Tuesday
Read 1 Samuel 1:4-20
4Each time Elkanah offered his sacrifice, he would give one
share of the meat to Peninnah and one share to each of her children. 5And
even though he loved Hannah very much he would give her only one share, becausea
the Lord had kept her from having
children. 6Peninnah, her rival, would torment and humiliate her,
because the Lord had kept her
childless. 7This went on year after year; whenever they went to the
house of the Lord, Peninnah would
upset Hannah so much that she would cry and refuse to eat anything. 8Her
husband Elkanah would ask her, “Hannah, why are you crying? Why won’t you eat?
Why are you always so sad? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?”
9–10 One day, after they had
finished their meal in the house of the Lord
at Shiloh, Hannah got up. She was deeply distressed, and she cried bitterly as
she prayed to the Lord. Meanwhile,
Eli the priest was sitting in his place by the door. 11Hannah made a
solemn promise: “Almighty Lord,
look at me, your servant! See my trouble and remember me! Don’t forget me! If
you give me a son, I promise that I will dedicate him to you for his whole life
and that he will never have his hair cut.”b
12 Hannah continued to pray to the Lord for a long time, and Eli watched
her lips. 13She was praying silently; her lips were moving, but she
made no sound. So Eli thought that she was drunk, 14and said to her,
“Stop making a drunken show of yourself! Stop your drinking and sober up!”
15 “No, I’m not drunk, sir,” she
answered. “I haven’t been drinking! I am desperate, and I have been praying,
pouring out my troubles to the Lord.
16Don’t think I am a worthless woman. I have been praying like this
because I’m so miserable.”
17 “Go in peace,” Eli said, “and may
the God of Israel give you what you have asked him for.”
18 “May you always think kindly of
me,” she replied. Then she went away, ate some food, and was no longer sad.
19 The next morning Elkanah and his
family got up early, and after worshipping the Lord,
they went back home to Ramah. Elkanah had intercourse with his wife Hannah, and
the Lord answered her prayer. 20So
it was that she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel,c
and explained, “I asked the Lord
for him.”
Think
Hannah struggled to conceive - Peninnah; Elkanah's other wife had
conceived and born children so she tormented her and humiliated her.
Are we ever mean like Peninnah?
Pray
Lord, sometimes we take the blessings we have as if we were somehow better
than others. Help me to remember that
all that I enjoy comes from you. Humble
me in my love for others.
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