Sermon 5: 1 Samuel 2:4-8

There follows: 'My horn is exalted in the Lord; my mouth is opened wide against my enemies, because I have rejoiced in your salvation.' By these words Hannah teaches that the occasion of joy presented to her was that her horn was exalted, and she ascribes this joy to the Lord, from whose goodness it flowed, upon which she shows herself to have relied. For before God himself had demonstrated in fact that he wished to have mercy on this poor woman, what else did Hannah seem likely to do but spend her life in the deepest sorrow of spirit? But patience overcame weariness, and although she did not yet see the end of her miseries, she nevertheless sustained herself with hope and rejoiced, casting all her care into God's bosom, as if already made certain of the truth of the outcome. For barrenness was formerly a kind of sign of divine curse, although it fell no less upon the faithful than upon unbelievers; for just as earthly goods come to both good and wicked without distinction, so also adversities are common to them. Therefore Hannah, speaking of this singular blessing of God, also applies the rest of God's benefits to it, with which he is accustomed to heap his own people according to his goodness and mercy. Hence we must learn that if we wish to enjoy true joy, and desire God's benefits to flow down upon us in reality, so that if God should seem to have forgotten us, or to have hidden his face from us, to the point that we perceive no visible effects of his goodness, we should nevertheless await his promises with certain confidence. For he is faithful, and will never allow us to be overwhelmed by dangers without our finally experiencing a happy outcome to whatever miseries we face. This is the one and true joy — to rejoice in the Lord; this is never vain or fruitless, for God never feeds the faithful with empty hope. Indeed, I say it is not at all surprising if in favorable and prosperous circumstances we often enjoy no true joy from God, because we expect nothing from him and have, as it were, a closed mouth, whereas on the contrary, when placed in distress and overwhelmed on all sides by the greatest dangers, then with open mouth crying to the Lord, we expect better things from him. But what does the Lord do here? For I ask, with what barriers and bolts do we shut the door of God's kindness toward us? Therefore we must learn by Hannah's example that we ought to rejoice most precisely when everything is most turbulent, and although no end or exit from our miseries appears, we must follow God's word in the densest darkness as a most burning torch, which reveals what was previously hidden, and we must fight against our weakness until, equipped by God with sufficient strength, we boldly stand against whatever dangers.

Moreover, Scripture frequently uses the word 'horn' for strength and power. Hannah therefore says her horn was so exalted, just as elsewhere God is said to have exalted the horn of his king — that is, his strength and power. Therefore she openly professes that she was strengthened by God, as if to say that so great a benefit would not have come to her from the Lord had she not hoped and patiently waited for the divine favor finally to come. This is a statement worthy of careful attention, since we usually see wretched mortals glorying in their own virtue and strength, and becoming excessively arrogant. But a firm and stable joy must be sought by us, one that no storm can disturb. For we see many indeed rejoicing, but in trifles — taking delight in their own sport. But alas, how lamentable is the joy that is sought without the Lord! Truly those who rejoice in their own goods and fortunes are seeking judgment, for by the just judgment of God these things will turn to sadness and sorrow, as our Lord Jesus Christ himself warns us. Indeed it is a great testimony of arrogance if we seek in ourselves or in our own industry the material for joy, which in the end produces nothing but confusion — the just punishment of rashness and arrogance. Therefore from this passage let us hold that we should never doubt that God will cheer us and supply all necessities, provided we flee to him patiently awaiting his grace, and in afflictions acknowledge him as our sole refuge and help.

Hannah adds that her mouth was opened wide against her enemies — namely because, previously held in mockery, she was forced to suppress her pain in silence. So we see David speaking of himself in Psalm 39, saying that he was utterly silent while the wicked held sway. And this doctrine is worthy of special attention, from which we may learn that when the ungodly flourish and triumph, we must guard the barriers of our mouth, as the prophet says, and wait in silence and patience until God opens our mouth for us. If many would put this doctrine into practice, the air would surely not resound with so many blasphemous and horrible words that wicked men, more violently inflamed by their passions, vomit forth, unless everything has turned out according to their will and desire. But let us on the contrary, when we see villains swelling with pride and trampling us underfoot and loading us with insults and reproaches, learn to cultivate silence, until God, having strengthened us against their arrogance, cheers us and makes us enjoy true joy. For this reason Hannah says her mouth was opened wide by the Lord against her adversaries; for he gave her the occasion and material for thanksgiving, and thus all reproach was removed from her. Meanwhile, there is no doubt that she kept herself patiently in silence, because God wished to exercise her in this way and to teach her humility.

