(References - 1 Chronicles 29:29, "the seer;" Psalm 99:9; Jeremiah 15:1; Acts 3:24; Acts 13:20; Hebrews 12:32; Apoc. Ecclus. 46:13-20.) Consolation and hope were from the first associated with the birth of children (Genesis 3:15; Genesis 4:1, 25; Genesis 5:29; Genesis 21:6). More than ordinary joy (John 16:24) was felt at the birth of Samuel by his mother, because of the peculiar circumstances connected therewith, and the expectations entertained by her of the good which he might effect for Israel. Often as she looked upon her God-given infant she would think, "What manner of child shall this be?" (Luke 1:66), and ask, "How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?" (Judges 13:12). Nor did she fail to do her utmost towards the fulfilment of her exalted hopes. The child was -

I. REGARDED AS A DIVINE GIFT (Psalm 127:4). Every little infant bears the impress of the "Father of spirits" (James 3:9).

"Trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home." The gift of a fresh, new, mysterious human life, with its vast capabilities, is a great gift, and demands grateful acknowledgment of the Divine goodness; but it is not an absolute gift; it is rather a trust which involves serious responsibilities on the part of those into whose hands it is placed. God says in effect, "Take this child," etc. (Exodus 2:9).

II. DESIGNATED BY AN APPROPRIATE NAME (ver. 20). Samuel = heard of God. "The mother names, the father assents, God approves, and time confirms the nomination" (Hunter). Like other personal names in the Bible, it was full of significance; being a grateful memorial of the goodness and faithfulness of God in the past, and a constant incentive to faith and prayer in the future. "Our very names should mind us of our duty." The name "Samuel" was uttered by the Lord as mindful of his history, and recognising his special relation to himself (1 Samuel 3:10). The name of a child is not an unimportant matter, and it should be given with due consideration. When parents give their children names borne by excellent men, they should train them to follow in the footsteps of such men.

III. NURTURED WITH MOTHERLY TENDERNESS (vers. 22-25). His mother was herself his nurse (ver. 23), not intrusting him to others, and not neglecting him, whereby many young lives are sacrificed; but thoughtfully, carefully, and constantly ministering to his physical needs, praying over him, and directing his thoughts, with the earliest dawn of reason, toward the Lord of hosts. That she might the more perfectly fulfil her trust, she remained at home, and went not up to Shiloh until he was weaned. Her absence from the sanctuary was justifiable, her worship at home was acceptable, and the service which she rendered to her child was a service rendered to God and to his people. "A mother's teachings have a marvellous vitality in them; there is a strange living power in that good seed which is sown by a mother's hand in her child's heart in the early dawn of the child's being, when they two are alone together, and the mother's soul gushes forth on her child, and the child listens to his mother as a God; and there is a deathless potency in a mother's prayers and tears for those whom she has borne which only God can estimate" (W.L. Alexander). "Who is best taught? He that is taught of his mother" ('Talmud').

IV. PRAYED OVER WITH FATHERLY SOLICITUDE. Elkanah consented to the vow of his wife (Numbers 30:6, 7), and appears to have made it his own (ver. 21). He was zealous for its performance, and whilst he agreed with her in the desire of its postponement for a brief period, he expressed the wish in prayer, "Only the Lord establish his word" (ver. 23). "Word, that is, may he fulfil what he designs with him, and has promised by his birth (vers. 11, 20). The words refer, therefore, to the boy's destination to the service of God; which the Eternal has in fact acknowledged by the partial fulfilment of the mothers wish" (Bunsen). HIS PRAYER indicates, with respect to the Divine word -

1. Confidence in its truth. He believed

(1) that it was his word which had been uttered by the high priest (ver. 17);

(2) that its Divine origin and faithfulness had been in part confirmed by his own act (ver. 20); and

(3) that it would be completely established by his bringing about the end designed.

2. Desire of its fulfilment.

(1) As a matter of great importance.

(2) Deeply felt. "Only."

(3) Through the continued and gracious operation of God. "The Lord establish his word."

3. Obedience to its requirements. In order to its establishment, cooperation on their part was -

(1) Necessary. God's purposes and promises are fulfilled in connection with human endeavour, and not independently of it.

(2) Obligatory. It had been solemnly promised by them, and was a condition of the bestowment of the Divine blessing.

