Pray | Isralite Prayers
Hannah -
Elkanah is a devout worshipper who makes an annual visit with his family to Shiloh ‘to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty’ in fulfilment of the law of Moses (Deuteronomy 16:16; also note 1 Samuel 9:12 and 20:6, 29 which refer to similar family or even clan events). Shiloh is where the ark of the covenant has finally come to rest after the wilderness wanderings (3:3).
Second, for the first time in Scripture we are introduced to the title ‘LORD Almighty’. The term is literally ‘Yahweh of Hosts’. The ‘hosts’ can refer to armies that are either physical (for example, the ‘hosts’ of Hazor in 12:9), spiritual (the LORD’s ‘hosts’ in Joshua 5:14), or even celestial (for example, Psalm 148:2). The title ‘Yahweh of Hosts’ or ‘LORD Almighty’ therefore appears to be a title that emphasises God as one who has immense powers at his disposal, which he uses on behalf of his people.
Hannah’s childlessness now moves to centre stage, as does the impact that it causes her personally. By Hebrew storytelling standards, the description of her distressed mental state is quite detailed. Elkanah notes that she is downhearted (literally, ‘bad’ or ‘displeased’ of heart, verse 8) while the narrator describes her as ‘bitter of soul’ (verse 10). Hannah herself says that she is in ‘misery’ (verse 11), ‘deeply troubled’ (verse 15) and in ‘great anguish and grief’ (verse 16). Apparently these feelings have been going on for some long period of time and on the occasion presented here it drives her to uncontrollable weeping (literally, ‘and weeping, she was weeping’, verse 10). Here is a woman at the end of her tether and in desperate straits.
God delights in such situations because they often lead people to do what God designed them to do, that is, to depend upon him by turning to him as the help of the helpless.
With these things in mind, it is a great wonder that we do not call upon God more often as his dependent children. There are no guarantees that he will answer our cries as he did with Hannah, but he does promise that, as our heavenly Father, he loves to listen and give good gifts to those who seek him (Matthew 7:7–12).
her an object of Peninnah’s boasting and persecution. In other words, Hannah had a proud enemy. These two items are reflected in verses 1 and 5 of her song where, because of God’s action, her mouth boasts over her enemies and her barrenness is turned into fertility. Therefore, we must not divorce this song from its setting. It is a song of exaltation or victory because God has met the needs of this woman by upturning or inverting the normal situation.
These lines focus on God, his actions, and his nature. He is the source of her delight and it is only in him that her ‘horn is lifted high’.
Three times in verse 2 the language of incomparability is used as we are told that ‘there is no …’ God is unique and has no rivals. He is holy beyond all others. He is a Rock beyond all others. Hannah exalts in a God who is really worthy of the name; there is none like him.
then her hearers should turn away from false sources of strength. False strength glories in humanity and boasts of itself; it should be shunned. God sees through such things. He ‘is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed’ (verse 3).
Verses 4 and 5 do not mention God. Instead they talk of the inverting of normal power structures such as the ‘bows of warriors’ being broken while ‘those who stumble are armed with strength’ or ‘those who were full hire themselves out for food’ while the ‘hungry hunger no more.’ In verses 6 and 7 there is a shift. Hannah lets us know that these inversions are not just accidents but are under the oversight and supervision of the LORD who controls everything between life and death and who loves turning human power structures on their heads.
Finally in this section, Hannah gives us the theological undergirding for how it is that God is able to do these things. He is the Creator, the one who owns ‘the foundations of the earth’ and upon them ‘he has placed the world’ (verse 8).
faithful people whose feet he guards are those like Hannah who trust in God to strengthen them while the wicked trust in their own might, ‘for not by might does one prevail’ (NRSV).
In the centre of her song there is no mention of horns, but there is mention of God humbling and exalting. The point is that the status of all humans is dependent upon God’s actions on their behalf. True strength is dependent upon God.
The second clue to the main thrust of the song adds weight to the first. Yahweh is mentioned by name nine times in ten verses. Even when he is not mentioned by name, he is the subject of an incredible array of verbs (for example, he knows, brings death, makes alive, brings down, raises up, sends poverty and wealth, humbles, exalts, raises, lifts, seats, sets, guards, shatters, thunders, judges, gives strength, exalts). Along with this, the nouns associated with his actions in the world capture strong polarities (for example, humbles/exalts, poverty/wealth, death/life, poor/princes, ash heap/throne of honour). It is clear that God sovereignly controls all dimensions of human existence.