Concerning Hannah, we read in 1 Samuel 1:6-7, “Her adversary also provoked her ... when she went up to the house of the Lord.” What a state of affairs this is — this woman of faith, being so tested! She goes up to the house of the Lord where she should have had relief, but instead the darkness of doubts presented by the adversary as to the goodness of God plagued her every thought. No doubt she had great confidence in God, but even the most faithful of God’s children are subject to doubt and questions that, unjudged, would remove us from the security and the enjoyment of His very presence.
Her Husband
The first to hear her weep is her husband, who has the heart and the desire to give her whatever he could. The problem was that he had the ability to hear and enter into her crying, but he did not have the resources to answer her need. The only thing he could offer her was of himself and limited to his own experience. “Am I not better to thee than ten sons?” (1 Sam. 1:8). How often we turn to another well-intentioned person — some other source of comfort, while ignoring the fact that the resources of these comforters are as limited as ours.
Eli’s Misunderstanding
The second person to hear her cry was Eli, and perhaps he did not think it was possible that anybody who was truly pious would come to pray in the temple, as it had turned into a seat of evil. He thought she was just another dislocated, drunken person. He had the resources but the inability to hear. How often have we sought solace in a source that could not enter into the bitterness of our own souls! “The heart knoweth his own bitterness” (Prov. 14:10). Instead of consolation, we get criticism or a discounting of the pain that we are experiencing.
The Lord Heard
Ah, but the third ear that heard her cry was that of the Lord. Hannah says in 1 Samuel 1:26-27, “I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of Him.” Yes, Eli stood by, but she bypasses him and gives the Lord all the credit. It was the Lord who heard her, but only He could answer her pain. Only the Lord could fill the void.
My Tears in Thy Bottle
How often we are like Hannah, forgetting that we are “one with Him” and that our tears are his tears. He has purchased us with His own blood. “Put Thou my tears into Thy bottle” (Psa. 56:8). May we be like the Shunamite in 2 Kings 4, who bypassed the first two “altars” and was not content until she had bowed at the feet of the Giver of all good and made her pain His pain. May we remember to present our tears and our sorrows only at our true altar. It is there, and only there, that we will find grace for our time of need and divine provision that will give lasting comfort.
“He that confideth in Jehovah, loving-kindness shall encompass him” (Psa. 32:10 JND).
“Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him” (Psa. 62:8).
“Blessed be God ... the God of all comfort” (2 Cor. 1:3).
D. Jacobsen