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of the heart. She also praised the Lord son (2:19).
because He came to the assistance of the These details highlight the godly atmo-
poor and needy and provided for them. sphere in which Samuel was raised and
But what is most interesting about Han- the influence and impact they had on his
nah’s prayer is that she rejoiced in His life. We read of Samuel, “And the child
salvation, and she referred to the Lord’s Samuel grew on, and was in favour both
giving strength unto His king and exalting with the LORD, and also with men” (2:26).
the horn of His anointed (2:1-10). The Scripture also records concerning
At the time, there was no king in Israel. him, “And Samuel grew, and the LORD
Who, then, was the king and the anointed was with him, and did let none of his
that Hannah referred to in her prayer? words fall to the ground. And all Israel
Did she anticipate the establishment of a from Dan even to Beersheba knew that
monarchy in Israel under David the king? Samuel was established to be a prophet
Perhaps, instructed by the Holy Spirit of of the LORD” (3:19-20).
God, she looked forward to the divine Might the Lord raise up among us in our
reign and rule of Christ in His Messianic day men like Samuel who know what it is
Kingdom. to hear the voice of the Lord and respond
Even after Hannah had presented Sam- to it, and seek to walk in His ways and
uel for service to the Lord, she continued teach His truth in these days of darkness
to come year by year with her husband, and departure.
Elkanah, to worship the Lord. Each year In the will of the Lord, we will seek to
she made a little robe or coat for Samuel. explore in another article more of the life
She continued to demonstrate her com- of Samuel and the practical implications
mitment to the spiritual wellbeing of her for us as believers today.

Jephthah Continued from p. 235

unrelated and ambiguous promise. It may of them. His problem was not that his
be that the former brigand chief found words showed too little consideration
the lure of the spoil too difficult to resist. but that they betray too much calcula-
It may be that he thought he could buy tion. Jephthah’s great mistake was that
divine help more cheaply. In any case, it is he thought that God was “altogether such
difficult to conclude that we are expected a one as [himself]” (Psa 50:21). If, rather
to admire or to emulate Jephthah’s vow.
Jephthah’s vow is often described as than straining our wits to exonerate Jeph-
“rash,” and his story is read as a warn- thah, we learn from his story the folly of
ing against the perils of unpremeditated bargaining with God, we will, I think,
speech. Those perils are real enough, have more closely approached its main
but Jephthah is not the man to warn us and most important point.

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