Let us proceed to the rest: 'There is none holy like the Lord,' she says, 'and there is none strong like our God.' By these words she implies that those who depart even a little from God carry away nothing but deceits, tricks, and vanity; on the contrary, those who cling to God alone lack nothing that they cannot obtain. For by that word 'holy' Hannah encompasses all these things. So, for example, when we humbly ask God to supply us with the things we need, we thereby profess that we acknowledge him as the source of all wisdom, goodness, and justice. Therefore God is holy both in himself and when we acknowledge him as he is, and we do not transform him into an idol, but attribute to him alone what is properly his, separating his majesty from all other created things and giving him the honor due to him — not only because he rules and administers all things by his authority, but especially because he punishes the wicked with deserved penalties and has mercy on his faithful and vindicates them. This is how God is here proclaimed holy.

But from this word a singular doctrine must be drawn. For when we obscure God's power, we profane his holiness. For it is a notable profanation when we strip God of his authority. Yet it would be far better for the entire world to perish than to mock God in this way. And yet how far are we from this! For when God reveals himself to us and we do not acknowledge him as he is, when he tests our faith and obedience and we do not place our trust in him, and in afflictions we do not flee to him through prayer, when finally, being chastised by him, we do not submit ourselves — are we not rightly called guilty of profaning his majesty? And even more so when we proceed to such indignation that we rage furiously, gnash our teeth, blaspheme, and vomit forth [unclear] against the Lord, not attributing to his majesty what it requires. Therefore with all the greater care and diligence we must apply ourselves to this, that when speaking of God we may also sanctify him, thinking nothing rashly about him as about a mortal thing, but reverencing and fearing his divine power, let us learn to depend on him alone who holds all sovereignty and dominion over us absolutely, so that we place all our hope in him alone, flee to him alone as the source and origin of all good, firmly persuaded that we shall find in him whatever we need. In this way it is fitting for us to sanctify God; and furthermore all our vows must be directed to this end, that his name may always be sanctified, knowing that when we ask in the Lord's Prayer, according to Christ's command, that God's name be sanctified, it is a public protestation that will redound upon ourselves if, while asking that God's name be sanctified in words, we then profane it by our deeds.

Moreover, when Hannah says there is none holy like the Lord, she does so out of admiration for the divine majesty. This example is set before us here to imitate, so that when we have meditated on God's infinite power, justice, and uprightness, we may be moved within ourselves and turn these things over in our minds: 'What, Lord, shall we do, since we cannot grasp even a thousandth part of your virtues with our minds — how shall we worthily celebrate them? We must therefore go out of ourselves, so that we may be lifted above the whole earth when any mention of God is to be made, or even when we are to commune with him.' In this matter we have David as a model to imitate, when he says: 'Lord, how wonderful are your works, so that they cannot be expressed or narrated!' Yet we should not understand this to mean that David, according to his measure, would not undertake to narrate whatever he could about the divine works, but that these are nevertheless nothing compared to their excellence and greatness. For the human mind is too dull and crude to grasp the majesty of the divine works. And this is the meaning of Hannah's words: that there is none holy but the Lord. Then she shows that there is no strength in men unless it has flowed from the Lord, when she adds to the above: 'There is none strong like our God.' And here we must flee to God, awaiting grace and favor from him; this strength and might of God, I say, must be opposed to all temptations. These are the greatest temptations with which Satan assails us — that while the sight of human affairs is terrible and dreadful, he presents it before our eyes so as to strike us that we utterly lose heart. If perhaps a multitude of enemies has risen against us, Satan sets before our eyes their strength and power, their numbers, fortifications, military equipment, strongholds, armed chariots, and many similar things. By these terrors we would certainly be cast down at the first sight of them, if we fixed our eyes on those things alone. Furthermore, if we should also fall into some illness, alas, into what groans and what complaints we burst forth! Alas, how indignantly we murmur against God, not ascribing to him the power that is properly his! For this reason Hannah speaks specifically of God's might, and not content to call him God or the eternal Lord, she adds 'our God' — words of the greatest importance. For often indeed you may see unbelievers sense the power of God, but what does this perception do other than irritate them the more against God, because they do not acknowledge him as the true God? And this is the reason why Hannah calls God mighty and her own God — because our faith ought to be confirmed by this power and virtue, since he exerts them in our difficulties and distresses. Therefore, since God deploys his power to protect his own, come, let us oppose it as a most mighty shield against all the assaults and temptations of Satan.

