First Samuel 2:6-9
‘Hannah prayed and said…”She that is rich in children, pines away. The Lord kills, and makes alive! He brings down to the grave — and brings up! The Lord makes poor — and makes rich! He brings low — and lifts up! He raises up the poor, out of the dust…to set them among princes and to make them inherit the throne of glory!… He will keep the feet of His saints — and the wicked shall be silent in darkness! For by strength, no man shall prevail… And He shall give strength to His King and exalt the horn of His Anointed!”‘ First Samuel 2:6-10.
Calvin remarks in his Institutes III:20:52 & II:10:18 & II:6:2: “Believers have always need of being supported…. They could not stand long, if they did not lean…. The trials by which the Lord proves and exercises us, are severe. Nay, He often drives us to extremes — and when driven, allows us long to stick fast in the mire before He gives us any taste of His sweetness. As Hannah says — ‘The Lord kills, and makes alive; He brings down to the grave, and brings up!’ (First Samuel 2:6)….
“‘The Lord will keep the feet of His saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness’ (First Samuel 2:9). Showing they know well that however much the righteous might be tossed about, their latter end is life and peace…. Howsoever pleasant the delights of the wicked, they gradually lead down to the chambers of death…. Before a king was appointed over the Israelites, Hannah the
mother of Samuel, describing the happiness of the righteous, spake thus in her song — ‘He shall give strength to His King, and exalt the horn of His Anointed.’ Meaning by these words — that God would bless His Church…. First Samuel 2:10.”
The mother of many children pines away, because she has lost all her sons — and, with them, her support in her old age. This comes from the Lord, Who kills. Death is from Him, and by His appointment. God hurls down into and also rescues from death — for the same persons God removes by death, He ultimately restores to life again. The Lord does all this, for He is the Creator and Upholder of the world. As Jehovah, He governs the world with His almighty power.
The Lord keeps the feet of the righteous, so that they do not tremble and stumble. Christ is their Keeper. But the wicked who oppress and persecute the righteous, will perish in darkness when God withdraws the light of His grace so that they fall into distress. No man can be strong through his own power, so as to meet the storms of life. All who fight against the Lord, get destroyed. The adversaries of the Lord Jehovah — Father, Son and Spirit — shall be broken into pieces!
In the world, ‘the Lord will judge the ends of the Earth.’ Hannah’s prayer rises to the consummation. He will judge the whole world, and hurl down all His foes and perfect the Kingdom He had founded. The Kingdom can only attain its perfection in the King Whom the Lord will give — the King which culminates in the Messiah, the King of the saints. It goes on in the advancing
spread of the Kingdom of Christ, and will eventually attain to its eternal consummation in the judgment of the Last Day through which all the enemies of Christ will be made His footstool.
As Hannah truly remarked — the Lord kills, buries, resurrects, and re-enlivens! You too?
