1st Samuel 1 – The Prayer and The Priest – “A Tale of Two Hearts”
In the course of a complete basketball season we can watch teams develop from the early days of practice through until the championship series is completed and a team is crowned the champion for that year. Over the course of many years a team might even make repeat trips, successfully, to the championship bracket and come away with the trophy many times. The Boston Celtics of the 1960’s was such a team. With their Center Bill Russell, Guards Bob Cousy and John Havlicek, and a host of other players, all committed to the team cause, the Celtics were always the team to beat, until the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Now, the Celtics weren’t the most gifted team in the NBA physically and they certainly didn’t have the most intelligent players, or the most inventive coach. However, when you put all of the ingredients of a team together you will find, over and over again, an undivided heart amongst the Celtic players and staff. The team was their ultimate focus. It wasn’t that there were no conflicts or dissensions, but it was always the team that won out in the hearts of the players. Both athletes and coaching staff judged themselves and each other by that standard.

“So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest was sitting upon his seat by the door-post of the temple of Jehovah. And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto Jehovah, and wept sore. And she vowed a vow, and said, O Jehovah of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thy handmaid, but wilt give unto thy handmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto Jehovah all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. And it came to pass, as she continued praying before Jehovah, that Eli marked her mouth. Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee. And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit:I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I poured out my soul before Jehovah. Count not thy handmaid for a wicked woman; for out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation have I spoken hitherto. Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace; and the God of Israel grant thy petition that thou hast asked of him. And she said, Let thy handmaid find favor in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat; and her countenance was no more sad.” 1st Samuel 1:9-18

It is not an accident that Hannah turned to Jehovah to solve her problem. She knew that, in the end, God’s favor was the only favor that mattered. She also knew that God had delivered Israel by allowing them to walk across the Red Sea on dry ground. She believed God heard and God would respond to her as He willed. She had probably heard the same stories that Elkanah (her husband), Peninnah (her “co-wife” and nemesis) and Eli (her priest) had heard, but she took them to her heart and held on to her faith with a dogged conviction. It was a conviction that was so deep that she decided that if God would grant her desire, she would consider that good and give the child that she bore back to Him.

Now all of you arm-chair psychologists can argue with me about environments, circumstances and all of those “external” forces that shape our opinions, citing that Hannah may have had better education, a more spiritual parentage, or something else that made her more inclined to trust Jehovah than her contemporaries. The only reason I can think of to do this would be to undermine the intensity of her faith, her choice to trust God and somehow excuse the others because of a poor environment. I only bring this up because my indictment of the others is rather strong in this short discussion.

Nevertheless, Hannah believed Jehovah, poured out her heart to Him and then offered a sacrifice of praise before she had even received the result of her petition. For all of you “old-timers”, like me, we call that “praying through.” Hannah laid her burden at the feet of Jehovah until she received a witness in her spirit and then she got up from her prayers, a renewed and refreshed woman.

The incredible part of this story, to me, is Eli. Here is the man of God. The man who is responsible for the spiritual welfare of the nation. He has been appointed as a servant of God and, in many ways, has carried out his tasks faithfully. Yet he mistakenly believes that Hannah’s righteous prayer is the mutterings of a drunken woman. He must obviously be used to people who pray out loud so that he can hear their prayers. Do you suppose people often prayed what Eli wanted to hear? Was Eli used to his position, so much, that he failed to recognize the move of the Holy Spirit versus a counterfeit spirituality? He mistook spiritual fervor for a carnal activity.

Now Eli’s sons knew all about carnal activity at Shiloh and Eli knew about his sons. He allowed them to continue in their activity, but did nothing to stop them.

“Now the sons of Eli were base men; they knew not Jehovah. And the custom of the priests with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant came, while the flesh was boiling, with a flesh- hook of three teeth in his hand; and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the flesh- hook brought up the priest took therewith. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither. Yea, before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have boiled flesh of thee, but raw. And if the man said unto him, They will surely burn the fat first, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would say, Nay, but thou shalt give it me now:and if not, I will take it by force. And the sin of the young men was very great before Jehovah; for the men despised the offering of Jehovah.” 1st Samuel 2:12-16

As we jump just a little ahead in the story, we find out that Eli has been operating with a divided heart for some time. His sons are more important than the integrity of his office. His sons, for whatever reason, are of a higher priority than Jehovah, in his life. Before we get too hard on Eli, let’s pop forward a few centuries to Jerusalem.

