One of the most uplifting stories in the Old Testament is the account of a faithful woman of God who brought her pain and grief to the Lord and did so with a promise — and then followed through on that promise. And Israel would never be the same since. Neither are we.
Hannah’s prayer before the Lord is one of the prayers I’m focusing on in my sermon series EXPERIENCING GOD THROUGH PRAYER at Olney Baptist Church. And it is indeed a prayer from which we can learn many lessons to apply to our own prayer lives.
The best way to go through his incredible story is to walk through its biblical account. And for that, we will go to the book of I Samuel. However…
To go through the whole story in one post is not possible, so I’m breaking this up into multiple parts. And this is obviously Part 1.
Background to I Samuel
First, it’s important we understand the context. This story takes place over a thousand years before the time of Christ. Depending on which scholar you ask, the time of this story takes place anywhere between the mid-900s B.C. (BCE) and the mid-1100s B.C. (BCE). The MacArthur Study Bible places the birth of Samuel (the title character of I Samuel) around 1105 B.C., whereas the Hasidic Jewish website Chabad.org places Samuel’s birth at ca. 931 BCE (or, as I prefer to still say, B.C.). Most likely, the date of ca 1105 BC is closest to reality.
During this time, the nation of Israel was an often repressed, dysfunctional conglomeration of tribes living in the Southern Levant — specifically in the “Promised Land,” although the Israelites had failed to clear out the Promised Land (as God had directed their forebears to do) and they were now sharing it with other nations and tribes. And some of those people groups were a hostile and ever-present threat to the Israelites.
Among the Israelites’ most hostile and oppressive neighbors were the Philistines. They lived along the coast of the land of Canaan and (for much of the period of the judges and until the time of King David) exercised considerable cultural, economic, and even military domination of the region. This Israelite “nation” (such as it was) was largely concentrated in an area described as follows:
The nation of Israel was largely concentrated in an area that ran about 90 mi. from the hill country of Ephraim in the N (I Samuel 1:1; 9:4) to the hill country of Judah in the S (Joshua 20:7; 21:11) and between 15 to 35 mi. E to W. This central spine ranges in height from 1,500 ft. to 3,300 ft. above sea level. The major cities of 1 and 2 Samuel are to be found in these central highlands: Shiloh, the residence of Eli and the tabernacle; Ramah, the hometown of Samuel; Gibeah, the headquarters of Saul; Bethlehem, the birthplace of David; Hebron, David’s capital when he ruled over Judah; and Jerusalem, the ultimately ‘city of David.’
The MacArthur Study Bible, Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997
Israel was, at this time, overrun with idolatry and the priesthood was compromised since Eli had failed to restain his immoral and corrupt sons.
This is the setting of our story.
Let’s begin…
Lessons From I Samuel 1
1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite:
2 And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
Right away, we see a problem. Elkanah had two wives, instead of one. And, yes, that’s a problem, since bigamy (and certainly not polygamy) was never God’s original plan.
But wait! If it’s in the Bible, isn’t it God-inspired? I can sense some of you asking that.
There’s nothing in the Bible that God doesn’t want in the Bible, but…
Not every thought, belief, choice, or action recorded in the Bible is endorsed or approved by God.
Cain murdered Abel, and that’s included (appropriately) in the Bible, but clearly, God didn’t approve of Cain’s actions. God allowed Cain to commit the murder and God inspired the author of Genesis to write the account of Cain committing that murder in the book of Genesis. But God didn’t desire or endorse Cain murdering his brother.
Likewise, the reality of polygamous marriage in ancient times as recorded in the Bible (and, in many cases, involving biblical characters) doesn’t mean God endorsed the practice. It doesn’t speak to God’s original plan.
What was that original plan? And what should our definition be of “biblical marriage”?
All you need to do is ask Jesus, who provides that definition when asked about divorce and remarriage in the Gospel of Matthew:
And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan; And great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there. The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Matthew 19:1-6, KJV
It is true that the Law of Moses had provisions for polygamy just as it did for divorce, but neither was part of God’s original plan. In a future article, I can explore the reasons why God tolerated polygamy and why so many biblical characters participated. But for now, let’s simply reflect on this truth…
When we deviate from God’s plan, we bring problems into our lives.
And that is indeed the case with Elkanah’s marriage. Human nature is not something that can be ignored. In the case of multiple spouses, you’re guaranteed to have a dysfunctional combination of insecurity, rivalry, and jealousy that can lead to all sorts of problems.
