Dancing without Music

The dancing couldn’t be contained to just her feet.  Her entire body swung and bobbed to the tune no one else could hear.  They thought the music ended much too suddenly.  Hannah, however, knew it had just started.

In an elaborate (and to my mind, incomprehensible) form of worship, Hannah celebrated and praised as never before.  Her prayer, recorded in I Samuel 2:1-10, overflows with gratitude, love and reverence.  You can see the obvious delight she takes in the Lord in just a few short stanzas:

My heart rejoices in the Lord” (verse 1)

There is no one holy like the Lord” (verse 2)

Observers understood her joy after God opened her barren womb, but how, they wondered, could she praise God in the midst of saying good-bye to her only child?  What brought about her gladness as she kissed her recently weaned Samuel farewell, knowing she would only see him once a year?  How could she leave him in the Lord’s service when her heart so desperately wanted to keep him at home?  Did she know what would become of Samuel?  Did God reveal to her that her son would become one of Israel’s greatest prophets or did He enlighten her with the fact that Samuel would one day anoint King David?  Probably not.  Did she know God would keep her womb open and allow her to have five more children?  Doubtful.  So how could she rejoice after fulfilling her promise to give him over to the Lord?

I think Hannah heard the song.  While others scratched their heads and wondered, Hannah praised.  She danced to the music created in the skies.

The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.”  Exodus 15:2

In an life-long act of absolute surrender, Hannah’s pride, shame, and selfish ambitions peeled back for her to hear the words that Her Rock, Her God, Her Strength and Her Song sang.  And so she danced.