Continuing, Hannah calls the Lord the God of knowledge, by which words she indicates that mortals accomplish nothing by their deceits and tricks, but are most deceived precisely when they think they have obtained their wishes. For God is the God of knowledge. And we must not suppose that by the name of knowledge Hannah here means the liberal arts taught in academies, but rather the counsels and skills proper to governance — and she professes that God lacks nothing for the administration of this world. As if she were saying that God's providence reaches all things; and because she could not express this adequately enough with a single word, nor can we meditate on it sufficiently as is fitting, she says God is the God of knowledge or sciences. Here we must carefully observe that what is attributed to God is so properly his that it does not belong to men. Therefore whoever supposes that knowledge of the sciences flows from men themselves has indeed detracted just as much from God's authority, since God alone is the source and origin of all knowledge. Therefore however small a portion of this knowledge God may have instilled in us and made us partakers of, we must know that this honor is still to be given to him: that he be acknowledged as the author of all wisdom and perfection — indeed, the only wise one, as Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:17. And it is clear enough that this was Hannah's intent: to ridicule by this reasoning the foolish opinion of men who arrogate the greatest wisdom and prudence to themselves, and who insult God as it were with these words: 'Do I not possess reason? Do I not excel in judgment?' But come, wretch — from whom did you receive judgment? Who, finally, preserves for you what you received from elsewhere? And so mortals sin in a twofold way: first, when they assume for themselves the honor due to God; then, when they are carried away into such pride and arrogance by their opinion of their own virtues that for a spark of knowledge they have received, they boast as if of an inexhaustible river.

Hannah, therefore, calling God the God of knowledge, shows that mortals are greatly deceived when they indulge themselves to the point of being swollen with the conceit of knowledge and undertake great enterprises, which God nevertheless scatters in a moment and gives to the winds as useless. From this passage, then, let us learn: first, if the powers of our mind are small, to approach God as suppliants, that he may increase and strengthen them; then, if we are strong in powers, to pray to the same God that he not allow us to be deprived of so great a good by our ingratitude and arrogance. Finally, let us always subject ourselves and our judgment and reason, and in sum whatever power we have received, to his word, and let us so discharge our duty that we do not become arrogantly insolent and treat his gifts as worthless, as though we would accomplish whatever we undertake by our own powers or counsels; let us not insolently claim anything for ourselves, but with all modesty and moderation let us run the course of life according to the prescription of God's commandments, and let us give no place to our own inclination and desire for undertaking things that are not lawful.

