“The seventh Person we’re introduced to is God Himself. Notice the name: The LORD of Armies. Your version may have The LORD of Hosts. This is the very first use of this name for God in the Bible. Why? Because what is Samuel all about? Israel demanding a king. The establishment of the monarchy. And right from the start the Bible wants to remind us that God is King. He is not the King of a single city-state or the King of a single nation or even the King of an empire. He is the King of kings. He sits enthroned over Israel’s armies, over the hosts of heaven, over all heavenly creatures, over all creation, enthroned forever between the cherubim. Heaven is His throne and earth is His footstool. And our part is to bow to Him as King because He is our King, as well.
Now, seeing an Israelite family with two wives, one who is unable to have children, should immediately grab our interest. This is how many important, dramatic, glorious stories begin in the Old Testament. Abraham and Sarah. Isaac and Rebekah. Jacob and Rachel. Samson’s parents. As readers, anticipation should start building immediately.
It’s easy for us to read the story. It was much harder to live it. Hannah’s story begins with many years of intense heartache. Perhaps you’re facing heartache today. The Lord sees and He knows and He loves you. All of us can be encouraged by the fact that, as one commentator notes, “God’s tendency is to make our total inability His starting point.””
