1 Samuel 1:1-28.
We now come to a distinct turning point in God’s ways with His people Israel, and a careful consideration of this interesting book of First Samuel will be for much profit.
The priesthood, which had been set up, in the wilderness, had been the means by which God went on with His erring people. But oh, what sad departure had come in. Eli, the high priest, had been faithful himself, but he had honored his sons before the Lord, and allowed them to remain as priests, while practicing the most horrible sins publicly. God was about to judge this, though He had waited patiently. He is never in a hurry to judge, for it is a principle in His ways that He always gives space to repent (Rev. 2:21).
It is also beautiful to see God’s grace rising above all man’s failure, and here, before we ever read of the sad condition of things in the house of the Lord, we are told of a woman named Hannah, who, though passing through trial, had a real love for the Lord and a quiet confidence in Him. She would not be hindered or turned aside in spite of these things in Eli’s household, nor even by the false accusation of Eli himself. Her confidence was in the Lord. Surely no flesh can glory in His presence (1 Cor. 1:29), and He uses the weak and foolish things of the world to confound the wise. He always encourages the faith which looks to Him, for He never fails in His love to His people, no matter how failing they are (John 13: 1).
Hannah did not have a child, though she longed for one, and so she asked the Lord for a son. She said she would give her son to the Lord if He gave her one. How lovely it would be if every parent followed this touching example! While she was praying in the temple, asking for a son, her lips were moving, but she was not talking out loud, and Eli thought she was drunk with wine. He therefore rebuked her and told her to stop her drinking, but she gently replied that she was praying, and had not been drinking at all. Eli then said, “Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of Him.”
She then returned home with her husband to their house at Ramah, and the Lord answered the desire of her heart and gave them a little son, whom they named Samuel. After a short time she and her husband went up to Shiloh with their young child and presented him to the Lord. Recognizing that their little lad was born in sin, they killed a bullock at this time, for the ground of any approach to God, or claim for blessing for ourselves or our children, is the death of Christ. It is beautiful to see the faith of Hannah laying hold of this, in a typical way, when they presented little Samuel to the Lord. Hannah then told Eli that this child was the one for whom she had prayed, and now she would lend him to the Lord as long as he lived. Let us, too, lend our children to the Lord and, acknowledging His claims over them, seek to “bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4. What a terrible mistake to bring them up to occupy high positions in this poor world that is under judgment, and yet how many parents seem to put success in this world first for their children. Oh, for more devotedness to Christ today!
ML 04/04/1954