Hannah Receiving. 1 Samuel 1:19-23. Vows were an important part of life in the Old Testament. Much of what happened between people depended on them keeping their word and enforcing what they said with some essential item. Salt, a shoe, a garment, or some other items of importance was given a proof of sincerity of the contract into which people entered. Hannah vowed to give her son back to God if God would give her a son. When Samuel was born, she dedicated him to God. In the lives of God's people, there is a contagious fellowship that has far-reaching effects. Hearts rejoice and spirits are lifted when we are conscious of God working in us, for us and among us. Hannah's heart rejoiced when she bore a son, Samuel, whose name means "heard of God." Hannah gave Samuel to the Lord to keep her promise when he was three years old. He was presented to God on the day the people of God brought costly sacrifices. However, Hannah went further when she presented her son to Eli for service as a Nazarite for life. Even though she said she "lent him to the Lord," she retained no further claim on him. Hannah did come each year with a new garment to fit the growing boy, but her sacrifice had been made with no strings attached.
Sacrificial gifts are not mere tokens but those that cost us dearly. Any costly sacrifice we make for the Lord has far greater benefit than we could imagine because the Lord knows our hearts. When we are willing to "present our bodies as a living sacrifice," that is the best we have to give. A visit to the house of the Lord, a burden lifted from a heavy heart, a word of assurance from the Bible, and a word of encouragement from a fellow believer can change things quickly. When the light of the sanctuary, the light of the word of God, and the light that shines from the people of God surround us, there is light that shines in our own souls.
For three years, Hannah did not go with Elkanah, Peninnah, and the other children to the Feast of Tabernacles because Samuel was still not weaned. She had made it clear to her husband that when she went with Samuel, it would be to give him to the Lord, and he would stay at the house of God from then on. Elkanah had the legal right to prevent Hannah from fulfilling her vow; he must have understood the significance of it when he told her, “Do what seems best to you.” He supported what she wanted to be done and what God had told her to do; “only the Lord establish His word (“May the Lord make good His word”).”