I bet you know someone like Peninnah.  I do.  No matter what you say or do, they find fault with you.      And when there is something wrong that you can't do anything about, they make snide remarks and rub it in.  I can't help but wonder why some people are like that?   Remember high school?

Whatever the reason, I can only imagine how blessed Hannah was when she gave birth to Samuel.  And as he grew, he was an exemplarily child.  Of course he had an exemplarily mother.  And when the time came to go back to Shiloh to worship, she said to her husband, "I am not going until Samuel is weaned."  In a few years--when that day came--Hannah took gifts to the house of the Lord.  And Eli the priest was there.

Hannah said, "Sir, I am the woman that was praying and weeping here years ago.  I prayed for this child, and God has given him to me.  Because of God's goodness, as long as this child lives, I will lend him to the Lord."  And then Hannah began to pray and praise God.  Her song is found in 1 Samuel 2:1-10.  It is beautiful.  You might want to read it.  She exudes joy.

At this point, when the days of worship and sacrifice were over at Shiloh, Hannah left Samuel with Eli to minister to the priest.  I cannot even imagine such a sacrifice.  This child that she had begged God for, she was now giving back to God and to his work in the house of the Lord.  She was extraordinary.  No wonder her husband loved her so much.

The trust that Hannah had in God was enormous, because Eli had two sons who were evil.  EVIL.  And to leave Samuel with Eli--who may have been a good priest, but had been a horrible father--meant that Samuel would grow up in the presence of these two reprobates--with Eli as his mentor.

But God took care of that problem.  A man of God came to Eli and told him that God had condemned him for the way he had failed to discipline his two sons, and promised that his sons would die without heirs and that Eli's name would be wiped out.

But as for Samuel, the Bible says that, "The child grew and was in favor with the Lord and also with men."  I know Hannah must have been proud.  I would have been.