“And when the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound was heard, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speaking in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying, Behold, are not all these that speak Galilaeans? And how hear we, every man in our own language wherein we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, in Judaea and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, in Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and sojourners from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them speaking in our tongues the mighty works of God. And they were all amazed, and were perplexed, saying one to another, What meaneth this? But others mocking said, They are filled with new wine.” Acts 2:1-13

Now many received Christ as their Savior, that day, but the general state of the crowds was astonishment and then mistaken judgements on what was happening. Want more examples of a divided heart? The Bible is full of them. While scripture has the hall of faith in Hebrews 11, it is replete with the “hall of the divided heart”.

Eli was on the cusp of his demise and the child that Hannah was praying for would be his very own replacement. Perhaps, at that moment, his personal tempter was trying to divert him and cause him to discourage Hannah. Yet, her encouragement was not truly dependent on Eli, it was based on God; and at the very moment when Eli is led to rebuke Hannah for drunkenness, just like in Acts, God intervenes and gives Hannah the words to set the old Judge of Israel straight on what is really going on.

It is very important to recognize the difference between sincere abandonment to God and religious platitudes that mimic a deep spirituality, but in the end are carnally based on self interest. God is gracious and allows the latter to still be swayed by Spirit filled believers, if for no other reason than for a reprieve from eventual destruction. Yet, their prayers and requests, their behaviors are suspect and God has to work around them and adjust for their lack of sincere devotion to Him.

In the times of the Old Testament we see that grace still allows these individuals with a divided heart to thrive and carry on the work of God, for a time while God implements an alternative plan. Prior to Hannah and Eli we have the story of Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers, Moses and the children of Israel, Joshua and Caleb versus the other ten who brought back a bad report from Canaan. Gideon had a divided heart, shown by his creation of an idol from the gold he acquired after destroying the Midianite aggression. Yet all of these cases show that a price is paid, a very heavy price, for those who are “forced” into the will of God rather than seeking out God Himself to do His will.

To close this discussion, we will look at the results of Hannah’s prayer and Eli’s divided heart. First we see Hannah get up from her time of prayer, and discussion with Eli, bearing a “changed countenance.”

“Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace; and the God of Israel grant thy petition that thou hast asked of him. And she said, Let thy handmaid find favor in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat; and her countenance was no more sad.” 1 Samuel 1:17,18

I know that Hannah also gives birth to Samuel and completes her vow, but look at what happens to the surrendered heart that has prayed through. Before the physical answer comes, the peace that passes understanding visits the heart of the faithful one. She isn’t given a guarantee beyond Eli’s blessing, which is not a promise to fulfill her request. He is basically saying, “I’ll pray for you.” That is not where her comfort comes from. The comfort comes from the witness in her heart when she explains to Eli why she is there and then from the knowledge of her promise to God that what He gives, she will give back.

Eli, on the other hand, has no response but what would be considered a kindly blessing on the lady. However, his results are far darker than the polite exchange appears to suggest. Move forward in time, with everyone remaining of the same heart, that is Hannah keeping her word and delivering Samuel to Eli as unto the Lord’s service and Eli continuing to scold, but not interfere with his sons.

“And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Did I reveal myself unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house? and did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up unto mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation, and honorest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? Therefore Jehovah, the God of Israel, saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever:but now Jehovah saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” 1st Samuel 2:27-30

You might say, “That was Eli’s sons, not Eli. Why should he be responsible for their behavior as adults?” Look closely at this phrase and then fast forward again with me:

Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation, and honorest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?

“And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. And when he came, lo, Eli was sitting upon his seat by the wayside watching; for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out. And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man hasted, and came and told Eli. Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were set, so that he could not see. And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to- day out of the army. And he said, How went the matter, my son? And he that brought the tidings answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken. And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck brake, and he died:for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.” 1st Samuel 4:12-18

Eli had a divided heart. He bore the physical evidence of it. When my heart is divided there will be tell-tales. They usually come in the form of excuses, self justifications and sometimes mockery of those who are more obedient than I. In today’s world, the enemy has done a great job of using fellow christians to mock, find excuses to water down absolute Lordship for Jesus and justify itself in allowing sin to remain within the church organization. Your heart is either divided or it is devoted. These two states often look the same, but the results are eternally different.

Next week we’ll look at the process of Hannah’s obedience and Elkanah’s agreement with her in that obedience.