Continuing, Hannah says: 'By him actions are weighed' — a passage that is somewhat obscure, and is therefore explained in various ways. For the Hebrew word properly means 'to number' or 'to weigh'; sometimes also the same word with a single letter changed indicates 'very good.' Hence some derive this meaning: that all God's works are well composed and ordered. This meaning indeed contains good doctrine — namely, that God knows well what is good and what is useful, and nothing escapes him, and therefore the stability of the things he has ordered is such that no one can change them. But if the genuine signification of the word is retained, a more suitable meaning seems to be drawn: namely, that God's works can neither be catalogued nor weighed. If we retain this meaning, which seems to me the most fitting, no small benefit will come to us from it. For when God decrees this or that, we will know that there is no one who can delay or prevent it — as the apostle Paul and the prophet Isaiah testify when they say: 'Your works, Lord, are wonderful and incomprehensible — who will set himself against them?' See how the faithful will be able to boast against whatever schemes and counsels with which Satan today infests the whole world. And let this be the doctrine drawn from the meaning of those words: that God's works cannot be catalogued or weighed. Hannah's words therefore agree beautifully with one another and mutually explain each other, when she calls God the God of knowledge and says his works cannot be known or weighed. Not that the human mind can comprehend the immensity of divine works and know them individually, but it is enough if it has some taste of them, by which it may be carried away into admiration of them. This the Prophet says in Psalm 40, verse 6: 'Who can set forth the wonderful works of God?' Hannah's words agree most excellently with David's, although spoken many years later: that God in all his counsels is most perfect, and that if we undertake to scrutinize his secrets more deeply than is permitted, we shall be plunged into an immense abyss and shall enter a labyrinth from which there is no exit. For God's works are wonderful — indeed, he himself is the source of all wisdom: wisdom, I say, that surpasses all human understanding, and which even the angels look up to with awe. For who, weighing God's individual works, would not be overwhelmed with confusion if he hoped to comprehend them with his mind? They must indeed be meditated upon by us, but this will never be done so perfectly that we attain knowledge of each one. Nevertheless, we must also know that even when barely sampled by us, they will bring the greatest benefit, and God will furnish us from them the greatest argument for glorifying him; and with all pride and arrogance laid aside — with which swollen mortals usually exalt themselves above the very angels — we should worship him with the utmost modesty and lowliness of spirit. And from this it is evident that when Scripture speaks of God's wisdom and calls him all-wise, it speaks not only of the wisdom that resides in God alone, but of that which reveals itself in all his works. Therefore, when something happens contrary to human expectation, or God exerts his power which we cannot adequately grasp, let us, mindful of this doctrine, so admire those works of God that we glorify him in all things; and although what we undertake under his guidance surpasses all our understanding and hope, to the point that we are uncertain where to begin and are utterly blind, let this suffice for us: if we hold with firm and constant faith that he alone is all-wise. And since God himself is the God of knowledge, let us learn, thinking modestly of ourselves, to measure ourselves by our own foot, and let us be afraid to compare our wisdom with his; but relying on his omnipotence, let us know that he will fulfill whatever he has promised and whatever he has known to be necessary for our salvation, and will even provide all things for us beyond expectation.

Come then, brothers, let us fall as suppliants before the majesty of God Almighty, and confessing our sins before him, let us pray that he may govern us by the power of his Holy Spirit, so that we may approach him not only seeking pardon, but with this intention: that we so surrender ourselves entirely to be ruled by him that we are not addicted to ourselves or to our vain opinions, but that he himself may rule us according to his will, supplying his gifts of which we are by nature utterly empty, and let us give him immortal thanks for those gifts received. Moreover, may he so conform us to his will that we may demonstrate in fact that we have been adopted into the number of his children, since we profess him as our father, etc.

4. The bow of the mighty is broken, and the feeble are girded with strength. 5. Those who were full hire themselves out for bread, but the hungry cease from labor, so that the barren bears seven and she who abounds in children languishes. 6. The Lord kills and brings to life; he sends down to the grave and brings up. 7. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and also lifts up. 8. He raises the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the dunghill, to seat them with nobles, and to make them possess a throne of glory; for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he has set the world upon them.

Whatever sacred Scripture proclaims about God's power, goodness, virtue, justice, and other such divine attributes would bring us scant — indeed, almost no — benefit unless they were applied to our use and specifically directed to us. For example, when God is called the best, the greatest, and the most just, this thought almost evaporates into thin air unless we understand how God exercises his justice, power, and goodness toward men. Here, therefore, two ways are set forth in which we may contemplate these things as in a mirror: namely, that God's power consists in bringing low and raising up — bringing low, I say, the arrogant and proud who exalt themselves against him, but raising up and lifting the wretched and afflicted faithful who are already lying in the dust, as it were. For this reason Hannah here proclaims in the first place that the bow of the mighty has been broken, and the feeble have been girded with strength. From this we must learn that mortals who insolently claim something for themselves rise up against God in the manner of giants, but the contest is so unequal that the proud are crushed by a mere breath and broken like a clay vessel. On the contrary, the faithful, reduced to such a state of calamity that they seem to have completely collapsed — if they flee to God with ardent prayers — are raised up and strengthened by his mighty hand. Here, then, are those two ways we mentioned above, from which what I touched on earlier becomes evident: namely, that when we hear about God's omnipotence from others or read about it ourselves in Scripture, we ought to behold it in ourselves, lest we imagine it idle in heaven, as the Epicureans are wont to do, since — unless we are utterly blind in broad daylight — it sufficiently reveals itself through its effects. Furthermore, when valiant and mighty archers with their bows are said to be defeated and broken, this should not be understood as though God is displeased with strength itself — since strength and might are God's gift, nor is he displeased with the gifts he bestows on men — but rather that by these words he professes himself to be the sole champion and defender of his people, and generous and munificent toward them. Yet it often happens that many are deprived of these good things because of their ungrateful spirit. For, I ask, how many glory and boast in their own strength? And thus they rob God of the honor and glory due to him.

