His clothes were torn. He was covered in dirt and dried blood. My Lord Eli, said the man. I've just come from battle this morning. How did it go, my son? We were slaughtered. 30,000 are dead and the rest of the army has fled. And what is it? Tell me. Your two sons, my Lord, Hoftni, Phinehas, they were killed in the battle.
Eli's heart raced. He remembered the words of that prophet that had confronted him years earlier. The fate of your two sons shall be a sign to you. Both of them shall die on the same day. And Lord, there's more. It's the Ark of the Covenant. The Philistines have captured it. Eli gasped, rocking back in his chair. And he remembered again from that prophecy. Those who honor me, I will honor. And those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. And in shock, Eli fell backwards and broke his neck.
The young man, Samuel, rushed up to help, but there was nothing he could do. And as Eli lay there dying, the last thing he saw was Samuel's face. And he remembered again God's words. I will raise up for myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in my heart. It's a tragedy, the story of Eli. The priest who became blind and couldn't see and was removed for dishonouring the one he was commissioned to honour.
And Eli brought disaster for everyone who listened to him and followed his example. Friends, it's a simple message and it's a warning for you from the first pages of 1 Samuel. Only follow and listen to faithful leaders who honour God and his word. But of course... Who among us, even among our leaders, who consistently, perfectly honours God in every part of life? Well.
As we'll see as we go through 1 Samuel, there is good news. As God, in His kindness for His people and in fighting for His own glory, will continually raise up faithful leadership. for his church and his kingdom. He will always restore righteousness. And ultimately, we will see through the very events that 1 Samuel records, God has brought about an eternal high priest who both perfectly honours God and is the perfect sacrifice for sin, who of course is our Lord Jesus Christ.
So when you listen to Jesus, young Patrick, when you listen to Jesus, you can have confidence that you are following a faithful leader who will lead you into honouring God. as you should. Amen.