Focal Passage:
“And Hannah prayed and said:
“My heart rejoices in the Lord;
My horn is exalted in the Lord.
I smile at my enemies,
Because I rejoice in Your salvation.
“No one is holy like the Lord,
For there is none besides You,
Nor is there any rock like our God.
“Talk no more so very proudly;
Let no arrogance come from your mouth,
For the Lord is the God of knowledge;
And by Him actions are weighed.
“The bows of the mighty men are broken,
And those who stumbled are girded with strength.
Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
And the hungry have ceased to hunger.
Even the barren has borne seven,
And she who has many children has become feeble.
“The Lord kills and makes alive;
He brings down to the grave and brings up.
The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
He brings low and lifts up.
He raises the poor from the dust
And lifts the beggar from the ash heap,
To set them among princes
And make them inherit the throne of glory.
“For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
And He has set the world upon them.
He will guard the feet of His saints,
But the wicked shall be silent in darkness.
“For by strength no man shall prevail.
The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces;
From heaven He will thunder against them.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.
“He will give strength to His king,
And exalt the horn of His anointed.””
1 Sam. 2:1-10
Ah, at last, a prayer of praise and thanksgiving instead of chronic supplication, and this from a woman’s heart. There’s a message in there somewhere, one for men to ponder. It prompts the question, why can’t I just be thankful? “Chew on it,” as they say in the Twizzler commercials. Anyway, gender issues aside, God longs to hear such prayers and this one is especially powerful, a psalm that you can pray from on your knees before Almighty God, one that will honor and please Him if it comes from your heart.
Matthew Henry makes it clear in his commentary: “Hannah’s heart rejoiced, not in Samuel, but in the Lord. She looks beyond the gift and praises the Giver. She rejoiced in the salvation of the Lord and in expectation of His coming, who is the whole salvation of his people. The strong are soon weakened, and the weak are soon strengthened when God pleases. Are we poor? God made us poor, which is a good reason why we should be content, and make up our minds about our condition. Are we rich? God made us rich, which is a good reason why we should be thankful, and serve him cheerfully, and do good with the abundance he gives us.”
The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians, “…be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.”
And we have good reason to be thankful, because, according to Hannah’s prayer:
“For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
And He has set the world upon them.
He will guard the feet of His saints,
But the wicked shall be silent in darkness.”
Castaways Point 