There follows: 'My strength is exalted in the Lord; my mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, because I have rejoiced in Your salvation.' By these words Hannah teaches that the occasion of joy given to her was that her strength had been lifted up, and she credits this joy to the Lord, from whose goodness it flowed and upon whom she had relied. For before God had shown in actual fact that He wished to have mercy on this poor woman, what else did Hannah seem likely to do but spend her life in the deepest grief of spirit? But patience overcame weariness, and although she could not yet see the end of her miseries, she sustained herself with hope and rejoiced — casting all her care into God's bosom, as if already certain of how it would end. For barrenness was formerly a kind of sign of divine curse, even though it fell no less on the faithful than on unbelievers — just as earthly goods come to both the good and the wicked alike, so adversities are common to them both. Therefore Hannah, speaking of this singular blessing of God, applies to it also the rest of God's benefits, with which He is accustomed to lavish His own people according to His goodness and mercy. Hence we must learn that if we wish to enjoy true joy, and desire God's benefits to flow down upon us in reality, we should — even if God seems to have forgotten us or hidden His face from us, to the point that we perceive no visible effects of His goodness — still await His promises with firm confidence. For He is faithful, and will never allow us to be overwhelmed by dangers without our finally experiencing a happy outcome to whatever miseries we face. This is the one true joy — to rejoice in the Lord; this is never vain or fruitless, for God never feeds His faithful with empty hope. Indeed, I say it is not surprising at all if in favorable and prosperous circumstances we often enjoy no true joy from God, because we expect nothing from Him and have, as it were, a closed mouth — whereas on the contrary, when placed in distress and pressed on all sides by the greatest dangers, we cry out to the Lord with open mouths and expect better things from Him. But what does the Lord do here? For I ask, with what barriers and bolts do we shut the door of God's kindness toward us? Therefore we must learn from Hannah's example that we ought to rejoice most precisely when everything is most turbulent — and even when no end or exit from our miseries appears, we must follow God's Word through the densest darkness like a brilliant torch, which reveals what was previously hidden, and we must fight against our weakness until, equipped by God with sufficient strength, we can boldly stand against whatever dangers come.

Furthermore, Scripture frequently uses the word 'horn' for strength and power. Hannah therefore says her horn was exalted — just as elsewhere God is said to have exalted the horn of His king, that is, His strength and power. She openly confesses that she was strengthened by God — as if to say that so great a benefit would not have come to her from the Lord had she not hoped and patiently waited for divine favor finally to arrive. This is a statement worthy of careful attention, since we usually see wretched people glorying in their own ability and strength and becoming excessively arrogant. But we must seek a firm and stable joy — one that no storm can disturb. For we see many who are indeed rejoicing, but in trivial things — taking delight in their own pursuits and pleasures. But alas, how pitiful is the joy that is sought without the Lord! Those who rejoice in their own goods and fortunes are truly inviting judgment upon themselves, for by the just judgment of God these things will be turned to sadness and sorrow, as our Lord Jesus Christ Himself warns us. Indeed it is a great sign of arrogance if we seek in ourselves or in our own efforts the source of joy, which in the end produces nothing but confusion — the just punishment of rashness and pride. Therefore from this passage let us hold firmly that we should never doubt that God will cheer us and supply all our needs, provided we flee to Him patiently awaiting His grace, and in afflictions acknowledge Him as our sole refuge and help.

Hannah adds that her mouth was opened wide against her enemies — for previously, held in mockery, she had been forced to swallow her pain in silence. So we see David speak of himself in Psalm 39, saying he was utterly silent while the wicked held sway. This teaching deserves special attention: we may learn from it that when the ungodly flourish and triumph, we must guard the gate of our mouth, as the prophet says, and wait in silence and patience until God opens our mouths for us. If many would put this into practice, the air would surely not echo with so many blasphemous and terrible words that wicked men, more violently inflamed by their passions, pour out whenever things have not gone according to their will and desire. Let us instead, when we see villains swelling with pride and trampling us underfoot and heaping insults and reproaches upon us, learn to cultivate silence — until God, having strengthened us against their arrogance, cheers us and causes us to enjoy true joy. For this reason Hannah says her mouth was opened wide by the Lord against her adversaries: He gave her both the occasion and the material for thanksgiving, and by this all reproach was removed from her. Meanwhile, there is no doubt that she kept herself in patient silence, because God wished to exercise her in this way and to teach her humility.

