Day 96: Hannah's Prayer

Today's readings: 1 Samuel 1-2 and Psalm 149.

I. 1 Samuel 1 begins with introducing Hannah, the second wife of Elkanah. She had been barren and repeatedly mocked for that fact by the other wife. Yet, God heard her prayers and blessed her with the birth of Samuel, who was dedicated to Him and later became His prophet.

In the next chapter, Hannah gives a beautiful prayer/song of thanksgiving to God, reminiscent of the Magnificat much later. Young Samuel went to serve the Lord under Eli at Shiloh. Poor Eli has "worthless sons," though, who sinfully abused their own priestly offices. Samuel remains faithful, doing his duties with diligence and care. His mother would visit, and she was also blessed with more children. Eli rebukes his sons to no avail. At the end of the chapter, a "man of God" visits and gives a prophecy of judgment: Eli's priestly line would suffer and die prematurely. His sons would both die on the same day, and God would raise up a faithful priest to serve Him. 

The BIY Companion, Vol I, gives some commentary on this:

We will hear much about Eli, whose actions are not always exemplary... Instead of following through in disciplining his sons for their bad behavior, Eli just rebukes them and lets them be. As a result of Eli's negligence, the blessing will pass away from his family, as we will see. (p. 204)

II. Psalm 149 is, as the Ignatius Bible notes (verse numbers removed):

A psalm of praise that interweaves themes of worship and warfare. The faithful of Israel, called the "sons of Zion," sing praise to the Lord and express their readiness to serve the Lord, even by means of military action. (p. 957)

That's all for today!