And we see problems right away in the Elkanah-Hannah-Peninnah love triangle.
3 And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there.
Despite his deviation from God’s original plan of marriage, we do see that Elkanah was devout in his observance of Hebrew tradition. And we are also introduced to two of the nefarious characters in our story: Hophni and Phinehas. I believe the mention of them in verse 3 is significant for reasons we see more clearly in Hannah’s prayer.
4 And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions:
5 But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the Lord had shut up her womb.
We see that Elkanah was faithful to the Lord and that he truly did love Hannah in spite of the fact that she had not given birth to any children.
But we see it was the Lord who “shut up her womb.” There are times when God will take us through adversity — when He is directly responsible for our travails.
There’s some dispute among scholars on the reference to Hannah’s portion. Time will not allow me to dig into that, but I think the most important point the author wants us to see is that Elkanah bore no resentment toward his wife. He loved her even though she had not given him any children.
6 And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb.
7 And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.
The inability to have children was a source of embarrassment and even shame for a Jewish woman of this time period, given the importance placed on family in ancient Israel. It was also undoubtedly a source of fear and insecurity for Hannah since she obviously didn’t want to disappoint her husband.
In Hannah’s case, however, it wasn’t just a case of cultural shame. Her “adversary” Peninnah added to Hannah’s misery by harassing her for being childless. We see the inherent problem here of multiple spouses. A rivalry had developed, and both women were (for their own reasons and in their own way) insecure in their “standing” in the family.
Hannah’s pain and insecurities are clearly explained, but Peninnah was probably hurt and frustrated that Elkanah was going out of his way to assure Hannah of his love. This likely made her feel threatened, and so she lashed out at Hannah as a result. One can only speculate, of course, since the Bible isn’t explicit about Peninnah’s motives, but I think it’s a rather safe assumption based on the text and human nature.
8 Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons?
Sometimes, husbands mean well, but yeah…
We’ll file this under “Unhelpful Encouragement.”
9 So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord.
10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore.
Note that Hannah was “in bitterness of soul.” She was not in a good place emotionally, but…
She chose to go to a good place as a result. And that place was the presence of God.
When you’re hurting, don’t wallow in your pain or turn away from God. Turn toward God — just as Hannah did.
11 And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.
In this one verse, we see the core – the central content – of one of the most passionate prayers recorded in Scripture. It’s not just from her heart. It’s from the very depths of her soul.
I’ll have more to say about Hannah’s prayer in my next article (Part 2), but for now, as we wrap up this first part, I want us to see Hannah’s approach. Let’s look at what she does in this prayer and what we can learn from it.
First, she prays from a mindset of submission and worship. She addresses God as “O Lord of hosts” and refers to herself (multiple times) as “thine handmaiden” (or “your handmaid” or “your maidservant” — depending on the English translation). God is her God and she is His servant.
Hannah worships God. She humbles herself before God. And she submits herself to God.
And then she puts her pain before God.
Look at the words Hannah uses: “if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid.” This is beautiful. She is pouring out her heart and begging her Heavenly Father to hear her, to see her, and to remember her. She is begging God to see her misery and pain.
But then she does something remarkable. She doesn’t just ask for pain relief. She asks God to transform her pain into God’s progress.
Let me repeat that: Hannah asks God to take her pain and turn it into God’s progress.
How? Well…remember the mention of Hophni and Phinehas? These were Eli’s sons and they were priests of the Lord. And they were immoral and had corrupted the priesthood. I believe Hannah knew this. I believe most Israelites who came to the tabernacle knew this.
So Hannah doesn’t just think of what she desperately wants. She thinks about what God wants!
She figures that God wants a faithful man to restore confidence in the priesthood and bring back godly leadership to the nation of Israel. And so Hannah takes her pain and offers it to God and offers that pain as a sacrifice to God.
And Hannah makes her vow to God.
If God will give her a son, she will give him back to God. Only this isn’t simply a ceremonial or perfunctory baby dedication. She vows to surrender him to lifelong service to the Lord. The nature of her vow (“all the days of his life” and “no razor shall come upon his head”) suggests not only levitical service but a Nazarite vow as well.
And sure enough, Samuel would go on to serve Israel as priest, prophet, and judge.
But Samuel’s legacy all begins with a faithful woman of God named Hannah.
We’ll learn more from this incredible story in Part 2.
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