The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Samuel 2:2,
"There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God."
"There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God."
Worship is a term used loosely today for all kinds of things. Much of it looks nothing like the worship we find in the pages of Scripture. Hannah's prayer in 1 Samuel 2:1-10 provides us a view of what richly endowed worship looks like. I say "endowed" because her worship of the Lord flowed from a heart that had both endured hardship and difficulty as well as the Lord's deliverance. Hannah knew the Lord and had experienced the riches of his love, his kindness and his mercy from his acts in response to her plea to him for help. What Hannah saw in the Lord is both instructive to us in what we can know about the Lord, as well as a wonderful expression of her heart in real worship. Always, in the pages of Scripture, worship springs from the acknowledgment of the Lord's character and nature as well as his wonderful (and frightful) acts.
Here are some observations we glean about the Lord from Hannah's worship:
The Lord brought Hannah strength ("in the Lord my horn is lifted high"), verse 1.
The Lord brought Hannah deliverance, verse 1.
There is no one holy like the Lord, no one at all like the Lord, verse 2.
The Lord is a "rock", (solid, dependable, unchanging), verse 2.
The Lord knows everything and judges what people do, verse 3.
The Lord humbles the strong and strengthens the weak, verse 4.
The Lord answered her prayer for children, and humbled her adversary, Peninnah, verse 5.
The Lord brings death and makes alive, verse 6.
The Lord reduces some to poverty while making other rich, he humbles and exalts, verse 7.
The Lord raises up the poor and the needy, and provides them with honor, verse 8.
The Lord is our Creator of all things (why would Hannah seek help from any other?), verse, 8.
The Lord guards his faithful servants but punishes the wicked, verse 9.
The Lord is transcendent in his sovereignty, thundering from heaven and bringing his judgment, verse 10.
The Lord gives strength and exalts those of his choosing (his king, his anointed one), verse 10.
How important is it to know these things? How important is it to acknowledge these things? How important is it to express these things to the Lord in the company of other believers in worship? I think it very important. I also feel if these are the kinds of things that are missing from our worship, then we need to begin to rethink what it is we are doing when we set ourselves to worship.
Acknowledgement of the wonderful, fearsome and fascinating things of the Lord to him before the assembly is what our worship is to be.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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