People

Hannah’s Hallelujah

By Connie Arnold

What can we offer a God who has everything?

We can only offer back to Him what He gives to us. We come into this world naked and bankrupt with tainted hands and a deceitful heart. It is a heavy blanket to lay on a newborn baby, looking so sweet swaddled in newly-purchased clothes and smelling of innocence, but it is what it is.

As we find the Cross and surrender all of our material things to Him, it leaves little but dust on the floor of His storehouse. The inadequacy of our earthly possessions humble us. How can we ever thank Him enough for all His blessings on us?

In the Bible, a man named Elkanah had two wives. His beloved one, Hannah, had no children after ten years of marriage. He then married Peninnah who gave him children.

It was the time of traveling to the temple to bring sacrifice. The burden of  years of being barren and taunted by Peninnah weighed heavily upon Hannah.

 If I can just make it to the temple. I will pour my heart out to God. And in His holy house, He will look down on me with favor.

Hannah lay before the altar. Her burden was so heavy that only her lips moved in prayer. No sound was heard coming from her mouth. Eli, the priest became concerned, and he accused her of being drunk with wine. But when he learned her plight, he bade her to go in peace.

Hannah promised God that if He would give her a son, she would give him back to Him, and she left the temple that morning with the assurance that she had the petition that she asked of God. I like to think she happily sewed a layette awaiting the promise. The baby boy was born, and she named him Samuel. When he was weaned, she surrendered him to Eli, the temple priest, as a living sacrifice to God. Eli, the priest, would mentor Samuel. Difficult? Absolutely.

We see in 1 Samuel 2:1-10 that Hannah extols the greatness of God. She does not brag about the preciousness of her new baby boy, but for ten verses she praises God for Who He is. Publicly, she testifies to His wondrous works and mighty deeds of valor. Hannah’s praise equaled her petition.

God had plans for this child’s future before Hannah prayed. Samuel was the bridge between the prophets and kings in the Old Testament. Samuel was a righteous judge in Israel for over forty years. He had the honored responsibility of anointing David as king. No doubt, he left a favorable imprint on David’s life.

Little did Hannah and Elkanah know when they left their boy behind at the temple, what God had in store. The daily loss of the child’s presence in their home had to remain in God’s hands.

Samuel was Hannah’s hallelujah. Her son far outperformed her expectation. Until her death, Hannah rejoiced during each one of Samuel’s years as another testament to God’s answer to her prayer. She had prayed for a son for her house; God allowed Hannah to give Israel a mighty leader.

And God did not leave Hannah bereft at home. He blessed her with three more sons and two daughters.