We Have Found the Messiah

...in 1 Samuel 2:10

The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

In his sermon in Acts 3, in which Peter calls on his hearers to "Repent and be converted," he turns, as he often does, to demonstrate that Jesus is the promised Messiah/Saviour of the OT. He quotes from Deuteronomy 18:18, the great prediction of a Prophet like Moses, and then says:

Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

Acts 3:24

Peter tells us that prophetic prediction begins with Samuel, and draws our attention to the fact that the Messianic prophecy in Samuel and the prophets expands and further illuminates the terms of the covenant with Abraham. And as Walter Kaiser asks, "Where does Samuel make reference to any messianic prediction except in Hannah's prophecy, which he records or leaves behind from his ministry?" (The Messiah in the OT, p71).

This NT passage is an important commentary on the messianic theme of the OT. It seems as if the period of Joshua and the Judges, during which God was bringing his people into settlement in the land of Canaan, was not marked by explicit messianic prophecy. While the work of Jesus was certainly typified in that of Joshua, as well as in the deliverance ministry of the judges, it awaited the time of Samuel before clear messianic prediction was once again given to the people of God. And when it came, it came in the prayer of a grateful mother.

Hannah was a devout woman, whose cross and burden was that she had no children. The story begins with her pouring out her heart in silent prayer, asking God for a son. God grants her a son, whom she devotes to God; in turn, she pours out her heart in audible song, thanking God for his goodness.

It is an important song, whose position and structure require to be noted.

First, it links back to the song of Moses in Exodus 15 and forward to that of Mary in Luke 1. These three songs celebrate similar themes -- God as a warrior, God delivering his people, God exalting the lowly and abasing the proud, God revealing himself in acts of redemptive significance. Each song is sung at a pivotal stage of redemption: at the crossing of the Red Sea, at the consolidation of the people in Canaan in preparation for the moment when David will rule Israel, and at the point of incarnation. The songs of Moses, Hannah and Mary serve to bind the books of the Bible together, reminding us that there is a story told here, which runs from Exodus through Samuel to Luke, binding OT and NT together, and showing how the purposes initiated in redemption from Egypt run through consolidation in Canaan until they reach their denouement with the coming of Jesus.

There is a personal aspect to the songs of Hannah and Mary, of course. Both of them can take these themes and make them their own in a personal and intimate way. Both of these women have their souls filled with the Scriptures they know; and these Scriptures in turn express their situations and experiences. Sometimes the Bible can express our circumstances for us far more clearly and appropriately than anything else, and the themes that Moses emphasises provide Hannah with her song of praise, as the themes of Hannah are re-echoed on the lips of Mary.

However, these songs not only give us a biblical framework; they also provide a framework around the Book of Samuel itself. Hannah's song of thanksgiving in 1 Samuel 2 is paralleled by that of David in 2 Samuel 22. It is not going too far to say that what Hannah anticipates -- that God will be with his king to deliver him and to strengthen him -- David celebrates as having taken place. As Hannah's song ends with the words of the messianic prophecy "he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed", David's ends with the words "he is the tower of salvation for his king; and showeth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore" (2 Samuel 22:51).

The central passage in the Books of Samuel is arguably 2 Samuel 7, in which God establishes a covenant with David. This pivotal passage is anchored in the prediction of Hannah's song, and is celebrated in that of David itself.

Thirdly, the song of Hannah is itself artistically balanced. It begins with thankfulness that God has exalted the horn of Hannah (2:1) and closes with thankfulness that God will exalt the horn of his Messiah (2:10). Like the messianic psalms, this song arises out of Hannah's experience, but at last cuts a channel so deep that Hannah herself is lost sight of, and our attention is focussed clearly upon the Messiah.

The song also sets the programme for the history. Many of its themes are taken up in the Samuel narrative. In 2:3 Hannah sings of a God who weighs the actions of men -- this is seen in such questions as those asked by God of Eli concerning his sons (2:29). 2:4 celebrates God as a warrior who is able to humble the strongest of armies, as happens to Israel in 1 Samuel 4. These attributes of God celebrated in the song of Hannah become the building blocks on which the story is built. And as the song culminates in the messianic prediction, so the story focusses remarkably on David.

There are three elements to the messianic prediction of the song of Hannah.

1. God's Choice of the Messianic King

The Messiah is not simply a king but "HIS (that is, God's) king". This is of great significance for Israel during this period. Following their settlement in the land of Canaan, Israel passed through a period of having no king, the chief characteristic of which was that "every man did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25). The people forgot that God was their king andlawgiver, that they were answerable to him and to no other.

There was a second period, during which Israel was governed by ITS OWN king. Israel wanted to be like the nations round about (1 Samuel 8:5), a sinful request to which God conceded (1 Samuel 8:9ff) both to fulfill his purpose and to judge the people. It was probably to this that God refers when he says in Hosea 13:10-11 that when the people asked for a king, God gave them a king in his wrath.

The reign of Saul is, in fact, a remarkable instance of man's sin and God's purpose running together. It is possible for us to go against God's will, to backslide and to act selfishly, as Israel did, in wanting simply to be like all the other nations. But it is never possible for us to go against God's purpose. His purpose is being worked out even in our sin, without our sin ever being justified on that account. The wonder of God's sovereignty is that his purpose is wide enough to embrace our transgressions and our backslidings.

But God was preparing the nation for the point at which HIS king would sit on his throne, and when David would occupy the place of kingship. He is anointed by Samuel (1 Samuel 16:13) and at the same time the Holy Spirit comes upon David to enable him to fulfill all the demands of his office. He will henceforth be known throughout the Old Testament as God's anointed king (2 Samuel 22:51; Psalm 89:20; Psalm 132:17).