Let us proceed to the rest: 'There is none holy like the Lord,' she says, 'and there is none strong like our God.' By these words she implies that those who depart even a little from God carry away nothing but deceptions, tricks, and vanity; on the contrary, those who cling to God alone lack nothing that they cannot obtain. For by that word 'holy,' Hannah encompasses all these things. So, for example, when we humbly ask God to supply what we need, we thereby confess that we acknowledge Him as the source of all wisdom, goodness, and justice. Therefore God is holy — both in Himself and when we acknowledge Him as He truly is, not transforming Him into an idol but attributing to Him alone what is properly His, separating His majesty from all other created things and giving Him the honor that is due — not only because He rules and governs all things by His authority, but especially because He punishes the wicked with deserved penalties and has mercy on His faithful and vindicates them. This is how God is proclaimed holy here.

But from this word a singular doctrine must be drawn. For when we obscure God's power, we profane His holiness. It is a notable profanation when we strip God of His authority. Yet it would be far better for the entire world to perish than to mock God in this way. And yet how far we are from understanding this! For when God reveals Himself to us and we do not acknowledge Him as He is, when He tests our faith and obedience and we do not place our trust in Him, when in afflictions we do not flee to Him in prayer, and when, being chastised by Him, we do not submit ourselves — are we not rightly guilty of profaning His majesty? And even more so when we proceed to such indignation that we rage furiously, gnash our teeth, and blaspheme against the Lord, not giving to His majesty the reverence it requires. Therefore with all the greater care and diligence we must apply ourselves to this: that when we speak of God we may sanctify Him — thinking nothing rashly about Him as though about a mortal being, but reverencing and fearing His divine power — learning to depend on Him alone who holds all sovereignty and dominion over us absolutely, placing all our hope in Him alone, fleeing to Him alone as the source and origin of all good, firmly persuaded that we will find in Him whatever we need. This is how it is fitting for us to sanctify God; and furthermore, all our vows must be directed to this end — that His name may always be sanctified — knowing that when we ask in the Lord's Prayer, according to Christ's command, that God's name be sanctified, it is a public declaration that will fall back upon ourselves if, while asking that God's name be sanctified in words, we then profane it by our deeds.

Moreover, when Hannah says there is none holy like the Lord, she speaks out of admiration for the divine majesty. This example is set before us to imitate, so that when we have meditated on God's infinite power, justice, and righteousness, we may be stirred within ourselves and turn these things over in our minds: 'What, Lord, shall we do, since we cannot grasp even a thousandth part of Your virtues with our minds — how shall we worthily celebrate them? We must go out of ourselves, so that we may be lifted above the whole earth whenever God is to be spoken of, or when we are to commune with Him.' In this matter we have David as a model to imitate, when he says: 'Lord, how wonderful are Your works, so that they cannot be expressed or told!' Yet we should not understand this to mean that David would not undertake, according to his measure, to describe whatever he could about God's works — only that whatever he said amounts to nothing compared to their actual excellence and greatness. For the human mind is too dull and limited to grasp the majesty of God's works. And this is the meaning of Hannah's words: that there is none holy but the Lord. Then she shows that there is no strength in men unless it has flowed from the Lord, when she adds: 'There is none strong like our God.' Here we must flee to God, awaiting grace and favor from Him — this strength and might of God must be set against all temptations. These are the greatest temptations with which Satan assails us: while the sight of human affairs is dreadful, he presents it before our eyes in order to strike us down so that we lose heart entirely. If a multitude of enemies has risen against us, Satan sets before our eyes their strength and power, their numbers, fortifications, weapons, strongholds, armed chariots, and many other such things. These terrors would certainly crush us at first sight, if we fixed our eyes on those things alone. Furthermore, if we should fall into illness, into what groans and complaints we burst forth! How indignantly we murmur against God, failing to credit Him with the power that is properly His! For this reason Hannah speaks specifically of God's might, and not content to call Him simply 'God' or 'the eternal Lord,' she adds 'our God' — words of the greatest importance. For often you may see unbelievers sense the power of God — but what does this sense do other than irritate them all the more against God, because they do not acknowledge Him as the true God? And this is why Hannah calls God mighty and her own God — because our faith ought to be confirmed by this power and might, since He puts them to work in our difficulties and distresses. Therefore, since God deploys His power to protect His own, let us raise it up as a mighty shield against all the assaults and temptations of Satan.

