What Does Hannah's Psalm Teach About Overcoming?
Jun 06, 2024Bible, Women & Bathrobes Episode 18
Hannah part 4
Summary
Tamara and Amy discuss the significance of Hannah's prayer in 1 Samuel 2:1-10, highlighting how God transformed her life and relationships. They also explore the power of God as depicted in Hannah’s Psalm, emphasizing themes of stability, purity, and power. They talk about the importance of humility in their faith, sharing personal experiences of being humbled and recognizing God's control in their lives. They also discuss how God's legacy can bring hope to the downtrodden and how to find joy and endurance in trials by looking at what God is doing in their lives today and remembering His promises for the future.
Main Takeaways
- From Tamara, “I think sometimes it is the hardest times of our lives That help define us. I think that's one of my greatest takeaways from Hannah, is that she let her hard time refine her and define her commitment to God.”
- From Amy, “I think my takeaway from Hannah is, there will always be soul stretching experiences. But if I want to find joy in them and endure them well and come out praising God, I have to be the woman that stands by God.”
Today’s Podcast Hosts & Guests
Tamara K. Anderson
Tamara, founder of Women Warriors of Light, is a dynamic speaker, award winning author, and a podcaster. She is driven by her Christian faith to inspire faith in Jesus Christ. Alongside her husband, Justin, she navigates the joys and challenges of parenting four children with autism, ADHD, and mental health hurdles. You can find out more about Tamara on her website: https://www.tamarakanderson.com/
Amy Johnson
Amy is a member of our Women Warriors of Light Advisory Board. She is a leader of women, a homemaker, and a licensed cosmetologist. Amy enjoys nurturing women through betrayal trauma to becoming a beacon of support and inspiration.
Transcript
If you would like to read the transcript of today’s episode, you may find it on our website:
Tamara Anderson 0:01
Did you know that Hannah, of the Old Testament has a psalm or something that's like a psalm. I'm going to call it Hannah's Psalm. And we're going to talk about that today. And so I'm really excited to share that with you. Stay tuned.
Tamara Anderson 0:19
Welcome to Bible, Women and Bathrobes the podcast where faith meets comfort. Join us Tuesday and Thursday morning. As the gals from Women Warriors of Light and their guests, Don bathrobes and dive into the inspiring stories of women in the Bible, and the teachings of Jesus Christ. From Esther's bravery to the Sermon on the Mount. We explore it all with warmth, laughter, sisterhood, and maybe even a few sleepy eyed moments. tune in live or at your leisure as we learn lessons from scripture which empower women today.
Tamara Anderson 1:01
Welcome to another episode of Bible, Women and Bathrobes. I'm your host Tamara K Anderson. And joining me today is Amy Johnson. Amy, thanks for being here today.
Amy Johnson 1:11
Thanks for having me. It's good to be here.
Tamara Anderson 1:14
And so we have just finished talking about Hannah and her amazing journey from being barren for who knows how long and picked on and judged, to having a son Samuel and being able to give him to the Lord, as she vowed about. And now we're at the beginning of chapter two of Samuel. And this is where Hannah just pours out her heart to God. And we're going to just dive into that and take it like a verse at a time and pick it apart and see what we can draw out lessons for us today.
Tamara Anderson 1:57
So let's go ahead and start Amy. And we'll start there in verse one. And Hannah prayed and said, "My heart rejoiceth in the Lord. Mine horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over my enemies because I rejoice in thy salvation." I love that. So here she is, she's given her son to God, which must have been very, very hard. She prayed for a son, but she got a son. And she is just glorifying God. So, so happy. I like that phrase, "my mouth is enlarged over my enemies." You know, she had been picked on and belittled for being barren. And here she's like, by look, I'm not anymore, you know? Any thoughts there?
Amy Johnson 2:48
Well, I like how Hannah kind of earlier, it feels like she almost did a shift. When you are feeling shame, almost, which is what she probably would have felt during the infertility years. Even if no one had said anything, she probably would have felt some degree of shame. Then I saw in her she did almost a shift where instead of looking horizontally at all the people and what they thought and all those things, she literally shifted to vertical. And she started looking to the Lord and saying, Come on, you and me together, we can do this. And, and it does. And she she truly poured her heart out to the Lord.
Amy Johnson 3:32
And and we we, we get sometimes as mortals and as women, we get in a cycle where we just talk about our problems, so much, just talk about our problems. And so it was it's beautiful to kind of I almost saw a shift in Hannah, where she went away. And then now and then so for her to say, my mouth is enlarged over my mine enemies. I love that because it's almost like she went I can actually use my mouth and build power.
