Hannah‘s prayer of praise begins, appropriately, with a description ofthe unrivaled attributes of God. - P126
His holiness distinguishes Him from allothers, evoking the worship and reverence of His servants. He is with-out equal in heaven or on earth. - P126
And He is the unchanging refuge ofHis people, the rock in whom they can trust. - P126
More than an expressionof gratitude for an answered prayer, Hannah‘s words of praise expressher faith as she keeps her promise to God and leaves Samuel in His care. - P126
God‘s faithfulness inspires our gratitude, which allows us to sacrificiallyserve Him. - P126
May the sacrifices we make, together with the service werender, stir the hearts of others to praise God‘s holy name. - P126
Hannah has left her beloved son, Samuel, in the house of the Lord atShiloh. We can only imagine how painful this separation would havebeen for her. - P126
And yet, her heart is filled with joy. This joy is her strengthand is the heart of this song, which describes God‘s exaltation of theweak and lowly and His humbling of the proud and mighty, God, whosees all and knows all, is the strength of His people. - P126
As we place ourfaith in Him amid the painful struggles and trials of life, we discover, like Hannah, that God is indeed faithful. He is our deliverer, our refuge, and our source of strength in every season of our lives. - P126
Lord, as I rejoice in You, I discover all the strength I need to be the faithfulservant You are calling me to be. - P127
Grant me, I pray, the indomitable strengthto face the trials before me, anchored in the inexpressible joy of knowing You. In Jesus‘ name, amen. - P127
Hannah‘s barrenness and the persecution she endured from Peninnahultimately produced in her a seed of hope. That hope was born when, after years of painful suffering, she cried out to God. - P127
God proved Hisfaithfulness to Hannah, and her life was forever changed. What wastrue for Hannah can also be true for you and me. - P127
The pain we experience can give birth to an enduring hope that looks to God as ourgreatest source of joy and strength. Hope is a priceless treasure, and when we claim it as our own, it canandnever be lost. - P127
But the reality is, many of us are so caught updistracted by the temporal things of this life that we forget to lookforward to the glorious future God has in store for us. - P127
God‘s desire isto reorient our hearts from the temporal to the eternal, and one of theways He does this is through painful trials that leave us longing forsomething greater than what this world has to offer.
Have the struggles of this journey left you feeling hopeless? Like Han-nah, have you cried out to God with tears flowing from the anguishbecauseof a broken heart? If so, I want to encourage you to perseverewhatyou are experiencing are the labor pains of an eternal hope thatGod is seeking to grow in your heart. - P127
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