It's on to the Histories!  By now you probably know that I love stories and the Old Testament history books are filled with great stories.  The books of the Old Testament Histories are included in the books of 1 Samuel through Esther.  They are filled with heroes and heroines but they also filled with disaster and devastation.  They are filled with the faithful but also the proud and sinful.  In the histories you find real people whose lives are changed when they trust fully in the Lord and gravely altered when they trust in foreign goods and compromise in their sin. 

 Frankly it's hard to find a man or a women who is without sin when you look at these books.  Like our great westerns we want our cowboys to wear white hats.  Unfortunately it seems that every white hat is stained with blood and mired in the mud.  Yet, through it all we get a picture of God.  Sometimes that view is challenging and we wonder,  "Can anyone stand under the judgment of God?"  Other times his grace abounds and God is revealed as one who's faithful to his people despite their sins.

Yes, I love the Old Testament history books!  I hope you'll sense that as I blog over the next several weeks but perhaps like you at times I'm challenged and disturbed especially by the blood shed and destruction.

Today I'm thankful that I can look back upon the history books through the lens of the New Testament.  Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law. Jesus is the one who takes the punishment that I deserve.  God's grace abounds through Jesus but don't be surprised if you'll find his amazing grace in the Old Testament as well.  So join me as we walk through the word.

Let's begin!

There are many wonderful hero's of the faith to be found in the first and second book of Samuel.  Samuel the prophet and judge was one such man!  But seeds of his greatness came from the heart of Hannah his mother.

Hannah was a woman of prayer and her prayers came from the burden and pain in her heart.  She was unable to conceive and bare a child to her husband Elkanah.   This was a sin of shame for women in those days because children were viewed as the blessing of the Lord.  To complicate things her husband  was married to another woman as well.  Her name was Peninnah and she did have children.   Peninnah also had a way of making sure Hannah knew all about it which didn't help matters for Hannah.   But Elkanah loved Hannah. 

At one point he said to her.  "Hannah, why are you weeping?  Why don't you eat?  Why are you downhearted?  Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?" 1Samuel 1:8.

Now I want to offer a note to husbands out there everywhere.  Don't say things like that to your wife.  It doesn't really help.   Now I know that Elkanah may not have meant it this way as most of us men don't mean everything we say.  Generally speaking men don't always think before they speak. ha!
But I wonder if all Hannah hear was this.....   "Honey I'm sorry you don't have a child but look on the bright side,  at least you have me!"    I'm sure that wasn't what Elkanah meant.  It was obvious the Elkanah deeply loved her as evidence to her kindness to her and you can read about that in the first chapter of 1 Samuel which I would highly recommend you do!

Hannah was in the temple one day praying to the Lord pleading with the Lord for his favor to overshadow her.  There she made a vow to the Lord saying, "O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head."           1 Samuel 1:11  

God was faithful to her and over time she proved to be faithful to God and to the child given to her as a gift.   As we read Hannah's song or Hannah's prayer in 1 Samuel 2,  we see just how over joyed she was.  These are beautiful words indeed!  They are words that might remind you of another later song offered by Mary the mother of Jesus many years later.

To Ponder:  Perhaps you could read those words as your own today.  I pray that the Lord has been your rock and deliverer.   I hope you can say along with Hannah that there is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.

I'll talk more about these words and the wonderful story of Hannah and Samuel in the week to come but today I encourage you to read 1 Samuel 2: 1-10.  Thank God that he is your strength and your provider.  Indeed God continues to guard the feet of his saints!  1Samuel 2:9a