by Zach Kincaid
Hannah is the mother of Samuel, the greatest prophet of Israel. Year after year, she and her husband prayed to have a child, but God didn’t bless them. Before her song in I Samuel 2, we find Hannah weeping outside the Tabernacle. It causes Eli, the priest, to think she is drunk. She explains her sorrowful prayer and he does what any person would do. He gives her hope and blesses her. “Go in peace,” Eli says, “and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.” That blessing bursts into song because she and her husband try again and God does bless them with a baby boy.
There are a few of these occasions like this in Scripture, both before and after Hannah. Recall that Sarah and Abraham are both entirely too old to conceive, but God intends to miraculously keep his promise that their family line would stretch out and expand mightily. Sarah laughs when the three visitors tell her the plan, but it happens (Genesis 18). Rachel might have the affections of Jacob, her husband, but she doesn’t think God favors her. She’s barren for so long. Finally, after a sordid number of verses in Genesis 30 that give us the brief birth narratives of the patriarchs of Israel’s tribes, we see that God listens to her and she gives birth to Joseph, and later to Benjamin. In the Gospel, we know Elizabeth and Zechariah gave up hope a long time ago for a child. When Gabriel, God’s chief messenger angel, starts talking to him in the Temple, he questions the validity of the news. As a result, he is unable to speak during the whole of Elizabeth’s pregnancy (maybe an added blessing to the expectant mom). Elizabeth’s response is very different. “The Lord has done this for me,” she says (Luke 1:25). Mary’s miracle upon miracle receives a similar response when the angel shares with her the plans of God. “I am the Lord’s servant,” she says, May it be to me as you have said” (Luke 1:38).
Much of what Mary prays in Luke 1 is an echo of I Samuel 2, when Hannah is faithful in dedicating Samuel to God’s work. Like Mary, she knows God is weaving a larger plan and she rejoices in being part of it.
Hannah’s song is a praise song, plain and simple. She rejoices in God for muting all the naysayers, and exclaims his holiness and faithfulness comparing him to a rock that does not move. He will avenge evil because he alone keeps the keys of death and life. So, stay humble and seek nothing out that might replace your affections for the one who doles out everything from his hand.
I Samuel 2:1-10
1 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.
2 “There is none holy like the Lord:
for there is none besides you;
there is no rock like our God.
3 Talk no more so very proudly,
let not arrogance come from your mouth;
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and by him actions are weighed.
4 The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the feeble bind on strength.
5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.
The barren has borne seven,
but she who has many children is forlorn.
6 The Lord kills and brings to life;
he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
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 horn of his anointed.”