Hannah's Story

As I have listened to the first part of Robin Mark’s song the words struck me as familiar…..but I couldn’t quite place them.  When I did some further digging I found that they are a direct quote from 1 Samuel 2.  They, indeed, are words from one of the great prayers in the bible, spoken by Hannah.

Hannah was a ordinary woman who lived in an extraordinary time in Israel’s history.  She became an integral part of that history though at the time she had no idea. The time when Judges ruled over Israel was almost over and the Kings were coming.  Hannah lived right before this transition occurred; in fact, her prayer helped to usher it in.

Hannah’s story is familiar to most of us.  We know that "the Lord had closed her womb" (1 Samuel 1:5), that she endured great provocation and ridicule for her barrenness, and that she continually sought the Lord to remove her burden and give her a male child.  

One year during this trip Hannah entered into the Lord's tabernacle to pray once again for her deepest need.

"And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish. Then she made a vow and said, 'O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head." (1 Samuel 1:10-11)

The Bible says that God then remembered Hannah; she did conceive and had a male child whom she named Samuel. Hannah also remembered the vow she made to the Lord and when Samuel was weaned she took him up to the temple and entrusted him into the hands of Eli, the priest who had overheard her first prayer.

Hannah was willing to give up the very thing she was asking for. What a heavy price she paid. When Samuel was born she only had him to herself for a couple of years before giving him up to Eli.  After that she only saw him once a year when she and Elkanah went up to Shiloh for the annual sacrifice.  Was the outcome worth the price?  Well the answer to that is found in Hannah’s second prayer and the beginning of Robin Mark’s song, All is Well.

"My heart rejoices in the Lord; my horn is exalted in the Lord.
I smile at my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation.
No one is holy like the Lord, for there is none besides You,
Nor is there any rock like our God." (I Samuel 2:1-2)

Reading and studying Hannah’s story has been a beautiful testimony to me.  God chose to close Hannah's womb to see what that would produce.  Just as Hannah had a burden to bear most of us will deal with difficulties at some point in our lives.  While our trials may be different often God is looking for a similar response. 

Things could have turned out far differently for Hannah. What if she had chosen self pity when she found herself barren? How about discouragement leading to bitterness and bitterness to despair? She could easily have given into resigned resentment or anger with God.  Instead she chose to honor and praise Her Almighty Father.

Hannah shows a depth of commitment and love for God that humbles us. On the day she makes the biggest sacrifice she will ever make in her life, she rejoices in the Lord!  She does not, and she can not, rejoice in the leaving of her son. But she can, and she does, rejoice in the Lord. In the most desperate situations, when we have nothing else to rejoice in, we can rejoice in the Lord.

In verse 2 Hannah says that the Lord is holy.  This is to say He is completely set apart; that He is unique, and not like any other. In a form of poetry she repeats this praise only saying it in different words: “For there is none besides You,”  “Nor is there any rock like our God”.  The idea is emphasized: God is so great, there is no one - not one in all the universe - who compares with Him. It isn’t that He has the same power and wisdom and purity we have, just that He has more of it all. No, His power and wisdom and purity is entirely different than ours, rather it is beyond ours.

The next lines of Robin Mark’s song come from verses 6-8 of Hannah’s prayer:

The Lord kills and makes alive;

He brings down to the grave and brings up.

The Lord makes poor and makes rich;

He brings low and lifts up.

He raises the poor from the dust

And lifts the beggar from the ash heap,

Hannah gives glory to the God who often humiliates the strong and exalts the weak.  Who could give testimony to this like Hannah?  She knew all this intimately in her life. She was barren because the Lord had closed her womb (1 Samuel 1:6). She knew The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up. God had first set her low, and then brought her high. She could see the hand of the Lord in it all….God’s Sovereign Grace.  He is in control!

Hannah’s story is a beautiful inspiration.  I pray that I may acknowledge God and demonstrate my faith in Him as Hannah did in her prayers.