All of this is preparation for the covenant which God is to make with David in 2 Samuel 7, in which his purposes of salvation for the world will be further clarified and revealed. For David's sake God will preserve the nation in the face of the personal failings of subsequent kings (1 Kings 11:13; 2 Kings 8:19).

Yet the significance of David as God's choice is far greater than simply his bond with Israel and Judah. In the reign of David, and particularly in the Davidic covenant, there is a consummation of previous covenantal promises. Now the king has come. Now God is with his people in a remarkable way. Now the saving purposes of God focus particularly upon kingly accession and sovereignty. And the reason why that is so is simply because God's choice ultimately is not David, but the one whom David typifies and prefigures, the Lord Jesus Christ!

For this reason, Jesus describes himself as both the "root and offspring of David" (Revelation 22:16). Ordinarily, a thing can hardly be root and offspring simultaneously. A root is that from which something comes. An offspring is that which comes from something. Yet Jesus can apply both terms to himself in connection with David. As the son and heir of the Davidic throne, kingdom and promises, he is the offspring of David, the greatest son of David's line, and the one who alone can fulfill in his own person the messianic prophecies of the OT regarding kingship.

But he is also the ROOT of David. All that David experienced and enjoyed of God's covenant mercy was rooted in a deeper purpose -- the purpose that focussed ultimately upon the Lord Jesus Christ. The Davidic promises and covenant are grounded in the eternal covenant of God's redemption, by which the Father set the Son apart to be the Saviour of sinners, promising him a kingdom and pledging that all his enemies would one day lick the dust.

And the Messiah of whom David is a type amid types, is God's appointed and God's anointed one. Jesus is our King because he is God's King, to whom he has given the ends of the earth as an inheritance.

2. God's Strengthening of the Messianic King

The second element of the prediction is that the king would be strengthened by the Lord of the covenant. "He shall give strength unto his king". This is the supreme note struck in David's song of thanksgiving: "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; the God of my rock, in him will I trust; he is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my Saviour, you save me from violence" (2 Samuel 22:2-3). David is conscious of the fact tha the has been helped and strengthened, and that God has upheld him for the task that devolves on him as messianic ruler of the covenant people.

This is celebrated in the psalms. When the song of thanksgiving of 2 Samuel 22 is incorporated into the psalms, it opens with the additional words "I will love you, O Lord my strength" (Psalm 18:1). Psalm 21:1 declares that "The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord". The Davidic psalm 144 opens with the words "Blessed be the Lord my strength". The overwhelming testimony of the OT record is that God strengthens the king he has chosen.

The prophetic literature takes this further, as it develops the view of the Messiah as the Suffering Servant, the one who will face ignominy and death for his people. Of him, God says "Behold my servant, whom I uphold" (Isaiah 42:1). Jeremiah, who focusses a great deal on the place of David in God's purposes, says that God will cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David, and he will execute judgement and righteousness in the land (Jeremiah33:15), a prediction which binds the future Messiah to the Davidic promises, and which shows that these promises will be fulfilled through the supernatural strengthening and help of God himself.

It is not going too far to apply this to Christ himself. He too is upheld and strengthened. From the moment of his conception he is upheld by the hand of God. During the period of gestation he is preserved and kept. At birth he has safe passage into the world. In infancy, in a world of sinful men, God strengthens and preserves him. At his baptism God publicly anoints him and pours his Spirit upon his Son for the service that lies before him. This strengthening is to enabling the great self-emptying and weakening to take place at the moment when the Son bears our sins to the cross.

This is not a case of Christ's divine nature upholding his human nature, but of his Father personally strengthening him and equipping him for service. That is the promise. Having consecrated him to be messianic ruler of his people, the father equips him with all that is necessary to enable him to fulfill his ministry and mission. In the same way, he enables us to fulfill ours.

3. God's Exalting of the Messianic King

The third element in the prediction is that the Messiah will be exalted. Genesis 49:10 has already hinted that the Messiah will have dominion and glory, but Hannah's prediction goes much further. What she says is that the LORD will judge all the ends of the earth and will do so by exalting the Messiah. In other words, he will commit all judgement into the hands of the one whom he has raised up and to whom he has given glory.

Although David enjoyed prosperity and victory in his day, he knew nothing of this. His 'horn' of glory and repute was certainly exalted by God, and he commanded universal respect. But at no point did David become the means by which God's judgement extended to all the nations.

That point still has not been realised in its fulness, for it speaks ultimately of the exalting of Jesus. By the power of God he has been raised from the dead, and highly exalted, given a name above every name, at which the nations are still to bow and do homage (Philippians 2:5ff).

And in a sense, our hope as churches and individual believers is not so much in what God has done for us, but in what he has done for his Messiah, his Christ. The great Gospel will have an effect in the lives of men and nations precisely because God has exalted the horn of his anointed. It is that Jesus is where he is, awaiting the point when all his enemies are made his footstool (Psalm 110:1; Acts 2:34; 1 Corinthians 15:25), that gives dynamic to the Christian Gospel and hope to the Christian church.

This is very evident in the proclamation of the early church. Peter says on the day of Pentecost that Jesus has been exalted by the right hand of God the Father, and sees there a fulfillment of Psalm 110. It is not David, Peter says, that has been exalted, but another, whom David typified, and of whom David spoke (Acts 2:34-35). Having exalted Jesus, God sends him to us in the Gospel so that we will turn from our sins to serve him (Acts 3:26). He is exalted to the Father's right hand, exalted in the Gospel of grace, and exalted at last in the hearts of his people. There is a fulfillment of God's messianic intention. God has given strength to his king, and he has, and will continue, to exalt the horn of his Messiah!

© Iain D. Campbell 2003