1 Samuel 1:1-8: a reflection

1Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2He had two wives. The name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 3This man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of Armies in Shiloh. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests to the LORD, were there. 4When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he gave portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters; 5but he gave a double portion to Hannah, for he loved Hannah, but the LORD had shut up her womb. 6Her rival provoked her severely, to irritate her, because the LORD had shut up her womb. 7So year by year, when she went up to the LORD’s house, her rival provoked her. Therefore she wept, and didn’t eat. 8Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why don’t you eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

This passage introduces Hannah, a woman in deep grief. She was childless, in a time and place where that was a heavy sorrow; and her sorrow was made worse by Peninnah, her rival, who provoked her severely, year after year, to irritate her over her childlessness. So Hannah wept and would not eat. Her husband loved her and tried to comfort her, but the grief was deep, and the provocation cruel. She carried a real and heavy sorrow.

Notice the weight of Hannah's grief, and the added cruelty of being provoked in it. Her childlessness was sorrow enough; but she was also mocked and provoked in her pain, year after year, by one who should have shown compassion. Few things sting like being provoked in a grief we cannot help; and Hannah felt it deeply, weeping, unable even to eat. Her pain was real, and it was made sharper by the cruelty of another.

That kind of grief, and the sting of being provoked in it, is something many carry. There are sorrows we cannot fix, longings unfulfilled, and sometimes the added pain of others who provoke us in our grief rather than comforting us. Hannah's story does not pretend the grief away; it takes it seriously, and it will show her bringing that very grief to God in prayer. If you carry a deep grief, perhaps made sharper by others' unkindness, know that God does not dismiss it; he takes your sorrow seriously, as Hannah's was taken. Do not hide your grief or think you must bear it alone; bring it, as Hannah would, to the God who sees, and pour out before him the sorrow you cannot fix and the pain others have deepened. He receives the weeping heart.

Lord, this passage introduces Hannah, childless and grieving, her sorrow made worse by a rival who provoked her severely year after year, so that she wept and would not eat. Help me see the weight of her grief, and the added cruelty of being provoked in it, for many carry such sorrow. There are griefs I cannot fix, longings unfulfilled, and sometimes the added pain of others who provoke me in my sorrow rather than comforting me. Hannah's story does not pretend the grief away; it takes it seriously, and it shows her bringing that very grief to you in prayer. If I carry a deep grief, perhaps made sharper by others' unkindness, help me know that you do not dismiss it; you take my sorrow seriously, as Hannah's was taken. Keep me from hiding my grief or thinking I must bear it alone; help me bring it, as Hannah did, to you, who see, and pour out before you the sorrow I cannot fix and the pain others have deepened. You receive the weeping heart; receive mine, Lord.