1 Samuel 1:13-18 - Exposition

Harsh judgment meekly answered.

We hear much of the mothers of eminent men, and it is easy to see whence Samuel derived his elevation of mind, his religious temperament, and the natural aptitude to be a seer and prophet of God. It was from his mother—the sensitive, poetical, devout, unselfish Hannah. Her prayer at the house of the Lord in Shiloh shows her in a noble light. She asked for no vengeance on her adversary Peninnah, who had so often taunted her, but only for a son whom she might devote as a pure Nazarite to Jehovah's service. Her thought recurred to the last great judge of Israel—the Nazarite Samson. The work which he might have performed had been very imperfectly done; and Hannah's devout and patriotic wish Was to give birth to one who might repair the failure of Samson, as well as remedy the evil wrought by the sons of Eli, and work a great deliverance for Israel.

I. PIOUS EMOTION HARSHLY CENSURED . If Hannah's prayer had been mocked by the profane, it had not surprised her; but this was her trial, that the venerable priest, whose duty it was to recognise and encourage religious aspiration, cruelly misconstrued her agitation, and charged her with wickedness. Eli was weak towards men, stern to a woman. He could not restrain his own sons, but he could speak sharply and severely to Hannah. The only palliation of his readiness to impute evil to her lies in the fact that, through his weakness, there had come to be a great license of manners at the time, and women of Israel misconducted themselves at the very seat of worship. Eli took Hannah for one of these, and her holy ardour for the agitation of one unduly excited by wine. Religious emotion, especially in persons of a sensitive and pensive nature, may resemble the effect of "wine wherein is excess" in the eyes of a careless or unsympathetic obserVerse And this applies to the joyful as well as to the sorrowful in spirit. On the day of Pentecost, when the power of the Spirit descended on the disciples of our Lord, and joy in the Holy Ghost expressed itself in their looks and words, some of the bystanders began to mock and say, "These men are full of new wine." That religious fervour should be unappreciated by worldly minds need cause no wonder. That tears and prayers poured forth before the unseen God should be despised as drivelling superstition, or the flush of spiritual gladness derided as irrational frenzy, by persons of a cold, unbelieving temper, is what may be expected. But it is hard to bear misconstruction from men like Eli, who ought to understand that the spirit of man or woman sometimes faints, sometimes leaps for joy before the Lord.

II. THE EQUANIMITY OF A GOOD CONSCIENCE . When one is quite conscious of Innocence he can meet accusations with calmness, and repel them without passion or bitterness. If Hannah had been unguarded in eating or drinking at the feast after the sacrifice in Shiloh, she would probably have given a sharp answer to Eli, and exonerated herself from his charge with some heat of temper. But her conscience was quite clear in the matter. From her vow to make the son for whose birth she prayed a Nazarite, we infer that she was strongly sensible of the evils which indulgence in wine, and consequent licentious excess, had brought on the nation. So her answer to the priest, while firm, was calm, and even meek: "No, my Lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit."

III. THE TRUE RESOURCE OF THE SORROWFUL . "I have poured out my soul before the Lord." Hannah abhorred the kind of evil of which Eli accused her. "Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial." Alas, how many, because they are in low spirits, or vexed with their lot, seek exhilaration in wine or strong drink! It is a gross and dangerous consolation, fit for children of Belial, not for children of God. "Is any afflicted? Let him pray." Is any anxious? Let him by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make his request known to God. To be excited with wine is to have the imagination and passions fired through the flesh and the senses. For a time care or grief may be forgotten, and the mind may seem to become gay and brilliant; but as the appetite grows, and the fallacious pleasure beguiles, there ensues degradation and sorrow upon sorrow; the mind is clouded and enfeebled, and the heart made selfish and gross. How different from the excitement of the praying heart that is " filled with the Spirit!" This takes hold of the best and highest part of our nature, and from this acts on the whole man—subdues sensual passion, scatters delusion, and while it may for a time agitate the frame, as Hannah's was agitated, never disturbs or unhinges the regulative principles of reason and conscience within.

IV. THE COMFORT AFTER PRAYER . Whatever the worth of Eli's personal character, his office gave weight to his words; and when he invoked from the God of Israel an answer to Hannah's petition, she received his words with reverence, and went homo with a glad assurance in her heart. Have not we a great High Priest who misunderstands no one, requires no corrective explanation, discourages no suppliant; and is it not he who has said, "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them"? Look to Jesus, and where is your burden? It is gone. Where are your tears? They are wiped away. Where is your desired thing, your Samuel? It is at hand. Go your way when you have poured out your prayer, for he has heard you, and "let your countenance be no more sad."—F.

HOMILIES BY B. DALE

1 Samuel 1:19-28 . (RAMAH and SHILOH)

Samuel's birth and infancy.

( References— 1 Chronicles 29:29 , "the seer;" Psalms 99:9 ; Jeremiah 15:1 ; Acts 3:24 ; Acts 13:20 ; Hebrews 12:1-29 :32; Apoc. Ecclus. 46:13-20.) Consolation and hope were from the first associated with the birth of children ( Genesis 3:15 ; Genesis 4:1 , Genesis 4:25 ; Genesis 5:29 ; Genesis 21:6 ). More than ordinary joy ( John 16:24 ) was felt at the birth of Samuel by his mother, because of the peculiar circumstances connected therewith, and the expectations entertained by her of the good which he might effect for Israel. Often as she looked upon her God-given infant she would think, "What manner of child shall this be?" ( Luke 1:66 ), and ask, "How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?" ( 13:12 ). Nor did she fail to do her utmost towards the fulfilment of her exalted hopes. The child was—

I. REGARDED AS A DIVINE GIFT ( Psalms 127:4 ). Every little infant bears the impress of the "Father of spirits" ( James 3:9 ).

