1 Samuel 1: 4-20

The Lord remembered her.

Hannah would weep because she could not conceive and bear a child. She would endure scorn and ridicule from her rival year after year. In the annual festival to go to Shiloh to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts, Hannah went to the temple, wept bitterly and made a pledge to Lord. If he would permit her to conceive and bear a son she’d dedicate him in service to the Lord. In the pledge to the Lord, a solemn prayer, she asked first if he would remember her and not forget, to remember her and not forget. How often do we pray with this being the first impression on our minds without expressing it: Do you remember me?

A frustrated and anxious man went to a psychiatrist recently and told him he couldn’t remember anything from one day to the next. “Let me get this straight,” the psychiatrist said, “You can’t remember anything from one day to the next. How long has this been going on?” The man responded, “How long has what been going on?” You may have heard about the poor farmer who was standing in the field holding a rope. He was scratching his head. He couldn’t remember whether he had lost a cow or found a rope. The pastor was shocked to hear the well-known evangelist utter the words, “I’ve spent some of the happiest moments of my life in the arms of another man’s wife.” The, following a pause, the evangelist added. ” That woman was my mother.” “I’ve got to use that,” the young pastor thought to himself. A few weeks later, in the middle of a sermon, the phrase leapt into his mind and he exclaimed, “I have spent some of the happiest days of my life in the arms of another man’s wife,” Then, after a long pause, the young man muttered meekly, “But for the life of me, I can’t remember who she was.”

Does the Lord remember us? After Moses escaped from Egypt and lived in Midian, Exodus chapter two records, “God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (2: 24)” After Moses returned to Egypt, the Lord reminded Moses, “I established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they resided as aliens. I have also heard the groaning of the Israelites whom the Egyptians are holding as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. (6: 4-5)” In the Bible, when the Lord remembers, things happen. The story I read from First Samuel conveys to us we’re inclined to believe the Lord needs to be reminded as Hannah reminded the Lord.

Biblically, when the Lord remembers, things happen. That’s one of the important elements of the story of the Hebrews/Israelites been set free from slavery in Egypt. They lived in Egypt as free and enslaved people for over 400 years (Exodus 12: 40-41). When the Lord remembered his covenant with Abraham’s descendants it became time for them to leave, and leave they did. In Luke, chapter two, there are two people mentioned who looked for the coming of the Messiah. Simeon, a righteous and devout man, was told by the Lord he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Anna, an elderly prophet, never left the temple in Jerusalem but worshipped, fasted and prayed there. They were both shown the infant Jesus when he was brought in by his parents for circumcision. They praised the Lord and spoke about the child to everyone who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. The old Black preacher would say, “The Lord is never late, but he’s always on time.”

Does the Lord remember us? Back in First Samuel, Hannah continued praying in the temple. Eli, a priest in the temple, observed her, thought she was drunk because of her behavior. Hannah told him she was praying out of her anxiety. Eli told her in response, “Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him.” She then went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer. She had wept bitterly and prayed earnestly. Eli the priest affirmed her true devotion and openly declared in hope and faith that the Lord may grant her what she desired, AND HER COUNTENANCE WAS SAD NO LONGER.

Does the Lord remember us? Hannah, through the simple faithful decoration of Eli, was no longer anxious or cried bitterly. Her countenance was no longer sad. When the Lord remembers, things happen. The Hebrews in slavery in Egypt groaned for their liberation, and the Lord raised up Moses because it was time. Simeon and Anna prayed for the redemption of Jerusalem with the coming of the Messiah, and the infant Jesus was brought to the temple, and they knew the time had come. Eli gave the simple word of faith to a depressed woman and something happened in her. 1 Samuel 1: 20 reads, “In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel for she said, “I have asked him of the Lord.”

Does the Lord remember us? Sometimes we just need a simple word of faith and hope from another person. Phillips Brooks, an Episcopal priest from Massachusetts in the 19th century and the author of the lyrics to the Christmas carol, O Little Town of Bethlehem, wrote, “We never become truly spiritual by sitting down and wishing to become so. You must undertake something so great that you cannot accomplish it unaided.” Hannah was aided amidst her depression and bitterness by the simple words of Eli (in The Message version), “May the God of Israel give you what you have asked of him.” And I will aid you this morning – May the Lord of hosts grant you what you asked of him this morning.

(Preached at Lincoln UMC in Lincoln, AL, November 7, 2021)