7. Hannahs Faithfulness in Relation to her Vow

Hannah’s Faithfulness in Relation to her Vow

"And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and his vow. But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that may appear before the Lord, and there abide for ever. And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou hast weaned him; only the Lord establish his word. So the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him. And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh: and the child was young. And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli. And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him: therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there." (1 Samuel 1:21-28)

Well, Elkanah went up to worship but Hannah remained to home, she said, ’I am going to wean the child’. It would have been very easy for her to give the child immediately. ’No,’ she said, ’I will wean the child’. Mothers know that there is a long process involved before the child is weaned, and the child gets entwined in the affections, the child becomes part of the mother, well the child is part of the mother, but more and more as the mother cares for the child before this time of weaning comes. I believe this indicates the extent of the sacrifice that Hannah made. She handed him over to the Lord thoroughly weaned. Oh how she loved him, and how she cared for him, as we see in the succeeding chapters, preparing a garment for him year by year as he grew and given to the Lord and given to the Lord’s servant and what a man he became! When she had weaned him she took him up with her with three bullocks and an ephah of flour and a bottle of wine and brought him unto the house of the Lord at Shiloh and the child was young. I think this indicates to us that there was a very definite response to God. God had done his part, now says Hannah, we will do our part, and I believe the bullocks would be burnt offerings, the flour indicates the meal offering and the wine indicates the drink offering, and the drink offering is always associated with joy. The Lord has His part, the offerer has his part, a mutual matter of joy. Having received this blessing from the Lord, Hannah and her husband responded unto the Lord with worship and thanksgiving.

Then she gave testimony to Eli, "For this child I prayed and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of him, therefore have I also leant him to the Lord as long as he liveth shall he be leant to the Lord", and note what it says, "and he (that is Eli) worshipped there". Here is worship, fellowship in worship. Hannah and her husband worshipped, Eli as he saw the result of the prayer worshipped. What a wonderful thing prayer is. What wonderful things it produces, a response to God, response in worship and praise, all involved in it, those who receive the blessing, the priest of the Lord, so happy in his soul that he saw this answer to prayer and he worshipped too.