Amy Johnson 4:06
And that word horn, when it's used figuratively can be meant can mean power. It can mean power, and it can mean capacity. And so and and if you think about when they're fighting Joshua, and they're blowing the trumpets and the horns, right, and then that, that that was Israel's cry of power. Right? That was Israel saying we have the Lord.
Amy Johnson 4:33
So for her to say, mine horn is exalted. She I feel like she's literally saying, I have the Lord with me now. And that power has become exalted, which we know is a characteristic of the Lord. He's exalted. And so I love all of this. I love that she just is like, she has now seen it her from a perspective of the Lord's perspective instead of from a worldly perspective. And I also love that she says, "I rejoice in thy salvation" because I am a I'm definitely a believer that family is a huge part of what helps us become exalted and eternal, and all of the things and so for her to say, I rejoice in thy salvation. It's almost like she's saying, You gave me more family. And I, for me, that's what I see. And that is that, that the I rejoice in the fact that you gave me a son that will continue to build my salvation and exaltation.
Tamara Anderson 5:38
Hmm, wow, that's beautiful. I like that part about the horn. I'd never thought about it that way before but you know, growing and proclaiming the power of God. And that's really what she's doing in this psalm. She's proclaiming God's power. And this then this verse to, oh, my goodness, I think there is a Christian song about this. But it's so beautiful. It's so poetic, "there is none holy as the Lord. Where there is none besides the neither is there any rock like our God." I'm like, that is beautiful. He is our foundation. He's you know, we talked about building on the rock, about how when we build on that Sure, firm, Foundation, we won't fall.
Tamara Anderson 6:28
And I love that Jesus talks about that in the New Testament, you know that you have the wise man building on the rock and the foolish man building on the sand. And here she is saying there's no rock like our God, that he is firm. He is unchanging, he is there, always. And it's just powerful. I love that I just love that imagery of God being a rock to us. Any thoughts there.
Amy Johnson 6:57
When I when I my, my husband knows this? Well, my very favorite place to be in the world. Besides Italy, Italy's the country but places is to go by running water, especially waterfalls, and find the widest, most stable rock, the biggest rock and sit on that rock, and feel the movement of the water through my spirit, but know that I am solid. And I think it's beautiful that we look at Christ as the rock. And we look at him as the living water.
Amy Johnson 7:40
I remember hiking, we have a hike up here in Alpine called Horsetail Falls. And I remember hiking up there, and standing and watching this beautiful, it literally looks like the tail of horses, the water, juts out and comes over. And I remember standing there and feeling the Lord teach me that. See how that water as it moves becomes crystal clear and pure. And understanding that that's why he can say I'm living water because living water is clean. It's pure, and it's powerful. And with it brings energy, and nutrition, and life and all of these things.
Amy Johnson 8:23
And so I love sitting on a big firm rock feeling his firmness. And yet watching his power and cleanliness and purity move. And so the fact that she says there is none holy as the there's the cleanness, there is none besides the if you've ever been caught in water that can take you down, you know how powerful it is? Neither is there any rock like unto her God, and I feel like she covers all of those bases.
Tamara Anderson 8:59
Oh, that is beautiful. Those are all wonderful images to think about. When we compare things to God, it's so pretty to think about that. And thanks for painting that picture. That's really awesome. Let's move on to verse three. "Talk no more, so exceedingly proudly, let not arrogancy come out of your mouth. For the Lord is a God of knowledge and by him actions are weighed." So here she's talking about pride and arrogancy and that God weighs all of our actions.
Tamara Anderson 9:36
And part of me wonders if this kind of goes back to her being picked on and misjudged and bullied kind of earlier in her life. And and her just saying, You know what? It's more it's it's It's not important to be proud. But God weighs our actions ultimately, you know. And, and we'll see a little bit more of, of the pendulum that swings in the coming verses. But I think it's I think she's also saying here that whatever you put out, will be brought back to you Do you know what I mean? That, that cast your bread upon the waters type thing that God weighs our actions and sometimes sometimes I think things don't come back maybe until the Judgement Day, you know, because we see wicked people prosper sometimes and good people just in poverty.
Tamara Anderson 10:52
But I love hear that she talks about putting arrogancy away. And and I think that her experience made her more humble. It brought her to God and it made her probably worthy to be the mother of a prophet. You know, maybe maybe that's what God was waiting for, with Hannah is he needed her to be worthy and the kind of person who could be the mother of a prophet? I don't know.
