CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES.—
1 Samuel 1:13. “She spake in her heart.” Prayer is almost always oral in the East, even in public (Kitto).
1 Samuel 1:14. “Put away thy wine from thee,” i.e., sleep off the effects of intoxication.
1 Samuel 1:15. “Neither wine nor strong drink has been poured out unto me, but I have poured out my soul before the Lord” (A. Clarke).
1 Samuel 1:16. “Belial,” i.e., worthlessness or wickedness. The word is not a proper name, although it has become impersonified to indicate the “wicked one.” “Complaint,” “meditation, inward movement of the heart, sighing” (Keil).
1 Samuel 1:17. This word of the High Priest was not a prediction, but a pious wish (Keil).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH— 1 Samuel 1:12-18
HANNAH AND ELI
I. The wrong interpretation which Eli put upon Hannah’s conduct shows—
1. That the occurrence was an uncommon one. It was not a common thing in those degenerate days for Eli to see a devout and deeply-moved worshipper in the house of God. His eyes were not accustomed to the sight of a soul so absorbed in wrestling with God, and so filled with a sense of the Divine presence as to be oblivious of all external things. He-was used probably to hear the audible, formal prayers of less spiritual worshippers, but the silent communion of the soul with its God was apparently beyond his power of spiritual apprehension. His explanation of the unwonted spectacle suggests the thought that Eli himself was not accustomed to very close communion with God—that he was not in the habit of coming into the presence of Jehovah with a heart full of emotions too deep for utterance. Be that as it may, it has never been uncommon for those who are ignorant of the deeper experiences of spiritual life—whether of a joyful or sorrowful nature—to refer them to a wrong source. The fervour of the Christian Church on the day of Pentecost was referred to the influence of “new wine” (Acts 2:13). In the days of martyrdom those who faced death with joyful courage, being filled with the power of the Spirit of God, were sometimes charged by their enemies, or by those who had never drunk at the same fountain of Divine comfort, with being in league with the devil and with being supported by him. Uncommon spiritual phenomena, like any uncommon phenomenon in the natural world, are always liable to be wrongly interpreted and to be attributed to a wrong source by those who are utterly ignorant in such matters. Festus could only account for Paul’s enthusiasm concerning Jesus of Nazareth by—“Paul, thou art beside thyself, much learning doth make thee mad” (Acts 26:24). The uncommon phenomenon of such a prisoner at his bar could be referred by him to nothing else. The harsh judgment passed by Eli upon Hannah—his entire misapprehension of her character and conduct—is a type of what has happened ten thousand times in the past, is happening now, and will go on to happen while men are imperfect. And it is to be especially noted that not only does the world thus misunderstand the actions of the saints of God, but one good man or woman often, through ignorance, thus misjudges another—often refers an act which lies outside his or her own range of experience to a motive or to a cause which is the very opposite of the real one.
2. That the kind of worshipper Eli supposed Hannah to be was not uncommon in the Tabernacle. Everybody who has had any experience in the professing Church of God, knows that indulgence in strong drink and attendance upon the services of God’s house are not incompatible. Men who are lovers of wine are sometimes also very fervent and devout in external service, and will even utter prayers while under the partial influence of intoxicating drink. There is abundant evidence in the Old Testament writings that drunkenness was one of the sins of the ancient people of God. It was inseparable from such a state of things as that described in chapter 1 Samuel 2:22. Doubtless many “daughters of Belial” and daughters of Bacchus frequented the house of God in Shiloh, and Eli had often good reason to say to a devout drunkard, “How long will thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee.”
3. How suspicion blunts the power of discrimination. If a man has reason to think he has been deceived in the past by certain characters or by certain aspects of character, he will find himself always prone to suspect any person or appearance of the same kind that is presented to him. And this suspicion will make him less impartial—more uncharitable—in his judgment than he otherwise would be. It is one of the saddest influences of crime upon good men that it sometimes makes them harsh and unjust to innoceut people. Eli had seen so many hypocritical and vicious worshippers in the tabernacle that he could not discern a really devout one when she came—he hastily leaped to the conclusion that this godly woman was like most of those who frequented the service of God.
