Week of April 12

What would you wish to write if what you penned were the last words you would ever put to paper? Well, Hannah was not an author, per se, but the last words we ever hear/read from her lips are recorded in 1 Samuel 2, and they speak to this very day! Hannah’s song is 112 words in the Hebrew language and, by comparison, Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address is 272 words. Hers is an “emancipation proclamation” of a soul set free from its overwhelming burden, and it speaks poetically to our hearts in ways that words alone can never do. Let’s ask the Lord to awaken our souls to His message through Hannah’s voice this day.

The monologue by Hannah is often described as a prayer that has been cast as a “poetic hymn” or a Psalm of Thanksgiving, and is believed by scholars to be “among the earliest examples of Israelite poetry” (NAC). The song affirms core elements of Israelite faith: 1) Yahweh is the great judge who “oversees human destinies” and “rewards those who earnestly seek him”; 2) God is the source of “empowerment and victory for those who fear him”; and 3) He is also the “overpowering authority who dispenses fearful judgment” (NAC). Have you ever wondered if there is any justice? Hannah answers our questions with a resounding, “Yes!”

A truly just God. We hear and read much about justice in our day, but this song speaks about a depth of fairness and rectitude that can only emanate from the very nature and actions of a God like ours. God truly elevates those who fear Him even when others may devalue them. This song “foreshadows” God’s dealings with many people we will read about in this book of 1 Samuel, but particularly in the lives of Samuel and David. If ever you’ve reached out in desperate need of a deliverer, only to feel rejected by all others around you, then this prayerful song is for you! God has already reached down into your desperation to provide His rescue (cf. John 3:16; Romans 5:8).

Trust God even when we cannot explain our circumstances. Hannah has been childless and the object of constant ridicule by her rival Peninnah (1:2; 6). This woman was described as Hannah’s rival, or “troubler” (1:6). Hannah’s husband, Elkanah, loved her, but his other wife aggravated and provoked her to anger (TWOT). This was bad enough, but we discover that it was the Lord who had closed her womb. Twice we read that it was God who prevented Hannah from giving birth to a child (1:5-6). This is the same God who had issued the creation mandate to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28; 9:1; 35:11). Are you wondering how this could be? We must remember that the ways of God are not always understood by us in our human frailty. Even so, Hannah presents to us a model of transparent, soaring faith amid extraordinary sadness (1:10). She alone, among women in the Old Testament, is described as going up to the house of the Lord (NAC). Exercising faith like Hannah’s may seem like a big leap for you to make, but God invites you to trust Him like she did.

Delight yourself in God’s goodness and care. We used to sing a song, “Tell it to Jesus.” Hannah had genuine faith because she tells her troubles to God. Her prayer contains the most “recorded utterances” (18) of God’s name by a woman. Hannah uses the sour experience of her life to produce the sweet refrains that have blessed generations of men and women who live lives of quiet desperation. The four first-person references in verses 1-2 express her unbridled delight with the Lord. Rather than trash the name of God, she trusts that He will ultimately bring triumph. Hannah shows us how to praise. She praises God for His holiness (Leviticus 10:3; 11:44; 19:2; 20:26), His uniqueness (cf. Exodus 15:11), and for being a “Rock” (“bedrock”; cf. Deuteronomy 32:4, 15, 18, 30, 31; NAC). Her rival taunts her but she now boasts in the Lord (2:1; “my mouth is enlarged”). Every woman who has wept tears of sorrow over being childless will immediately understand Hannah’s sheer joy when she discovered that she was pregnant. Yes, it was about the baby, but it was also about so much more. She offers God praise for His deliverance (“salvation”).

Deliverance? Really? Hannah got it, but do we? It was never about her barrenness; instead, it was about the wilderness of life lived with a God who seemed absent!

It’s a simple anecdote, but our back porch is often filled with beautiful plants and flowers of all sorts of colors. Winter, however, plays havoc with this little garden space, and I often look out the window to gaze upon dry and brittle twigs and much dirt. I recall my surprise one year when we discovered that a momma rabbit had tucked away her little newborn babies in one of those dry and empty pots. Living babies where there once was dry barrenness. Of course, my heart swelled with praise to our God, who gives rise to new life amid such bleakness.

Here is the spiritual reminder. My friends, God is never absent from us, even when life appears desolate. Hannah testifies to this truth. Remember our readings in the book of Judges, where the author tells us that “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25)? Samuel, the last of the judges, would reverse this pattern in Israel’s history and would lay the groundwork for Israel’s rise to world power under the rule of King David. Behind this phoenix-like rise from faithlessness was a great-souled woman of profound faith named Hannah! Follow her example in your heartache and wait for God’s deliverance.

1. What personal loss has flooded your heart with grief? Write it down and whisper it to the Heavenly Father. Pray for His aid and train your heart to wait for His deliverance. He will answer your prayer.

2. For Families: Your family may have walked through some dark times, when it seemed God was absent. Recall what God did to remind you of His constant presence, and your delight to know of His closeness. Share this time of God’s close presence with your kids at bedtime, when they are closing their eyes to sleep. God answers our prayer, and is attentive to our prayers.

May your paths be straight,
Larry C. Ashlock