Amy Johnson 11:26
I don't know. But I do like that idea that she became more humble. And I think this talk no more, so exceedingly proud. I think about over the years. Over the centuries, we, we've seen superstition, a lot, wives tales? Well, if you want to become pregnant, you need to do this. If you want to become pregnant, you need to do this, even when I was having babies. Oh, if you want that baby to come. Because I never went on my own, by the way, I was had to be induced, even when they broke, my kid broke my water. So if you want that baby to come, you should go eat Mexican food, go for a long walk, do this, eat rye bread do that. Right? There was all these wives tales.
Amy Johnson 12:09
But I love this because in if I read as I read this my brain goes, my heart actually says, Oh, she's saying nothing I do makes a difference. So I should not be speaking proudly of myself. I have no reason to have any arrogance at all. Because ultimately, God puts me in the corner of the vineyard that he wants me in. God does all things.
Amy Johnson 12:41
I remember sitting in the class and a woman saying, well, if Jesus Christ hadn't come and she asked a question, which now I don't remember, because the teacher answered so forcefully and said, make no mistake. If Jesus had not come, you would not exist. Like he was so direct. And I think that's, that's maybe this humility that you talked about the hand of finding his come to is nothing I do changes much. God is the one who puts me in the vineyard, who puts the seed inside of me who makes it all happen? Who gets me here? Who will raise his son to be a prophet? I have no right to be arrogant at all.
Tamara Anderson 13:30
Yeah, it's all God.
Amy Johnson 13:32
It's all God.
Tamara Anderson 13:33
She is so humble. Oh, my goodness. I will say that.
Amy Johnson 13:37
That the verb, I think really speaks to her humility. Yeah. Very,
Tamara Anderson 13:41
very humble. And then in verse four, we kind of begin a section of the psalm where we see this pendulum, I don't know what else to call it. But it here I'll give you an example. "The bows of the mighty men are broken. And they that stumbled are girded with strength." So she said, people that were strong, are now weak. And people that stumbled are now strong, how life ebbs and flows and wherever you are, doesn't mean you're going to stay there. You know, so don't be pride, prideful about it.
Tamara Anderson 14:19
And then we see the same thing in verse five, and six, and seven and eight. "They that were full, have hired out themselves for bread." So people who had a whole bunch of food, now have to work for it. "And they that were hungry have ceased," so people that were hungry are not. And then this is really, I think, very pertinent to her, "so that the Baron hath born seven, and she that hath many children is waxed feeble." You know, and part of me wonders how much of that is true of her persecutors of those who tormented her. She now has children and maybe Perhaps the people who picked on her are feeble. You know, but she's talking about how this pendulum swings back and forth. Any thoughts on those verses?
Amy Johnson 15:10
This is very much the first shall be last and the last shall be first.
Tamara Anderson 15:13
Yes, I love that.
Amy Johnson 15:15
And this is just more, I think continuation of this humility that she's got of realizing that I, there's very little control on my part. I have one job, I need to be closer to the Lord. That's my job. I need to have a covenantal relationship with him. I need to trust him. I need to stop believing that I have any real power. This is the Moses story in a lot of ways, right? He, he comes from this world of Gods essentially, is what the Egyptians put themselves up to be. He leaves that world, he actually sees God and realizes, I'm nothing. I'm not a God, like I was raised to be. I'm nothing. But I matter to him more than anything.
Amy Johnson 16:11
And so I think that's really what she's she's. And also the symbolism in this psalm is very true to her culture. Right? The symbolism, especially like five, verse five, that "so that the Baron hath born seven." Hebrew numerology, I love Hebrew, and numerology. And and seven is perfect. It's one of the perfect numbers. And so it represents that not it, it does. We look at it literally, we are such literal people. I mean, you look at Nicodemus way, how can a person be reborn? I don't understand. We're very literal.
Amy Johnson 16:48
But if you really just look at the symbolism of it, then you really see so much further. Because she's not she's not necessarily talking about children, necessarily. But she's literally saying, I had nothing. And now I have perfection. And then she's saying, but somebody who thinks they have everything really has nothing. Because everything is with Jesus, everything, everything. He makes us who we are.