II. Hannah’s reception of the unmerited accusation. Consider how keenly she must have felt Eli’s words. Constantly insulted and taunted as she was, by her rival at home, she would naturally look for sympathy from the priest of God—to receive from him an insult greater even than she could have ever received from Peninnah, must have been like a sword-thrust to one already deeply wounded. Her defence is at once—
1. Emphatic. She meets the accusation with a decided No. It is the duty of all, when wrongly accused, to meet such an accusation with an emphatic denial. We owe it to ourselves to declare that we are innocent.
2. Calm and respectful. “No, my lord.” “Count not thine handmaid a daughter of Belial.” Nothing is more likely than an unjust accusation to arouse angry feeling. We are, then, in imminent danger of forgetting not only what we owe to the person who accuses us, but what we owe to ourselves, and to let our indignation override our self-command. Hannah’s calm reply shows that she was a woman who knew how to rule her own spirit, that she had profited by the home discipline to which she had been subjected. There were many things connected with Eli’s family which, if she had been disposed to retaliate, she might have used to inflict a wound upon her accuser. But she was too high-minded a woman to descend to the use of such weapons. Spirited as was her reply, there was no lack of respect to God’s High Priest.
3. Explanatory. We may often be conscious, when wrongfully accused, that information only is needed to convince our accuser that he is in the wrong. It is our duty not to withhold this. Circumstances which admit of a very easy explanation may look sometimes very much against us. It was so in Hannah’s case. A bottle that is full will pour out its contents much more slowly than one which contains but little. So with the heart full of sorrow. Its feelings are long in finding an outlet—it is long before there is any feeling of relief in prayer. Hannah had continued long before the Lord in silent prayer, and this, doubtless, gave some colour to Eli’s suspicion. She was not too angry, or too proud, to give him a full explanation of all that had occurred.
III. Eli’s benediction. It involves the admission that he had erred. A block of ice and a block of marble may look equally hard and feel equally cold; but if the warm sun shine on them, how soon will the difference be seen. The one will remain as hard and cold as ever, the other will be melted into streams of refreshing water. So with a good and a bad man. Both may speak harsh words in haste, both are liable to err in judgment, but the one can be melted into contrition for the wrong he has done and will acknowledge his fault, while the other remains proud and unsubdued. Eli’s change of speech and of bearing towards the woman whom he had wronged, showed his desire to atone for his error, and gave evidence that he “rejoiced not in iniquity, but rejoiced in the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6); that it gave him no pleasure to utter stern rebuke, but that it gladdened his heart to be able to say, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of Him.” Thus we have seen:
I. The best people and the purest actions may be misconstrued even by good men.
II. The most vicious men may be found observing the external forms of religion.
III. That care is needed lest much experience of the wickedness of the wicked harden us against the good.
IV. That a false accusation should not overthrow our self-command.
V. That a good man will not be too proud to confess himself in the wrong.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
1 Samuel 1:12-13. A devout prayer must proceed from the very bottom of the heart, and may be offered without outward words (Psalms 19:14; Psalms 27:8; Psalms 72:8; Isaiah 29:13-14).—Starke.
Her voice was not heard by man, but God heard it.—Chrysostom.
She continued praying, as resolved not to give over her suit. Prayer, like those arrows of deliverance, should be multiplied. We wring out of God’s holy hands that mercy which He with an unwilling willingness withholdeth for awhile, that we may be the more importunate.—Trapp.
Hannah had learned from Moses thus to pray, for when he fell upon his face before God, without uttering a sound, God grants his request, and says, “Why criest thou unto me?” (Exodus 14:15).—Le Maistre de Sacy.
