The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Samuel — Section 20

Suc_h is the proper i~sue of all trials w_hen sanctified. There is no morose repining, ~o mtcrnal war agamst the Supreme \Viii, no utter abandonment to despair, no resting m the sympathy and counsel, 0r even prayers, of the Church ; the soul wants God :inrl, as ne,·er before, carries its load straight to him. ' II •. IT_ LEADS TO THE M!'RC,-SEAT. Th~r~ is a_ll the difference ~etween fleeing to God m ignorant desperation, and recogmsmg !us covenant mercies in Christ. No <loubt there is compassion for every poor dark creature who under the impulse of trouble cries out to the invisible God ; but it was not without a reason that the devout Hebrew preferred to retire to the place where the ark of the covenant and the mercy-seat were kept. She knew, _as th~ most enlightened of her people knew, that there was a way to God, and drawmg mg·h towards the mercy-seat was u distinct recognition of One in whom the troubled might expect to be blessed. Trial still leads us to God, no~ trusting in our righteo:usn_e~s, but by the "n~w and livin~ ~vay 11 consecrated by Chn~t. And though that mv1s1ble mercy-seat 1s ever near 1t 1s the wont of those who are being blessed by trial to seek the house of God a;d there pleading his mercy, find relief and lay off their burdens. ' . ' Ill. 1T MAKES NATURAL DESIRES FOR AN EARTHLY GOOD SUBORDINATE 'l'O HIGH RELIGIOUS FEELlliG. It is not certain at ~,hat stage in the providential discipline the event occurred, but the fact is clear that there was a time in the process when a natural lo,e of offspring, per se, became absorbed in a passion for devoting the most precious of ~i~ to Go~. It is difficult to trace the purifyin&" process by which pure and lofty spmtual feelmg emerges out of the fires, but expenence in all ages attests the fact that it does. It is an evidence that trouble is blessed when one can say, '· There is none on the earth that I desire beside thee. 11 All good things are intended to be helpful to our higher spiritual life, und it is a sign of spiritual health when the possession of them is sought primarily for the furtherance of religious ends, either in self or in the world. Religion is not in antagonism with nature. It rather purifies and ennobles it. Personal endowments, reasonable desires for family, or influence, or wealth, are laid at the cross when self is lost in zeal for God. There were a few .features in Hannalt's experience w!ticlt correspond witlt the action of sanctified trial on otliers. 1. She learnt the vanity of life apart from God's blessing. Unless he made life rich with the desired good, there was no sense of joy or perfection in life. It is a great gain to learn the lesson of our need of God in order to feel life to be a daily bliss. 2. She, by the action of long trial, was being weaned from dependence on earthly good for the joy of life, and hence was ~ore free to cherish awakening sympathy with the enduring kingdom of God. Disappointment in temporal affairs has often been blessed to a deepened interest in the UDseen realities of Christ's kingdom. 3. Her religious sensibilities, being gradually quickened and refined, rendered her increasingly sensitive to the terrible abominations of the age, and hence opened her eyes to see the need of some great reformer of the nation. Thus would the natural desire for offspring merge into the hope tha~ she mig~t. send forth the man. It is when souls. ~re more alive to !~eir own spintual cond1t10n that they long also for means by wluch to check prevailmg sin. IV. IT IS&UEB IN THE HIGHEST FORM OF PERSONAL CONSECRATION, Solemn VOWS ar~ the ~trongest expression of self-surrender. In Hannah's case a mother gives up her body and soul, her present powers and fut1;1re possessions and influence, _~pecific~lly to God. It was not possible for female service to go further. The routme service of the Levite, to be entered on at a definite age, was not enough for the now sanctified woman. Her heart was not satisfied even with the prospect of a son who should grow up in blameles~ness ?f life. . It was ~ot the personal comfort o~ _the p~esence in the house of a lovmg, pious child that stirred the soul to pray: a vlBlon, given of God of the coming Messiah imparted spiritual tone to her nature, and nothing would, tlier~fore, give satisfaction short of the consecration from infancy, to the service of the sanctuary, of a soo, to. be thus prepared for holy labours. among the degene~ate people, and to be a faint type and useful forerunner of a still more blessed Ch1_ld, Thus, the limits set by nature, the requirements of an emergency, and the prospective honour of Christ are recognised in an intelligent consecration brought about by the all-wise discipline of Lim who knows how to qualify .for noble service. The exalted ·CII, J. 9-28.] nm FIHST J>'lOK OF SA:VIUEL. 1/i