Misunderstandings (1)

by R. Darke, Victoria, Canada | Category: Misunderstandings | Apr 1986

Her name is said to mean favoured, gracious, merciful, but she wore an expression not at all in keeping with those virtues. Her eyes were closed, her lips moved, but no words were audible. She was in bitterness of soul, and she wept tears of anguish as she prayed to the Lord. This is the story of Hannah, the woman who longed for a son which had been denied her (1 Sam. 1). Bitterness is the meaning of the Hebrew word marah (see Ex. 15:24 RVM). Marah was the name given to the desert place where Israel met its first setback after crossing the Red Sea. Those waters were like gall as the Israelis stooped to drink, but a tree cast into the waters changed them to sweetness. The tree of Calvary, where sweet love was manifest in the precious sacrifice of Christ, is what can change to sweetness many of our bitter experiences.

Childless Hannah prayed silently as she vowed to give back to the Lord the son she longed for, and no razor would be used on his head as in the vow of the Nazirite. That was when she was misunderstood. Eli, the high priest, concluded she was drunk, and advised her to stop drinking wine in excess. What a sad situation develops when a person is a victim of false assumption! "I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit" pleaded Hannah. "I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I poured out my soul before the LORD. Count not thine handmaid for a wicked woman; for out of the abundance of my complaint and provocation have I spoken hitherto" (vv. 15,16 RVM). The provocation plus criticism obviously came from Peninnah; but what a relief for Hannah, and any child of God who is a victim of misunderstanding, to pour our their burdens before the Lord. Its parallel is seen in the lament of Jeremiah to "pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord" (Lam. 2:19). 'Tis then the bitterness and grief are emptied, to be replaced by better things.

"Go in peace, said Eli, and the God of Israel grant thy petition" (v.17). Worship and happiness filled the vacuum joyously for Hannah, as it can for us. And when she received her longed-for son she cried: "For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of Him" (v.27).

Misunderstandings become bearable when the lord is asked to handle the circumstances. David gives us this encouragement: "Trust in Him at all times, ye people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us, Selah" (Ps. 62:8).

R. Darke, Victoria, Canada | Apr 1986
Misunderstandings