I Samuel records the establishment of Israel’s first monarchy, the beginning of which is about 1050 B. C. Samuel was Israel’s leader for many years, serving in roles of judge, prophet and priest. Israel wanted a king like the surrounding nations, and in Chapter 8 God directed Samuel to anoint Saul. But Saul turned from God, and God directed Samuel to find a son of Jesse, David, and anoint him. David bravely killed Goliath, and was then taken to the king’s court, but Saul became very jealous of the much-younger David who was to be his successor. The book of first Samuel ends with the story of Saul’s death in battle, and the anticipation of David’s reign. But in the very beginning of I Samuel, we meet Samuel’s mother, Hannah, a woman yearning deeply for a child and praying for a son.
Hannah was a wife of Elkanah, the barren wife. His other wife, Peninnah, had borne Elkanah children, but not Hannah. In her day, it was strongly held that a barren wife was out of favor with the Lord. Even though the name Hannah means “grace,” she had not been graced with children. Elkanah loved Hannah, and at the time of sacrifice annually at Shiloh, the husband would give a portion of the meat to Peninnah and his sons and daughters by her, but to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, even if she was barren. At one of the yearly pilgrimages from the hill country of Ephraim where they lived to Shiloh for worship, Hannah prayed the prayer recorded in I Samuel 1:11. She was also so distraught that she was praying without audible words and Eli thought she was drunk. When he questioned her, she was able to tell him why she was so “anxious and vexed.” The priest told her to go in peace with his blessing that the Lord would grant her petition. God answered Hannah’s prayer, and she bore a son and named him Samuel, meaning “the name is God,” “God is exalted,” or “son of God.” True to her vow to God, Hannah took Samuel to Eli and presented him, “loaned” him to the Lord. He was brought up at the Shiloh sanctuary. Hannah had three other sons and two daughters, but it is Samuel, dedicated to the Lord before conception, whom we hear about. It was written of him, “And the young man Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord.” (I Samuel 2:21). In her motherly love for Samuel, Hannah made a robe for him, a linen ephod, usually considered a priest’s garment. She took it to Shiloh as they went to worship (I Samuel 2:19). Imagine the sacrificial love of this mother to give her firstborn son without reservation to the Lord’s service when he was so young, and to continue to provide for some of his needs, even though she probably saw him only once a year.
You will benefit from reading Hannah’s song of thanksgiving as recorded in I Samuel 2:1-10. It has been called the “Magnificat of the Old Testament,” similar to Mary’s Magnificat when she knew she was to bear the Lord Jesus Christ. Hannah refers to God as the rock, a metaphor emphasizing the strength and steadfastness of Jehovah. Rocks were oftentimes used as refuges from storms and places to hide in battle. Although at places in the song Hannah seems to refer indirectly to her troubles with Peninnah, Elkanah’s other wife, the song is mainly a song of gratitude, deliverance and confidence. “He will guard the feet of His saints” (2 Samuel 2:9a). Will you, today, write your own song of thanksgiving to God? How will you pour out your heart to God as Hannah did in her song? How will you thank Him and praise Him?
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