How to be a successful failure

1 Samuel 1:1-28

When it doesn’t work out

The experience of things not working out is part and parcel of life, made worse when we have actually put in hard work (with prayer!). Think about it - have you ever been let down by others in your group assignment? Or perhaps you are simply trying to improve yourself, whether it be looks, fitness, grades, social networks, but without success. All the things we struggle with and pray to God about. Why am I in such a position?

The story of Hannah is a good example for us to meditate on.

Let’s look at how it starts.

1 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.

The first thing to see is actually what we don’t see. We don’t see anyone important. Elkanah, son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph. None of those names mean anything. When the Bible gives us a genealogy, it’s usually to highlight important figures.

This is a list of nobodies from a place of no significance. Look at the emphasis in verse 1: a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim. Translation – a hillbilly. Why is this important?

Because it is meant to teach us that God works in this world in ways we don’t understand. 1 Samuel tells us how Israel went from a loose coalition of family tribes to become a constitutional monarchy. And how does it start? The kingdom came about not with some important battle fought by powerful men. No declaration of independence or some major social movement or political upheaval. No. God worked through the very personal very private struggles of one woman who doesn’t even have a last name, married to a certain man from the hills. She will end up changing the constitution of Israel.

So before we even get into the main part of the text, keep that in mind. If you’re a Christian reading this remember your problems are never too big for God to handle. At the same time, they are never too small that God won’t use it for your good.

Being a failure

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.

Again notice Elkanah is simply referred to as this man. It makes you think about who the main character is in the story. But nevertheless, Elkanah was a devout man who makes a yearly pilgrimage to offer sacrifice. In a society where religion is very much a public affair, not private like it is today, there’s nothing particularly special about Elkanah going up to sacrifice and distributing portions to his family. That’s what you do. The fascinating bit is in verse 5 and 6.

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.

Twice we are told the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb. It wants to make it clear that this is God’s doing. What it doesn’t say is that all the problems we face in life come from God. That’s a question that deserves a proper answer, not in passing from a passage in the Bible that is about something else entirely. What this does here, I think, is tell us the extent of Hannah’s sorrows. She is barren not because Elkanah refuses to sleep with her, or because of some other human reason. In other words, she has tried everything and got nothing, because the Lord had closed her womb. There’s nothing left. No IVF, no special diet to try, no homeopathic therapy or anything.

And you know, I don’t think we fully realise how much of a struggle it was for Hannah. Today having kids is not seen as a badge of honor or any sort of cultural mandate. I know couples who made the conscious decision not to have kids. There’s no stigma to it in our world. Speaking from personal experience, I do think the only people who want to have just 2 kids are those with 3. But back then, whether you had kids or not was a very big deal. Putting aside the nature of an agrarian economy where the more kids you have the more people you have to work the fields, life expectancy was nothing like today. There’s a very high chance that a child won’t live to become an adult and so unless you want your family line to end, you need enough kids to carry on after you. So there’s practical reasons as well as societal pressure.

But perhaps the most important factor of it was that having kids was seen as a blessing from God. Every Jew would grow up being taught the promises of God to make the descendants of Abraham more numerous than stars in the sky. So it’s not just practical reasons or societal pressure, it’s theological expectation. We see it in verse 5, Elkanah loved Hannah even though the Lord had closed her womb. That’s like saying my wife married me even though I’m poor. It implies that being poor makes me less of a desirable prospect.

Elkanah’s feelings for Hannah is despite the fact that she can’t have kids. Which tells us even in Elkanah’s eyes, Hannah is deficient or insufficient. Which is probably why Elkanah took a second wife Peninah. He has to ensure his line doesn’t end. And it’s really obvious by the time you get to verse 7.

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?”

By the way, let no man in here take marriage advice from Elkanah. We can joke about this but there’s actually something quite sad here. Look closely at what Elkanah says at the end of verse 8: am I not more to you than ten sons? First of all, that’s rather egoistic isn’t it? You know what he should have said? He could have said you are more to me than ten sons. I don’t care that you can’t have kids and by the way Hannah is obviously the one with the infertility issue. Elkanah could have said I don’t care about that, I just want you. You are more to me than ten sons. That would have been a little bit comforting at least. But he doesn’t say that. Instead, we get this insensitive statement about how Hannah should just be glad she is married to such a great guy.

Do you feel bad for Hannah yet? And amazingly she doesn’t respond to either of them. Instead she gets up and goes to the temple.

The turning point

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.”

I have to admit I’ve always been a bit confused by this. At first, it seems like Hannah is trying to make a deal with God like how people do – please God take away this cancer and I’ll believe in you. Help me finish this course or let me reach retirement then I’ll start going to church. Right? Except that’s not what Hannah is doing. Read it carefully and you’ll see essentially, what Hannah is doing here is saying, God, if you give me a son, I will give him back to you.

When she says I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head, that’s a very specific thing. She’s making a nazarite vow, which is a commitment to full time ministry in the temple. It’ll be like enrolling him to become a monk for the rest of his life. She won’t get to see his first day of school. She won’t be able to celebrate birthdays with him. Won’t see him graduate. No future girlfriends or grandkids. Everything a parent looks forward to in the future, she will have none of that. Does that still sound like a trade?

