Prayed

1 Samuel 1:28-2:2,9-10 – So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there. Then Hannah prayed and said: “My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God…He will guard the feet of his faithful servants, but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness. “It is not by strength that one prevails; those who oppose the Lord will be broken. The Most High will thunder from heaven; the Lord will judge the ends of the earth. “He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

Luke 1:50,54-55,68-79 – His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation…He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”…“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

Application:

• ·         Hannah’s prayer is a song of praise and thanksgiving to God. To have one’s horn “lifted high” by God is to be delivered from disgrace to a position of honor and strength.
• ·         “Those who fear Him” are those who revere God and live in harmony with His will.
• ·         God will be true to His promises to His people.
• ·         Rock was a metaphor to depict the strength and stability of the God of Israel as the unfailing source of security for His people.
• ·         Hannah’s prayer anticipates the establishment of kingship in Israel and the initial realization of the Messiah through David.
• ·         Redeeming Israel was not limited to national security but included moral and spiritual salvation.
• ·         Jesus, the Messiah from the house of David, has the power to save.
• ·         Zechariah not only praised his own son, the “prophet of the Most High” but also gave honor to the coming Messiah.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV