The Currency of a Promise Text: 1 Samuel 1:21-28
Introduction: The Weight of Words
We live in an age of cheap words. Promises are made with the ease of a casual text message and broken with even less thought. Contracts are filled with escape clauses, wedding vows are treated as sentimental suggestions, and political speech has become a synonym for calculated deceit. Our culture is drowning in a sea of meaningless syllables. We have forgotten that words have weight, that they are meant to correspond to reality, and that a promise, particularly a promise made before God, is a sacred and binding thing. It is a form of currency, and we have debased it to the point of bankruptcy.
Into this flimsy, forgetful world, the story of Hannah and Elkanah lands with the force of a granite monument. Here we have a family whose life is not governed by fleeting emotions or pragmatic convenience, but by the solemnity of vows made and vows kept. This is not a story about the sentimentality of childbirth. It is a story about the bedrock reality of covenant faithfulness. It is a story that teaches us that the most profound acts of love are often acts of letting go, and that the greatest blessing we can receive is one we are willing to give back to God entirely.
The modern world, and sadly, much of the modern church, sees children as the ultimate personal fulfillment project. They are accessories to our self-actualization, the capstone of a successful life. We pour our resources into them, we helicopter over their every move, and we idolize their comfort and happiness. Hannah’s actions here are a direct polemic against this entire mindset. She demonstrates that a child is not a possession to be cherished, but a gift to be consecrated. He is an arrow, given by God, to be aimed and fired back into God’s service for God’s glory. What we see in this passage is the anatomy of a promise kept, and in it, the grammar of a life lived rightly before God.
The Text
Then the man Elkanah went up with all his household to offer to Yahweh the yearly sacrifice and pay his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, "I will not go up until the young boy is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before Yahweh and stay there forever." And Elkanah her husband said to her, "Do what is good in your eyes. Remain until you have weaned him; only may Yahweh establish His word." So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with a three-year-old bull and one ephah of flour and a jug of wine and brought him to the house of Yahweh in Shiloh, although the boy was young. Then they slaughtered the bull and brought the young boy to Eli. And she said, "Oh, my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to Yahweh. For this young boy I prayed, and Yahweh has given me my petition which I asked of Him. So I have also dedicated him to Yahweh; as long as he lives, he is dedicated to Yahweh." So he worshiped Yahweh there.
(1 Samuel 1:21-28 LSB)
Covenantal Headship (v. 21-23)
We begin with the established pattern of godly order in this family.
"Then the man Elkanah went up with all his household to offer to Yahweh the yearly sacrifice and pay his vow. But Hannah did not go up... And Elkanah her husband said to her, 'Do what is good in your eyes. Remain until you have weaned him; only may Yahweh establish His word.'" (1 Samuel 1:21-23)
Elkanah is the federal head of his home, and he takes this responsibility seriously. He leads his family in the central activity of covenant life: corporate worship. The pilgrimage to Shiloh was not a suggestion; it was the rhythm of their existence. This is the first mark of a godly man. He ensures that his family is oriented toward the house of God. He is the one setting the direction.
But notice the interaction. Hannah, a woman of great resolve, states her intention. She is not being rebellious or negligent. She is making a wise, logistical decision in service of a greater theological purpose. She will not go up until the child is weaned, so that when she does go, she can fulfill her vow completely. Her reasoning is sound and her piety is evident.
And how does the patriarch respond? He does not thunder down a command. He does not pull rank. He listens, he understands, and he affirms her wisdom. "Do what is good in your eyes." This is not abdication; it is godly delegation. It is the trust that flourishes in a healthy marriage. He is the head, but he is not a tyrant. She has a voice, and it is a wise one. He then frames her decision within the overarching will of God: "only may Yahweh establish His word." He is saying, "Yes, your plan is good. Let us both submit it to God and pray that He brings it to pass." This is the beautiful dance of complementarian harmony, a picture utterly foreign to both the feminist caricature of oppression and the chauvinist caricature of domination.
The Lavishness of a Kept Word (v. 24-25)
A promise made in tears is now kept with joyful generosity.
"Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with a three-year-old bull and one ephah of flour and a jug of wine and brought him to the house of Yahweh in Shiloh, although the boy was young. Then they slaughtered the bull and brought the young boy to Eli." (1 Samuel 1:24-25 LSB)
The time comes, likely when Samuel was three to five years old, and Hannah makes good on her word. There is no hesitation, no second-guessing. And look at how she does it. She does not come with the bare minimum. She brings a three-year-old bull, a substantial and costly sacrifice, along with flour and wine. This is not the begrudging payment of a debt. This is an act of lavish, celebratory worship. The cost of the promise is met with joy.