I suppose it’s like choosing to go through IVF. Not just the cost, but the procedures, the injections, all of it. You put yourself through that and then once the baby comes, you give him up for adoption. Who does that? It doesn’t make sense what Hannah is saying she will do. And it’s not as if Hannah knows she will have more children afterwards. Like giving your first paycheck to the church. You can do that because you know there’ll be another after. But for Hannah, this might be the only child she’d ever have and is she going to just give him up that easily?

So to understand this passage, we have to really slow down and think about it.

You see, it’s easy to just assume we know the story. Hannah can’t have children. She prays and God answers. She finds peace finally when she gets pregnant. She gets her happy ending. But if you look closely at the text, that’s not what happened. Look with me at verse 8, immediately after she prays.

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.”

You see the order? Lots of people have pointed this out. It’s not prayer, pregnant, peace. It’s prayer, peace, then pregnant. She found peace before and without God answering her prayer. Don’t you see? That is incredible.

I can come at this another way. Do you think that in all that time Hannah was barren, year after year, do you think she never prayed about it? Do you think she somehow forgot to? No of course not. She would undoubtedly be praying year after year, again and again. God, it’s me again. And it’s about that again. But wait this year it’s different! What changed? Did she finally muster up enough faith this time?

No. I don’t think so. To see the difference we have to look closely at how she prays.

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.”

Do you notice anything strange? Three times she refers to herself as your servant. In the third person. Isn’t it more correct to pray, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on my affliction and remember me.” Instead Hannah prays for God to look on the affliction of his servant and remember her, and not forget your servant. But will give to your servant...

What is going on? This isn’t her having too much to drink and getting her words jumbled up as Eli blindly assumed. This represents the turning point for Hannah finally coming to terms with her priorities. What do I mean? Up to this point, Hannah has always wanted a child, which we all understand and could empathize with. But you can imagine the reason she wanted a child really is for herself. In that sense, God is simply a means to an end.

Means to an end

But this prayer is different. She still wants her child, but for a different reason. How do we know that? Because of how she prays. The language she uses when she asks God to remember the affliction of his servant, that’s language the Bible uses to describe God’s relationship with Israel. Remember Exodus, how God himself says, I have surely seen the affliction of my people. In other words, what Hannah is asking for here is for God to do what God has done and will continue to do. She still wants a child, that’s for sure, but she is thinking of something bigger, God’s working to fulfil his promises.

Before this, she wanted a son for herself and God is simply the means. Now, she wants a son for God so to speak, because more important to her than a son, is the mission of God and seeing God’s purposes come to pass. Her end goal is God and a son is just a means. That’s how she is able to pray: if you give me a son I will give him up. You see the difference?

There is a kind of praying that is all about us and what we want. We can even spend hours in fervent prayer where God is simply the means to an end. Instead, in Hannah, we see a kind of praying that is all about God and where we are praying he will use us to accomplish his will. You see the difference? Think back on the things you’ve been praying about recently. Were they more about you and what you want or about God and what God is doing?

Taking it to heart

How do we take the story of Hannah and apply it to our own lives? Is the Word of God saying to us just be more like Hannah? That’s not a bad place to start. There’s lots of things we can learn from Hannah’s example. First of which is how she doesn’t respond to Peninah’s cruelty or gets angry at Elkanah’s apathy. What does she do? She pours her heart out to God and prays her problems up to God. Because she knows if there’s a solution or path forward, it’ll only come from God.

So for some us, this might actually be what we need to hear. If there’s something in your life that you’re going through that’s difficult to say the least, some pain or grief or trouble, stop and ask yourself how much you’ve been praying about it or have you just been running around doing everything you can to fix the issue? For some of us this is a reminder to pray. Before you go any further in tackling the problem, are you praying? Not just that, are you praying with someone else? Do you have people praying for you as well? That’s why God has given us each other.

God’s solution

But there’s more. What we have in Hannah is the experience of disappointment and loss in a world where those have (like Peninah) lord it over those who don’t. Where there’s not just inequality, but an indifference from the people in charge (like Eli). A world where victims are often ignored or told to just be grateful for what they have (like Elkanah says). It is in this context, where God’s people are suffering, that God himself intervenes. And what does God do?

He sends a son. A son who will grow up in the house of God under the nazarite vow. He will never have tasted wine or have his head shaved. In other words, he will be pure and without taint. A son that ultimately brings about the salvation of the nation. Do you see it now? This passage, like all passages, is about God’s Son Jesus Christ. The technical word for it is proleptic, which is like an echo that comes before instead of after. It foreshadows what is to come.

The gospel

Jesus Christ the Son of God was born not just to a barren woman, he was born of a virgin woman. He would not just be kept from wine or a razor, he would be untouched by sin. He won’t just be a prophet, he is also a priest and king. He won’t just save the people of Israel, he is the saviour of the world. This passage, like all passages, is about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Let me just close by leaving you with this thought. Hannah could never be sure that God, the Almighty, Lord of Hosts, would be interested in her personal problems, let alone get up off his chair to help her. She would never have imagined that her struggles and suffering is precisely what God will use to turn the nation of Israel around. She had no idea. All she knew at the time was the anguish of her experience, and the remembrance of what God has done in the past.

That is exactly the same situation we are in. Yes, our struggles are different to Hannah’s, but we too are called to remember what God has done in the past. Except, we have it better. Hannah could only look back to Abraham and Moses, who all died. We look back and we see Jesus Christ, who died and rose again. Hannah’s hope is to get a son before she dies. To experience life before death. What Jesus promises to us is not just life before death, but a life beyond death.

That’s a promise. And an invitation to all.