The faithful Prophet Samuel was used by God to rescue his
people from their Philistine masters and to secure a lasting peace for decades,
until the reversal under King Saul, who Samuel confronted at the risk of his
life:
However, Samuel should not receive all the praise. He had a
godly mother, Hannah. The Book of First Samuel starts with this woman of
God. Hannah had a distressing problem. She was barren. Not only had she failed
her husband, Elkanah, but he also had a second wife who persistently ridiculed
Hannah. Besides this humiliation, the culture judged that since “the Lord had
closed her womb,” this was a sign of His displeasure with Hannah.
Every year, the family would go to the tabernacle at Shiloh
to make offerings and pray. However, Hannah wept and could not even eat:
·
She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord
and wept bitterly. And she vowed, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on
the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but
will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days
of his life...” (1 Samuel 1:10-11)
Hannah was so desperate that she vowed to surrender her son
to the Lord once she had finished weaning him. Her prayers were so emotional
that the Priest Eli had accused her of being drunk. Instead of retaliating against
this unwarranted insult:
·
Hannah answered, “No, my Lord, I am a woman
troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been
pouring out my soul before the Lord. Do not regard your servant as a worthless
woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and
vexation.” (1 Samuel 1:15-16)
After this, they returned home:
·
And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord
remembered her. And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called
his name Samuel…(1 Samuel 1:19-20)
Hannah did not forget her vow. After she had weaned Samuel,
they returned to the Priest Eli, and Hannah reminded him:
·
“Oh, my Lord! As you live, my Lord, I am the
woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. For this
child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him.
Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the
Lord.” (1 Samuel 1:26-28)
Despite her great sacrifice, her heart was filled with
praise for God and gratitude:
·
And Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in
the Lord; my horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth derides my enemies, because
I rejoice in your salvation. There is none holy like the Lord: for there is
none besides you; there is no rock like our God.” (1 Samuel 2:1-2)
Gratitude germinates from within the soil of suffering.
Hannah was a faithful woman of God who fulfilled her vow, a vow which
eventually resulted, through Samuel, in the rescue of the nation of Israel from
their Philistine enslavers.
Her faithfulness is often overlooked. Hannah had impacted
history, no less than Ruth and Esther, as a chosen tool of our Lord’s mercy to
His people Israel. “Hannah” means “mercy” in the Hebrew language. Perhaps prophetically,
she had been named “Hannah” as a promise of the coming mercy of God. She too had
committed her firstborn to the service of the Lord, and this sacrifice resulted
in the salvation of Israel.
Nevertheless, Hannah is a woman largely forgotten by
history. She is mentioned only once more in the Bible:
·
Indeed the Lord visited Hannah, and she
conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew in the
presence of the Lord. (1 Samuel 2:21)
This is a lesson for us – Never despair of your faithfulness
to the Lord because you cannot see the results:
Trust in
the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight
yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit
your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your
righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. (Psalm 37:3–6)
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