1 Sam 2.1: And Hannah prayed and said, My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in the Lord. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.
Hannah said this immediately after she had lent Samuel, the son for whom she had prayed, to the Lord for the whole of his life.
Do we always sing when we give up something we love? It isn’t an easy thing to do. Hannah did it, and Hannah rejoiced and said, My heart exults in the Lord.
Bible stories are meant to do something vital for us. Don’t let them just float over your mind without doing anything. Say, and mean and do it: ‘I won’t just move my lips in a song or in a prayer: God make me true, like Hannah. I won’t take offence when someone says something to me which I don’t like; God make me humble-hearted, like Hannah. And when Thou dost ask me to give up something to Thee, by Thy grace I will sing and rejoice, like Hannah.’
— Amy Carmichael
