The story of David begins with the story of the birth of the prophet who anointed him as king. There is another story in the Bible that has exactly the same pattern. Yes, that’s right, the story of Jesus too begins with the story of the birth of the prophet, John, who anointed him as Messiah-King. Both Samuel and John were also born miraculously to infertile mothers. The fact that this pattern is repeated should draw our attention to the pattern itself and what this pattern might indicate: salvation begins, in impossible circumstances, with the decrees of God. The role of the prophet was to announce the decrees of God for his people and in this sense the prophet stands for the decrees of God. God’s actions are the fulfilment of his decrees. He speaks first and then fulfils his word. Hannah’s barrenness is a symbol of the nation at this time. But in this spiritually barren nation God is going to plant the seed of his promise. In speaking the decrees of God, the prophet also represented the authority of God over his people. And so, in this sense, we see here God taking charge over an impossible situation. Yet again we see the beginnings of a new age of hope in the individual life of a lowly woman. As she puts her fate in God’s hands, she becomes the vessel through which God inaugurates a new day for his people. Note again what great consequences follow from the faith of one seemingly insignificant individual. You can be just such an individual.
Ask God how he wants to use you today.
Read 1 Samuel 1:1-20
