7 The LORD makes poor and makes rich;
he brings low and he exalts.
8 He raises up the poor from the dust;
he lifts the needy from the ash heap
to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s,
and on them he has set the world.
9 He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,
but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness,
for not by might shall a man prevail.
10 The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces;
against them he will thunder in heaven.
The LORD will judge the ends of the earth;
he will give strength to his king and exalt the power of his anointed.
1 Samuel 2:7-10 (ESV)
Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) was a diplomat in the Florentine Republic until 1512 when the Medici family captured the Italian city-state. Quickly banished, Machiavelli withdrew to a farm near San Casciano where he wrote The Prince for Lorenzo de Medici.[1] By presenting this treatise on leadership, Machiavelli hoped to ingratiate himself enough to be considered a friend of the ruler. In The Prince, Machiavelli taught Medici the art of power: “Men of lowly condition,” he argued, are exalted through their use of war, cruelty, and fear.[2] Compare this to the words of a humble woman through whom God presented a strikingly different view: it is the Lord who exalts “the power of his anointed.”
Hannah knew the sorrow of barrenness, and she bore the ridicule and humiliation of her husband’s second, fertile wife, Peninnah. “So it went on year by year” (1:7). Yet amid her grief Hannah did not depart from God. Through bitter tears she poured out her soul, the Lord heard, and she bore Samuel who would one day anoint David the king.
What did Hannah confess about the Lord? Two things. First, the details of every man’s life—his poverty and wealth, his success and failure—rest in the hands of a sovereign God: “The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and exalts” (v. 7). Indeed, God closed Hannah’s womb (1:6), and He later opened it (1:20); the power of God is indisputable, His authority unbounded. Second, the Lord lifts the lowly. Those who once sat in dust and ashes dine with princes in the most honored seats (v. 8). Who are the lowly that God exalts, the needy that God blesses? Answer: the faithful, who look forward to God achieving His purposes in His own time (vv. 9-10). Year after year, Hannah endured her own sadness exacerbated by Peninnah’s scorn; yet she persevered as God’s faithful servant through regular prayer and worship (1:7).
Contemporary church life may leave one wondering if followers of Machiavelli are more influential than humble believers like Hannah. Has pragmatism replaced a penitent trust that God will triumph through His exalted King? Christians suffering their own disappointment may seek succor in the latest technique guiding them to spiritual success. The embattled pastor hopes that a best-selling strategy will alter the course of his stagnant church. Both face the temptation to forget that God rewards the humble faith of broken and contrite servants. Poor souls are enriched when believers pray for God’s intervention. Dead churches are awakened when pastors point congregations to God’s mighty King Jesus and away from the schemes of man. Churches are in dire need of men willing to reject Machiavelli’s cunning and embrace Hannah’s faith.
Machiavelli’s last words are, reportedly, “I desire to go to hell and not to heaven. In the former place I shall enjoy the company of popes, kings, and princes, while in the latter are only beggars, monks, and apostles.”[3] If only Machiavelli had understood that the honor bestowed upon the persevering faith of Christians will forever outshine the triumphs of an apparently successful but wicked prince.
[1] Daniel Donno, introduction to The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli, trans. Daniel Donno (New York: Bantam Books, 1981), 3.
[2] “Here a question arises: whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse. The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved.” Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince, trans. Daniel Donno (New York: Bantam Books, 1981), 60.
[3] Benjamin Beard, introduction to The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli (New York: Pocket Books, 2004), xviii.