Dig Deeper - Sunday 12th January 2025
Sermon Reflection Questions - God’s sovereign plan
1 Samuel 2:1-10
Dig Deeper notes from Sunday 12th January service:
Perhaps the first thing that jumps out at us is this. When Hannah has just left her longed for son, Samuel, at the temple, why does she sound so pleased? It’s probably in her view that, in a transformational way, God has lifted her out of powerlessness and empowered her to live as a mother, which was of particular significance in the culture of her day.
In this prayer there are two aspects of God’s nature that are interwoven within the words of praise. First his role as Sovereign Lord and secondly his role as Righteous Judge.
So in terms of God’s sovereignty, we can pick this out in a number of verses. We see his holiness in v2 and then the fact that he is all knowing in v3, and then in verses 4-8 we see how he is able to reverse the most impossible situations. Just as example, let me pick out verse 4 where we see a clear description of God’s sovereign actions. ‘The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength’.
Then in terms of God acting as righteous Judge, which we can see at the end of v3, we read that the ‘Lord is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed’ and v10, which reads - ‘The Most High will thunder from heaven; the Lord will judge the ends of the earth’.
As righteous Judge our deeds are weighed by God. God judges the actions we take and this has implications for us. You see, if God judges what we do, then we have a responsibility for what we choose to do and that means we also have the freedom to act as we choose. You see with justice comes responsibility and the freewill to act in ways that we decide.
There’s a bit of a conundrum here. From this passage and elsewhere in scripture, we see that God is Sovereign Lord and controls all things, including the actions taken by human beings, in accordance with his own eternal purposes.
Yet on the other hand we see that scripture also teaches us that, as Judge, he holds every person responsible for the choices they make and for the course of action they pursue. There appears to be this apparent contradiction or opposition between divine sovereignty and human freewill and responsibility.
How can the bible teach us about God’s sovereignty and our responsibility side by side, sometimes even in the same text? This is Luke 22v22 and Jesus speaking at the last supper
The Son of Man will go (to his death) as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who (chooses to) betrays him.
Since the 17th century this has been a topic of debate among Christians. On the one hand were those who followed the teaching of John Calvin, which emphasised the sovereignty of God and others who followed Jacobus Arminius view, which emphasised the freedom of individuals to make their own choices.
I don’t know if you are familiar with the figure of speech or play on words called a paradox. It’s ‘a self-contradictory statement that is or may be true’. It’s a form of statement that seems to unite two opposite ideas. It’s a technique used by writers and speakers to attract attention.
You can find them used in the Bible. Here’s an example from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. ‘…sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything’ it’s from 2 Corinthians 6v10.
The thing about a paradox is that it can be explained. So Paul could have written these words instead ‘In my experience, sorrow at circumstances and joy in God are constantly combined, and that, although I own no property and have no money in the bank, there is a sense in which everything belongs to me, because I am Christ’s and Christ is Lord of all’.
It makes sense when it’s written like that, but it’s not as snappy and memorable as the verbal technique Paul uses.
There are other seemingly contradictory ideas, which those who study language would call an ‘antinomy’. In contrast to paradox, this is a contradiction between two equally valid truths. You may be surprised, but you can find these in the world of science. In physics there has been a controversy about the nature of light. Is it present as particles or is it in the form of a wave. Which is true?
Now you don’t need to understand the science, the important thing to know is that scientists in this field have come to live and work with two apparently contradictory facts being equally true. Light does behave as particles and it does behave like a wave.
We have to do the same as Christians. So here’s an antinomy we can find in the Bible. How can Jesus be both fully God and fully human at the same time? I think, because we read about the evidence for both aspects of his nature in the bible, we find it more easily understood than this apparent contradiction between divine sovereignty and human freewill and responsibility.
Because our minds like to have everything sorted into neat intellectual parcels, there is a tendency to suppress one truth by the way we emphasise the other. To assert man’s responsibility in a way that excludes God being sovereign, or to affirm God’s sovereignty in a way that negates human’s responsibility.
In our reading of Hannah’s prayer from 1 Samuel and in other scriptures we don’t find any sense of discomfort in allowing these two truths to sit side by side.
I know that what is happening in the world, in our country and our local community can seem confusing and we question why God doesn’t take action. But you know, sometimes I believe that we think in a confused way. We would like to see God sovereign over the things that we see as wrong in the world, but want the freewill to live our lives in a way that we think is best. We want to see wars in the world resolved; the actions of evil people stopped and to have ourselves protected from serious illness and yet on the other hand we want to live carefree lives and have the freedom to enjoy the good things in life.
When you stop to think about it, that’s almost saying that we know better than God at how to run his world and even that we don’t trust God to make the right decisions. It’s putting ourselves in the place of God, which in essence is the starting point of sin in this world. It’s as if God, who is outside the boundaries of time and can see the end from the beginning, knows less about the running of the world he created than we do.
So here in 1 Samuel 2 we don’t detect any conflict in Hannah’s prayer. We see these two strands woven into the beautifully crafted prayer. One where she praises God for being the sovereign Lord of creation and the other where she praises God for being a righteous Judge. Judging how we have discharged the responsibility we have been given and the freewill to live our lives.
Like the physicists and light, we Christians should hold these two aspects of God’s nature in parallel. Taking time to work out the implications of this for how we live our lives.
Let’s also take heart from this wonderful promise in the book of Jeremiah.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer. 29:11
Questions to think about and discuss:
1. What do you notice first from the words she uses? What is your overall impression of her prayer?
2. With this in mind, how do you think the second part of verse 5 fits in to the rest of the prayer?
3. Pick out the phrases in the prayer where Hannah reflects on God as Sovereignty Lord. How do you understand God’s sovereignty? What does it mean to you?
4. Is questioning God’s sovereignty a bit like Harry Potter saying to J K Rowling that she’s not written the book correctly? How helpful do you find the book analogy?
5. Then pick out the phrases in the passage that speak about God as Righteous Judge. How comfortable are you with the link between God as judge and humans having the freedom of choice and responsibility to make decisions?
6. What areas do you find difficult about holding the fact that God is Sovereign Lord in parallel with the fact that we have freedom of choice subject to God as Righteous Judge? What about our role in evangelism and people becoming Christians?
7. How should these facts shape the way we live our lives? And how to you respond to that promise from Jeremiah 29:11 ‘For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Reflect on any changes that you may need to make.
