Hannah’s song
by Rachael Stelzer
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There is no-one holy like the Lord; there is no-one besides you; there is no Rock like our God (1 Samuel 2:2).
Everyone loves an underdog story. We love to hear about a battler who has received an unexpected prize that sets them up for life or someone who has had the biggest wish in their heart granted.
Yesterday we witnessed two unlikely mothers clasping hands and jumping for joy as God’s Spirit inspired songs and poetry in them to respond to the miracles taking place around and inside them. Today we hear a very similar song of praise, this time from the Old Testament. Hannah was the wife of a righteous man, but the Israelites of her time interpreted her childlessness as a curse or punishment. Hannah literally threw herself onto God’s mercy in the temple with such emotion that the priest Eli mistook her desperation for drunkenness.
And when God graciously granted Hannah’s deepest desire, she sang a new song of praise.
As with Mary, Hannah recognised that God ‘sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honour’ (1 Samuel 2:8).
Hannah recognised God’s agenda in this – human understandings of wealth, prestige and ‘blessing’ do not come close to God’s understanding of true blessing. And although this faithful woman could have no idea of the role her son would play in the history of Israel or the arrival of the Saviour of the world, she prophesied at the end of her song: ‘He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed’ (1 Samuel 2:10).
Thanks be to God, who brings about a plan for the salvation of the world, and in doing so, grants the desire of one woman’s heart.
Hannah recognised the miracle and joyfully offered her son back to God. He became the great prophet Samuel who anointed King David and set the scene for the arrival of the Chosen One, born of the line of David.
May we recognise the miracles in our lives and offer back to God the blessings we have been granted. What song can you sing today?
Dear God, you know the desires of my heart. I don’t know how my circumstances fit into your bigger plan, but I am so grateful to walk with you. Use me as you will. Amen.
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