“In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried to my God for help.”
Psalm 18:6
Now, we haven’t said anything yet about Hannah’s prayer life, but we need to follow the progression of the story the way the writer of the Scripture presents it. You’ll appreciate the power of her great prayer if you see the context out of which it came.
You’ll appreciate the power of her great prayer if you see the context out of which it came.
The context we’re talking about here is a bad situation. This routine of Peninnah provoking Hannah became a yearly ritual. We’re not told how many years this went on, but that’s really not the point. The point is that Hannah’s barrenness became the focus of her worship at Shiloh every year, not necessarily because she wanted it that way, but because her situation was thrown into her face by Peninnah.
1 Samuel 1:7 gives us an important clue about Hannah’s character. Although her yearly trip with Elkanah to sacrifice to the Lord was the saddest day of the year for Hannah, she still went to the place of worship every year. Hannah was a faithful woman who worshiped the Lord and sought His presence and His face even though she had a persistent problem.
Now remember that there’s more going on here than just Hannah’s painful problem and this humiliating routine she went through every year. The Lord was at work, even though it didn’t seem that anything was happening. For reasons only He knew, He allowed Hannah to endure this trial to deepen her faith.
The Lord was at work, even though it didn’t seem that anything was happening.
I suspect you’ve been in a position like this before. The problem wasn’t that this thing necessarily got worse. The hard part was that nothing changed for Hannah. Have you ever had a problem that just lurked? No matter what you did, it just continued? Every year Hannah went to Shiloh as a childless woman, she was reminded of her persistent problem. Every year she heard the same taunts.
Can you appreciate how Hannah must have felt? You keep trusting and believing and hoping, but nothing happens. People try to say something helpful, as Elkanah did (v. 8), but it only makes things worse. But since God is working, you need to keep waiting and worshiping because something’s going to happen when He’s ready. Use Hannah’s story as an encouragement in your own life to never throw in the towel. Trust God. He is good, and He has good up ahead for you.
