The Backdrop God Loves (I Samuel 1:1-20)

Crying for a King

I. The Importance of the Backdrop

If you’ve ever been to any kind of a theatrical production, whether it be on Broadway, or off Broadway, or off-off Broadway, maybe at your child or grandchild’s school, for example, then you probably can imagine how important a backdrop can be for a particular production.

Just think about how that painted curtain can transport an audience member to a whole other world. Backdrops help establish the authenticity of the scene: a castle in France, a market in Cairo, a distant and dark jungle. Along with the lighting and scenery, the backdrop is a huge part of establishing the believability of a show.

Just imagine if Phantom of the Opera was performed in front of a neon green sheet, or if there was nothing behind the actors, just the back wall and pipes and rear doors of the stage. It would kind of ruin the magic, wouldn’t it?

This morning, the curtain is rising on this book we know as I Samuel. Last week, we were able to take about how the final chapters of the book of Judges help set the scene for what is to come in Samuel. And we know from Judges that the historical setting for the events in I Samuel was a pretty bleak one. As our main verse from last time summed it up, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

In looking at all of Samuel, that’s all of I and II Samuel, there are 55 chapters that lay before us this morning. There is an incredible drama just waiting to unfold before our eyes. But as the curtain is rising, what does the backdrop look like? Where does God want to take us at the beginning of this great story.

Turn with me this morning to I Samuel chapter 1. (pg 225 in blue Bible)

II. The Passage: "And She Vowed a Vow" (1:1-20)

Let’s begin this morning by look at the first eight verses of I Samuel 1:

A. Understanding Hannah’s Situation (1:1-8)

There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite. 2 He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

3 Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the LORD. 4 On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the LORD had closed her womb. 6 And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb. 7 So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat.

8 And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”

You may remember that when Joshua took over after Moses, and led the people into the land of Canaan, the land God had promised to Abraham and his descendants, you may remember that, according to Joshua 18, the Israelites set up the Tent of Meeting at this place called Shiloh. This tent was the same one that God had instructed Moses to build after the Israelites came out of Egypt.

Exodus chapter 33 tells us that “…Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.” (33:7)

So here in I Samuel 1, we are once again in Shiloh. In fact, we are told that “year by year” this man Elkanah would go up to offer sacrifices to Yahweh, the God of Israel, at the Tent of Meeting.

But we quickly begin to see in these opening verses that Elkanah is really not the focus. Instead it is Elkanah’s wife, Hannah, who seems to be central to this unfolding story. To be clear, Hannah is only one of two women married to Elkanah (probably his first wife since she listed first).

The real drama of Hannah’s story is revealed very quickly here. Hannah is barren. She is unable to conceive a child. But when the author talks about Peninnah, the other wife, he talks about “all of her sons and daughters”. So Hannah has not given her husband any children, but the second wife has. But wait, it gets worse. Every year, when someone went to sacrifice to Yahweh, according to Leviticus 7, a portion of the animal that was sacrificed was to be eaten by the worshiper. So it was at this meal, every year, “year after year”, that Hannah’s ‘condition’ would be highlighted and ridiculed by Peninnah.

Now the Hebrew in verse 5 is difficult. Either what happened was that at this meal Elkanah would give Hannah a double portion of food, because he loved her, and knew how much she struggled with being childless. Or Elkanah would give her a single portion since it was only her, even though, he truly loved her. Either way, the point is, Hannah’s situation was highlighted every time, and every time, the other woman was there to rub it in Hannah’s face.

I think verse 8 shows us that, even though Elkanah was well-intentioned, he just didn’t understand the pain that Hannah was experiencing.

B. Hearing Hannah’s Prayer (1:9-18)

So look at where the story goes in verses 9-18:

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.”

No stop there for a minute. Remember what Exodus 33 told us. “Everyone who sought the Lord would go to the Tent of Meeting. That’s precisely what Hannah does here. Her deprivation and Peninnah’s derision has driven her to the house of God.

And she prays. She pleads with God. Even more so, as verse 11 tells us, “she vowed a vow”, specifically what Numbers 6 calls a “nazirite” vow; it was a vow of separation. If God would give her a child, she would separate him from everything else and give him fully, give him back to God.

And notice the language that Hannah uses here when addressing God. There are two Hebrew words here, “look” and “affliction,” that, when used together, should drive us back to Exodus chapter 3. There God says this to Moses: “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them…” (Exodus 3:7, 8)

Hannah not only comes to the tent that Moses had built, but she cries out to the God who spoke to Moses about His concern for His people’s affliction. Hannah is praying here in light of God’s word; in light of who God has revealed Himself to be. That’s good example for us.