(3) Fully resolved upon. "His father used to open his breast when he was asleep and kiss it in prayer over him, as it is said of Origen's father, that the Holy Ghost would take possession thereof" ('Life of Sir Thomas Browne').

V. CONDUCTED TO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD. As soon as he was weaned (the first step of separate, independent life) "she took him up with her" (ver. 24), and "they brought the child to Eli" (ver. 25). Children are in their right place in the temple (Matthew 21:15, 16), and their praises are acceptable to the Lord. Even infants (sucklings) belong to the kingdom of heaven, and are capable of being blessed by him (Matthew 19:13). Therefore the "little ones" should be brought unto him (Matthew 18:14).

VI. DEDICATED TO A LIFE-LONG SERVICE (vers. 25-28), i.e. a continual (and not a limited or periodical) service at the sanctuary as a Levite, and an entire (and not a partial) service as a Nazarite. It was done

(1) with a burnt offering,

(2) accompanied by a thankful acknowledgment of the goodness of God in answer to prayer offered on the same spot several years previously, and

(3) in a full surrender of the child. "My child shall be entirely and absolutely thy servant. I give up all my maternal rights. I desire to be his mother only in so far as that he shall owe his existence to me; after that I give him up to thee" (Chrysostom). "For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath granted me my request which I asked of him; therefore I also make him one asked of the Lord all the days that he liveth; he is asked of the Lord" (Keil). So the vow was performed. And in the spirit of this dedication all parents should give back to God "the children which he hath given them."

VII. FOLLOWED BY PARENTAL PRAYERS AND THANKSGIVINGS. "He (Elkanah) worshipped the Lord there" (ver. 28). "And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord." (1 Samuel 2:1). "And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house" (1 Samuel 2:11). The sacrifice made in learning the child behind was great, but it was attended, through Divine grace, with great joy. The more any one gives to God, the more God gives back to him in spiritual blessing. Hannah felt little anxiety or fear for the safety of her child, for she believed that he would "keep the feet of his saints" (1 Samuel 2:9). What holy influences ever rest on children whose parents pray for them "without ceasing!" and what multitudes have by such means been eternally saved! - D.

"The boy was vowed
Unto the temple service. By the hand
She led him, and her silent soul, the while,
Oft as the dewy laughter of his eye
Met her sweet serious glance, rejoiced to think
That aught so pure, so beautiful, was hers,
To bring before her God.

I give thee to thy God - the God that gave thee,
A wellspring of deep gladness to my heart!
And precious as thou art,
And pure as dew of Hermon, he shall have thee,
My own, my beautiful, my undefiled!
And thou shalt be his child.

Therefore, farewell! - I go, my soul may fail me,
As the stag panteth for the water brooks,
Yearning for thy sweet looks. -
But thou, my firstborn, droop not, nor bewail me!
Thou in the Shadow of the Rock shalt dwell,
The Rock of Strength. - Farewell!"

(Mrs. Hemans)

It is a poor manhood and a dishonourable, neglectful fatherhood that leaves all the religious life and devotion of children to the mother or to others, and it must be disreputable before the Lord. Nor is the blameworthiness avoided by the habit of urging the claims of the busy life of our days. If any father thinks that saving a little more money for the children, or in order to give them better social position and appearance, is of greater importance than his own careful nurture of them in the love of Christ and in consecration to the Lord, then to God he will have to answer for the folly of his judgment and the evil of his practice and neglect. If the father does not hope in God for the children, as well as the mother tend them for the Lord, life must have sorrowful mistakes, if not miserable wrecks. The mother at home watches over the child for the Lord's sake in many homes, stud what does the father do? Is it only careless, irreverent agreement that he gives to the life plans of the mother for the souls of the sons and daughters; or, recognising in the mother's love and devotion the will of God, does he at least lift up all his heart in prayer to God that the Lord would establish His word of promise by accepting, for all rims and eternity, the little ones whom He has given? We — men and fathers — have our part in the consecration of the children as well as the mothers who watch them through the perils of their infancy; and if our hands do not touch the children so often as do the mother's, in watchfulness and guidance, yet should our hearts the more wait on God in longing for the establishment of His word of hope. No father can without sin delegate all the spiritual nurture of his children to their mother; still less can he, without guilt, hand it over to a stranger in school or church.

(G. B. Ryley.)