SCRIPTURE: 1 Samuel 2
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
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. [1 Samuel 2:3] Hannah is bursting with joy, after years of ridicule and shame she has finally been vindicated. Her song warns those who belittle others (like Peninah) that God sees, God knows, and God will one day raise the lowly and humble the proud. This is the hope that the oppressed throughout history, all over the world, cling to. For a time they must endure the prideful boasting and cruelty of their oppressors, but a day is coming…
You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight. [Luke 16:15] In this world’s estimation, those who are on top are the highly valued ones – the successful, the rich, the famous, the strong, the beautiful, the powerful. But God does not measure people by their outward status, He sees their hearts. He knows. He especially takes notice of those who are cruel or unsympathetic towards those who are ‘below’ them. Though they can justify themselves in all kinds of ways, God measures them by His own standard, by how much we love and serve and share and care.
The LORD sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. [1 Samuel 2:7] God did not create poverty, but in this world that we have messed up, He directs the flow of circumstances, for His purpose. He determines who will be wealthy, and who will be poor. Wealth and poverty, success and failure, fame and shame, health and sickness – these are tests. But we are mistaken to think that what the world calls positive (wealth, success, fame, etc.) is truly positive. In fact, those who experience ‘what is highly valued among men’ often end up cruel, then miserable. Peninah’s taunting of Hannah is silenced; Eli’s sons’ delights (food and women in the tabernacle) will soon be removed, and Eli’s family is to be replaced.
It sounds as if worldly success is bad; its not bad, but it is dangerous. God grants His gifts for a purpose, to use them to honour Him and bless others. But often (most of the time?) people who receive such ‘blessings’ become selfish and disregard God and the needs of others (Peninah, Eli’s sons, the Pharisees, etc.). Both Hannah and Jesus remind us that God sees our heart motives, our priorities and values; He discerns whether we are selfish or selfless, and how we use the gifts He has entrusted to us. And one day, the ‘high’ will be made ‘low’, and the ‘lowly’ will be lifted up.
PRAYER:
Lord, am I ‘high’ or ‘low’? Humble me now, that I may be exalted later. Help me to honour You, and bless others!