1 Samuel 1; 2:1-11
And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favor both with the Lord, and also with men.
YOU have heard how the Israelites came into the land of Canaan. I shall now tell you what happened to them in Canaan, after Joshua was dead. Do you know who was their real king? God was their King. Joshua was not their King, though he used to tell them what God wished them to do. After Joshua was dead, there were other men, who told them what God wished them to do: but God was their real King.
Do you remember that the tabernacle was placed in Shiloh? The High Priest lived in Shiloh, that he might offer sacrifices in the tabernacle.
I am now going to tell you of a high priest, called Eli.
Eli was a very good old man. A great many people used to come up at certain times every year to Shiloh to worship God at the tabernacle, and to keep God's feasts.
Among the people who came up to worship at the tabernacle, there was a man who had two wives. You know that people might have two wives a long while ago, though they may not have two now.
One of these wives was a very good woman, and she was called Hannah: but she had no little child. The other wife was unkind and wicked: but she had a great many children. The unkind wife laughed at Hannah, because God gave her no child. Poor Hannah used sometimes to cry, when the other wife spoke so unkindly to her.
Once, when Hannah had come to Shiloh, and the other wife had been laughing at her, poor Hannah went to the tabernacle to pray to God. Eli was in the court of the tabernacle, and he saw Hannah come into the court. Now poor Hannah was praying to God in her heart, but though her lips moved, she made no sound, and her eyes were red with weeping. When Eli saw Hannah he thought she had been drinking too much wine, and he spoke roughly to her, and said, `Why do you drink so much?' How much ashamed poor Hannah must have been, when Eli said this to her before all the people! But she answered very meekly, and said, 'I have not been drinking; I have been praying to God, for I am very unhappy.'
When Eli heard this, he spoke kindly to her, and said, 'May God give you what you have been asking for.'
What had poor Hannah been praying for? She had been praying for a little boy, and she had been promising God to bring him up to serve God, and to teach people about God.
Hannah was very glad when Eli spoke so kindly to her, and she wiped away her tears, and she went home, looking quite happy. You see that it is a good thing to pray to the Lord when we are unhappy. I hope you do so, when you are sick, or when you are in disgrace, or when people are unkind to you.
Hannah went away from Shiloh to the place where she lived in Canaan, and God sent her a little baby, and she called his name 'Samuel.'
While Samuel was a baby, Hannah did not go up to Shiloh, but when he was a little child about three or four years old, she took him up to Shiloh with her. l
Hannah did not forget her promise to bring up her child to teach people about God; Hannah did not mean to keep him always at home with her, though she loved him very much: for she wished the good old high priest Eli to bring him up, and to teach him. She brought the child to Eli, and said to him, 'I am the woman that you once saw in the court of the tabernacle, praying to God: I was praying for this child, and God has heard my prayer, and I wish the child to be brought up to serve God.'
Eli took the little boy to live with him. Hannah sang a beautiful song of praise to God for His goodness in hearing her prayers, and then she left her dear little Samuel, and she went home again with her husband.
Do you think she ever came to see her child? Yes, every year; and she always brought him a present of a dress such as the people wore in those days. It was a long linen dress. Samuel used to wear a linen ephod also, such as the priests wore, though Samuel was not a priest himself. Because he belonged specially to God, Samuel wore his hair long. God had put His Spirit into Samuel's heart, so that he liked serving the Lord in the tabernacle. As he grew older, he pleased God more and more, and a great many people loved him. How glad Hannah must have been when she came to see him, to hear that he was a good child! It makes your parents, dear children, very happy to hear that you are good. And the angels are pleased when you are good, and Jesus your Savior is pleased. I hope you will be like little Samuel, and be God's children while you are very young.
What lovely child, with flowing hair,
Old Eli's steps attends?
And why does he an ephod wear,
As by the priest he bends?
It is the child to Hannah sent,
When humbly she implored—
It is the child by Hannah lent
To her prayer-hearing Lord.
Nor foolish mirth, nor idle sports
Young Samuel's heart engage:
With joy he treads God's holy courts,
E'en from his tenderest age.
This child, with heavenly grace endued,
Was lovely in men's sight;
And by his gracious Savior view'd
With infinite delight.
Questions on Lesson 1
Why did people come up to Shiloh?
Who was Eli?
Why was Hannah very unhappy?
Why did Eli speak roughly to her?
What was Hannah praying for, when Eli spoke unkindly to her?
Why did Hannah bring Samuel to Eli?
Why was Samuel so good a child?