A woman who kept her promise

A woman who kept her promise

1 Samuel 1:1–28

The man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord and dwell there forever.” Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; only, may the Lord establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. And the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.” (21–28)

Key passage: The Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore . . . as long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.” (1 Sam. 1:27–28)

Hannah was not able to have children, yet she continued to ask God to give her a son. One evening, while sitting at the door of the temple at Shiloh, she made a vow to God saying: “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life” (v. 11).

God hears her desperate prayer and grants her request, and soon Samuel is born (whose name means, “I have asked for him from the Lord”).

How easy it would have been for Hannah to “forget” her promise to God, to hold Samuel tight and raise him to adulthood herself. Like any mother, she was likely deeply attached to her son. Yet Hannah kept her word. Rather than pretending she never said it, she affirmed her commitment and acknowledged God’s faithfulness: since he had granted her petition, as long as Samuel lived, he would be “lent to the Lord” (v. 28).

After weaning him, Hannah took young Samuel to the temple and presented him to Eli, the high priest, who would continue to look after and train up the child to minister in the temple. Samuel grew in competence, found favor with the Lord, and was eventually confirmed as a prophet of God and judge who would anoint Israel’s first and second kings: Saul and David. And God would honor Hannah’s faithfulness by blessing her with three more sons and two daughters (v. 21).

The main point? We can’t always see what God is doing behind the scenes when we surrender our lives to him.

Conclude with Abraham and Issac was a promise that he waited for.