Now, you probably noticed in verse 9 that we are introduced to Eli who is the high priest at Shiloh. His introduction in verse 9 is explained by the rest of the story, starting in verse 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.

Now the reason for this little episode with Eli is not completely clear, but a few features might be worth noting. First, notice how Eli assumes Hannah to be a “drunken woman”. Does his conclusion tell us something about the state of Israelites worship in those days? Does it tell us something about how often drunken women could be found at the annual festival?

Second, notice that Eli condemns Hannah’s apparent drunkenness. In light of what we’re going to learn about Eli’s wicked sons, his actions here may be an attempt to say something positive about Eli, who, as we talked about last week, serves not only as Israel’s priest, but also Israel’s judge.

Finally, notice how the blessing given by God’s priest is used by God to encourage Hannah. Her whole demeanor changes according to verse 18. Her spirits are lifted by this blessing, even through Eli knows nothing about the content of Hannah’s petition.

C. Witnessing Hannah’s Blessing (1:19, 20)

And when we read the story’s conclusion in verse 20, we learn that Hannah was right to be encouraged. Look at verses 19 and 20:

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.” (the name Samuel seems to be a combination of two Hebrew words meaning “asked of God”.)

In verse 11, Hannah ask God specifically, “if you will…remember me and not forget your servant”. And thus were told in verse 19, God did remember her and blessed her with a son.

III. Perspective: The Backdrop of Barrenness

Now anytime we look at God’s word together, one of the things we have to do together is talk about application. But what does "application" mean?

I think when we talk about application we’re really just asking, “How will this passage change me? How will it change you?” What I’d like to do as we study this book of Samuel is think about that kind of change in two ways: perspective and practice. Perspecitve has to do with how God’s word will change the way you think. Practice has to do with how God’s word will change the way you live.

The two go hand in hand, don’ t they? We don’t want a change in perspective that doesn’t bring about a change in practice, do we? We don’t want a change in practice that is not motivated by a genuine change in perspective, do we? No, these are simply two side of the same coin, the coin of transformation.

Now when we talk about God giving us perspective from His word, we first have to talk about what God wants us to understand from these verses. Why is this story here? Why do we need to know about Hannah if most of the subsequent chapters will be focused on her son, Samuel?

I think those questions bring us back to the idea of a backdrop. As the curtain rises on the book of Samuel, what backdrop has God given to us and why? I believe the main issue in verses 1-20, the issue that drives everything else is summed up by six words from the end of verse 5:

But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the LORD had closed her womb.

The backdrop of the opening chapter of Samuel, the backdrop that God himself has hung for all to see, is the backdrop of barrenness.

Some here this morning may, in some way, know something of Hannah’s pain.

One woman who knows Hannah’s pain wrote these words: “The Bible says that God stores our tears in heaven. He must have filled a barrel with my tears over my empty womb.”

Another woman, in the same position, shared this story: “It happened in the cereal aisle of my local supermarket. I ran into my third mother-and-baby pair of the morning, and grief blindsided me. Feeling as if I'd been punched in the gut, I dissolved into tears, hoping no one would notice. I'd headed out early that Monday morning to pick up a few groceries, hoping to get a jump on the midday crowds. Several young moms apparently had the same idea, and we smiled at each other as we passed in the aisles. Except I wasn't a young mom. I was a thirtysomething mom-wannabe. And after seeing my third beautiful child—this one a toddler, contentedly munching on a fresh bagel, safely snuggled in his mom's grocery cart—I could no longer hold back the tears.”

When it comes to Hannah’s pain, a third woman observed that “…one experiences all the emotions of loss, yet the object of loss isn't a tangible person…instead, the loss includes something broader: our hopes and dreams of life as parents”.

And yet, I would guess that none of these women experienced the additional pain of being ridiculed and slandered, of being treated like garbage because of their infertility.

So why? Why in the world would God close Hannah’s womb? Why would he put her through this awful pain, “year after year”? Why has He hung this backdrop of barrenness?

If we were reading the Bible from the very beginning, and we arrived here at I Samuel 1, we would recognize very quickly that God loves the backdrop of barrenness. I say that because Hannah is, in fact, the fifth ‘barren’ woman mentioned in the Bible.

