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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah, son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.
Year after year, this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the Lord. Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb. And because the Lord had closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her.
This went on year after year.
Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. Elkanah, her husband, would say to her, "Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?"
Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord's temple. In bitterness of soul, Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord. And she made a vow, saying, "O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head."
As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, "How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine."
"Not so, my lord," Hannah replied, "I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief."
Eli answered, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of Him."
She said, "May your servant find favor in your eyes." Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.
Early the next morning, they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah lay with Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the Lord for him."
1 Samuel 1:1-20
This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Have you ever found yourself downtrodden, frustrated, humiliated, anguished, deeply sorrowed, and/or bitter, emotions that took you to a place where you cried out to God for help?
If so, then you will be able to relate to Hannah in this passage from the first chapter of 1 Samuel, and hopefully gain confidence and faith in knowing God does hear and answer our prayers.
As this book opens, we’re introduced to a typical Old Testament family although this family arrangement would be very atypical by today’s standards. For we read about a man, Elkanah, who had two wives, Hannah and Penninah, daughters, and two priestly sons, Hophni and Phinehas. We know the children were all born from Penninah because unfortunately, Hannah’s womb was closed.
Now, we should keep in mind how Old Testament culture treated women who were barren. Sadly, they were held in low esteem because childbearing was one of a woman’s primary values, particularly when it came to giving birth to males who would carry on the husband’s lineage. For a woman unable to conceive, humiliation and deep sadness were both emotional burdens that were carried daily.
Well, despite Hannah’s inability to get pregnant, Elkanah still loved her dearly and we read where he would give double portions of meat to her on the days when he had to sacrifice. Yet, no amount of meat or love from Elkanah could help Hannah in her situation and what made it even worse was Penninah, Hannah’s rival, incessantly provoked “her in order to irritate her…year after year”. In fact, the scriptures tell us that Penninah badgered Hannah until “she wept and would not eat”.
And so as if it wasn’t already bad enough that Hannah felt terrible about her barrenness, Penninah piled on, rubbing it in and taking her down even further toward an emotional rock bottom. Even her loving husband, not knowing about Penninah’s provocations, seemed uncaring about the state of Hannah’s mind as he asked her:
“Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?"
Through his words, we see that Elkanah makes it more about himself than having empathy and compassion for Hannah.
Maybe you’ve either experienced this yourself or know someone else who had, being in a place where you or they were already down and out…and then someone decides to kick you when you’re already down. Maybe they were insensitive to what you were going through or mocked you in the midst of your hardship, or talked about you behind your back to others. As we see in the Bible, there are many people out there in present times who, like Penninah, seem to take pleasure in hurting others.
Let’s go back to the scriptures where we see Hannah near her breaking point. She hasn’t eaten and is distraught to the point where all she could do is weep and while in her “bitterness of soul” and while in eyeshot of “Eli the priest” who was “sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord's temple”, Hannah “prayed to the Lord”, making this vow:
"O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head."
We should note that Hannah’s prayers weren’t simply spoken. They were much deeper than that.
For as Eli watched Hannah, he saw her lips moving but no words being spoken because the scriptures tell us that she was “praying with her heart” while “pouring (her) soul out to the Lord”. We read where this led Eli to think she was drunk and so he challenges her. Hanna responds by setting things straight telling the priest that she wasn’t drunk or wicked but instead “deeply troubled” and “praying…out of (her) great anguish and grief”. And after hearing her testimony, we see the priest giving her this command:
“Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of Him.”
To which Hannah replied:
“May your servant find favor in your eyes."
After this, we’re not told right away whether or not Hannah’s prayers were effective in allowing her to bear a son but we do know that they helped relieve her troubled heart, mind, and soul. We know this because the scriptures tell us that her “face was no longer downcast” and she began to eat again. Through this, we learn that there is a peace that comes when we bring our burdens to God the right way…praying to Him with all our heart while pouring out our soul out to Him. Later in the Bible, we find the Apostle Paul sharing these words in what is one of my favorite passages :
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
It’s this peace that we find Hannah experiencing in our passage today from 1st Samuel…a peace that transcended understanding. It’s a divine peace that took her from the depths of despair and brought her to a special solitude that only comes when one puts their full trust in the Lord, choosing to trust Him by fully laying any and all burdens at His feet. After all, He was and is in control of all things and that means there is nothing beyond the work of His Almighty hands.
Well, as our passage closes, we read where after rising the next morning and going to worship, Elkanah and Hannah returned home where he laid down with her and in that moment, the Lord remembered Hannah. We read where “in the course of time” she “conceived and gave birth to a son”, naming him Samuel because she had “asked the Lord for him." And Samuel, her son, would grow up to be the last judge of Israel.
In the end, Hannah saw here deep sorrow and distress depart but only after she prayed with all her heart and soul, bringing her matter before the Lord and trusting He was able to fulfill her need. When she did, she discovered the peace of God that truly does transcend all understanding and the good news for us today is that the Lord wants to extend the same to all who would place faith in Him.
What is weighing you down today, maybe to the place where you find your spirit always downtrodden under the weight of your life circumstances?
My prayer is that you will follow Hannah’s lead and surrender the issues to God today so that you might also experience His solace and the powerful work He does in the lives of those who place their hope in Him.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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