Amy Johnson 17:22
And then that's what she does. In verse six, right? She continues now she talks openly about Jesus, the Lord, "the Lord, killeth, and make it alive. He bring it down to the grave, and he bring it up the Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich. He brings wealth." And that's what I was saying about. He puts me in the corner of the vineyard. I don't have any kind of legacy to leave. He puts me in. It's his legacy.
Tamara Anderson 17:52
Oh, I love that. Yeah. And she says, Everything depends on God. It's all in his timing. It's all in his hands. And, and I love that. She gives hope to the downtrodden in these verses, really, and truly she does. She's like, if you're at a low place, you can be exalted, you know. The poor can be made rich, the rich can be brought down, you know, continuing verse eight, "He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, he lifteth the beggar from the dung hill, and set them among the princes to make them inherit the throne of glory, for the Pillars of the Earth are the Lord's, and he has set the world upon them."
Tamara Anderson 18:40
So he's like, look at this, he can do incredible things. And I think she's probably praising like this because she's seen the shift in her own life.
Amy Johnson 18:52
Right?
Tamara Anderson 18:53
She felt like a beggar and a downhill. That's how she, she literally felt in chapter one. She felt like I am the lowest of the low, and, and I am picked upon, and I am bitter and I am weeping sorely, you know. And here she feels like she, the Lord has blessed her, and strengthened her and exalted her. And so I think it's part of her testimony of God, that he can do impossible things that he can do incredible things, right.
Amy Johnson 19:33
All of that.
Tamara Anderson 19:35
Yeah. And we may as well finish it. He verse nine, "he will keep the feet of the saints and the wicked shall be silent in darkness. For by strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. Out of heaven shall he thunder upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth, and He shall give strength unto his king. and exalt the horn of his anointed."
Amy Johnson 20:03
There's that word again.
Tamara Anderson 20:05
There it is.
Amy Johnson 20:06
There's a word again, there's that word horn again, and it'll assaulted that your capacity, your, your power will be exalted. Do you do what I love too is in verse six, seven and eight, she's speaking present. He killeth, he raiseth, maketh alive he bring up. She's talking very presently. And then all of a sudden she shifts. And she starts talking almost prophetically, it seems, where she's saying, He will keep the feet of His saints and the wicked shall be silent in darkness, for by strength shall no man prevail. And then she talks about how he will ultimately he will ultimately destroy the adversary. And there will ultimately be just goodness. Yeah, that's almost sounds prophetic to me.
Tamara Anderson 21:00
Yeah, well, you can see the almost a Messaianic
Amy Johnson 21:07
Sure.
Tamara Anderson 21:08
There at the end, he shall exalt the horn of his anointed Jesus being the Anointed One, you know, and that this is all possible because of the Savior. So it is pointing towards Christ. And obviously, that he will be our Great Judge. And he shall give strength unto his king and exalt the harmony of his anointed. So you can see this coming to pass both literally, but also figuratively, you know? No, it there is I didn't even notice the change in tense there. But you're right. You know, she's talking about the present. But then she she does, it's almost like a prophecy.
Amy Johnson 21:53
Almost like she's talking about the Second Coming to me. Like, she's literally she's saying, this is what he's doing right now in our lives, which I love anytime. That's verbiage of this is what God's doing in our life right now. And I really believe that when we can take the time to record and see what God is doing in our lives right now, our joy becomes so much more full no matter what we're going through right now. But then for her to shift and be almost it seems prophetic about the Second Coming. And I love it.
Tamara Anderson 22:33
Well, and I think sometimes when things are hard, and we feel especially in these latter days, when wickedness does prevail, and it seems like the adversary is winning, we almost have to look to those prophetic words that we see in the scriptures, to know--we know how this fight is going to end. You know, we know that Jesus is going to come that good will triumph over evil.
Tamara Anderson 23:01
But right now, it's really hard to remember that sometimes.
Amy Johnson 23:05
It really is.
Tamara Anderson 23:06
So I love that. Just reading it and reminding ourselves that God's promises have all been fulfilled. We see it throughout Scripture. He says something, its fulfilled, he says something, it's fulfilled. And here again, these things will be fulfilled, that ultimately, the adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. Yeah, yeah. And, and out of heaven, He shall thunder upon them. You know, these are powerful words. And he's going to judge the ends of the earth. And that refers to the great and last judgement, right?
Tamara Anderson 23:45
And so, sometimes, when things are hard, we have to remember that the end of the story has not been finished yet. Right? Because sometimes our stories here in mortality seem very unfair and wrong, and you're like, well, that person's life was cut short, at such a vulnerable age. No, this child died in a swimming accident at age three. This this person died when he was a teenager, a drunk driver hit him how fair is that? It's not, you know. And, and we have to remember the end of the story isn't written yet. That there is still eternity to come.
