From the rubbish heap to the prince's seat

He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory. "For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, And He has set the world upon them.  – 1 Samuel 2.8

The first thing I thought of  when I read this is a message I preach from Psalm 113.7-8 which says ‘He raises the poor out of the dust, And lifts the needy out of the dung heap, That He may seat him with princes— With the princes of His people.’

I call the message ‘From the Dung Heap to the Prince’s Seat.’

I am not sure but it looks like Psalm 113.7-9 is a quote from Hannah, because it adds on that God allows the barren women to take care of her children – which is just what He did for Hannah.

In the KJV the word sometimes translated ‘ash heap’ is normally ‘dung heap.’ From what I have read both of those translations are accurate.

Anyway, the first thing I thought about when I studied this was a tour of Trim Castle. Of course, the person who had it made in the castle was royalty, the prince in this context.

At the other end of the spectrum was a man called the gong farmer. His job, believe or not, was to stir up the chambers beneath the garderobe (toilet) where all the human waste was stored. This released the ammonia which was used to kill various bugs in the clothing which was hung in the garderobe.

It is hard to imagine a lower job than that.

But that makes this passage all the more special. God, and God alone, can raise us up from the dung heap of this world. If you are in the castle it is hard to imagine the guy down in that pit suddenly be elevated up into the prince’s bedroom. I realise that this is a medieval illustration of an Old Testament truth – but it is appropriate to what Hannah says here.

No matter where we are in this life, no matter how bad it gets, no matter how bad our depths of despair our God is able to lift us up. No matter how bad the depth of sin God is able to lift anyone up who can turn to Him.

Praise God that He is the one to raise me up.

I don’t know if these words were meant to talk about God – but they sure describe what God can do for us:

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains.
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas.
I am strong, when I am on Your shoulders
You raise me up to more than I can be.