13.) December 11, 2020 Hannah 1 Sam1: 10-18, 20
In her bitterness she prayed to the LORD, weeping freely, and made this vow: “O LORD of hosts, if you look with pity on the hardship of your servant, if you remember me and do not forget me, if you give your handmaid a male child, I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life. No razor shall ever touch his head.”* As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli watched her mouth, for Hannah was praying silently; though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli, thinking she was drunk, said to her, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Sober up from your wine!” “No, my lord!” Hannah answered. “I am an unhappy woman. I have had neither wine nor liquor; I was only pouring out my heart to the LORD. Do not think your servant a worthless woman; my prayer has been prompted by my deep sorrow and misery.” Eli said, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have requested.” She replied, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes,” and left. She went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and no longer appeared downhearted. She conceived and, at the end of her pregnancy, bore a son whom she named Samuel.
(Hannah is one of many women who were given the miracle of birth after years of sorrow. With God, all things are possible)
Eli the priest thought I was drunk. I was drunk all right: drunk on sorrow, pain, and longing. My husband’s other wife mocked me for my inability to have children. Her scorn, and that of others, was painful. Feeling as though God had forgotten me, I poured out my heart in prayer—a tearful libation. Eli listened to me, then promised God would remember me. God did remember me. My prayer of thanksgiving still sings through the centuries. It even appeared, in a slightly altered version, on the lips of Mary at Elizabeth’s door. Now my intoxication is in praising God. Thought: Do I find giving praise to God to be an intoxicating exercise I indulge in often?