Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 1-3.

Today’s passage gives us three separate people showing faith in God: Hannah, Samuel, and Eli.  We often overlook Eli’s faith because of his failure as a father.  Nevertheless, all three provide us examples of acting in faith.  Let us start with Hannah.  Hannah desperately wanted a child, in particular a son.  So, she cried out to God and promised that if He gave her a son she would give him back to God to serve Him for all of his days.  When God answered her prayers, Hannah did not say, either to others or herself, “Well, it was bound to happen eventually.”  No, she said, “God has demonstrated His power by answering my prayer.  I will keep my vow and give this boy to serve God all of his life.”  She then sings a song of praise, aspects of which are reflected in the actions of both Samuel and Eli.  She tells us that there is no one like God, that He alone brings death and brings life.  He send wealth, and He sends poverty.  She reminds us that we do not prevail by strength, but by the will of God.

Which brings me to Eli’s show of faith.  While Eli failed to rein in his sons from evil, he recognized that it was God’s voice calling Samuel in the night.  He correctly told Samuel how to answer God’s call.  Then, when he got Samuel to tell him what God had said to Samuel, Eli accepted God’s judgement.  Eli knew that he had failed to raise his sons to properly fear and respect God, but he did not fail to teach Samuel what he needed to know.  And he accepted God’s judgement for his failure.  Finally, we have Samuel, whose example here is mostly in following the lead given him by his elders.  Following Eli’s instruction, Samuel responded to God’s calling and submitted himself as a servant of the Lord.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.