well 11s rcmecly the evil wrought by the sons of Eli, and work o. great deliverance for !Hrnel. I. PIOUS EMOTION HARSHLY CENSURED, If Hannah's prayer had been mocked by the profane, it had not surprised her; but this was her trial, that the venerable priest, whose duty it was to recognise and encourage religious aspiration, cruelly miscon- strued her agitation, and charged her with wickedness. Eli was weak towards men, stern to a woman. He could not restrain his own sons, but he could speak sharply and severely to Hannah. The only palliation of his readiness to impute evil to her lies in the fact that, through his weakness, there had come to be a great license of manners at the time, and women of Israel misconducted themselves at the very seat of worship. Eli took Hannah for one of these, and her holy ardour for the agitation of one unduly excited by wine. Religious emotion, especially in person,; of a sensi- tive and pensive nature, may resemble the effect of "wine wherein is excess" in the eyes of a careless or unsympathetic observer. And this applies to the joyful as ,veil as to the sorrowful in spirit. On the day of Pentecost, when the power of the Spirit descended on the disciples of our Lord, and joy in the Holy Ghost expressed itself in their looks and words, some of the bystanders began to mock and say, "These men are full of new wine." That religious fervour should be unappreciated by worldly minds need cause no wonder. That tears and prayers poured forth before the unseen God should be despised as drivelling superstition, or the flush of spiritual gladness derided as irrational frenzy, by persons of a cold, unbelieving temper, is what may be expected. But it is hard to bear misconstruction from men like Eli, who ought to understand that the spirit of man or woman sometimes faints, sometimes leaps for joy before the Lord. II. THE EQUANIMITY OF A GOOD CONSCIENCE. When one is quite conscious of 1hnocence he can meet accusations with calmness, and repel them without passion or bitterness. If Hannah had been unguarded in eating or drinking at the feast after the sacrifice in Shiloh, she would probably have given a sharp answer to Eli, and exonerated herself from his charge with some heat of temper. But her conscience was quite clear in the matter. From her vow to make the son for whose birth she prayed a Nazarite, we infer that she was strongly sensible of the evils which indulg- ence in wine, and consequent licentious excess, had brought on the nation. So her answer to the priest, while firm, was calm, and even meek: "No, my Lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit." III. THE 'l'RUE RESOURCE OF THE SORROWl"UL. 11 I have poured out my soul before the Lord." Hannah abhorred the kind of evil of which Eli accused her. "Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belia!." Alas, how many, because they are in low spirits, or vexed with their lot, seek exhilaration in wine or strong drink I It is a gross and dangerous consolation, fit for children of Belia!, not for children of God. 11 Is any afflicted? Let him pray." Is any anxious? Let him by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make his request known to God. To be excited with wine is to have the imagination and passions fired through the flesh and the Benses. For a time care or grief may be forgotten, and the mind may seem to become gay and brilliant; but as the appetite grows, and the fallacious pleasure beguiles, there ensues degradation and sorrow upon sorrow ; the mind is clouded and enfeebled, and the heart made selfish and gross. How different from the excitement of the praying heart that is II filled with the Spirit I " This takes hold of the best and highest part of our nature, and from this actlj on the whole man-sub- dues sensual passion, scatters delusion, and while it may for o. time agitate th11 frame, as Hannah's was agitated, never disturbs or unhinges the regulative principles of reason and conscience within. _IV. THE COMFORT AF'l'ER PRAYER. Whatever the worth of Eli's personal character, his office gave weight to his words; and when he invoked from the God of Israel an a~swer to Hannah's petition, she received his words with reverence, and went home with a g·lad assurance in her heart. Have not we a great High Priest who mis- ?,n?erstands no one, requires no corrective explanation, discournges no supplio.nt; and 1s it not he who has said, 11 W'hat things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them"? Look to Jes::J, and where is your burden? It ia gone. Where are your te11ra? They are wiped o.way. Where is 24 TUE :FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. [cu. 1. 9-28'.
your desired thing, your Samuel? It is at hand. Go your way when yon hnve )loured out your prayer, for he has heard you, an<l "let your countennnce be ne> more sad."-F.