Continuing, Hannah calls the Lord the God of knowledge — by which she indicates that mortals accomplish nothing by their schemes and tricks, and are most deceived precisely when they think they have gotten what they wanted. For God is the God of knowledge. We must not suppose that by 'knowledge' Hannah means the academic disciplines taught in schools, but rather the wisdom and skill required for governance — and she confesses that God lacks nothing for the administration of this world. As if she were saying that God's providence reaches all things; and because she could not express this adequately with a single word, nor can we meditate on it as deeply as it deserves, she calls God the God of knowledge, or of all wisdom. We must carefully observe here that what is attributed to God belongs so properly to Him that it does not belong to men. Therefore whoever supposes that knowledge and wisdom flow from human beings themselves has thereby detracted just as much from God's authority — for God alone is the source and origin of all knowledge. Therefore, however small a portion of this knowledge God may have given us and made us partakers of, we must always give Him this honor: to acknowledge Him as the author of all wisdom and perfection — indeed, the only wise One, as Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:17. And it is clear enough that this was Hannah's intent: to ridicule by this reasoning the foolish opinion of those who credit themselves with the greatest wisdom and prudence, and who insult God as it were with these words: 'Do I not possess reason? Do I not excel in judgment?' But come, poor wretch — from whom did you receive judgment? Who, in the end, preserves for you what you received from elsewhere? And so people sin in a twofold way: first, when they claim for themselves the honor due to God; then, when they are so carried away by pride in their own supposed virtues that for the tiny spark of knowledge they have received, they boast as if of an inexhaustible river.

Hannah, therefore, by calling God the God of knowledge, shows that people are greatly deceived when they indulge in such conceit of their own knowledge that they undertake great enterprises — which God, however, scatters in a moment and gives to the winds as useless. From this passage, then, let us learn: first, if our mental abilities are small, to come to God as suppliants, asking Him to increase and strengthen them; then, if we are strong in ability, to pray to the same God that He not allow us to be stripped of so great a gift by our own ingratitude and pride. Finally, let us always submit ourselves — our judgment, our reason, and indeed whatever power we have received — to His Word, and discharge our duty in such a way that we do not become arrogantly presumptuous or treat His gifts as worthless, as if we could accomplish whatever we undertake by our own powers or plans; let us not insolently claim anything for ourselves, but with all humility and restraint run the course of our lives according to the standard of God's commandments, giving no room to our own inclination and desire to undertake what is not lawful.

Continuing, Hannah says: 'By Him actions are weighed' — a passage that is somewhat obscure, and is therefore explained in various ways. For the Hebrew word properly means 'to number' or 'to weigh'; sometimes also the same word with a single letter changed means 'very good.' Hence some derive this meaning: that all God's works are well composed and ordered. This meaning does contain good teaching — namely, that God knows well what is good and what is useful, nothing escapes Him, and therefore the stability of what He has ordered is such that no one can change it. But if the more basic meaning of the word is retained, a more fitting sense seems to be: that God's works can neither be counted nor weighed. If we retain this meaning, which seems to me the most fitting, no small benefit will come from it. For when God decrees this or that, we will know that there is no one who can delay or prevent it — as the apostle Paul and the prophet Isaiah testify when they say: 'Your works, Lord, are wonderful and incomprehensible — who will stand against them?' See how the faithful will be able to take courage against whatever schemes and plots with which Satan today plagues the whole world. And let this be the teaching drawn from the meaning of those words: that God's works cannot be counted or weighed. Hannah's words therefore fit together beautifully and explain each other, when she calls God the God of knowledge and says His works cannot be known or weighed. Not that the human mind can comprehend the immensity of God's works and know them individually — it is enough if it has some taste of them, by which it may be carried away into admiration. The prophet says this in Psalm 40:5: 'Who can set forth the wonderful works of God?' Hannah's words agree most excellently with David's, though spoken many years later: that God in all His counsels is most perfect, and that if we undertake to probe His secrets more deeply than is permitted, we will plunge into an immense abyss and enter a labyrinth from which there is no exit. For God's works are wonderful — indeed, He Himself is the source of all wisdom: wisdom, I say, that surpasses all human understanding, and which even the angels behold with wonder. For who, setting out to weigh God's individual works, would not be overwhelmed with confusion if he hoped to comprehend them with his mind? We must indeed meditate on them, but we will never do so so perfectly as to grasp each one. Nevertheless, we must know that even when barely tasted by us, they will bring the greatest benefit, and God will supply from them the greatest reason for glorifying Him — and with all pride and arrogance set aside, with which swollen mortals usually exalt themselves above the very angels, we should worship Him with the utmost humility and lowliness of spirit. From this it is evident that when Scripture speaks of God's wisdom and calls Him all-wise, it speaks not only of the wisdom that resides in God alone, but of that wisdom which reveals itself in all His works. Therefore, when something happens contrary to human expectation, or God exerts His power in ways we cannot adequately grasp, let us — mindful of this teaching — so wonder at God's works that we glorify Him in all things; and although what He leads us to undertake surpasses all our understanding and hope, so that we are uncertain where to begin and utterly blind to the way, let this suffice us: to hold with firm and constant faith that He alone is all-wise. And since God Himself is the God of knowledge, let us learn to think modestly of ourselves, to measure ourselves by our own measure, and to be afraid to compare our wisdom with His; but relying on His almighty power, let us know that He will fulfill whatever He has promised and whatever He has known to be necessary for our salvation, and will provide all things for us even beyond expectation.

