Wednesday 05 September 2012
- Bible Book:
- 1 Samuel
my strength is exalted in my God.'" (v. 1)
Background
In my fevered imagination I see old, rich, powerful menfrustrated that the people are demanding that Hannah's prayer bepart of their Scriptures, for it challenges their power and wealth.In my imagination it is rather like the men in
It seems to me that in a patriarchal society it takes a lot toget the prayer of a woman into the Scriptures. It does not happenoften and when it does it is because the prayer is so powerful andbeautiful that it can't be ignored. For me, even the possibilitythat this prayer is a later insertion, that is placed on Hannah'slips, does not diminish it's power and symbolism.
Like many others I grew up with the Good News Bible which sadlyfailed to do justice to the poetry in Scripture, so it is only inmore recent years, when I have used other translations, that thepoetry has really spoken to me.
When a translation does poetry well the impact is so muchgreater. And the imagery in this prayer is full of contrasts thathit hard, that stop me in my tracks and make me think "Oh wow! Godis really like that".
Sadly, some people still miss the impact of this prayer today,seeing it just as a prayer that is for women about barrennessagainst childbirth. To see it that way it to miss the ways in whichthe prayer celebrates God overturning the successful in favour ofthe failures; God bringing down the rich and powerful in favour ofthe poor and weak. When we open our eyes and see Hannah exulting inGod turning everything upside down and remember her offering herson (the one thing she wanted above all others) to God, then we seethat this prayer challenges us all today.
To Ponder
- Do we dare exult in God turning the world upside down? Whatmight that mean for those of us in wealthy countries, in globalterms living in luxury?
- What does this poem mean for those of us with authority in theChurch or in the community? Do we try to hold onto power andauthority or are we supporting, enabling, including thecontributions and indeed leadership of others?
- Do we dare to join Hannah in offering to God that which is mostimportant to us? What might that mean for you today? Can you faceit?