Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. And the boy was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli the priest.
Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD.
—1 Samuel 2:11–12
As a general rule, I’d never recommend listening to music while reading, but you must come to this narrative with a song in your head in order to read it rightly. The song is not a distraction, but the key to interpretation. If you try to read the narrative without the song, then you cannot understand it. Hannah’s song leaves you longing for redemptive reversal. A reversal that is to come by judgment. A judgment that comes with the king.
Our passage alternates between short descriptions of Samuel and extended treatments of Eli’s sons. Drawn out dark descriptions are offset by brief glimpses of light. Yet the small hope somehow dominates these dismal days. The little light is secretly bigger than the great darkness.
It’s Hannah’s song that teaches you to read this dark narrative with bright eyes.
“Talk no more so very proudly,
let not arrogance come from your mouth;
for the LORD is a God of knowledge,
and by him actions are weighed.
The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the feeble bind on strength.
Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.
The barren has borne seven,
but she who has many children is forlorn.
The LORD kills and brings to life;
he brings down to Sheol and raises up” (1 Samuel 2:3–6).
The light is so small. The darkness is so great. But this is precisely why we have hope. This is why we expect the light to prevail. Because we are expecting redemptive reversal.
This is the way our God works. “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:27–29).
Ours is the God who brings resurrection light out of crucifixion darkness.
No Other Boast 