Come then, brothers, let us fall as suppliants before the majesty of Almighty God, and confessing our sins before Him, pray that He may govern us by the power of His Holy Spirit — so that we may approach Him not only seeking pardon, but with this purpose: that we so completely surrender ourselves to be ruled by Him that we are not enslaved to ourselves or to our own vain opinions, but that He Himself may rule us according to His will, supplying His gifts of which we are by nature utterly empty — and let us give Him everlasting thanks for those gifts received. Moreover, may He so conform us to His will that we may demonstrate in practice that we have been adopted into the number of His children, since we confess Him as our Father.

4. The bow of the mighty is broken, and the feeble are girded with strength. 5. Those who were full hire themselves out for bread, but the hungry cease from hunger; so that the barren bears seven, while she who had many children languishes. 6. The Lord kills and brings to life; He sends down to the grave and brings up. 7. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and also lifts up. 8. He raises the poor from the dust; He lifts the needy from the dunghill, to seat them with nobles and to make them inherit a throne of glory; for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and He has set the world upon them.

Whatever Scripture proclaims about God's power, goodness, might, justice, and other divine attributes would bring us very little — indeed, almost no — benefit unless it were applied to our use and directed specifically toward us. For example, when God is called the best, the greatest, and the most just, this thought almost evaporates unless we understand how God exercises His justice, power, and goodness toward people. Here, therefore, two ways are set before us in which we may contemplate these things as in a mirror: namely, that God's power consists in bringing low and raising up — bringing low, I say, the arrogant and proud who exalt themselves against Him, but raising up and lifting the struggling and afflicted faithful who are already lying in the dust. For this reason Hannah here first proclaims that the bow of the mighty has been broken, and the feeble have been girded with strength. From this we must learn that those who insolently claim something for themselves rise up against God like giants — but the contest is so unequal that the proud are crushed by a mere breath and broken like a clay pot. On the contrary, the faithful — reduced to such a state of distress that they seem to have completely collapsed — if they flee to God with earnest prayers, are raised up and strengthened by His mighty hand. Here, then, are the two ways we mentioned above, from which what I touched on earlier becomes plain: namely, when we hear about God's almighty power from others or read about it in Scripture, we ought to behold it at work in our own lives — lest we imagine it sitting idle in heaven, as the Epicureans like to think — since, unless we are utterly blind in broad daylight, it reveals itself clearly enough through its effects. Furthermore, when valiant and mighty archers with their bows are said to be defeated and broken, this should not be understood as if God were displeased with strength itself — since strength and might are God's gift, and He is not displeased with the gifts He bestows on people — but rather that by these words He declares Himself to be the sole champion and defender of His people, generous and abundant toward them. Yet it often happens that many are stripped of these good things because of their ungrateful spirit. For I ask — how many glory and boast in their own strength? And by doing so they rob God of the honor and glory that belong to Him.