Talk No More So Very Proudly

# 23 – Today's Du-votional comes from 1Sa 2:3 "Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth, For the LORD is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed. Remember, In this portion of Hannah's prayer, she is making a proclamation against God's enemies. Specifically, she is talking about the way Penninah had rubbed it in that she could provide children for Elkanah but Hannah couldn't. 1Sa 1:6 says, “And her rival (Penninah) also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the LORD had closed her womb.” This is not a personal attack against Penninah, rather it is an attack against the devil and his enemies who were using Penninah to get to Hannah. (Father forgive Penninah, for she knows not what she does”) By the way this prayer of Hannah's is very similar to some of the prayers in what are called the imprecatory psalms of the Bible where David appears to be praying ill will on his enemies. The word imprecatory means to call down evil on someone. Please don't take this as a green light for you to call down evil on your flesh and blood enemies. The Bible tells us in Eph 6:12 says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Rather these prayers should serve as reminders to us and our “real” enemies that God sees. He knows of all the devil's shenanigans. He knows how the devil uses the pride of men to attack others. He knows and He weighs each attack and payment will one day be made in full when the devils and his demons are forever cast into hell. So forgive those whom the devil uses against you, pray for them, and guard your own heart from the sin of pride, which seems to be the major weapon of choice of the evil one. Remember Hannah's prayer for your own life and “talk no more so very proudly.”