"Trailing clouds of glory do we come

From God, who is our home."

The gift of a fresh, new, mysterious human life, with its vast capabilities, is a great gift, and demands grateful acknowledgment of the Divine goodness; hut it is not an absolute gift ; it is rather a trust which involves serious responsibilities on the part of those into whose hands it is placed. God says in effect, "Take this child," etc. ( Exodus 2:9 ).

II. DESIGNATED BY AN APPROPRIATE NAME ( 1 Samuel 1:20 ). Samuel = heard of God. "The mother names, the father assents, God approves, and time confirms the nomination" (Hunter). Like other personal names in the Bible, it was full of significance; being a grateful memorial of the goodness and faithfulness of God in the past, and a constant incentive to faith and prayer in the future. "Our very names should mind us of our duty." The name "Samuel" was uttered by the Lord as mindful of his history, and recognising his special relation to himself ( 1 Samuel 3:10 ). The name of a child is not an unimportant matter, and it should be given with due consideration. When parents give their children names borne by excellent men, they should train them to follow in the footsteps of such men.

III. NURTURED WITH MOTHERLY TENDERNESS ( 1 Samuel 1:22-25 ). His mother was herself his nurse ( 1 Samuel 1:23 ), not intrusting him to others, and not neglecting him, whereby many young lives are sacrificed; but thoughtfully, carefully, and constantly ministering to his physical needs, praying over him, and directing his thoughts, with the earliest dawn of reason, toward the Lord of hosts. That she might the more perfectly fulfil her trust, she remained at home, and went not up to Shiloh until he was weaned. Her absence from the sanctuary was justifiable, her worship at home was acceptable, and the service which she rendered to her child was a service rendered to God and to his people. "A mother's teachings have a marvellous vitality in them; there is a strange living power in that good seed which is sown by a mother's hand in her child's heart in the early dawn of the child's being, when they two are alone together, and the mother's soul gushes forth on her child, and the child listens to his mother as a God; and there is a deathless potency in a mother's prayers and tears for those whom she has borne which only God can estimate" (W.L. Alexander). "Who is best taught? He that is taught of his mother" ('Talmud').

IV. PRAYED OVER WITH FATHERLY SOLICITUDE . Elkanah consented to the vow of his wife ( Numbers 30:6 , Numbers 30:7 ), and appears to have made it his own ( 1 Samuel 1:21 ). He was zealous for its performance, and whilst he agreed with her in the desire of its postponement for a brief period, he expressed the wish in prayer, "Only the Lord establish his word" ( 1 Samuel 1:23 ). "Word, that is, may he fulfil what he designs with him, and has promised by his birth ( 1 Samuel 1:11 , 1 Samuel 1:20 ). The words refer, therefore, to the boy's destination to the service of God ; which the Eternal has in fact acknowledged by the partial fulfilment of the mothers wish" (Bunsen). HIS PRAYER indicates, with respect to the Divine word—

1 . Confidence in its truth. He believed

2 . Desire of its fulfilment.

3 . Obedience to its requirements. In order to its establishment, cooperation on their part was—

V. CONDUCTED TO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD . As soon as he was weaned "she took him up with her" ( 1 Samuel 1:24 ), and "they brought the child to Eli" ( 1 Samuel 1:25 ). Children are in their right place in the temple ( Matthew 21:15 , Matthew 21:16 ), and their praises are acceptable to the Lord. Even infants (sucklings) belong to the kingdom of heaven, and are capable of being blessed by him ( Matthew 19:13 ). Therefore the "little ones" should be brought unto him ( Matthew 18:14 ).

VI. DEDICATED TO A LIFE - LONG SERVICE ( 1 Samuel 1:25-28 ), i.e. a continual (and not a limited or periodical) service at the sanctuary as a Levite, and an entire (and not a partial) service as a Nazarite. It was done

VII. FOLLOWED BY PARENTAL PRAYERS AND THANKSGIVINGS . "He (Elkanah) worshipped the Lord there" ( 1 Samuel 1:28 ). "And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord." ( 1 Samuel 2:1 ). "And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house" ( 1 Samuel 2:11 ). The sacrifice made in learning the child behind was great, but it was attended, through Divine grace, with great joy. The more any one gives to God, the more God gives back to him in spiritual blessing. Hannah felt little anxiety or fear for the safety of her child, for she believed that he would "keep the feet of his saints" ( 1 Samuel 2:9 ). What holy influences ever rest on children whose parents pray for them "without ceasing!" and what multitudes have by such means been eternally saved!—D.

"The boy was vowed

Unto the temple service. By the hand

She led him, and her silent soul, the while,

Oft as the dewy laughter of his eye

Met her sweet serious glance, rejoiced to think

That aught so pure, so beautiful, was hers,

To bring before her God.

I give thee to thy God—the God that gave thee,

A wellspring of deep gladness to my heart!

And precious as thou art,

And pure as dew of Hermon, he shall have thee,

My own, my beautiful, my undefiled!

And thou shalt be his child.

Therefore, farewell!—I go, my soul may fail me,

As the stag panteth for the water brooks,

Yearning for thy sweet looks.—

But thou, my firstborn, droop not, nor bewail me!

Thou in the Shadow of the Rock shalt dwell,

The Rock of Strength.—Farewell!"

( Mrs. Hemans ) .