"Wishing and Hoping and Praying"

June 14, 2026

Blackground: 1 Samuel 1:1-28; 2:1-11, 18-19; 3:1-18;

Print: 1 Samuel 1:19-20, 25;

Key Verse: 1 Samuel 1:20; Devotional: Isaiah 49:13-17
 

1 Samuel 1:9-20 (ESV)
⁹  After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the LORD.
¹⁰  She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly.
¹¹  And she vowed a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”
¹²  As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth.
¹³  Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman.
¹⁴  And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.”
¹⁵  But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD.
¹⁶  Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.”
¹⁷  Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.”
¹⁸  And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
¹⁹  They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her.
²⁰  And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the LORD.”

1 Samuel 1:25 (ESV)
²⁵  Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli.

1 Samuel Chapter 1 (Commentary)

1:9-18 Finally, Hannah couldn’t take the heartache any longer and went to the tabernacle to pray. Deeply hurt, she poured out her heart to God with great anguish. She vowed that if God would give her a son, she would dedicate him back to God all of his life (1:10-11). By promising that his hair [would] never be cut (1:11), Hannah was offering to raise him in accordance with the Nazirite vow, which included abstinence from alcohol and untrimmed hair as signs of a person’s dedication to God (see Num 6:1-21).

While observing Hannah’s intense prayer, Eli mistakenly assumed she was drunk (1:12-14). But, when Hannah explained her situation, Eli comforted her with a blessing, and Hannah received it with gratitude (1:15-18).

1:19-20 The phrase, the Lord remembered Hannah, is important (1:19). Why? Because the Lord “had kept” her from conceiving (1:6). The inclusion of these parallel truths signals to us that if God causes a problem, only God can fix it. Note the prayer was answered when there was a kingdom purpose for ministry connected to it.

1:21-28 For three years, Hannah nurtured her baby, but never lost sight of her vow to take Samuel back to the tabernacle to stay there permanently and serve the Lord (1:22). When he no longer needed nourishment from her, she knew the time had come for her to take little Samuel to Eli. Once there, Hannah reminded Eli of her story and promise and entrusted Samuel to the elderly priest’s charge (1:24-28).

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