24 November 2009

1 Samuel 1

So I have to admit that I got a little behind on my bible reading. Last night, as I was trying to catch back up, I read 1 Samuel 1. If you're interested, it's about Hannah and how God opened her womb to have a baby boy. I was really touched by this story. Oh and by the way, I've read Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Dueteronomy, Joshua, Judges, and Ruth and I'm working on 1 Samuel.

* * * The Birth of Samuel * * *
1 There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
2 He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.
3 Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the LORD.

4 Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters.
5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the LORD had closed her womb.
6 And because the LORD had closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her.
7 This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat.
8 Elkanah her husband would say to her, "Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?"
9 Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the LORD's temple.

10 In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD.
11 And she made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head."
12 As she kept on praying to the LORD, Eli observed her mouth.
13 Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk
14 and said to her, "How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine."
15 "Not so, my lord," Hannah replied, "I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the LORD.

16 Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief."
17 Eli answered, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him."
18 She said, "May your servant find favor in your eyes." Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.
19 Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the LORD and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah lay with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her.

20 So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the LORD for him."

* * * Hannah Dedicates Samuel * * *

21 When the man Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vow,
22 Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, "After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the LORD, and he will live there always."
23 "Do what seems best to you," Elkanah her husband told her. "Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the LORD make good his
word." So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him.
24 After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh.

25 When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli,
26 and she said to him, "As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD.
27 I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.
28 So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there.

1 comment:

Em's Mom said...

My Sweet Darlin'

I want to share a few things with you. First: Your bible verse about who sinned, the blind man or his parents, is and has always been my bible verse...it has especially been used alot since Emily went to heaven...God does not cause bad things to happen BUT THAT He will allow it and then use it for good...I've seen this with Em's death...something so very very horrible HAS been used for God's good...so many lives have been touched in her passing in a positive way even when we miss her so very much everyday. Secondly, I've learned to say "Why NOT me?" instead of "Why me?" because I am no better than any other human being that has been created in God's image...who am I to say or question...this never changes the fact that I am both broken and broken hearted and will forever be, but I also know this...God entrusted my daughter to me and even if I KNEW that she would go home to heaven in 17 short years, I would do it all over and over again...loving every moment of it. Third, "GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME" even in this altered life I now live, I still see Gods GOODness all around me and am thankful for that...Forth, (I think I made this up~it really helps me hold on in my new life without my daughter here) "God walks so far in front of us that we sometimes can't see Him because He's already turned a corner that we don't even know exists yet"...somehow I am still here, still breathing, knowing that God has more planned for me...and, with that, I want you to know that there are two very important truths to know...God loves us all the time and wants the best for us in every situation~and that the greatest Gift is being HIS child and raising one (or three) babies given to you by Him to care for while they are on this earth...it is the source of the most pure love and joy!

I KNOW God has this for you and Bryan so right now I CLAIM it in advance for both of you! You are blessed together and you are in God's loving hands always.

<3I love both of you and so does our Emily Anne~through time and space <3

God has this....He's your daddy in all ways and has already taken care of it!

<3
Ms. Terri