Amy Johnson 24:35
Yeah,
Tamara Anderson 24:35
that God's judgments will be just, and then all will be made right. And that's hard to hold to when you're grieving now, you know what I mean? Really, really hard.
Amy Johnson 24:48
It is. It is really hard and I bet where she switched tenses there. I think that's a really good lesson for me. And maybe all of us, but that, the look at what he's doing today in your life, look at it, and then look to the prophecies of the future. Because those in the things in the miracles of today, and the promises of tomorrow is where we will find the strength to go on and on and on.
Amy Johnson 25:07
And, and she she's pretty bold by saying, "For by strength shall no man prevail," but she's also a child of Israel. So she understands that you march around a city, and all sudden next day it comes tumbling down, like you marched around 40 days or how you know, however long God says to do whatever you're supposed to do, and, and by the end of it, he just brings it down. And it wasn't any one man's strength. It wasn't. It was God. And that's why he will prevail. And right, right in the midst of all this prophecy, she makes sure you know that, by this base, by strength, no man shall prevail. None. And I love that look for the miracles of today, the promises of tomorrow. And that's where you'll find the joy and the endurance you need.
Tamara Anderson 26:18
Absolutely. Wow. Well, there we go. That is the story of Hannah. She is a remarkable woman. Um
Amy Johnson 26:29
pretty good.
Tamara Anderson 26:30
I I'm amazed at her faith and her courage, and who she became because of her trials. And because she waited on the Lord, you know, that phrase, and I think it's Isaiah, where they that wait upon the Lord shall mount up with wings, like eagles," you know, this is Hannah. Right? She waited and waited and waited on the Lord. And He blessed her and she soared.
Tamara Anderson 27:01
And we don't know much more about her other than she came to visit Samuel, and the Lord blessed her with more sons and daughters, because of her goodness in fulfilling her vow. But I think sometimes it is the hardest times of our lives That help define us. I think that's one of my greatest takeaways from Hannah, is that she let her hard time refine her and define her commitment to God.
Amy Johnson 27:37
Yeah.
Tamara Anderson 27:39
And she became a powerful woman and bore a powerful testimony of God and His power because of that. Amy what are your takeaways from Hannah?
Amy Johnson 27:51
She went through this, these different varying stages of, of soul stretching, like we all do, right? I've been studying a talk this week, where they talk about soul stretching, and, and they, one of the things that was said was, and just basically, we promise that if you want to be in a relationship with God, there's going to be another soul stretching thing coming up. They never end. And, and so Hannah goes through this infertility, then she has to go through giving away her son. Then she goes through having children, which is its own soul stretching and raising them. And that's it's also stretching thing, right?
Amy Johnson 28:36
And so I just, I think my takeaway from Hannah is, there will always be soul stretching experiences. But if I want to, if I want to find joy in them and endure them well and come out praising God, I have to be the woman that stands by God.
Tamara Anderson 29:04
I love that. That is very profound. Yeah, if we stand by God, we can endure all things good and bad, that pendulum, the good and the bad, the highs and the lows. That's what really defines us in the end, is standing by him and and being true to him through the ups and the downs of life. Because it's always easy to be a faithful follower, when times are good, but it's harder when times are hard. So and you're right, everybody does have those moments. So if you're in a hard time, know that it can change. We can read that and beautiful Hannah's Psalm today. And if you're at a high enjoy it. Praise God, enjoy it. Because you never know when your next soul stretching moment will come. They always do, right?
Amy Johnson 30:08
They always do.
Tamara Anderson 30:09
Oh my goodness. All right people will. Thanks for joining us today. It's been wonderful to have you. And Amy, thanks for being on and discussing Hannah with me.
Amy Johnson 30:19
A privilege. Thanks again.
Tamara Anderson 30:23
Thanks for tuning into Bible, Women and Bathrobes hosted by Women Warriors of Light. We've loved exploring the stories of remarkable women or the teachings of the Savior God with you. If today's episode brought someone special to mind, be sure to spread the word. And don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss a moment of inspiration and sisterhood. Just a friendly reminder, all opinions we share are entirely personal as we are trying to decipher and apply Bible teachings just like you are. Until next time, stay faithful. And may Your journey be blessed and illuminated by God's love.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