How often do we remember when we think about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that all of these men had a wife who was unable to conceive. And in each case, we are told that God, often in response to prayer, God was the one who opened the womb of Sarah, and of Rebekah, and of Rachel.

And when we go back to the previous book, the book of Judges, we discover that the wife of a man named Manoah was barren. But an angel appeared to her and told her that she would conceive and that the boy would be a “Nazirite to God from the womb to day of his death”. (Judges 13:7) Sound familiar? That child was named Samson, another judge of Israel.

So this is the fifth time in the story of the Old Testament that God is hanging up the backdrop of barrenness. But again, why?

I believe that God loves the backdrop of barrenness because in front of it, our absolute inability stands out like a sore thumb. And when our inability stands out so clearly, when our weakness and desperation are so obvious, it is against that backdrop that God’s power is displayed without distraction and without dispute.

Against the backdrop of barrenness, it is crystal clear that God is the only one who can bless.

One commentator on Hannah’s pain put it this way:

“God’s tendency is to make our total inability his starting point. Our hopelessness and helplessness are no barrier to his work. Indeed our utter incapacity is often the prop he delights to use for his next act. This matter goes beyond the particular situation of biblical barren women. We are facing one of the principles of Yahweh’s modus operandi. When his people are without strength, without resources, without hope, without human gimmicks—then he loves to stretch forth his hand from heaven.”

That’s not usually our perspective on barrenness is it, especially when the backdrop of barrenness comes down behind the stage of your life. Literal barrenness may have to do with infertility, but all of us have experienced some form of figurative barrenness, which I would describe simply as “a profound x-lessness”. Of course the “x” there just means that you have to fill in the blank.

When you are child-less, job-less, spouse-less, respect-less, peace-less, direction-less, sleep-less, joy-less, success-less, content-less, hope-less, love-less it is so easy to interpret such things as evidence, not that God is doing something on the stage, but that He’s left the theater altogether.

But Hannah reminds us that God uses the backdrop of our barrenness to present His blessings. Those blessings don’t always come in the packages we hope for, but they are always better for us than anything we could have imagined ourselves.

We can believe that and hold on to that perspective because of Jesus, because of the power of Christ. Listen to how the Apostle Paul describes this dynamic as he struggled with “strength-lessness”:

But he [God] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” [we might say “in barrenness”] Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. [with barrenness] For when I am weak, then I am strong. (II Corinthians 12:9, 10)

Brothers and sisters, friends, don’t let the backdrop of barrenness be for you some kind of evidence that God has abandoned you. If you have tasted of His grace through faith in Jesus Christ, then you simply cannot believe that. But how then should we respond to this kind of pain?

IV. Practice: Pouring Out Your Soul

We see one very practical expression of this kind of perspective in Hannah’s actions here. Her barrenness results in prayerfulness. We might put it this way: In regard to prayer. the figurative barrenness we experience should drive us to prayer, but also, all our prayers should be affected by the reality of our ultimate barrenness.

Hannah does not curl up into a little ball of bitterness and discontent. Even though she finds herself provoked “year after year” because of her barrenness, she, nevertheless, continues to go “year after year” to worship the Lord. And as we see in chapter one, her pain flows out in her desperate petition. I love the way she answers Eli’s mistaken words:

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."

She tells him, “no, what you see is not the result of my drinking something in, but of me pouring something out…I’m pouring out my soul”.

Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Psalm 55:22; Philippians 4:6, 7)

God has hung that backdrop in your life so that you will come to him. And He has arranged the stage in such a way, he has written the scene in such a way, that when you come, He is going to demonstrate his complete ability in light of our complete inability.

Hannah’s prayer also means that we need to begin all our prayers empty-handed and open-hearted. Are your prayers marked by the same kind of desperation that we see here in Hannah? Do you come with a checklist or do you come with a list of desperate pleas. Are you reciting requests or pouring them out before God? Do you just want to be faithful in praying, or are you praying that God would also give you His heart as you pray? That your petitions would come, not just from a list, but from your soul.

When we recognize that all true change and every true blessing comes only from the hand of God and according to His good pleasure, when we recognize that we have nothing and bring nothing, and that human wisdom is not going to fix things, that should translate into a passionate desperation in our prayers.

The stage is set this morning. God is going to show us something incredible about Himself in this book we call Samuel. Our weakness is the backdrop. His strength will be the star of the show.

And because of the barrenness Jesus experienced on the cross (“my God, my God, why have you forsaken me”), we be assured that God will hear our prayers and do his miracles inside everyone who believes.

Let’s pray.