The text pointedly notes, "although the boy was young." The Holy Spirit wants us to feel the tenderness of this moment. This is her only son, the miracle child she wept and prayed for, and she is bringing him to leave him at the tabernacle. Our modern, sentimental age would call this cruel or unfeeling. The Bible calls it faithfulness. Her love for God transcended her maternal affection, which in turn made her a truly good mother. She knew that the safest place for her son was not in her arms, but in the hands of the God who gave him.
The order of events is also crucial. First, they worship through sacrifice: "they slaughtered the bull." Then, they present the child: "and brought the young boy to Eli." God's due is always first. Our relationship with Him, defined by blood sacrifice, is the foundation for everything else, including our parenting. We cannot properly give our children to God until we have first given ourselves to Him through the prescribed sacrifice, which for us is the finished work of Christ.
The Testimony of Answered Prayer (v. 26-27)
Hannah identifies herself not by her sorrow, but by God's deliverance.
"And she said, 'Oh, my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to Yahweh. For this young boy I prayed, and Yahweh has given me my petition which I asked of Him.'" (1 Samuel 1:26-27 LSB)
She approaches Eli, the high priest, and reminds him of their last encounter. She does not say, "I am the weeping, bitter woman you rebuked." She says, "I am the woman who stood here... praying." Her identity has been reshaped by her interaction with God. She is a woman of prayer. And her prayer was not an empty wish thrown into the cosmos; it was a specific petition offered to the living God.
Her testimony is simple, direct, and powerful. "For this young boy I prayed, and Yahweh has given me my petition." This is the logic of faith. She asked. God gave. The boy standing beside her is the living, breathing proof of God's faithfulness. She takes no credit. She makes no boast in her own piety. All the glory goes to God. This is what we are to do. Our lives, our families, our children should be walking billboards for the faithfulness of God. We should be able to point to the blessings in our lives and say, with Hannah, "For this I prayed, and the Lord has answered me."
The Great Transaction (v. 28)
Here we come to the heart of the matter, the covenantal transaction that defines Hannah's faith.
"So I have also dedicated him to Yahweh; as long as he lives, he is dedicated to Yahweh." So he worshiped Yahweh there. (1 Samuel 1:28 LSB)
This verse contains a glorious play on words in the Hebrew. The word for "asked" in verse 27 is sha'al. The word for "dedicated" or "lent" here is the same root. She is essentially saying, "I asked (sha'al) for him from Yahweh, so I am now lending (sha'al) him back to Yahweh."
This is the fundamental economy of the kingdom of God. Everything we have is a gift received. We are not owners; we are stewards. And the only proper response to receiving a gift from God is to hold it with an open hand, ready to return it to His service at His command. Hannah understood that Samuel was never truly hers to begin with. He was God's property, graciously loaned to her for a season. Her act of "lending" him back was simply an acknowledgment of reality. She was returning what was already His.
This is a radical call to all Christian parents. Your children are not yours. They belong to God. You have been given the high calling of raising them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, but the goal is not to keep them forever. The goal is to give them away, fully equipped and joyfully consecrated, to the service of the King. You are raising arrows, not idols.
And what is the result of this profound act of faith and sacrifice? The verse ends with perfect, simple finality: "So he worshiped Yahweh there." The pronoun "he" is wonderfully ambiguous. It could be Elkanah, the covenant head, leading in response. It could be Eli, the priest, marveling at this woman's faith. Or it could even be the young boy Samuel himself, beginning his life of service with an act of worship. The best reading is that it encompasses them all. This great act of covenantal promise-keeping sweeps everyone present into the primary activity of heaven and earth: the worship of the living God.
Conclusion: Your Samuel
This is not just a historical account. It is a paradigm for every believer. God has given each of us a "Samuel." He has answered our prayers and given us petitions that we asked of Him. It may be your children, your career, your talents, your wealth, or your health. It is that thing you once prayed for desperately.
The question this text puts to us, with piercing clarity, is this: have you lent it back to the Lord? Or have you begun to treat the gift as a possession? Have you clenched your fist around God's blessing, forgetting the Giver? The blessing that is not consecrated back to God soon becomes an idol. The answered prayer that does not result in worship soon results in pride.
Hannah’s story is a foreshadowing of a greater transaction. For God the Father had one only begotten Son, the ultimate answer to the prayers of His people. And what did He do? He "lent" Him to us. He gave Him up for us all, sending Him to the house of sacrifice, to Shiloh writ large, which is Jerusalem. Jesus was dedicated to the Lord from His youth, and He remained so His entire life. He was the perfect fulfillment of Hannah's vow.
Because the Father gave His Samuel for us, we can now have the strength to give our Samuels back to Him. And we can do so with the sure and certain knowledge that whatever we lend to the Lord is not lost. He is no man's debtor. He takes our offerings, no matter how small and young, and He uses them to topple kingdoms and establish His righteousness in the earth, all culminating in that great day when all His people will gather and worship Him there.