Hannah~The Committed

1 Samuel 1

We have all been barren at one time or another in our lives, either physically or spiritually, and at our own doing or because God was using it for His glory. When God told Adam and Eve, and their descendants, to go forth and multiply He was telling them to plant seed. For us today that seed is spiritual…but it has to be planted nonetheless. Who God is looking for is someone worthy to pass on that seed. Hannah is the perfect example of worthiness.

On the positive side of life, Hannah was the preferred wife of a prominent man. Even though she had no children, he loved her more that his other wife, who had several children. (1:1, 4-5) On the negative side, the other wife teased and tortured her because she had no children, which caused Hannah a lot of grief. (1:6) In her time, not being able to bear children was considered the ultimate failure. But Hannah did not turn away from God and become bitter because of her plight; instead she used it to seek God’s face in earnest prayer. (1:11)



Is this something we are able to do-to seek God’s face when the adversary is flaunting our barrenness all around? Are we able to make a promise to the Lord that we will keep, because He has kept His promise to us?



Another negative going against Hannah was the man of God passing judgment on her based on his perception of what she should have been doing. She had to defend herself to someone who should have been helping her. (1:12-18)

When we make our petitions to God out in the open, there are those that watch us, ready to pass judgment based on what they see on the outside, not by what we’re saying to God on the inside. This is where we must speak up for ourselves. Having a burden is hard enough without the added burden of the judgment of someone else. We should not be judged for being honest with God, but reassured of the fact of knowing who we serve.







Hannah had her baby, Samuel-or ‘asked of God’, but told her husband she would not return to Shiloh until he was weaned. (1:22-23). Hannah had asked for a man-child~someone whom she could dedicate back to God when the time came. (Some debate over the age Samuel was when she brought him back to Eli. My personal research finds him to be approximately 12 years old, at which time the culture considered a child 'weaned' of its mother.) Plenty of time for Hannah to instill in him the meaning of his name and the story behind it, her commitment to God, and therefore, his commitment to God.

The character of Hannah has gone through a great transformation. She presents Samuel as the result of her prayer some years before, and turns him over to Eli to be taught the ways of the temple. In her request, she never abandoned her goals, nor demeaned anyone else to achieve them.



We should all strive to be like Hannah: to commit ourselves to the Lord, honoring the vow we make with Him, because when we honor Him, He honors us.

Abigail~The Peacemaker

1 Samuel 25

The first thing we see about Abigail is the striking difference between her and her husband, Nabal. (v.33) Even the meanings of their names represent their characters. Abigail: her Father’s joy, Nabal: fool.

How would a virtuous woman conduct herself when married to an irreverent and disrespectful man such as her husband? A man who was so utterly selfish and hateful that he responded to those in need without any compassion. (v.3, 14) How many years had she lived with this man who was so blatantly evil to those around him? How many times had she ‘made amends’ for his behavior, taking on the righteous responsibilities herself? How many times had she put herself in jeopardy, seeing that she lived in a time when women were the possessions of their husbands, and risked divorce or death if she was found going against his authority?

Even though she had no authority as the wife, the servant came to tell Abigail about her husband’s actions toward David’s men. He knew she would do SOMETHING to correct the situation. He recognized Nabal as a ‘son of Belial’—that is, a man who follows another god. (v.14-17) Abigail used the ‘good understanding’ attributed to her (v.3) to put together a bountiful amount of food for David and his men. Unlike her husband, she recognized David as God’s favored, not the man sitting on the throne-Saul. (v.10)

She spoke to David prophetically, not only about the current situation, but about the future concerning him and Israel. (v.28-30) She also spoke prophetically concerning her husband, (v.31) knowing that the Lord would punish him in His own time. She asked David to remember her when that had taken place. At this point we can see that David and Abigail were actually of the same character: they were both fighting for the Lord while under the subjection of a higher earthly authority. Neither were afraid to take the risks necessary to do the right thing in the name of the Lord. David recognized this in her, and blessed her for coming to him. (v.32-35)

Upon returning home, she found Nabal too drunk to speak to, having a feast ‘like the feast of a king.’ When she tells him the next morning how close he and the household came to dying by David’s hand, his heart ‘died within him, and became as a stone.’ Ten days later, the Lord ‘smote’ him ‘that he died.’ (v.36-38) What kind of thoughts went through his head in the ten days that he lived? Did he have any regrets? Did he yearn to go back so he could treat people differently?

At that moment, Abigail was no longer trapped in an ungodly marriage to an ungodly man. As a reward for her support and righteous thinking, David married her, (v.39-42) and she saw him become king of Judah, then Israel, as she had prophesied .

So, based on these characters, are you an Abigail? Are you the delight of your heavenly Father? Do you do what’s right as determined by God, even if it flies in the face of tradition or the current authority? Are you in a place, spiritually, where the Holy Spirit can give you prophecies and reveal to you things not acknowledged by others? Or are you a Nabal? Do you deal foolishly and harshly with others, not recognizing God’s chosen?

As an Abigail, you will reap blessings, have evil removed, and be rewarded with something that you could never attain on your own. As a Nabal, you will wake up to find out how narrowly you escaped with your life, your heart will stop beating, and you’ll die a slow, miserable death, either spiritually or literally.