Hannah's Prayer of Hope in Tough Times

                                                       Hannah Invokes God -- Marc Chagall 1956

 Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the Lord;

    my strength is exalted in my God.

My mouth derides my enemies
    because I rejoice in your victory.

 There is no Holy One like the Lord,
    no one besides you;
    there is no Rock like our God.
 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 gird on strength.
 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
    but those who were hungry are fat with spoil.
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.
 The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
    he brings low; he also exalts.
 He raises up the poor from the dust;
    he lifts the needy from the ash heap
to make them sit with princes
    and inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
    and on them he has set the world.

 He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,
    but the wicked will perish in darkness,
    for not by might does one prevail.
 The Lord! His adversaries will be shattered;
    the Most High will thunder in heaven.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
    he will give strength to his king
    and exalt the power of his anointed.”

1 Samuel: 1-10 NRSVue 

From time to time the daily lectionary readings substitute a biblical passage fot  a psalm and I'm not sure why. Over the past four days the reading has been what is usually called Hannah's Prayer from 1 Samuel and it supposedly her response to the realization that she was pregnant after years of disappointment.  After all, in that patriarchal society "barrenness" was always the woman's problem and even though she was loved by her husband she felt shame, a circumstance deepened by the provocation and mocking by his other wife (so much for biblical marital values.) To make it worse, the priest assumed that as she entreated God through prayer she was drunk, although he eventually understood the depth of her faith. This prayer is the celebration of her pregnancy with the child who would be Samuel the great leader and prophet of Israel. 

This is a powerful passage which may have been the source of or inspiration for the Magnificat, Mary's Song in the gospel of Luke celebrating her pregnancy with Jesus.  While more of a fuss will be made over that passage at the end of Advent, Hannah's prayer offers a series of improbable role reversals in a "might makes right" world. 

I am struggling not to be aghast and discouraged by what seems to be an alarming rise in totalitarianism around the world, sometimes only thinly disguised, including in the United States. That this is a prayer by a women who feels vulnerable because she seems to have no control over her fertility is especially meaningful. We could all do to contemplate these hopeful verses and let them serve as an antidote to despair. The pillars of our worldview may seem shaky these days yet ultimately our foundation is God, Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer. 

One last comment: there is very little art about Hannah's prayer or Mary's song that is more than maudlin propaganda. And most of the art regarding Hannah is about her humbly beseeching God in prayer, not her celebration of possibility and promise.