The Greatest Thing You Can Do for Your Kids (1 Samuel 1-3)

A Few Thoughts to Consider

Are you a parent who feels like a failure?  

Maybe you’re poor and can’t help your kids get the education you desire. Maybe you lack intellectual prowess and feel your kids have outsmarted you. Maybe you don’t live in the best home. Maybe you haven’t provided for them as well as you’d hoped. The maybes roll on. But in 1 Samuel 1-3, the story of Hannah and Samuel shows us the greatest thing we can ever do for our kids is help them encounter the living God.

The narrative of 1 Samuel unfolds over a century, stretching from around 1100 B.C. to about 1000 B.C. Following that, the story continues in 2 Samuel for an additional 40 years. Therefore, the composition of these texts would have occurred after 960 B.C. This was when Israel shifted from a loose group of tribes led by judges to a more organized monarchy. It was a period filled with challenges both from within and outside. Robert Bergen writes,

The books of Samuel are masterful examples of ancient Hebrew narrative art. They possess all the characteristics of a timeless literary classic: a magnificent central plot involving kings, international wars, ambition, murder, deception, and sexual intrigue; complex character portrayals; skillful use of varied settings ranging from mountains to deserts; and masterful use of wordplays and allusions.^[1]

1 Samuel 1-3 tells us about Hannah, who wanted a child and promised to dedicate him to God if he granted her wish. God listened, and Samuel was born. Hannah kept her promise, and Samuel was raised in the temple under Eli, the priest. In Chapter 3, we see how Samuel hears God’s voice, and he becomes a mouthpiece of God to speak truth to power. 

But let’s go back to Hannah. In the Old Testament, being unable to have children was often seen as a significant misfortune and sometimes even a social stigma. It was not just a personal sorrow but could also be perceived as a lack of divine blessing. Phil Long writes,

Hannah is weak in several respects. She is childless in a culture where bearing children was considered one of the chief roles of a wife (1 Sam. 1:2). She finds herself in a polygamous marriage, where her rival takes every opportunity to mock her pain (v. 6). Her husband’s attempts to ease her pain are ineffectual (vv. 5, 8). And even her own actions are misunderstood by those who should know better (v. 13). ^[2]

The first to misunderstand her is her husband Elkanah, who, in 1 Samuel 1:8, makes what might be considered the most foolish statement a husband ever made to his wife. After seeing Hannah weeping, Elkanah coolly responds: “Why are you troubled?” or more literally, “Why is your heart bad?”^[3] “Am I not better to you than ten sons?” It’s doubtful these words provided much comfort.

Still, Hannah trusts God. Still, she has faith and calls out to him. As Phil Long shares, “While she might have used her standing as favored wife to take revenge on her rival or simply to repress her pain, she chooses rather to take her sorrow to God. Hannah must have understood that no trial, however heavy, can “outweigh” God and his grace and that God honors those who honor him.”^[4]

She humbles herself before God and refers to herself as “your servant,” “a submissive way of referring to oneself in the presence of a superior in ancient Near Eastern culture.”^[5] She dedicates her future son, Samuel, to God, and as a result, God speaks to him and uses him to change a nation.

Hannah’s life serves as a great lesson for parents—especially single parents who are parenting alone. There might be a lot you cannot do for your kids, but the one thing you can do is raise them to love God and position them to hear his voice. Do this, and you’ve done what matters most.

A Meditation to PRAY

Praise | Father, I come before you with awe for the way you hear my deepest longings, just as you heard Hannah. I praise you for your attentiveness to my prayers and your power to bring life and calling out of barren places.

Release | I release my sorrows and my unmet longings into your hands. Like Hannah, I let go of the outcomes I cannot control and place my trust in your plan, knowing you are compassionate. 

Ask | I ask for the patience of Hannah and the wisdom to make vows and promises that honor you. In my waiting, give me strength to remain steadfast in faith. And for the children in my life, like young Samuel, I ask that you would call them and they would respond to your voice with openness and obedience. 

Yield | I yield my will to you, acknowledging that your ways are higher than mine. May I be attentive to your voice, as Samuel was. Guide me in my actions and decisions to align with your purpose and to serve you wholeheartedly.

A Challenge to Act Like Christ  

Phil Long writes, “In God’s economy, seemingly small things are not to be discounted (cf. Zech. 4:10). God delights in reversing expectations. He delights in choosing ‘what is weak in the world to shame the strong’ (1 Cor. 1:27). Indeed, Christ himself is the ultimate instance of God using unimpressive weakness to accomplish a great thing (2 Cor. 13:4).”^[1]

Regardless of which stage of parenting you might be at, there will be times you’ll feel like you’re failing. You wish you could do more, but you can’t. In these moments, rest and go back to the example Hannah set. Trust God and keep reminding your kids that the best thing in all the world is to love and serve Jesus. Pray over them daily. Take them to church. Find them a spiritual mentor. And most importantly, instill within them a sensitivity to hear God’s voice.

If Hannah could do it, you can do it.

^[1]Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, ed. E. Ray Clendenen and Kenneth A. Mathews, vol. 7 of The New American Commentary. Accordance electronic ed. (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 32.

^[2]Bryan Chapell, eds. Gospel Transformation Study Bible Notes. Accordance electronic ed. (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013), paragraph 1356.

^[3]Ronald F. Youngblood, “1 and 2 Samuel,” in 1 Samuel-2 Kings, vol. 3 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary Revised Edition. ed. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland; Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009), 47.

^[4]Bryan Chapell, eds. Gospel Transformation Study Bible Notes. Accordance electronic ed. (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013), paragraph 1356.

^[5]Ronald F. Youngblood, “1 and 2 Samuel,” in 1 Samuel-2 Kings, vol. 3 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary Revised Edition. ed. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland; Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009), 48.