Context No. 3866 of 4322 · 1 Samuel

1 Samuel 2:1-10: in context

1Hannah prayed, and said, “My heart exults in the LORD! My horn is exalted in the LORD. My mouth is enlarged over my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation. 2There is no one as holy as the LORD, for there is no one besides you, nor is there any rock like our God. 3“Don’t keep talking so exceedingly proudly. Don’t let arrogance come out of your mouth, for the LORD is a God of knowledge. By him actions are weighed. 4“The bows of the mighty men are broken. Those who stumbled are armed with strength. 5Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread. Those who were hungry are satisfied. Yes, the barren has borne seven. She who has many children languishes. 6“The LORD kills and makes alive. He brings down to Sheol and brings up. 7The LORD makes poor and makes rich. He brings low, he also lifts up. 8He raises up the poor out of the dust. He lifts up the needy from the dunghill to make them sit with princes and inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s. He has set the world on them. 9He will keep the feet of his holy ones, but the wicked will be put to silence in darkness; for no man will prevail by strength. 10Those who strive with the LORD shall be broken to pieces. He will thunder against them in the sky. “The LORD will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

Hannah, once barren and taunted, now holding the son God gave her, pours out a song of praise that reaches far beyond her own story. She marvels at a God who overturns the world's expectations: the bows of the strong are broken, but the feeble are armed with strength; the well-fed hire themselves out for bread, while the hungry are filled; the barren bears seven.

The LORD brings low and he lifts up; he raises the poor from the dust to sit with princes. Hannah has learned, through her own reversal from barren shame to joyful motherhood, that God is the one who lifts up the lowly and humbles the proud. Her song celebrates a God who is not impressed by human strength and status, but who exalts the humble and brings down the high. This is the same song Mary would sing centuries later. There is hope here for the lowly and a warning for the proud. God sees, God weighs our actions, and in his time he reverses the world's order, lifting up the humble poor and bringing down those who trust in their own strength.

Do I trust the God who lifts the lowly from the dust and humbles the proud, refusing to trust in my own strength, and looking to him to exalt the humble in his own time?

Sources

1 Samuel 2:7-8: "The LORD makes poor and makes rich. He brings low, he also lifts up. He raises up the poor out of the dust... to make them sit with princes."
1 Samuel 2:1: "My heart exults in the LORD!... because I rejoice in your salvation."
1 Samuel 2:3: "For the LORD is a God of knowledge. By him actions are weighed."