From bitterness to blessing, from worry to worship
O, my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord.” So they worshipped the Lord there
1 Samuel 1:26-28
It must have been a joyous time for Hannah to give birth to Samuel and nurse him every day in her arms. The bond she felt was so strong. Hannah explains to her husband that she would wean Samuel “then I will take him, that he may appear before the Lord and remain there forever” (1 Samuel 1:22). It is at this time we see the tenderness and understanding of Elkanah when he says “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him. Only let the Lord establish His word” (v.23). This is not the same Elkanah who said “And why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?” (v.8). Elkanah’s words are the words of a husband who was listening to the heart of his wife, understanding the sacrifice she was making and standing beside her in support.
When the day of sacrifice came, and Hannah brought Samuel to Eli, it was not a day of sadness and parting but of astonishing joyful faith in God. It seemed she was handing her only child to a failing High Priest who was the head of a spiritually and morally bankrupt house. But she wasn’t; she was presenting her son to the Lord and into His keeping power.
When Hannah prayed for Samuel, “she was in bitterness of soul and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish” (v.10). She had poured out her soul before the Lord (v.15). After placing Samuel into Eli’s arms, Hannah prayed again. It was not a prayer of sorrow but of extraordinary blessing. The heart that was so distressed rejoices, “My heart rejoices in the Lord”. She was no longer in weakness but strong in the Lord, “My horn (strength) is exalted in the Lord”. Peninnah could no longer belittle Hannah because God had made her a mother.
Hannah's prayer is a prayer of worship and a witness to the greatness of God, “No one is holy like the Lord, For there is none besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God” (v.2). She presents the Lord as “the God of knowledge” who looks into our hearts humbling the proud and exalting the humble (v.4-9).
Hannah closes her prayer prophetically by looking beyond the times of the judges, of whom Samuel was the last, and even the kings that would follow. Her final words refer to the supreme King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.
“He will give strength to His king,
And exalt the horn of His anointed.”
Hannah not only teaches us how to ask in faith but to rejoice in sacrifice and live with complete confidence in God.