Day 5: 1 Samuel 1:9–18

Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the Lord and wept with many tears. . . . Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer appeared downcast (vv. 10, 18).

What constitutes the most bitter pill you’ve ever had to swallow? All of us have them. Compared to each other they may seem major or minor, but just as the only minor surgery is one that happens to someone else, the bitterness we feel is never minor.

Hannah’s situation certainly involved no small pain. Childless. Tormented. Alone. A plight many have faced, but company proves small solace for misery.

Yet Hannah made the right choices about what to do with her bitterness. She “wept much and prayed to the Lord” (v. 10). In her prayer, she made two almost unimaginable commitments. One was by far the easiest of the pair. She promised no razor would be used on his head. This meant the child would be a Nazirite, especially consecrated to the Lord. The other promise was to give him to the Lord for all the days of his life.

We could accuse her of bargaining with God, who does not bargain, but our God does search the earth for those with a heart toward Him so He can bless them (2 Chron. 16:9). Chronicles had not yet been written when Hannah was praying for a son, but somehow she sought in God what David later learned to be true: “The Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you” (1 Chron. 28:9). In her bitterness she sought her Lord.

I believe God responded to Hannah’s prayer for two reasons. First, He is gracious. He longs to pour His love on us. Second, He knew her heart. He knew that what she said, she would do.

Hannah demonstrated that she took her vow to God seriously. For three years she would hold and love this child. Then she would fulfill her vow, loving her son even as she gave him to the One who gave him to her.

I never fail to be moved by this account in Scripture. How deeply this woman wanted a child. How easy to promise anything to get what we want, but Hannah did not voice empty words. Even in her bitterness of soul and great weeping, she made her vow to God with the steadfast determination to fulfill it.