And She Was

And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish.  1 Samuel 1:10

Do men and husbands make the same mistakes they did way back in ancient times? Let's just look at one little story for this morning and see for ourselves. Our verse for today speaks of Hannah, wife but not yet a mother of a son. A fellow would need to be a bit of a brick to not see a problem with Hannah in this condition, and her husband offers his own form of help. "Ain't I better to you than 10 sons," Elkanah says one night. The scripture is silent on how well his couch felt that particular night in Israel. 

Hannah turns to the One who she knows by faith can help her in this matter, but she does so not quite privately. While she does not speak aloud, she is one of those who like to move her lips as she talks in her mind. This may not be as common as it is today, but Eli the priest, proving that men of the cloth can be just as dense as other men, thinks that she is drunk. "Put away the bottle and go sleep it off, ya drunk," Eli does his religious and civic duty only to run smack into Hannah's quite lucid explanation. Only then does Eli the priest offer a blessing and an assurance. Hannah goes her way relieved and faithful, and the rest of the story brings to us one of the great servants of the Lord, her son, Samuel. 

The jury retires to deliberate for a world record 37 seconds, and the verdict is: Yes, men today are just as capable of being complete dunderheads as Elkanah and Eli were in their time. Perhaps with the intervention of our Lord's dear Holy Spirit we can learn the art of listening and not rushing to conclusions. Amen.

Bucky