The fervent prayer of troubled souls measures itself not by time, but exalts the soul above time into eternity, and troubles itself not about human observation and judgment, but is a pouring out of the heart before the living God.—Lange’s Commentary.
1 Samuel 1:16. Here we see what account this holy woman made of drunken persons and of drunkenness; she counteth them the sons and daughters of Belial. And, indeed, unto them fitly agree all the significations of this word:—
(1) They are licentious and lawless, without any yoke or bridle to keep them in;
(2) they are altogether unprofitable, they neither do good to others nor to themselves;
(3) and such do neither prosper in this world, and without repentance do exclude themselves from the celestial inheritance.—Willet.
She calls herself Eli’s handmaid, and strives to remove his bad opinion of her. She does not say, “He has wantonly and thoughtlessly accused me; his suspicion is most ill-timed; my conscience is clear, I will let who will calumniate me.” But she conforms to that law of the Apostle who commands us “to appear honest in the sight of men.”—Chrysostom.
Defence against unjust accusations.
1. For what purpose? As a tribute to truth, for the honour of the Lord, as a tribute to our own moral worth.
2. In what manner? In quietness and gentleness, without sinful passion, in humility and modesty.
3. By God’s help, with what result? Convincing the accusers of their wrong, changing their bad words into blessings, lightening our own hearts of a heavy load.—Lange’s Commentary.
1 Samuel 1:17. Hannah turns her accuser into her advocate by her wisdom and discretion.—Chrysostom.
1 Samuel 1:18. She that began her prayers with fasting and heaviness rises up from them with cheerfulness and repast. The conscience may well rest when it tells us that we have neglected no means of redressing our affliction; for then it may resolve to look either for amendment or patience.—Bishop Hall.
The life of faith can take comfort from a word, and rest a world upon a promise. Hannah’s affairs without the sanctuary actually remained in the same state as before; but a transaction had taken place within it, which placed them in a new point of view. The favourable aspect of God gives a new aspect to everything besides.—Cecil.
I. It is a fact of history that prayer is answered. The history of the Church of God is a part of the history of the world—it is as much a part of it as the history of the empire of Rome, or the republics of Greece—and its existence and growth in the world is inseparably connected with the fact that God hears and answers prayer. The blessings that have descended upon her members in answer to their supplications are matters of historical fact. So with the history of the Hebrew nation. It is an incontestible fact that their history, as given in the Scriptures, is true, and this being admitted, it cannot be denied that the cases of special Divine interposition in answer to prayer are true also. Their wilderness history has many instances of forgiveness and help being accorded to the earnest supplications of Moses on their behalf, and their entire early history is interwoven with records of prayers offered and prayers answered. The life of the prophet Samuel is an important part of Hebrew history—he was destined to take a foremost place among its heroes—and his very name is a record that God gives ear to the supplications of his children, and often grants to them the very gift they ask for.
II. The immediate effect of prayer upon the human spirit. “The woman went her way, … and her countenance was no more sad.” Hannah’s sorrow vanished from the hour in which she poured out her soul before the Lord in Shiloh. A consciousness arose within her that her prayer was answered—not that the fulfilment of her desire was immediate, but she had an assurance that it was certain. This assurance made her as joyful in the anticipation as in the possession. An immediate blessing always follows earnest and heartfelt prayer, though the blessing sought may be long delayed, or never granted in the form which the petitioner desires at the time. There is joy from the asking as well as from the receiving—joy from the consciousness that our cry has entered into the ear of our Father in heaven, and will not be disregarded by Him, whatever be the issue.
III. A consciousness of accepted prayer sweetens every temporal blessing. “She did eat and drink.” A child who really loves his parent feels his young life darkened, and much of his joy in existence gone, if that parent looks coldly on him. Doubtless Hannah had regarded her past condition as a mark of the absence of Divine favour, and this had deprived all the common mercies of her life of sweetness. But now she felt that the sun of God’s approval was shining upon her, and this gilded with light every social and temporal blessing. It is this, and this only, that can turn life’s water into wine.