August 24

Introduction

1 Samuel 2:1–11: Today’s reading is Hannah’s prayer upon offering Samuel as a servant to the LORD. She offers God praise and thanksgiving, celebrating the ways in which God offers safety, sustenance, and care.

Today’s Key Verse: 1 Samuel 2:1a

Hannah prayed: “The LORD has filled my heart with joy; how happy I am because of what he has done!”

Reading

2 Hannah prayed:

“The Lord has filled my heart with joy;
    how happy I am because of what he has done!
I laugh at my enemies;
    how joyful I am because God has helped me!

² “No one is holy like the Lord;
    there is none like him,
    no protector like our God.
³ Stop your loud boasting;
    silence your proud words.
For the Lord is a God who knows,
    and he judges all that people do.
⁴ The bows of strong soldiers are broken,
    but the weak grow strong.
⁵ The people who once were well fed
    now hire themselves out to get food,
    but the hungry are hungry no more.
The childless wife has borne seven children,
    but the mother of many is left with none.
⁶ The Lord kills and restores to life;
    he sends people to the world of the dead
    and brings them back again.
⁷ He makes some people poor and others rich;
    he humbles some and makes others great.
⁸ He lifts the poor from the dust
    and raises the needy from their misery.
He makes them companions of princes
    and puts them in places of honor.
The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord;
    on them he has built the world.

⁹ “He protects the lives of his faithful people,
    but the wicked disappear in darkness;
    a man does not triumph by his own strength.
¹⁰ The Lord’s enemies will be destroyed;
    he will thunder against them from heaven.
The Lord will judge the whole world;
    he will give power to his king,
    he will make his chosen king victorious.”

¹¹ Then Elkanah went back home to Ramah, but the boy Samuel stayed in Shiloh and served the Lord under the priest Eli.

Reflect

Some scholars believe that parts of this prayer may have been taken from even older prayers used to give thanks after receiving God’s help. The prayer celebrates God’s power to change human situations from bad to good to help those in need. According to Hannah’s prayer, what are some of the ways God helps people? Do any themes surprise you? Does it sound familiar to you? (The Virgin Mary adapts Hannah’s song a thousand years later in Luke 1:46–55.) When have you witnessed God acting in similar ways today?

Pray

Lord God, you fill my heart with joy. How happy I am because of your presence in my life. You alone are God and I thank and praise you for your steadfast love and care. Amen.

Tomorrow’s Reading

1 Samuel 3:1–21: The LORD appears to Samuel.