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height; and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled
with all the fullness of God" (Eph. 3: 14-19).
Let us make these prayers of Paul our own, believing that God will answer them so
that we too, like Hannah, will burst out in a hymn of praise and thanksgiving for His
amazing love and grace.
Returning again to I Sam. 2: 5 we read:
"So that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble."
Hannah here is evidently referring to her own experience. She mentions the number
"seven", which is the perfect number in Scripture. It will be remembered that in the last
chapter of Ruth, after she had borne a son, the friends of Naomi said to her "your
daughter-in-law who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons . . . . .". This is an
evident comparison in perfection. The number "seven" will be found to represent the
perfect work of God right throughout the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation.
Hannah actually had five more children., three sons and two daughters (chapter 2: 21),
so the sacrifice that she made when she gave Samuel up to the service of the Lord was
richly rewarded. Tradition says Hannah bore one child, Peninnah buried two, but there is
no evidence that this is true.
In verses 6, 7 and 8 Hannah sings of the enemies of the Lord being silenced. She also
brings out His sovereign power over life, death and resurrection:
"He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to
set them among princes."
We find these words repeated in Psa. 113: 7, 8. This is one of the three "hallelujah"
Psalms that commence with "Praise ye the Lord" (Psa. 111:, 112: & 113:). Psa. 113:,
together with Psa. 114: were always sung before the Passover meal, and as a result must
have been very well known throughout the whole of the nation of Israel. They bring to
mind men such as Joseph; sold as a slave and imprisoned in Egypt, yet suddenly raised
to be the equal with Pharaoh in the greatest nation on earth at that time. Daniel was
another, taken into captivity, yet raised by the great king Nebuchadnezzar to be second
only to himself throughout the dominion of his mighty empire of Babylon. David, a
shepherd boy, taken from his flocks and herds to be the deliverer of his people Israel, and
to become their powerful king. These illustrate the truth of the words of Hannah's song
of praise, "He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the
dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory".
We have a much better illustration, however, close to home in our own day; described
for us by the apostle Paul in Eph. 2: We, as Gentiles, were outcasts in the flesh,
children of disobedience (verse 2), children of wrath (verse 3), without Christ, aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise. Having
no hope, and without God in the world (verse 12). Literally written off and lying in the
dust. But now, made nigh by the blood of Christ (verse 13), and believing in the glorious